Gkountaroulis Vasilis

Vasilis Gountaroulis was born in 1973 in Thessaloniki, Greece. He studied piano, music theory and harmony at the Contemporary Conservatory of Thessaloniki and Economics at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. From 1985 to 1992 he was a member of various bands in the city.
He was a founding member and main composer of "Xylina Spathia" (Wooden Swords, 1993-2003) with which he released six albums, most of them platinum. The unique way he used the synthesizer, was the main feature of the band.
He appeared in most of the big festivals of Greece with the peak moment being when Xylina Spathia performed as the support band at the Rolling Stones concent in the Olympic Stadium in Athens. He has also been on stage at London Astoria, club H.Q. in London and the legentary Hacienda in Manchester.
In 2000 his first personal album titled "Mia volta" (A ride) was released. It was a wandering effort in the area of experimentation. In 2001, after the invitation of the producer and member of Walkabouts, Chris Eckman, he participated in the album of Big Sleep.