UPCOMING RELEASE
Tapas & Wine- NEW RELEASE-COMING THIS AUGUST 2026
A Rock/Pop song about enjoying the famous great tasting Spanish Tapas & Wine when dinning out, listening to music and dancing while enjoying life with your friends and loved ones.
I myself always enjoyed Tapas & Wine in different places around the world during my life time, it’s always fantastico!
There’s always a need to dance after Tapas and Wine!
This song has a Spanish vibe to it with a Rocky temperament.
A Rock 🎸 guitar written song with trumpet parts to match and a modern feel to it. The guitar fill-ins and solo is played with a certain passion that the song requires and once again has a heavy presence!
The rhythm invites to be danced to….Buen Provecho!
Music & Words by:
G.L.Petersen
EL ENCIERRO
Release of EL ENCIERRO 11.07.2026 during the bull run festival, held yearly in Pamplona Spain
The Running of the Bulls (in Spanish el encierro, meaning "the enclosing") is an activity that involves running in front of bulls on a course of a sectioned-off area of a town's streets.
The encierro has origins in religious traditions, dating back to the Middle Ages. It has evolved over centuries, blending local customs with modern influences. The San Fermín Festival is a vibrant celebration that encompasses various cultural activities beyond the bull run.
While the Running of the Bulls is not unique to the sanfermines of Pamplona, the most famous of the different events including encierros in northern Spain is certainly the one that takes place in Pamplona.
This is Sparta’s Rock/Pop song El Encierro that reflects on the famous yearly run of the Bulls.
El Encierro was created on my electric guitar 🎸 a combination of classical inspired rock parts with a Spanish touch. I used my own created guitar run at the end of the guitar solo 🎸 Deep dark guitar sound/effects are used during this song to reflect on running bulls.
Trumpet sounds were extensively used 🎺 and a Hammond organ sound is firing along
The song has a uptempo beat that follows the running bulls in the streets of Pamplona.
Muchas Gracias!
Music & Words by:
G.L.Petersen
11 PAST 11
A personal Spiritual/Christian Rock song.
Coming to terms with life is acceptance of your mortality.
This song is about the golden years in life and when ending up alone after your significant other passes on, leaves you with decisions to make.
Coping being alone can be hard and can lead to loneliness.
Everyone will have to deal with their situation but when you believe in Jesus, you'll never be alone as he will be your saviour.
Spiritual guidance with The Lord resulted in 11 PAST 11
"Thank you, my Lord"
Music & Words by:
G.L.Petersen
DREAMING OF YOU
This song was inspired by watching a tv show about finding love, reminiscing past travels staying in Hotels and wanting to escape reality.
Being in a Hotel bar room drinking alone behind sunnies not being able to focus on anything other than constant stirring in your cocktail glass.
With no other place wanting to go you constantly think of the person you love and are separated from due to circumstances, hoping to be reunited soon.
Drinking doesn’t change anything but it can be the only spirit left sometimes that will assist you in slipping away to start dreaming.
Love conquers all.
Music & Words by: G.L.Petersen
Dance To Tarantism
Dance To Tarantism
BY THIS IS SPARTA
TARANTISM 🕷️
a nervous disorder characterized by an uncontrollable impulse to dance
While tarantella is primarily an Italian folk dance, a similar form of ecstatic, therapeutic dance was practiced by the Griko people in Southern Italy who also have a strong Greek cultural connection, and the practice was once popular in Southern Greece and Malta. The dance was historically a ritual to treat tarantism, a condition believed to be caused by a spider's bite, leading to frenzied behavior that the dance aimed to cure
Origin and spread
The tarantella originated in Southern Italy in the 15th century and spread throughout the Southern Mediterranean.
Its roots are tied to older therapeutic dance traditions from Magna Graecia, the ancient Greek colonies in Italy.
The dance and its meaning
The dance involves fast, frenzied movements performed to lively music, often accompanied by tambourines.
Historically, it was a ritualistic dance believed to cure the "tarantism" caused by a spider bite. The dancers would imitate the spider's movements to shake the "patient" out of their condition.
Connection to Greece
The Griko people, who are descendants of ancient Greeks in Southern Italy, preserved the tarantella as a part of their identity, performing it with both Italian and Greek lyrics.
The practice of such ecstatic dances was also present in Southern Greece
The one thing that you can experience and get you going is dancing in parts of Southern Europe to Tarantella music.
THIS IS SPARTA
Dance to Tarantism is a Rock/Pop song with traditional vibes and is inspired by Southern Italy Grecinaco Tarantella music. I wrote the music having that spirit in mind, it was at first a more Rock based guitar work song than changed yet I still visioned male and female, young and old dancing in the streets to local musicians who unite people for a moment and make them dance.
Dancing to Tarantism is a Salute to everyone who loves, lives and wants to maintain this incredible beautiful culture and promote dancing to Tarantella street music that the Mediterranean has to offer particularly in the regions of Southern Italy- Calabria and in Sicily.
With these rhythms and fine memories in mind it takes me back to the beautiful places when life all was transparent in small villages, but now life is about to disappear in the villages and it’s needed for the government to step in to ensure prosperity for the last and upcoming local people to ensure families having a future, instead of leaving!
Southern Europe is ceasing to live at a fast pace! Safe Culture,Traditions and Music.
Keep on dancing!
PARTY ON MYKONOS
by THIS IS SPARTA
A Song about the Party-life on the Island Mykonos in Greece, visited by 2 million tourists every year.
Spain has Ibiza and where else in the Mediterranean do they Party Night and Day.
Mykonos is apparently a 24 hour Party place visited by Worldwide partygoers feeling attracted to visit.Old and young party there and romantico relationships are created by all walks of life.
Celebrities often visit, adding to it's reputation as a glamorous destination.
MUSIC:
A reflection with an imaginary view on a Party Island mirrored in modern day music.
This song was written on my keyboard including use of Synth sounds. Electronic driven Beat - drum&bass are used. I use my guitar a Stratocaster for rhythm and fills.
Music written by:
G.L.Petersen
GODDESS OF LOVE
A heavy guitar, exotic strings and Hammond driven melodic Rock song based on a seductive Goddess.
In Greek and Roman mythology there was Aphrodite and Venus to relate to and yet modern female species still remains a mystery.
Adding it to the portfolio of Mediterranean inspired music for This is Sparta ‘s constant musical expanding catalog.
My fascination for the darker and heavy side of music comes from my influences listening to heavy metal/ Rock music since the 70’s and 80’s. Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple and Rainbow influenced my guitar playing and so did the Maestro of the Hammond organ Jon Lord, when I started playing the organ and keyboard.
Why Ritchie Blackmore? The perfect guitar God with lots of tone and an incredible songwriter, Ritchie’s feel & expressive brilliant live improvising guitarist is underrated, as well as being an extreme fiery guitarist with that perfect stage presence!
Ritchie Blackmore explored the double harmonic mayor scales and incorporated that in his guitar playing and so have I.
I have seen Ritchie Blackmore in concert with Deep Purple, Rainbow and Blackmore’s Night.
Ritchie Blackmore cannot be copied and is one of a kind.
Before Deep Purple and Rainbow there was nothing.
Keep on Rocking!
Music written by:
G.L.Petersen
