New Age Becomes Old Age

"I feel everything that everybody else feels, I promise you," Yanni says. "But there is no reason for me to write music out of anger or frustration, or anything that is negative."
Interview

What is a sensuous chill?

Yanni: It was a concept; I've had it for quite some time. I wanted it to create an environment for the listener that was a sensuous environment, a melodious environment and a sexy environment at the same time.

Excuse me, I think I'm getting a sensuous chill! [Laughs]

[Laughs] They didn't tell me you're funny! I'm in trouble now.

[...]
— I merely describe emotion. I go directly for the emotion. And emotion translates from culture to culture, unharmed, untouched. You know, a Chinese grandfather feels the same way about his grandson as an American grandfather feels towards his grandson. The emotions are very similar around the planet, in my experience. We are more alike than people realize.
[...]


There's a track on this album called "Whispers in the Dark." It sounds to me like a nice kind of darkness: You're with someone you care for and you're confiding in each other.

Absolutely. The reason that I connect with all these different cultures around the planet is, there is optimism inside me. And that has been put in me from my father and my mother, and the way I was raised. I was lucky that I was raised in a very beautiful environment with a lot of hope, and a lot of love. That has grown inside me, so when I write music it comes out. You can't help it! It's part of your psyche.

It's not that I don't feel pain or anger. I feel everything that everybody else feels, I promise you. But there is no reason for me to write music out of anger or frustration, or anything that is negative. I wait until I learn from my mistakes, from my difficult times, and I like to write music about the lessons that I learned while I was going through the tough times. So there is always a resolution in my songs. It is not out of ignorance, it is out of knowledge. And I think that's what the public gets, and that's why they like to listen.