Yannis Philippakis
Yannis Philippakis |
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Yannis Philippakis (born April 25, 1986) is the frontman of dance-punk band Foals.
Early life
Philippakis was five years old when he left Greece, along with his mother—an anthropologist—to set up home in Oxford. He attended school there and would return to spend his summers in Olympos, on Karpathos. At the age of 12 he heard the band Nirvana for the first time and "that's when I said that I wanted to form a band," he stated.[citation needed]
He continued with his studies, concentrating on English philosophy at University of Oxford, but once he met the rest of the members of the group, fellow university students, he stopped studying in favour of playing guitar and singing. "My father was disappointed that I stopped studying but he supported me. He even bought me my first guitar. He is creative and understands what it is like to be driven by passion. He graduated in hagiography at the Athens School of Fine Arts, followed by architecture. He lives and works in Olympos and, in his free time, makes traditional folk instruments. I think that it is thanks to him that I have my love for music. He wished to turn me into a true born Olympitis and from a young age he taught me to dance the folk traditional songs and sing."[citation needed]
Career
In Britain, Philippakis did not become well known thanks to his folk-singing skills but due to Foals' powerful guitar pop sound and the surrealist lyrics that he himself writes. Nevertheless, traditional Greek music elements can be heard in the band's recordings.[citation needed] Starting out in student rooms and at parties, Foals went on to produce three successful singles, "Hummer", "Mathletics" and "Balloons", followed by a much-coveted signing with a record label for their first album Antidotes.
TV appearances
Individually
With Foals
- T-Mobile's Transmission
- The Album Chart Show
Albums
External links
- Official website
- Foals Fansite
- Template:MySpace
- A Band That Cradles Its Rock, Even Under All Those Layers of Expectations, New York Times
- Music Review: Foals, BBC Norfolk – 2008
- Music Review: Foals, Knockout Music Blog – 2008
- Foals reviewed on The Mag
- [1], Yannis Philippakis on imdb