Locomondo is one of the most known and successful bands in Greece. The 6-member band fronted by Markos Koumaris, the main songwriter and composer of the group, fuses Reggae, Ska and Caribbean sounds with Greek lyrics and Greek traditional musical elements.

Career

* They have released 8 albums, including Locomondo Live!, an album which turned

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

in December 2011. Two of their video clips have received the "Best Alternative Video Clip" award from Mad-TV Greece (in 2007 and 2010). * Locomondo is the most known Reggae band in Greece, as well as the only Greek group that has recorded in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. This happened in 2005, when the band followed an invitation of ex

Skatalites The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including " Guns of Navarone." They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many othe ...

trombonist and Studio One legend

Vin Gordon Vin Gordon (a.k.a. Trommie, Don D. Junior or Don Drummond Jr) (born 4 August 1949) is a Jamaican trombone player. Biography Gordon grew up in Jones Town, Kingston, Jamaica as one of eight children. He went to Kingston's Catholic Alpha Boys S ...

to the "island in the sun" and recorded the album "12 meres stin Jamaica" (12 days in Jamaica). The album contained two songs that meant to be great hits in Greece, but also attracted attention beyond the Greek borders. * The first was a reggae cover of the

Rembetiko Rebetiko ( el, ρεμπέτικο, ), plural rebetika ( ), occasionally transliterated as rembetiko or rebetico, is a term used today to designate originally disparate kinds of urban Greek music which have come to be grouped together since the s ...

song Frangosyriani composed in 1935 by the legendary

Markos Vamvakaris Márkos Vamvakáris ( el, Μάρκος Βαμβακάρης; 10 May 1905 – 8 February 1972), was a ''rebetiko'' musician. He is universally referred to by ''rebetiko'' writers and fans simply by his first name, Márkos. The great significance ...

.
Taking notice of this interesting musical mixture the German film director, screenwriter and producer of Turkish descent

Fatih Akin Fatih Akin (Turkish: Fatih Akın, born 25 August 1973) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer of Turkish descent. He has won numerous awards for his films, including the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for his film '' Head- ...

included the song in his

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

Special Jury Prize winning film Soul kitchen in 2009, and used it as the soundtrack for the red carpet event of his film. * The second hit of this album was Den kani kryo stin Ellada (its not cold in Greece), a hymn to a positive way of thinking. The song's chorus became a slogan in Greece and is considered the band's most known song. * In the next album “Me wanna dance” the band collaborated with Spanish singer Amparo Sanchez (Amparanoia) in Barcelona and Natty Bo (Ska Cubano) in Athens. * In 2010 Locomondo recorded "Goal", a romantic song about football, which turned out to be an unofficial soundtrack for the

Greece National Football Team The Greece national football team ( el, Εθνική Ελλάδας, ) represents Greece in men's international football matches and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece play most ...

qualifying for the second time in its history in the final phase of the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. The video clip of the song featured Greece national player

Dimitris Salpingidis Dimitris Salpingidis ( el, Δημήτρης Σαλπιγγίδης ; born 18 August 1981) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a winger or a striker. He was known to be "a very quick and useful tool on the counter attack." ...

who scored the qualifying goal against Ukraine. Although the Greek team disqualified in the first round in South Africa, the band considered it as a strike of luck as Salpingidis scored against Nigeria in the 2nd match, becoming the first player to ever score for Greece in a World Cup final phase. * In 2012 the Italian rap band

Club Dogo Club Dogo was an Italian rap group from Milan (Lombardy) that consists of Guè Pequeno and Jake La Furia, and beatmaker Don Joe. The group was born in 1999 from the friendship between rappers Gué Pequeno (whose stage name was Lucky Luciano) and ...

released the single titled P.E.S. which was based on Locomondo's song “Pro” and reached platinum. The song became a summer hit in Italy. The album containing the song P.E.S. became platinum as well. * In 2015 Turkish singer

Ziynet Sali Ziynet Sali Safter (born 29 April 1975) is a Turkish-Cypriot singer who also holds British citizenship. Her later works contain pop elements while her earlier works also had rebetiko and classical Turkish music themes. Sali was born in Nicosi ...

