2025 – Joe Stump´s Tower of Babel signs a deal with Silver Lining Music and launches the album´s first single and clip of “Days of thunder” on April 29th and the second single & clip on July 1st. 
The scheduled release via Silver Lining Music on July 4, 2025.

2024 – Studio Aspiotis, Athens, George Aspiotis, Ade Emsley, Manos Backline, Drum Dungeon Studios, Alex Simon, Joe Testa, Vic Firth & Zildjian, the Siraprint team, Johannes, Dario, Carina, Jobert Mello, CMM, Wolfgang Rott, Jay Lansford.

The TOB mix and mastering is done and we have landed a deal with Silver Lining Music. In the summer I was quite busy with Merchandise working for Metallica, AC/DC, Bruce Dickinson’s Mandrake Project, Rammstein and Taylor Swift and in late September I started writing material for my own album, which I plan to release in 2026 on my label CMP-Records.

October – It was long overdue to revive the Bad Habit tapes from 1992. An unfinished production that I just sent to the Abbey Road Studios in London and had the 24 track reels baked and digitised.
I got in touch with my old band mates Vance Reese in the UK and Manos MP Mansell in Athens, one of the greatest guitar players I had the pleasure working with. Ah yes, we were both involved with the Ian Gillan project in 1993 in Greece.
The excitement was mutual to say the least!
Sadly our bass player Alex Douglas had passed in 2012…. You will remain in our hearts! RIP Loulee, your impeccable playing will be remembered.
Everyone is truly excited to release these recordings. In October I will start to lay a hand on a new mix and master. Great stuff indeed. 

2021 – 2023 – Mistheria, Martin Sosna, Sierra Studios, Matten Lange, Tavi Iepan, Podratzky and Kempes, Roxanna and all the great people in Romania during the Rezident EX shows.

God´s Army released their third album “Warriors of the wasteland” and I also recorded another track for Vivaldi Metal Project´s new album “Epiclassica”.
In 2022 we played a show with Joe Stump´s Tower of Babel in France and early 2023 I took the production of the new album under my wings and worked on it fulltime throughout the following couple of years.

2020 – Covid times – where are we going and what are we doing?
Escape from Brexit, escape from Germany and dangerous politics….
I had actually planned a 6 month stay in Los Angeles in March 2020 after visiting the Namm show in January, but Covid stroke!
Change of plans, and as we all know….. as good citizen, we all stayed at home and I decided to build a studio. The Drum Dungeon …..I survived the Pandemic and made new music.

2015 – 2019 – A new life! So the Scorpions gig didn’t work out and I was offered the job to become Manager of one of the busiest Rockin´Bar Restaurants, the “Zwick” in Hamburg, Germany. My Business in the UK went bad, my marriage collapsed, and I decided to shut it all down and take the job in Hamburg and moved to Germany for the next three years.
Ssometime in 2015 I recorded the first album with Tower of Babel and the second with Tainted Nation in Sweden and also one track for the Vivaldi Metal Project at the Drum Dungeon Hamburg.
A full album with Romanian Rock band Rezident EX, “Audio Doping” in 2017 at Absurd Studios in Hamburg. My best mate Matthias Lange from Metalium gave me that seat.
With God´s Army I recorded the second album “Demoncracy” in 2017, and in 2019 a couple of tracks for German Symphonic metal outfit Canterra.
In November I flew to Italy and left my mark on Hammond player Neil Otupacca´s (Steve Lee, Gotthard) new band and album, Vanishing Signs and also did a great run with the Vivaldi Metal Project in 2018 and 19, playing shows and recorded and released a live CD/DVD.

At some point I also joined the Siraprint team in Germany, working Merchandise for bigger events.
German politics and lifestyle had just become unbearable and was thinking to move back to the UK, but Brexit was near and In 2019 I finally decided to move back to Greece and arrived just two weeks before Covid stroke and the first lockdown on February 28, 2020.

2014 – early January, visiting Greece to check on my appmt in Athens, I found a two day old email on my MAC from Matthias Jabs saying to give him a call.
Next thing I know, I ordered a second Passport and got Visa´s stamped for shows in Russia with …. The Scorpions! Puh, back and forth between Hannover and London to settle the score. Got all music and tracks to get my sorry ass ready for the Scorps. I flew back to Cheltenham and sat at “Four Rivers Studios” rehearsing the classical set the following weeks.
However the band decided to gave James Kottak (R.I.P.) the seat back until his arrest on April 3^rd in Dubai, when I received the unexpected 7am call from their tour manager, telling me to be at the Airport in no time, and fly out to Bahrain and play the Scorps gig at the Formula 1.
I must say that my first reaction was like in a movie….. 7am call, Scorpions….oh yeah, that´s right ….. fuck off, who are you and what do you want?? And …. I hang up!!

