This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification, as its only attribution is to self-published sources ; articles should not be based solely on such sources. (July 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) |
Mike Pougounas | |
---|---|
Born | Athens, Greece |
Genres | Rock, gothic rock, post-punk, industrial music |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician, film director |
Instruments | Vocals, keyboards |
Years active | 1981–present |
Labels | Various |
Associated acts | The Flowers of Romance, New Zero God, Nexus |
Website | http://www.myspace.com/mike_poug |
Mike Pougounas is a Greek vocalist, songwriter, keyboardist, record label owner and independent filmmaker who is most notable for his contributions to Greek rock during his time as the frontman for Greek punk and gothic rock pioneers The Flowers of Romance from 1981 to 1998. Following the breakup of The Flowers of Romance in 1998, Mike Pougounas would both found a new band Nexus, and in 2000, the Cyberdelia Record Label. After the end of Nexus and Cyberdelia in 2005, Mike Pougounas formed New Zero God.
Mike Pougounas' three-decade career has made him an influential and respected performing artist not only in Greece, but also within Europe as a whole.
Growing up in the poor Athenian neighborhood known as Tzitzifies-Kallithea, Mike Pougounas took an interest in Greek punk at the age of 13, and started playing live shows during that year as well. [1]
In 1981, at the age of 16, Mike Pougounas would form The Gift, later renamed The Flowers Of Romance after a pre-Sex Pistols band in which Sid Vicious was the drummer. In his position as The Flowers Of Romance's front man, Mike Pougounas would continue to hone his talents as a lead vocalist, songwriter, and keyboardist. Influenced by the many musical styles of the 1980s such as dark wave and punk, Mike Pougounas and the Flowers Of Romance would often incorporate these styles into their early work, which resulted in a unique punk sound that made them very popular in the underground Greek rock scene.
Mike Pougounas encountered international notoriety with the Flowers Of Romance's Dorian Grey LP, and by this time the band's style had evolved into gothic rock. As a result, Mike Pougounas was responsible for the first Greek gothic rock album to be released internationally.
The Flowers Of Romance's sound would continue to evolve through the 1990s, though they never truly departed from their punk and gothic rock roots. In 1995, Mike Pougounas and The Mission frontman Wayne Hussey met and began collaborating on what would be the last album of the Flowers of Romance, Brilliant Mistakes. With Hussey's help ensuring that Brilliant Mistakes could reach a broader media market, 1996's Brilliant Mistakes became The Flowers of Romance's most successful offering.
Unfortunately, failure from the band's managers in promoting a long-planned European tour combined with Pougounas' growing discontent caused a great deal of friction between the Flowers of Romance; Mike Pougounas left the band in 1998, causing the group to disband. Pougounas had been the sole member of the band to stay through the entirety of their 18-year career.
After leaving The Flowers of Romance, Pougounas formed the first Greek industrial band, Nexus. Pougounas also created Cyberdelia Records on 9 March 2000, and on 19 May, Cyberdelia released Nexus's debut album in Greek, entitled 6.
Both Cyberdelia and Nexus would be successful ventures for Mike Pougounas, as Nexus would attain levels of popularity on par with, if not surpassing, The Flowers of Romance. Cyberdelia Records released albums for popular European bands such as Wayne Hussey's The Mission. In 2005, both Cyberdelia and Nexus disbanded, and a year later Mike Pougounas formed the post-punk New Zero God along with Nexus members Costas Spanos and Dimitris "Sidheog" Steves.
Mike Pougounas is currently New Zero God's lead vocalist, and in November 2009 plan to release their debut album, Fun Is A Four Letter Word.
Vlad the Demon, a graduation assignment of Mike Pougounas while he was studying as a film director in 1986, served as his first experiment in independent film. The 9-minute short film was a comedy that paid homage to 1920s horror expressionism, and was rediscovered in 2008 by Rag Films. After sound manipulation, Mike Pougounas won a directorial award for Vlad the Demon at The 10th Independent Panorama of International Film and Video Makers, Patras City, 2008. [2]
Mike Pougounas and George Kagialedakis conceptualized “Back In Black: History Is Made By The Bands, Vol.1”, a documentary film produced by Rag Films about the Greek rock scene, Greek rock bands, and the survival of both within a seemingly under-appreciative industry. The documentary is currently touring the international film festival circuit, with a possible theatrical release scheduled for late 2009. Mike Pougounas was responsible for the interviews in “Back in Black” as well as the male vocals for the Rag songs “My Life” and “Rock’n’Roll Puppet” while playing the keyboards on the song “From Hell”, which appears on the soundtrack of the documentary.
This section contains a list of miscellaneous information. (September 2020) |
Gothic rock is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted towards dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, Bauhaus, and the Cure.
Bad Brains are an American rock band formed in Washington, D.C. in 1977. They are widely regarded as among the pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members have objected to this term to describe their music. They are also an adept reggae band, while later recordings featured elements of other genres like funk, heavy metal, hip hop and soul. Bad Brains are followers of the Rastafari movement.
y Snot is an American nu metal band from Santa Barbara, California. Formed in 1995, the band released their only studio album Get Some with founding vocalist Lynn Strait in 1997 and disbanded after his death in 1998. In 2008, the lineup of lead guitarist Mikey Doling, rhythm guitarist Sonny Mayo, bassist John Fahnestock and drummer Jamie Miller reunited. In 2009, a new band, Tons, was formed, with Brandon Espinoza as vocalist. As of February 2014, Snot has reformed again.
