Alexandra M. Svokos STAFF WRITER

There’s a whole group of people in my life who call me Gary. My town friends, Greeks, sisters, parents, cousins, grandparents… My priest recently found out and hasn’t gotten over it. “Gary, how are you today, Gary?” “Pretty good, Father Jim, thanks.” Nobody is entirely certain how it began and stuck for years. We generally try to pass it off as a joke based on Gary the snail in Spongebob and how slow I am – I take long showers! Hilarious! – but really it just happened. So when faced with six interested PopSense writers plus special appearances and was posed the classic “why do they call you Gary?” question, I had no answer other than a shrug.

On November 26, there was a concert featuring Concise – the band of Stelios Phili, Dave Goldman, Jason Moreira, and Arian Murati – and Silk City – the newest music out of Arian and Alban Murati. Antigone Phili had recently arrived back in the country and I was excited to finally be able to see her at the event. My sister Elizabeth drove with my friend Mia and I towards the venue. We got lost and pulled into a Friendly’s. Elizabeth ran inside to ask for directions as I texted Meriam Raouf, who was already at the concert. A kindly woman in the Friendly’s drew directions for us and we were back on our way. Friendly’s woman > gps.

Meriam told me that we had missed Silk City which sucked, but we got there before Concise started. I found Antigone running around with Meriam and other friends including Arianna Oberkircher who showed up in a Popsense cover over the summer. We leaped into each other’s arms and had a lovely love-felt reunion. She grabbed my hand and we all ran backstage where I met Alban, Arian’s brother, who was wearing moccasins.

“This is Gary,” Antigone said.
“Gary?”
“Well…Alexandra…but yeah.” I explained.

Concise was about to go on so we ran into the audience and took out our cameras. This was the third time I have seen Concise and they are still incredible. They did, I believe, two covers and four originals. They covered the Arctic Monkey’s “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” so Antigone and I screamed every word which prompted the people in front of us to turn around and glare. They played their old original “Another Night” which, coincidentally, we know every word to… More glares from the people in front of us.

Dave’s guitar broke, which was a problem, so there was a brief interlude during which Jason played his bass and Stelios danced. Actually, Stelios was dancing a lot throughout the set and at one point melted onto the floor. Jason was making his regular rock god poses and flipping his ridiculously long locks. Dave hopped around and sang his heart out as Arian smashed the drums and had some great solos. I hope they become really famous one day because they’re really very good and not screamy garage band annoying.


Once they finished, we ran backstage once more and ran across the stage, interrupting another band’s prep. The monster plant from Little Shop of Horrors was there along with a pretty disco ball. The band was running in and out packing up. We went outside to “help” pack up.

“Hi you’re Arian, right?” I said.
“Yeah, hi.”
“I’m Alexandra…I kind of know a lot about you but you probably don’t know anything about me…Antigone calls me Gary.” Eh, it’s true. Arian’s relatively famous in my town for his band and coolness and whatnot whereas I am relatively not.

“Oh yeah,” Alban said, “it’s Gary, not Greg. I’ll remember that.”

Being from Jersey, the collective decided to go to a diner. Unfortunately, Meriam had to leave. My sister and Arianna his in Jason’s car as I hopped in Dave’s only to hear Arian’s car blasting Kings of Leon.

“Let me out of the car!” I shouted.
“You just um, pull the latch and open the door…” Dave remarked.

Arian and Alban were at Dave’s car window. I had never really blasted “Sex on Fire” before and so had no idea of its effect on me. Once the chorus hit, I found myself jumping around and dancing. Embarrassed, I looked up only to find Arian and Alban also dancing. Camaraderie!

I got in my sister’s car with Mia and Arianna and we drove to the diner as Mia tried to remember who performs “Hospital Beds.” (It’s Cold War Kids) Dave, Dave’s girlfriend Jen, Stelios, Arian, Alban, and Antigone were already sitting as we walked in. I was instantly invited into their conversation about PopSense business cards. What would my subtext say? Arian Murati: Alpha Staff Writer. Dave Goldman: Staff Writer-Rooney. Stelios Phili: Cofounder and Editor. Still not sure for mine, any suggestions? Elizabeth, Jason, Jason’s girlfriend Larissa, and Jason’s friends sat at the table next to ours.

We all pulled out our cameras to showcase photographs from the concert and fawned over Antigone’s shot of Alban throwing his guitar.

“Wait, you really threw your guitar?”
“Yeah!”
“Did you catch it?”
“No…”

We talked about the concert and all the crazy things that happened, including a suspiciously rank-smelling dressing room. Rock and roll! We talked about my being called Gary, remember that from the beginning of the article? Stelios sang a note in thought, Dave quickly harmonized, Jason swam to our table and joined in as Arian, Antigone, and I sang our respective notes in the scale.

We talked about PopSense and I shot writing an article about the night (that’d be this article). We talked about senior portraits and how they photoshop them so everyone looks good.

“If I looked that good all the time, I’d have no trouble writing my Popsense articles!” Dave proclaimed.

At one point Antigone reached over me to spill ice on Arianna. Next thing I knew Arianna launched herself over me to hit Antigone and Antigone had fallen into Alban. What? The meal ended and we all left: Jason, his friends, Alban, and Arian to their homes, and Antigone, Stelios, Elizabeth, Mia, Arianna, and I to the Phili household.

There, Antigone whipped out the bouzouki like a good Greek girl. There was a mess of guitar strings and fixing tools on the floor.

“What did you do?!” Stelios accused once he saw the mess. “Oh, that was me. Never mind.”

We got word that Jeff Luppino-Esposito, Ali Star, and another friend were on their way. So much Popsense! Ali didn’t know that Antigone was in America so when she arrived, it was a huge surprise.
“Are there any Popsense writers here that I’m unaware of?” Jeff asked upon entering.

“Yeah, I’m Alexandra.” Cool! The person I’ve been communicating with and sending all my articles to in real life! Ali and I have kind of seen each other before but were only properly introduced then. Unfortunately, Elizabeth, Mia, and I had to leave almost as soon as they arrived. We said goodbye and walked out the door – before Jeff had the chance to ask, “Why do they call you Gary?”