It rang again and all I heard was someone yelling…
Don´t you dare hang up on me again, it´s me Michael…. Ooops.. Right, that sounded serious after all ….  and he had my attention!!!

Shit, showered, shaved, grabbed me sticks and whatever at hand and ran to Heathrow as fast as I could. I  took the flight to Hamburg, met everyone for the connecting flights having 5 people on top of me telling me dis and dat ….
Sorry guys, all good, no worries…. can I just listen to the set one more time please? Cheers!
Great, no rehearsals, just a quick line check at 8am with almost no sleep…. To be honest, I had them totally written off the books and did not see the slightest possibility to ever hear from them again after 2 months of complete silence.
Et voila, however the Bahrain show went well and I played like I had always been in that seat.
Back in the UK and on the road with Tainted Nation in May and June receiving daily updates and phone calls of the  Scorps management about new activities until another “complete silence” followed up.

James had sadly messed it up on previous unplugged shows and the Swedish MTV unplugged producers had enough of it and gave the seat to another drummer for “safety” reasons and once more I found myself off the rails.
A full year on high alert with no result to say the least!
Towards the end of 2014 Michael Gerken (Scorpions Tour Manager) and Peter Amend (Manager) had both passed and it seemed that without them I was clearly invincible, both of them were my closest assets to the band.  Both constantly pushed and supported the possibility for me to become the new Scorps drummer.
“You have to do everything right, be here and be there, stay close ….”  I always said, “Don´t tell me, tell Matthias, Rudolf and Klaus.” I felt good with the idea and as we all know today, it wasn´t up to me to make that decision and after they changed management and tour production, I never heard from them again.

2013 – I moved from Rochester to Cheltenham to focus on my new Business and Tainted Nation activities. Alessandro del Veccio from Hardline called me to fit in for their headline show at the Rock City at Firefest in Nottingham.
Nice one, done deal! We also got a few shows together with Marco Mendoza and Soren Anderson and drove through the UK in my Golf TDI for almost three weeks, what a ride.

2012 – It’s been a crazy and exhausting year!! I´ve decided to leave all small projects behind and dedicate myself only to what’s actually good for me and makes sense in my career. Times are tough and I´ve had enough always investing into others. Thanks to Pete and Mr.Nash and his magic tool….. the Sledgehammer! I set up a new Business and needed 3 months to build the new office, Studio and showroom. Russ Grimmett for being an ace customer and great singer, the Brian Adams tribute gigs rocked, and everyone for helping to set up CRP and Enerled brand! Great times at the Monarch in Camden, London. Davey Rimmer, Dan Panza, Luca Ravasio, Stef “The Colonel”, Richie Faulkner, George Stergiou, Gab Soulavy, Andy Fuller and my old pal Gus Macriskostas for our Sunday prayers and driving them all nuts, plus all the crazy London blokes I got to jam with, Andy Fuller, Geos and Rocko at Holloway Road Studios and many more.
The most exciting day of my life! July 4, 2012: Dima gave Birth to our boy Anthony Cross at 8:06pm at Gillingham hospital, Medway! Welcome to the world my boy!

2011 – More hard work ahead, Greece is going down and am closing down CRP Bookings and will permanently stay in the UK! Outloud signs another deal with AOR Heaven, 2^nd album “Love Catastrophe”, thank you Georg, Phoebus and Elias at Spicy/ Rocka Rolla, Marina, Dimitra for setting up the Twisted Sister show, awesome effort!! My Big Ballz (AC/DC tribute) mates, Rich, Gkion, Mike and last Stergios who swings the Bon Scott sounds better than anyone I’ve heard before!! AC/DC songs are just awesome to play….. thank you!! Victor Berkan (Athens) and Nick Yagoudakis (Berlin) for a great sound on the road always!!
Get ready, more shows to come ….The Revenge of Rock, always Stamatis for endless support to every band and all the things I’ve done, Spyros at Lazy, the BOXX in Ioannina, George Gakis for being more than a friends, but a brother! Thanks for inviting me to play on such a wonderful Rock album featuring Joe Lynn Turner a.o., Fotis Demertzis for giving me the perfect drum sound and Kip Winger for making it all sound better than before!
A huge thanks to my brothers in Tank and the War office in the UK, Cliff Evans, Mick Tucker, Doogie White, Chris Dale and Steve Goldby R.I.P.! Great playing, loads of beer  and great laughs!! Looking forward to the upcoming shows and the new album!!…… Thank you Total Rock, Tina Saul and Mike Exley, now you won’t get rid of me, I’ll be around hauling in London! 🙂 Tainted Nation live in the UK in October!! Thank you Mike …

