Chicago-born musician Paul Grosso, also known as Musical Mindset, has released a music video shot near the same village where his Greek immigrant grandmother grew up in the Peloponnese.
“Dance It Up (Aman)” is the name of the featured song, now available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music and to purchase on Bandcamp. Grosso collaborated with fellow Chicagoan and Egyptian multi-instrumentalist NAXÖ on the track.
The 29-year-old tells The Pappas Post that the track fuses elements of Greek, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern music while maintaining a “contemporary sound.”
Grosso, who grew up spending summers in Greece and performing in the streets with other musicians, says shooting the video fulfilled a “longtime dream” of his while paying tribute to his heritage.
“This project was a labor of love which I worked on over the course of many months,” he says. “It was so incredible being able to shoot a video in Greece near the same village where my grandmother was born.”
He says that Polina Katsanou, a professional belly dancer, elevated the final product by adding her own flavor into the video.
“Meeting Polina while I was in Greece this summer was such an unexpected surprise,” Grosso says. “But in the end it worked out for the best because I truly believe that she made our video much better than it would have been.”
Grosso sings both in English and Greek and plays drums on this track, but his broader repertoire includes native American flute and didgeridoo, among other instruments. He releases music under the artist name Musical Mindset, which is a brand he conceptualized during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.
“Musical Mindset was an idea that came up after spending a lot of time at home and really thinking about where I was going in life,” he says. “In recent years I’ve really gotten into music, meditation, mindfulness, health and wellness, and I wanted to create something that would incorporate all of those things.”
In addition to creating music, Grosso offers services such as one-on-one or group healing sessions and cacao ceremonies. He also co-organizes and leads health and wellness retreats in Greece and Costa Rica. For more information, visit his website.
Click here to watch the music video