Ziynet Sali releases a Turkish version of Locomondo's song “Magiko Hali” which achieves respectable success . *In 2017 Locomondo collaborate with Spanish singer-songwriter

Tonino Carotone Tonino Carotone (born Antonio de la Cuesta on 9 January 1970 in Burgos, Spain) is a Spanish singer-songwriter. His stage name "Tonino Carotone", which is translatable in English as ''Tony Pokerface'', is inspired by his great idol, the Italian ...

and release the song "La Mulata". A song that Locomondo frontman, Markos Koumaris, and Tonino Carotone co-wrote. *In 201
Vinyl Is Back
chooses to record Locomondo live at one of their shows to later release a collectable vinyl record titled "Vinyl Is Back Live Sessions Vol.2". On the same year, the band releases two albums at the same time. The album "Star" in their homeland Greece and the album "Radio" in Germany. Both albums have a very similar track list. The band's summer tour of 2019 was the most successful in their history. *In March 2020 the band performed on a well known Greek show named '' Stin Ygeia Mas'' (Στην Υγειά Μας).

Other interesting facts

* In 2007 the band collaborated with Greek American director Christine Crokos, composing and recording the sound track for the comedy "Gamilio Party" (wedding party). The film sold over 250.000 tickets and the song "Gamilio Party" became one of the most beloved wedding songs. * They have shared the stage with artists and bands such as

Manu Chao Manu Chao (; born José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao on 21 June 1961) is a French-Spanish singer. He sings in French, Spanish, English, Italian, Arabic, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Greek, and occasionally in other languages. Chao began his mus ...

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album '' Horses''. Called the "punk poe ...

the Wailers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

Alpha Blondy Seydou Koné (; born January 1, 1953 in Dimbokro), better known by his stage name Alpha Blondy, is an Ivorian reggae singer and international recording artist. Many of his songs are politically and socially motivated, and are mainly sung in hi ...

the Skatalites The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including " Guns of Navarone." They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many othe ...

Chumbawamba Chumbawamba () were a British rock band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include "Amnesia", " Enou ...

Culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

Mad Professor Mad Professor (born Neil Joseph Stephen Fraser, 1955, Georgetown, Guyana) is a Guyanese-born British dub music producer and engineer known for his original productions and remix work. He is considered one of the leading producers of dub music ...

Amparanoia Amparanoia is the pseudonym of Spanish singer/guitarist Amparo Sánchez combining her first name with the word 'paranoia'. It was also the name of the band she fronted from 1996 to 2006. Debut album, ''El Poder de Machín'', has been described a ...

Ojos de Brujo Ojos de Brujo was a nine-piece band from Barcelona who described their style as "jipjop flamenkillo" ( hip hop with a little flamenco). The band sold over 100,000 copies of their self-produced ''Barí'' album and received several awards, among t ...

Shantel Stefan Hantel, better known by his stage name Shantel (born 2 March 1968), is a German DJ and producer based in Frankfurt. He is known for his work with Romani brass orchestras, DJing and remixing traditional Balkan music with electronic beat ...

Aswad Aswad are a British reggae group, noted for adding strong R&B and soul influences to the reggae sound. They have been performing since the mid-1970s, having released a total of 21 albums. Their UK hit singles include the number one "Don't Tur ...

Thievery Corporation Thievery Corporation is an American electronic music duo consisting of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton. Their musical style mixes elements of dub, acid jazz, reggae, Indian classical, Middle Eastern music, hip hop and Brazilian music, including bo ...

and

Ska Cubano Ska Cubano is a London-based group which combines ska and Cuban music such as son and mambo, with elements of other genres including cumbia and calypso. History The group was put together by investment manager Peter A. Scott, who in his own wor ...

among others. * In 2010 the Band recorded a reggae cover of the popular German song Griechischer Wein (Greek wine) of the Austrian composer and singer

Udo Jürgens Udo Jürgens (born Jürgen Udo Bockelmann; 30 September 1934 – 21 December 2014) was an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spanned over 50 years. He won the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 for Austria, composed close ...