2010 – Half a year off from touring due to leaving Firewind and constant flying in and out between London and Athens! Great to have some time and clear my head off from noizy Greeks and constant swearing! Pushing  my business Crossroads Productions, my small booking agency forward. Working closely with the the Super Rally Harley Davidson Festival and the Hard Rock Cafe events in Greece! Thanks to Dieter Schmidt, Yannis Zisis, Roberto Mc Donald R.I.P., Dimitri Armougis and everyone at the Harley Davidson Club Hellas and everyone that helped!! Katerina Ginis and all the hard working bands at the Hard Rock Cafe Athens!
In July, Marco Mendoza, Steve Saluto and I headed for a few gigs around Greece and the islands. Late July back in the studio with Outloud, time for album No.2!! A few weeks later drum recordings for another great band called Tainted Nation with Pete Newdeck on vocals and Pontus Egberg of the Poodles on Bass! Thanks to the Basement Studio, Chris, Mike, Bob and Stamos at backline.com.
Also a huge thanks to the Colorado Club in Rhodes for having me for one month drumming! Thanks to Mike Tachlambouris R.I.P. for flying me in, the local band, Kate, Bairam, Angel, Gin, Harley Riders Anestis, Nico, Patsouris and the Rhodes Knights!
The Bourbon Bar in Glyfada, Christo and Dimitri, Joker band, Nassos, Soundtruck, Nostos, Backtrackin’, Chris Dantis, Dieter the local German 🙂 Thank you for your Business!
Also a huge thanks to the Firefest in Nottingham and Fireworks magazine, Sue Ashcroft, Chris Nelson and everyone supporting Tainted Nation in the UK!
Back in Greece on a very cold winter night we shot the new Outloud video “Waiting for your love” and a photo shoot at -2C riding that Harley to Halkis and back to Athens…. Brrrr, that was a tough one!…… 🙂

2009 – 2010 (Firewind closure and Outloud) At some point I wanted out of Firewind, but the management insisted that this line up has to stay… we are this close to a major breakthrough!! Yes yes, bla bla bla….. Gus never wanted FW to reach its high peak, he was more concerned about his solo path,  and I then recorded the drums for “Days of Defiance” literally for free with a poorly credit on the album. I was still legally a band member at the time and was booted out soon after, convenient, but I expected nothing less ….  That’s how these guys treat you, playing rockstar VIP´s, don´t you just love them?
Gus was headed toward Ozzy´s camp and decided to put Firewind on ice for a year + and threw at us that he doesn’t like  “his” band members to be involved in other projects! Excuse me what? I ain’t your fucking Musician mate and I’m not your fan, got it? You’re with Ozzy and we’ve got Outloud, so? Wow!! No mister….  that didn´t work well.
Luckily we had a few good shows booked in Greece with Outloud and I could let my mindset work freely….
Olivier Garnier in France offered us two sold out nights with Swedish greats “Europe” in Paris and started promotion, E urope & Outloud. Once the FW camp & management found out, they started to break my balls asking to cancel these shows,  since we “apparently” had two shows booked in Japan at the exact same time and flights needed to be booked.
Of course I said, show the flights and I’ll cancel.
All bollocks, lies….fucking lies!!!

Of course these Firewind shows in Japan never took place and after longterm pressure I believed them and cancelled.
You can imagine that I took the piss from Olivier, the French promoter for cancelling Outloud´s support to Europe and doors closed for me in France for good.
Don´t you just love it? It took a while to clearly understand how fucked up people can be, but this one?? …. was clearly the top of the iceberg, I was pissed! Oh, that’s not the end of it …. 
I quickly decided to move to London and stay distant, this time… someone might get hurt!!
I´ve had enough of the FW camp, constant swearing and just being fucking rude, Firewind´s management and everything and everybody that had to do with them….  
I should have listened to Iron Maiden’s and Helloween’s Tour Manager  Johnnie Allan in 2007….. Cross, that’s not gonna work, you need to find a bigger band and people in your league … why he said that?….. now that’s a real great story for the book.
London it is …. I´m home! 