The Kovenant is a Norwegian industrial metal band from Hamar. The band originally formed as a symphonic black metal act known as Covenant in 1993, but in 1999 were forced to change their name to The Kovenant due to a dispute with a Swedish electronic band of the same name. The band's name change also marked a change in sound/style as well, as the band from there on began to focus more on an aggrotech/industrial metal sound heavily influenced by Europe's EBM scene. Despite their style change, The Kovenant did however later reissue their early albums under The Kovenant name.
My Chemical Romance is an American rock band from Newark, New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way. Founded by Gerard, Mikey, Toro, and Matt Pelissier, the band signed to Eyeball Records and released their debut album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, in 2002. They signed with Reprise Records the next year and released their major-label debut, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, in 2004. Shortly after the album's release, Pelissier was replaced by Bob Bryar. A commercial success, the album was awarded platinum status over a year later.
This is a timeline of punk rock, from its beginnings in the early 1960s to the present time. Bands or albums listed before 1974 are of diverse genres and are retrospectively called by their genre name that was used during the era of their release.
The Flowers of Romance may refer to:
Gloria Mundi was an English early punk/gothic rock band. The name comes from the Latin meaning for "the glory of the world". This could be a reference to the phrase "Sic transit gloria mundi", meaning "this is how the glory of the world passes".
Univers Zero are an instrumental Belgian band formed in 1974 by drummer Daniel Denis. The band is known for its dark style of progressive rock, heavily influenced by 20th-century chamber music.
The Batcave was a weekly club-night launched at 69 Dean Street in central London in July 1982. It is considered to be the birthplace of the Southern English goth subculture as it had already been established in Northern England, in particular Leeds and Manchester, and in Belfast, though when the culture was being developed in the North it was commonly known as "alternative" before being given the goth moniker. As one of the most famous meeting points for early goths, it lent its name to the term Batcaver, used to describe fans of the original gothic rock music, who would adorn themselves in Batwing coffin necklaces to distinguish themselves from other less prolific goth clubs.
Jerry Wayne Hussey is an English musician who was born in Bristol, England. He is best known as the lead singer of The Mission, and the guitarist with The Sisters of Mercy.
Naz Nomad and The Nightmares was a one-off project featuring the members of British punk and gothic rock band the Damned.
Pierce the Veil is an American rock band from San Diego, California, United States. Formed in 2006, the band was founded by brothers Vic and Mike Fuentes after the disbandment of the group Before Today, which was formed out of the San Diego punk rock scene. Other members of the band include Jaime Preciado (bass) and Tony Perry. Pierce the Veil has released four studio albums and has toured worldwide since the release of their debut album, A Flair for the Dramatic in 2007. The band released their second full-length studio album, titled Selfish Machines in 2010. Their third album, Collide with the Sky, was released in 2012, and is their first album under the Fearless Records label. Featuring the hit first single "King for a Day", the album debuted at No. 12 on the Billboard 200. Their fourth and latest album, Misadventures, was released on May 13, 2016.
Alessandro Nunziati, better known by his stage name Lord Vampyr, is an Italian musician, record producer and writer, famous for being the former vocalist of the gothic metal band Theatres des Vampires, as well as one of its founding members.
Mike Got Spiked are an Irish rock band, from Dublin, Ireland, formed in 2002 by Conall McMahon, Gavin McGuire (vocals), David E. Lodge and Jonathan Myles (bass). mike got spiked disbanded amicably in December 2012.
Michael John Burkett, known professionally as Fat Mike, is an American musician and producer. He is the bassist and lead vocalist for the punk rock band NOFX and the bassist for the punk rock supergroup cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Fat Mike started out with his first band False Alarm in 1982. He credits Joe Escalante of the Vandals for introducing him to punk rock when he was 13 at a summer camp.
The Flowers of Romance was a pioneering punk and gothic rock band of the underground Greek rock scene from 1981 to 1998. The band's energetic sound and combinations of several styles of rock led to their prevalence within the underground Greek rock scene for nearly two decades, and a belief by many that they were the top Greek gothic rock group in history.
Nexus was a Greek industrial rock band formed by vocalist/keyboardist Mike Pougounas. He was joined by guitarist Lefteris Strouggaris, drummer Vangelis Papachristopoulos, and bassist Costas Spanos. Pougounas and Strouggaris were fresh off of membership with The Flowers Of Romance, a pioneering Greek gothic rock band.
New Zero God is a Greek Gothic/Post Punk rock band formed in 2006 by frontman and vocalist Mike Pougounas, bassist Costas Spanos, drummer Dimitris “Sidheog” Steves, and guitarist Averkios Hadjiantoniadis.
Screaming Banshee Aircrew were an English rock band originating from York. Their varied music appealed to the Gothic scene, and their energetic performances attracted many fans across the UK. They were disbanded in July 2010, and many of the band members went on to join other bands.