Backtrackin' Pink Floyd
tribute band - Athens/GR
Backtrackin’ was formed in Agia Paraskevi (Athens/Greece), in January 1995. Yannis “Fenderias” Papadantonakis (gt, voc), Kostis Kafousias (b, voc) and Mike Drakakakis (dr, voc) formed a classic rock cover band, in order to be able to play their all-time favorite music, the classic rock of the 60's and 70's.
Through the years, and during
countless gigs in main Athens area, they covered a very wide area
of classic rock tunes. Then, in 2006 they started working on
tributes of certain bands of the 70's, always going very deep on
each band's sound & style, and cooperating with guest musicians
on some of these. Backtrackin’ have performed tributes on Thin
Lizzy, Bad Company, Rory Gallagher, Gary Moore (80's only), dIRE
Straits, ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin & Jethro Tull.
Finally, since May 2012, with
the contribution of well known musician George Lagogiannis (keys,
voc), Backtrackin’ are performing exclusively as a Pink Floyd®
tribute band, which was already a long time dream of every band
member, long before even they first met each other!
The main idea was (and is) to
recreate the Pink Floyd® sound of the 70's, when PF performed
as a four-man band. Main
influences are the legendary "Live at Pompeii" concert and the
"Animals" album. However, the song range in their repertoire goes
from the very first PF period, up to the post-Wall period,
including also tunes from personal albums of the PF
members.
To achieve all this, and in
order to offer high quality performances, Backtrackin’ have also
assigned top cooperators for specific tasks.
Please scroll down on this page to read more about the band members, guests and partners.
Backtrackin' line up today
From left to right:
Michael (dr,voc), George (keys,
voc), Yannis (gtr, voc), Kostis
(bs, voc)
Members'
details
Yannis "Fenderias" Papadantonakis
Born 1964 in Athens/GR, Yannis
started playing the timpani at his school symphonic orchestra at
13. He wanted to become a drummer, and for a short time he managed
to play the drums on a borrowed set in a schoolband. He switched
over to guitar at 17.
In 1982 he moved to
Karlsruhe/Germany for studies in the Electrical Engineering faculty
of the local University, and in parallel he started learning &
practicing on the guitar seriously.
In 1985 he started working on
the technology of the electric guitar. He was introduced to the
secrets of maintaining, upgrading and setting up an instrument,
learning mostly at local luthier Peter Cimrman.
In 1987 he met Kostis Kafousias
during a vacation period, and since then they are playing together
in Greece.
He worked during the period
1990-1993 as a professional musician in the Karlsruhe
region/Germany.
In 1995 he moved back to Greece
permanently and formed Backtrackin’ with Kostis and Mike (January
1995).
Since 2011 Yannis works
professionally as a guitar tech. He runs his own lab, named
Guitar Aging Studio, where he combines his knowledge on electrical
engineering with his experience on guitar technology.
Since 2014, Yannis designs and
assembles (100% by hand!) his own guitar & bass pickups,
GAS
Pickups. He further provides custom
pickups to guitar players who need a perfectly tuned up pickup for
their personal style and particular guitar(s).
Yannis has an effective guitar,
fx & amps collection and he has properly modified certain
guitars (10 in total!) especially for the Pink Floyd tribute
project (see gear
subpage).
Kostis Kafousias
Born 1970 in Athens/GR, Kostis
started playing the piano at 5 (Greek National Conservatorium) and
the guitar at 12. He soon joined local bands in Agia Paraskevi,
Athens area, as a guitar player.
In 1987 he met Yannis (who was
still studying in Germany and was occasionally in Greece for
vacation) and became his buddy and faithful bass player. Since
then, both are playing together!
In 1990 he attended Topaz band
(Greek texted rock).
Kostis formed Backtrackin’ with
Yannis in 1995.
He also played with the Greek rock band “Gnostoi Agnostoi” from 2004 to 2008.
Mike Drakakakis
Mike was born in 1965 in
Athens/GR and started playing the drums at 12, and taking lessons
at 14. He is also a taught percussionist, specialized on the
traditional Greek & oriental percussion and
rhythms.
After joining local bands in
Athens/Papagou area, he joined Kostis and Yannis in 1995, forming
the Backtrackin’ basic line up, which continues up
today.
In 2005 Backtrackin’ designed and built their own rehearsal room at Mike’s home, equipped 100% with their own gear. The equipment is setup to a "plug and play" status: The band enters the room, the gear is powered-on and the rehearsal starts within seconds! This fact allows great comfort and flexibility on rehearsing.
George Lagogiannis
George was born in 1977 in
Athens/GR. He started playing the piano at 5 and the organ at
15.
George is an extraordinary
musician and excellent singer, and a complete list of the bands
& artists he has cooperated with, can certainly not be
presented here due to size issues!!!
Just to name a few: Doogie White
(ex Rainbow), The Blues Cargo (including gigs with Big Time Sarah,
Louisiana Red, Lurrie Bell), The Bet, Drifting Around, Joe Louis
Walker, Murali Coryell, Remember Lizzy, Moonlight overdrive (The
Doors tribute band).
In March 2012 George joined Backtrackin’ to proceed with the long desired Pink Floyd tribute project. His involvement pushed the band to unthinkable levels and helped the whole project come up to the required standards.
Guests & Partners
Chrisanthi Demopoulos
Born 1984, Chrisanthi plays the
guitar and is already an astonishing singer and teacher. She
studied vocals at the Athens Conservatorium.
Since March 2013, she appears as
a guest vocalist on a crucial part of Backtracking’s setlist
(DSOTM, The Wall songs, etc.).
Chrisanthi also sings on PF
songs that originally were not sung by a female (Mother, Thin Ice,
etc.). We are really happy having her with us!
George Kyriakidis
Born 1981 in Thessaloniki/GR,
George is a great guitar player, but also a Multimedia engineer
(BSc in Cardiff Univeristy/UK, MSc in Oxford Brooks University/UK).
He runs his own Multimedia company "Knot Spot".
Since the beginning of the PF
tribute project, George is responsible for all video projections
during Backtrackin’ gigs. He has also created proprietary animation
films especially for certain Pink Floyd songs that are performed by
Backtrackin'.
George has also engineered, recorded and mixed the Backtrackin' Documentary film, the band's teaser videos, as well as all recent live videos, and is involved in the creation of the current website.
Lampros Matzanas
Lampros is the oldest
Backtrackin' fan around! As a drummer, he played with Yannis and
Kostis in a local band called “Domestic Union”, back in
1988.
He joined Backtrackin' 2002-2003
as a percussionist, during an “Unplugged” shows
period.
Nowadays Lampros operates the light show for Backtrackin' gigs, and helps in a million other ways!