2008 – 2009 – On Tour! Firewind Premonition around the world….
We recorded the first Outloud late 2008 and released via Frontiers Records in ’09, signed with Frontiers Records and released the successful single and clip “We Run”, that was shot at Sierra Studio in Athens, GR. Awesome …..
Firewind´s “The Premonition” Tour …. The band was becoming bigger and served its first headline tour, some great memories and some bad ones due to a useless and inexperienced crew member, worst move ever. Gus had brought along his best friend as tour manager who messed things up from day one. He did not speak well English, neither German, most of the crew where Germans and on day two everyone asked for my advice and help. Of course they thought I plotted and should give Mr.A. a chance, sure why not, if he does something useful for once and let me be the drummer.
He was sleeping on couches, was too tired for anything, could not imagine the pressure being TM, complaining and I guess little spoiled brat princess completely misunderstood his role being with a band on the road. He clearly  thought we´d be checking in daily into 5* Hotels, no, it was no holiday. Greek style …..
Long story short, at some point we clashed after I nearly got into a severe fight with bouncers and a club owner in Rome who played lucky Luciano. He tried to force us to leave the Parking area with the Nightliner, claiming compensation for his newly varnished wooden club floor, which had been severely scraped. Apparently our lighting lady Zoe dragged the heavy front stage barriers by herself to get the equipment out in time and scratched the floor´s surface. Really?? Needs a lot of strength this one!!
My drum tech Schrottie had his phone in his hand and was waiting for me to grant the call for support.
I didn´t want things to get messy and handled the situation quite nicely actually showing a bit of muscle….. I guess that kept the local bunch at bay!
Being tough and tender….
You can´t just move a bus at any time and yes, we need power and the driver has to sleep. You´ve got a problem with that? Call the promoter and we´ll sort this.
And where was our TM ?? Getting drunk with Gus trying to pick up birds…. 
Ah yes, finally these two blokes showed up, bladdered, stumbling and wining, can we help? What happened? …I lost my marbles!!
Of course in the end I took the piss being the bad guy….. Malaka this and Malaka that…. In London someone tapped on my shoulder one night and said, “Sorry mate, for how long are you gonna take this? This “Malaka” thing sounds rather personal and not friendly….at all!” Natasha, the promoter who happened to be Greek was absolutely right, wow, she noticed and knew I was gonna lose my marbles sooner or later, but my donkey patience and hard training kept me thinking straight…. but for how long? It takes a while to get me real mad, I´m well trained and have my head on my shoulders, but when the bug is full ….run! I think it finally happened in Switzerland when I hit that wall missing on purpose ones head …… 4 stitches, easy!
Apollo was the one who always calmed me down saying fuck them or crack a good joke, let´s just finish this tour ….. I could tell 100´s of stories of pure embarrassment, disrespectful and provocative gibbering, but will leave more details for my book …..

2007 – Firewind World tour 2007: Christo & the Basement Studio Athens, Mike B. at the “Bolero”, Erik and Kelly Paiste, Andrew, Tim, Joerg and Dan at Paiste cymbals, always Marco at Vic Firth sticks for brilliant ideas (strobe led sticks) and great laughs, Mike Trimis, Yukihiro “Happy”, Aaron, Jason and Mitsuaki “Mitch” at Tama drums, with who I recently signed a new endorsement deal with Tama Japan, thanks for Starclassics and superb drums, you guys made this tour sound better than ever! Hugh at Evans, Thorsten Braun at Shure for your endless support, and Felix, Marcel & Henning for outstanding technology in in ear monitorings at “Compact Monitors Germany” and last Jim at Factory Metal percussion IN TAIWAN Sherry Lee and Dennis IN EUROPE George “Mr.Briggs” for sound, Philip Hills for lights, the Dragonforce MF’s and Angra’s, the crew, Andi Platte, Simone our driver, Alex for drum teching a few times, Dragon Productions, Leif, Gerrit and Steve and all at Century Media. IN THE UK, Sharon Richardson for truely believing in us, Adam “MF” Sagir, Dave Thorne, Duncan at the Cathouse Glasgow for the “LONG RIDE” 2l Jack Daniel´s travel supply to Norwich!, Simon Jayes at the London Drum Company, Y-Not and our driver Sean and all the fans. IN TUNESIA Heshim, Adagio. IN THE USA Michelle, Dutch “Wallmart!”our driver, Hoss for taking care of things and Brandon “trello mouni” for a great sound, Mike my drum tech… who did I miss?
IN JAPAN Nozue, Atsuhiko, Yuka and everyone else at Avex Live Creative in Tokyo, K2 for chinese bombs in Osaka, Yaggi my drum tech, Kaz at King Records and the Kamelot gang and crew.

