what Am I?
Well. Mostly water, lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids.
Hello fellow traveler! My name is Jannis. Being born and raised in Germany, spending most of my childhood in Belgium, graduating from high school and university in Austria, yet being originally of Greek origin, I have been traveling my entire life. I still don’t know exactly why this way of life keeps haunting me, but even now, as a „grown-up“, I have difficulties staying in one place. I visited the U.S. and many parts of the Far East plenty of times, looking for something to find, only Zeus knows what … I travel to my so-called home country Greece all the time, in desperate need of rest, fulfillment and deep connection, watching the waves crushing on the shore, listening to the whispers of the ancient muses, and writing sentences like this one.
Castles, knights, and the medieval tales of central Europe as well as the breathtaking myths of my home country Greece have shaped me since my earliest childhood, which may be the reason why I became a storyteller in the first place, finding my niche in the German speaking high fantasy market, publishing ELASPHERA and my fantasy folk Troubadour songs.
But it was the same me who couldn’t resist the glory of Rock’n’Roll, the transcendence of Jazz and the mysticism behind all kinds of folk music styles. I had to use my skillset in those genres, combined with my storytelling ability and knowledge about modern pop music in order to connect with you. I had to write TRAVELER. I had to find YOU and talk to YOU with TRAVELER.
TRAVELER
… a 24-song cycle including the „Travel Diaries“ blog, being released over the course of 2023/2024, starting in April 2023. Those are songs for all of us! Songs about life, love and traveling on our beautiful planet, be it as a Third Culture Kid (which would be my case), a Cross Culture Kid or an immigrant, each of them with their own unique story, or just a backpacker, searching for the meaning of life. We can all relate and for every one of us traveling may have a different meaning. I’d love to invite you to embark with me on this adventure and join me in my everyday life as a storyteller and musician, mindfulness practitioner, yoga and healthy lifestyle aspirant, nerd, and baby elephant lover!
Let’s travel and get lost together.
Click here if you want to travel with me right away.
Other Projects
Fantasy novelist & world builder, Troubadour & Streamer for German speakers
I will never stop being a Tolkien fanatic and fantasy fan in general which is the reason I keep writing fantasy novels and doing fantasy folk medieval music as my emotional equilibrium. If you speak German or want to improve your German speaking skills, I invite you to check out this piece of work. Also, I adore fantasy themed board games (although I lose most of the time) and started hosting an ASMR live stream on Twitch where I play MMORPGs casually, whispering the crap out of them.
Lover & Performer of quality music from Greece
… and even more things I love doing
Session Musician
After years and years of being a hired gun for all kinds of musical styles, I still value a well-organized and professional project with beautiful music and honesty, which I can lend my guitar skills and passion to.
The Cistercian Monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz with Timna Brauer & Elias Meiri Ensemble – „Chant for Peace“(2015 ℗ Deutsche Grammophon) 
Timna Brauer – „Yiddish Tango“ (2014 ℗ Preiser Records) 
Timna Brauer & Elias Meiri Ensemble – „Songs from Jerusalem DVD“ (2017 ℗ Preiser Records) 
Flaco de Nerja – „Paseos“ (℗ 2019 Plaza Mayor Company Ltd) 
Viko Sabotage – „Mitten in Favoriten“ (℗ 2020 Rest in Pieces Records) 
Viko Sabotage – „Alter Freund“ (℗ 2021 Rest In Pieces Records) 
Viko Sabotage – „Wirbelsturm“ (Album) (2017 ℗ Viktor Waskiewicz) 
Viko Sabotage – „Wirbelsturm“ (Single) (2017 ℗ Viktor Waskiewicz) 
Global Groove Lab – „I’m a Stranger“ (2015 ℗ ArtForm Music) 
Harry Kucera – „Kalinichta, Guade Nocht“ (2015 ℗ 2015 Star Records Austria)
Tutor
Teaching for many years in schools and privately, I still offer 1:1 guitar lessons. For those of you who can’t afford a lesson but still want to learn and support me in a different way there’s a lot of content (including my guitar course „Shred like the 80ies!“ on my Patreon page. (Starting September 2023).
Jannis Raptis Official Website 