Island Seeds - The Time Is Ripe

Music: Lefteris Moumtzis, Vassilis Philippou
Lyrics: Lefteris Moumtzis, Gürgenç Korkmazel, Vassilis Philippou

Island Seeds, a collective of almost 40 Cypriot musicians joined forces to record ‘The Time Is Ripe’, a special invitation to the world of united cooperation manifested. The result is a track sung in English, Cypriot-Greek and Cypriot-Turkish that drives the message home that no amount of divisive politics will stop the communities of Cyprus from re-uniting.
The track is released by Home For Cooperation, a community centre situated in the demilitarized UN Buffer Zone in Cyprus's divided capital of Nicosia. The Island Seeds collective sprouted from the music scene promoted through the United by Sounds programme by Home For Cooperation, which has uncovered a new generation of Cypriot artists that view their music scene and its innate excitement surrounding co-creation as a response to what is known as the ‘Cyprus Problem’. Recently celebrating its ninth anniversary, Home For Cooperation is dedicated to peacebuilding and intercultural exchange, and is the embodiment of intercommunal collaboration.

Produced by: Lefteris Moumtzis
Mixed and mastered at studio eleven63 by Andreas Trachonitis
Video editing: Antonis Pouliasis
Cover Art: Popi Pissouriou

Ας μάθουμεν που τα δεντρά,
Οι κλώνοι μας ν’απλώσουν
Τζιαι μέσα στες αγκάλες μας,
Πλάσματα να μερώσουν

Let’s bring our voices together
Let’s break on through to the other side
Oh, we are building a friendship
Guided by hope and fed from love

Bir cikla öter bir pulya
Temas etmezsan olmaz
Gollarını açman lazım
Barış adına

Hem şinya tüter hem lapsana
Sevgiden üstün değildir tarih
Daha fazlasını yapman lazım
Birleşmek adına

Breathing, loving, believing
The future is brighter
We’re dreaming, hoping, seeing
Together we’ll work it out

It’s time for loving our neighbour
(the time is ripe, the time is ripe)
Now is the time to live in peace
(the time is ripe, the time is ripe)
Within our hearts lies the solution
(it’s time to heal, it’s time to heal)
It’s time to honour this troubled land

Τον ουρανόν πο'ν λευτερκά
τζι'όσπου πετάς έν λείφκει,
μόνον αν τον μοιράζεσαι τίποτες έν σε ρίφκει.
Δε τα δεντρά που σιαίρουνται όπου τζι'αν ιβλαστούσιν,
τζιαι κάμνουν ώριμους καρπούς, στους άλλους για να θκιούσιν.

It’s time for loving our neighbour
(the time is ripe, the time is ripe)
Now is the time to live in peace
(the time is ripe, the time is ripe)
Within our hearts lies the solution
(it’s time to heal, it’s time to heal)
It’s time to honour this troubled land
(the time is ripe, the time is ripe)

So, let’s bring our voices together
Let’s break on through to the other side
Oh, we are building a friendship
Guided by hope and fed from love
Guided by hope and fed from love
It’s time to honour this troubled land

The Island Seeds collective:
Andreas Panteli - keyboards (of Fuzz Bus)
Antonia Charalambous - vocals
Antonis Antoniou - tzouras (of Monsieur Doumani, Trio Tekke)
Bulut Akbilek - drums (of Mental Soup)
Cahit Kutrafali - electric bass (of Mighty Sugarcane)
Charalampos Panteli - lute, saz (of Santouto)
Demetris Mesimeris - vocals
Demetris Yiasemides - trombone (of Monsieur Doumani)
Ed Sezener - vocals, guitar (of Mental Soup)
Eleonora Roussou - flute
Ermis Michael - guitar (of Fuzz Bus, Amalgamation Project, Chunky Funky)
Ezgi Akgürgen - vocals
Fehim Taşarkan - vocals
Freideriki Tombazou - vocals (of Anemourio)
George Karpasitis - guitar
Gül Sev - vocals
İnal Bilsel - synthesizers
Jessica Jenkins - vocals
Lefteris Moumtzis - producer, electric bass, vocals, percussion, acoustic guitar (of Freedom Candlemaker, Fuzz Bus, Trio Tekke)
Marios Nicolaides - vocals, acoustic guitar (of Marios Nicolaides Trio)
Marios Takoushis - piano, synthesizers (of Mighty Sugarcane, Takoushis Karapatakis Project)
Náma Dama - vocals
Nasia Trachonitou - vocals
Nicole Ardanitou - vocals (of Nabuma)
Panagiotis Tsappis - ney
Panayiotis Georgiou - vocals (of Arcadian Child)
Paris Paraschos - vocals
Savvas Lagou - violin
Stelios Xydias - drums (of Fuzz Bus, Mighty Sugarcane)
Táltsie - vocals
Theophano Papachristou - vocals
Ulaş Öğüç - drums (of The Great Flood, Lütfiye Özipek)
Umut Boyoğlu - speech
Vassilis Philippou - voice, percussion (of Larva, Sol Aurorae)
Wave - vocals, acoustic guitar
Zara Der Arakelian - vocals
Zeyn Mroueh - vocals

‘The Time Is Ripe’ released by Home For Cooperation with the support and sponsorship of: The Embassy of Ireland in Cyprus, Active Citizens Fund/EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021, Embassy of Poland in Cyprus, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Cyprus, Embassy of Sweden in Cyprus, Embassy of Switzerland in Cyprus, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Cyprus, Embassy of Italy in Cyprus.

All rights reserved by Home For Cooperation (2020)

[colitaire]

Όμορφο. Θέλουμε και μια εκδοχή με περισσότερη έμφαση στον ελληνικό και τουρκικο στίχο :) Να μιλά στον κόσμο της Κύπρου, στη γλώσσα του :) Και υποτιτλισμό :)

[astraeusvideo]

Really enjoyed this collaboration and the resulting music. Thanks for putting it together and sharing. A fabulous effort. Well done to all!

[hmazahussain]

Great to see them together :) i wish them bright future ahead

[steliosker]

Εξαιρετικό!!!

Μπράβο σε όλους τους συντελεστές!

[lamborayia]

Great music, wonderful lyrics. Thank you for giving us hope! What older generations have failed to achieve, you can! Please strengthen your friendships and continue to create beautiful music together.

[radicalcyped]

Congrats for this amazing work! Let's hope that this can be the basis for a new bicommunal cultural initiative.

[shtodrummer]

We need more of this! Great initiative :)

[nicodemosvarnava]

Μπράβο συνεχίστε είμαστε μαζί σας! Θέλουμε κι άλλα με ελληνικό και τουρκικο στίχο!

[dervisheg.cherkez]

Fabulous🥰 I had goosebumps listening to this, congratulations to everyone involved, amazing talent 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🎈🎈🎈🎈❤️❤️❤️❤️

[LouiseCyprus]

Brilliant. The time is Ripe indeed. Thank you !

[NazimAlcicioglu]

Whos the guy with the white socks? 😁❤🙋‍♂️