2006 – (Firewind) Gus, Bob, Petro, Apollo, Martin at the JM Studio, Mikkey Dee and the Diamond Dog Gothenburg, Sara, Marios, Buller and Bang, Snowy Shaw, The book of Heavy Metal, Frederik Nordstrom, Patrick Ullaleus, Tara, www.revolver.se, Maria for Photoshop stunts, Tama, Paiste, Vic Firth, Jim at Factory Metal Percussion, Evi, mom and my family, Kelly at Ballauf shipping and everyone in Gothenburg Sweden!
THE TOUR – with Dragonforce, Mac T., Century Media, Paiste, Vic Firth, Gewa Germany, Remo, Hardcase UK, J.Walsh, Justin , Sean, Chris, Mark, Adam Sagir, Alex Z., Johnnie Allan, Schroerg, Dragon Productions, All that remains, Escoba Athens, my family….

2006 – (Saracen) Rob Bendelow, Martin Kronlund, Buller and Bang, all at Escape and Paiste, the Da Vinci code for inspiration (the book), I dedicate this album to Cozy Powell – You will be remembered!
After I finished the “Allegiance” recordings in Sweden I was asked, if I could drum on Saracen´s new album.

2005/2006 – (God’s Army) My mom, Helmut, Evi B., Virginia, John Papamihail, Nick Battleroar, Mike K., Dyonisi, Percy, Gewa Music, Jim and Factory Metal Cross Benderz, Ian, John, Don, Galactos Management & Martin Sosna, Jessie, Thomas, Jameson Irish Pub, Otti, Headbangers Ballroom HH, Zokk, Josic, , Rock Hard, Christine Stefan, Electric Eye (Judas Priest tribute Hamburg), Mystic Prophecy, Paul Di’Anno for a wonderful tour start with God´s Army. John and I started working right after the At Vance disaster and laid down GA´s first drum tracks and jumped soon after on various stages and played live.
These were also my first steps and jams with Firewind and I  decided to focus on them.  

2005 – (At Vance) Mats, John, AFM, Nils, Rebecca, Eric Cerda for taking care of things, John Papamihail at the Studio, Brainstorm, Hille, Doninik, Voelle, Juergen, Michael, Bobo der “Fuehrer”, Thomas Kreidner, Udo our driver, everyone at Paiste, Amptown Hamburg, Marco at Vic Firth, mom & Helmut, Electric Eye, John Patrick for my drum rack sound design, Maria for the … photo shoot, The one and only Square Sushi in Kefalari, the de Prat bros, George Ioanou, Evi, Virginia, Boris & Spacken you know who!, Fu Jow Pai team Greece, System Graph for Power books, Macs, Macs and more Macs!!, Sandra, God’s Army, Martin, Schmier, Rock Hard, Horst, Heavy oder was?, Battleroar, Axel, Sakis & Jim at Rock Hard Greece, Kickhunter, Matten, Rolli, Markus, Nibbs, Matjes, Arne, Henjo, and Kai, Gamma Ray and last all my fans that showed up at these gigs!! You rule! 
… and last but not least that At Vance dick Olaf Lenk, who still owes me money!! This tour  was an embarrassment, the band was hot, with John on Bass and Mats Leven on vocals. Although being professionals we struggled to finish that tour supporting Brainstorm.

2004 – (Winters Bane) Lou, Curran, Herr Koch, Eric Cerda at DCA, Chity Somapala, Simon Jayes for the UK Drum support, David Philipps at Pearl UK, Johnnie Allan, Gus McRicostas London, Alex & Valerie, The Troubadour Earls Court, Churchill cars, The Embassy Holborn, Chris “Tsagaki” Tsangarides RIP my friend (Howdy doodie …. miss those tea breaks Sir, Skordalia and Mezedakia), “The Dump”, Tim Hole at Audio Authority Management, John Smith smooth and the local Pub, Bazz Ward at John Henry’s, Chris Zorbas in GR at Sierra Studios for cable service, Matt Connors at Remo US, Marco Soccoli at Vic Firth, all at Paiste, Turnkey UK, Peter Lambert, Michael Bormann, everyone in Hamburg DE, Fairpack, Boris, Wolle “Das Tier”, Headbangers Ballroom, Escoba, Alligator, “Texas Club” and the Revenge of Rock club in Athens, On the rocks, Jam, Island and Escoba on Naxos island, Simone and all lovely ladies that poured cool beer and drinks, you know who you are!