. The song was produced by Marco Baresi, drummer of the Far East Band that used to play for German Reggae star Gentleman, and is included in Locomondo's release "Locomondo- Best of". * The band has supported a lot of environmental and humanitarian organizations in the past such as Greenpeace, Amnesty International, A21 and the Greek homeless street paper “Shedia”. * In their recordings, the band uses a great variety of Greek traditional musical instruments such as

bouzuki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

, baglama,

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

Gaida A gaida is a bagpipe from Southeastern Europe. Southern European bagpipes known as ''gaida'' include: the , , (), () () or (), ''(')'', , also . Construction Bag Gaida bags are generally of sheep or goat hide. Different regions have ...

Tsampouna The tsampouna (or tsambouna; el, τσαμπούνα) is a Greek musical instrument and part of the bagpipe family. It is a double- chantered bagpipe, with no drone, and is inflated by blowing by mouth into a goatskin bag. The instrument is wides ...

(Greek bagpipe),

Kaval The kaval is a chromatic end-blown flute traditionally played throughout the Balkans (in Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Southern Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Northern Greece, and elsewhere) and Anatolia (including Turkey and Armenia). The ka ...

Santouri The santur (also ''santūr'', ''santour'', ''santoor'') ( fa, سنتور), is a hammered dulcimer of Iranian origins.--- Rashid, Subhi Anwar (1989). ''Al-ʼĀlāt al-musīqīyya al-muṣāhiba lil-Maqām al-ʻIrāqī''. Baghdad: Matbaʻat al-ʻ ...

Cretan Lyra ) * Lira da braccio * Rabāb (Arabic الرباب) * Lijerica * Violin , musicians = * Andreas Rodinos * Alekos Karavitis * Antonis Papadakis (Kareklas) * Kostas Mountakis * Nikos Xilouris * Psarantonis * Ross Daly * Yiorgos Kalou ...

and Laud which gave the Caribbean sound a special Mediterranean touch. * Today the band is working together with Dimitris Gasias (Violin), Christos Spiliopoulos (trombone), Nikos "Tattoo" (trumpet) and Christos Kalaitzopoulos (akkordeon)

Band members

Current

* Markos Koumaris -

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

* Yiannis Varnavas -

* Spyros Mpesdekis -

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Stamatis Goulas -

Keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Sampler Sampler may refer to: * Sampler (signal), a digital signal processing device that converts a continuous signal to a discrete signal * Sampler (needlework), a handstitched piece of embroidery used to demonstrate skill in needlework * Sampler (surna ...

* Stratos Angelos Soundris -

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Thanasis "Spogos" Tampakis -

Sound Engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

Additional musicians

* Antonis Andreou -

Trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

* Vasilis Panagiotopoulos -

* Manos Theodosakis -

Trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

* Nikos Vlahos -

* Dimitris Gasias -

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

* Giorgos Makris -

* Natasa Mindrinou -

Former members

*Stefanos Psaradakis -

Discography

* 2004 Enas Trelos Kosmos (A crazy world) * 2005 12 Meres Jamaica (12 days in Jamaica) * 2007 Me wanna dance * 2008 Gamilio Party (OST) (The wedding party) * 2009 Locomondo Live * 2010 Goal (digital single) * 2011 Locomondo Best Of * 2013 Οδύσσεια * 2013 New Day Rising

References

Imdb - soundtracksThe band's official web siteThe myspace page of the bandThe last.fm page of the bandThe Facebook page of the band

External links

The band's official web siteThe myspace page of the bandThe last.fm page of the bandThe Facebook page of the band
{{Authority control MAD Video Music Awards winners Greek ska groups Greek reggae musical groups Musical groups from Athens