Reader Spotlight: Chris Kollias

Chris Kollias

Meet Chris Kollias, a versatile, busy and humble bassist from Greece who has a great story to share.

Chris is No Treble’s reader in the spotlight for the week of May 5, 2014.

Bio:

I was born on December 8, 1986, and I live in Athens, Greece. I took the first steps in music at the age of 9 by playing flute in the elementary school. During the past 10 years, I have participated in a number of bands, playing styles varying from metal to jazz, I have recorded 13 full length albums and performed as a session musician.

Location:

Athens/Greece

Day gig:

Musician and Computer Technician

Years experience:

11 years

Bands & Gigs:

Currently I am the bassist in three bands – Seduce The Heaven, Persona Non Grata and Human License – participating in recordings and live shows as needed according to demanding needs. Meanwhile I am a session musician for recordings and gigs.

Gear:

  • Warwick Streamer LX 6 string
  • Warwick Dolphin SN-TCS 5 string
  • Darkglass Electronics Microtubes B7K
  • Crazy Tube Circuits Time Delay
  • Gruv Gear Fretwraps

Why I play the bass:

At the age of 16, some friends decided to make a band in order to play some covers. They asked me to play the bass back then, but I declined and they asked someone else. After a while, I went to some of their rehearsals and I decided to give the bass a try. Not only did I realize I liked it, I also noticed that everyone wanted to play the guitar instead! Meanwhile, a couple of other friends had recently purchased drums and guitar, so I decided I should buy my own bass and join them. My parents didn’t want to spend money on a bass, as they considered it to be another toy that I would abandon after two months, so I had to save up the money to get one on my own. It was Christmas 2002 when I had finally had enough money to buy an Ibanez SR300DX.

My bass superpower/claim to fame:

I guess it would be that I’m highly adaptive to different genres and trying to be someone who people can count on and work with easily.

My influences:

I try to collect stuff from everything from jazz to metal. Some players I really respect (in no particular order): Victor Wooten, Jaco Pastorius, John Myung, Ric Fierabracci, Michael Manring, Franck Hermanny, Richard Bona, Michael Lepond…

More on the web:

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