2004 – (Spitfire) Big Billy at the management, Stamos at Manos Backline, Chris Korbakis for rehearsal space, Spitfire Studio, Entyposi prints, Pano, Elias, Billy, George, radio 105.5FM, Evolution radio Elias, Mylos, Kiki my guide, now big (once little) George Rakintzis “will become a hell of a drummer!”, Gus G, and all fans from wherever you came. Two re union shows supporting Dokken.

2004 – (Supremacy) Viva Brasil! Bill Hudson & family invited me over to record new music, Fernando Giovanetti, Juan Corral for booking and taking care of things, Bruna, Marina, Stephanie, Iara, the Dr.Sin boys, Radio Brasil 2000, Paola, Manifesto, Blackmore Bar, the “We Burn” Helloween fanclub, Bohemia all the way!, Edu Falashi, Dani Nolden and her band, Hellion records, Vinicious and Cintia at TV Stay heavy, Ricardo Baltalha, Airton (R.I.P.) and everyone at Roadie Crew and the Hudson family in Sao Paolo Brazil.

2003 – (Sick as a dog) mom, Helmut, Evi B. for being my biggest support, Doc Schrader, Sabina, Horst, Heavy oder was?, Bang Your Head (Horst Odermatt R.I.P.) for inviting me to BYH and keep industry contacts alive, Mike K., Sierra, John Patrick, Jonas, Hugo, Matjes, George Ioanou, Escoba & Yanni D., Naxos, Nick at Jam Studio, Jim Patelis at Creatorx, Alex P.
I crawled back to Greece to regain my sanity and get my health back in shape. A huge thanks to Dirty Lee at Power Music for giving me space at the studio to set up my battle station and get back in shape.

2002 – (Judas Priest tribute – Electric Eye) Piesel for a wonderful sound, O.O.A., Logo HH, Jackie Jacklite (R.I.P.) for our lights, Guenni, Jump, Monster Productions, Matt, Joerg, Rolli and Big M, Monica.

2001 – 2002 – (Helloween) Johnnie Allan at Sanctuary for taking care of things, Ian at Sonor, Danny, Eric & Kelly Paiste, Marco at Vic Firth, Thomas at Remo, Wolle in Hamburg, Mihalis & Eleni at the Dyonisos Tavern Hamburg, Harrie and Kay at the office, Lydl & Eva at Mi Sueño for cooking soups to get me back on track, all the doctors and therapists – you know who you are, Tina and Marion, Charlie, Andi, Markus, Weiki, Joern and Sascha, Nataly and all the nice people I met in Tenerife, Axl and Bob for the recovery sailing trip support in Lavrio.
A dream come true, you suddenly end up being invited to join one of the biggest metal bands on the planet and a few seconds later you´re forced to leave due to illness.
When I joined Helloween, the band decided to take a one year leave after the Dark Ride tour in 2001. I could not believe it, I wanted to start right away. Well, I practiced hard that year, learning songs and was also heavily into martial arts at that time and trained non stop…
I remember on my Birthday in 2001, I just came back from the Metalium tour and went out for dinner with Kamelot and Thomas Youngblood asked me if I could join the band. Casey was also there, he said he had some family obligations and decided to step back. I had to decline and told them that I was offered the Helloween job at the same time and we were about to meet them in an hour for drinks.
There was excitement in Kamelot, cause who wasn´t a Helloween fan, and when you meet you meet your idols …..
It was a fantastic evening, we had a quick “unofficial” band meeting with Weiki, Andi and Markus and stayed after and had a great night with Kamelot at the old “Backstage” in Hamburg, before heading out for coffee at 4am and were joined by Gamma Ray´s Henjo Richter, who was also a night owl.     
When we started the Helloween pre production in Hamburg in March 2002, sometime in the summer just before leaving to record the album in Teneriffe ES, I felt something was not right and shit hit the fan….. On day three in the studio I collapsed and was diagnosed with Mononucleosis, which lasted a full year until my clean bill in September 2003 and of caused me leaving Helloween early 2003.

2000 – 2001 (Metalium – S.O.T. EU Tour & Festivals) my tech Dirk (Digger) Weiss, Stefanie at the office, Lloret de Mar (ES) for a nice chill, Yogi for an exclusive ride through Europe!, Ernst Seider, Richard Peach & Michel for sound, at Sonor Ian Croft & Karl Heinz, at Shure Thorsten Braun, at Hear Safe In Ear Monitoring Henning & Felix, Robbie, Joerg and his Video Team, Jay P, Michel and Achim Koehler for sound, at Paiste Joerg & Danny, at Vic Firth Marco, at TKL Tommy, at Shadow Josip, at Musik Meyer for Remo Thomas Barth and No1 in Hamburg, Carmen, Jeanette, Conny and Spanish heights.

2000 – (Metalium) – Festivals) my tech Big M. & Ulsch in Budapest, Monster Productions Hamburg, Stefanie, our bus driver Ernst (you’re the safest), Karl H.Menzel at Sonor, J.Kohlmorgen at Paiste, Marco Soccoli at Vic Firth, Jay P in Hamburg, Yanni Stollas in Greece for Paiste support, Matt, Lars, Henne, Jeanette.
After finishing the recordings for Nightfall, producer Jay P Genkel introduced me to Metalium, who were recording in Studio B. We quickly became friends and on January 1^st 2000 I became the new drummer of Metalium, replacing Mike Terrana and recorded “State of Triumph Chapter II”.

1998 – 1999 – (Nightfall) G.Karahalios for being my tech at the Rock Wave, crazy Manos for being runner, loader, driver & security, Manos backline for Sonor support. Big Star Promotions, Nana, Jay P & Rock Cafe in Hamburg, Phil, Geezer, EK, Mike G.
The full bug, had some great 4 summer seasons on the island, drank a lot and made good money, the Studio in Athens was struggling and decided to close the Magna Carta business and move to Hamburg Germany to focus on new Bands and recordings and get busy as a drummer again.
Greek Death Metal band Nightfall asked me if I´d fancy to record on their new album “Diva Futura”. I did my thing, more rock drumming than death, but it seemed to work and also played a few shows with them. 

1997 – (Spitfire) Manos backline & Stamos for ADATS, Sonor support, backline, sound & lights. The Little Wing, Elias, Tasso, Alex, Gus, Theo at Magna Carta Studios and Iron Maiden. Old Greek metal band with own material, let´s try new luck here and record an album at my Studio.

1996 – (Take 3) thanks to our public relations we could make this winter Pub Tour through Attika´s Clubs and have a fab time. Chris, Niko Freeman & brother George Eleftheras, George Axarlis for PA and Chris Korbakes for backline support, Hxos & Camel club. Another cover band, a power trio playing classic rock.

1995 – (Anonymous) Mike at the Opera, Julie Reese, Greg Carr, Vance Reese, Sino, Chris Voyatsis, Taki Drakopoulos, Dimi, Paul – our Danish sound guy, Chris Korbakes for backline, Iguana club, the Andros shows and everyone else involved.
I had returned to Greece and decided to build a recording Studio…. Magna Carta Studios and join the legendary Bar “ La Costa” on Skopelos island and play smaller gigs with the Anonymous, a Top 40 band.

1993 – (Gillan/Rakintzis) Axl Steck, my drum tech – good friend and skipper, Sound Control, J.Papoutsakis & crew, Habib (R.I.P.), Al Dutton, Phos & Ihos, Elias country boy…..& his brother Spiros, Mike , Al, Ian, Grace and Bron, MP Mansell, Terry, Vaggelis, Sascha, Fratze, the La Costa Bar Skopelos island, Greece.
The Bad Habit boys were the best for this job, the look, the performance. I thought making a few bucks and get rep with Gillan might help us step up as a band, but no one followed and stayed put in Greece.
So in September ´93 I took the plane to Los Angeles to seek my luck. Having played these shows with Gillan, I guess there was nothing further left for me to do in Greece and since Bad Habit disbanded, I explored the Sunset strip until the big Quake hit LA and shook us all real bad early´94.
A bad year and little luck for us rockers, Nirvana and Pearl Jam´s Grunge changed the rock´n roll scene completely and getting a green card for 5K to stay in the States I could not afford, neither did I risk to get married :). 
Tough times, tried to get jobs as a model, on movie sets and audition for bands had become a daily routine, that included “Badlands”, and lost the opportunity for a day to jump on the Japanese leg with “Blue Murder” and ended up working in a Greek joint on La Cienega, were we nearly got shot when a fight broke out amongst Armenians and I don´t know who.
When I had left, a friend called and said that I had an audition for a small role in the new “Beverly Hills Cop” movie!! Too late, I was already back in Europe and even if I wanted to, I did not have enough cash to get back ….     

1992 – (Bad Habit) M.Polychronakis & N.Manolias at Hellas sound and Concert Ltd. Fanny, Mike & crew for endless support, (Habib, stage tech & monitoring RIP!) Billy Nikolarakos at Anosi and Rodon, Mike Blitz at the Opera, Vlassis Bonatsos for keeping the front row and Backstage alive & kickin’ (R.I.P. brother!) MP Mansell, Terry, Vicky H., Joan Barrington, Eva Tselidou, Vance Reese, Vaggelis, Diana, Jack Daniel’s, Heineken, Josë Cuervo, the Rock’n Roll Bar/Restaurant, Clown Bar & Pepi, and of course god for beautiful girls!
Time to run our own band and record an album. It was the time when we wanted it all, and make a great album and get on the road. We supported successfully the Ramones, played a few shows on our own, we were ignored and feared by many due to our natural energy and confident attitude.
One guy believed in us and invited me and our American singer rock star Vance Reese to Berlin to find a guitar and bass player. We refused because we were a band and said, the band as is or nobody. Sadly manager Tasos Alexopoulos, who was a close friend of the Scorpions, was very right! Little did we know back then and missed a good opportunity. I think we could have done better then. RIP Taso! 

1990 – 1991 – (A.Vissi/N.Carvelas) Minas Polychronakis, Nick Manolias & Mike at Hellas Sound and Concert Ltd. Evi Vaiopoulou, Fanny, Mike & crew, Chris you crazy Aussie for our personal security and Jack Daniels, Nick Moran and Jason Trueman at Varie Lite UK, Big Al, Tony, Sino, George, David, Vasili, Sandy, Anna, Nico, Pam, Kate and all the lovely Russian and English dancers we met during this tour for mental support, thank you!  Beefsnake (RIP) – Lyricon for Tama & Aquarian support and Nakas for Zildjian and Vic Firth.
Two massive well organised years on the road with Greece´s biggest pop rock star Anna Vissi. Some of the biggest shows ever, playing local soccer stadiums and the biggest Venues around.

1989 – 1990 – (Magna Carta) Mike Nikoloudes, Rania Katsaiti, Chris Manolitsis, Blue Moon Studios, Vagelis Yannopoulos, John Patrick & Nico Freeman for investing time to make this happen, Pete, John, Aida, and Fay for inspiration! First own band and worked very hard. It took one year to write and record, experimenting how to create and sample drum sounds and make 24 tracks 158 etc etc.

1988 – (Vassili Papaconstantinou) Alecos, Periklis, Sifkos & crew at Sound Express for sound and lights. Mania Mounia, T.Psomopoulos for booking and managing, Billy, Andreas, Stella, Vaggeli, Stella, Monika, Porto Rafti and Peter Lambert (R.I.P.). A tour of 35 concerts with Greek rocker VP in the summer of 1988 across Greece, I can tell you this, Che Guevara inspired fans can be rough, and boy, it was a tough ride!

1986 – (Scraptown) Living in Cannes, France – Tony Carville at Northlight, my first big love Lucy Poinstingl, Akis Golfidis, Robert Seto, the Aganian family in Cannes, Massut, Duvallier and his bodyguards, Madama Sigala, the Firuzeh, Thierry the cook, Patrick en Grasse, Miriam and the funkiest clothes I’ve ever seen and the Cote d’Ázur (F) local guides., Mike, Vivi, Lena, Billy and Papashock (R.I.P.) the Don Juan, Tanya and Fay! Pop Rock band Scraptown promoting their album in southern France and Italy, what a ride. Bobo, for giving me the daily VIP pass for Excalibur…. It´s my Club, enjoy your time, money is not the problem! Oh boy….did I….

1984/85 – (D.Papadimitriou) – Dimitri Papadimitriou, Akis Golfides at Sierra Studios, Sandy Politi, Julie Massino, Sierra Studios, the Kramers and the Don Juan, Pete Lallis, John & Jimmy Patelis, Mustang and Tomas de Prat for Snare drums, Theo and Lope. First professional recording experience.