Athan Hilaki

Early life

Hilaki, was born in Athens, Greece and moved to New York in January 2008. He started playing the keyboards at the age of 14 and guitar at the age of 16. He has collaborated (as a producer/sound engineer) and performed with many well-known musicians in Greece and the United States and has contributed in many albums and collections as guitarist, bassist, producer and sound engineer. He has performed at the Earthdance Festival 2007, European Music Day 2007, Cocacola Soundwave 2007, Rockwave Festival 2009, Move Music Festival 2013, CBGB Festival 2013, Live & Local 2012, 2013 and more. In 2010 he participated in the auditions for The X Factor 3 (Greece) that took place in New York. Although he qualified to the next round, professional commitments in the United States, prevented him from traveling to Greece.

GAD (2005–2008)

In 2005, Kostas Antoniadis and Iraklis Anastasiadis, founders of the indie pop band GAD, approached Hilaki and asked him to join the band on acoustic guitar and as a sound engineer. In 2006 GAD was a 5 member piece band, Kostas Antoniadis (vocals) and Iraklis Anastasiadis (keyboards), Athan Hilaki (acoustic guitar), Antonis Antoniadis (electric guitar) and Spyros Papakotsis (drums). In 2006, Dance Sessions II was released, featuring their song “Leslie”. In 2007 Mike Semertzoglou (bass) joins the band. Many shows went on including the CocaCola Soundwave Contest. From thousand of bands all around Greece, GAD won the 4th place with the song “The End Of The Road”. The debut album was released on November 2007. For the album, GAD worked with – Dioni (from Astyplaz): Don’t Forget To Live Before You Die – Apostolina Mai (from Ammos): Leslie – Debora E.C. Zeier (vocals & e-chello): Noone Knows Your Name – Daphne Gerogianni: No Songs For Her – Nomik (from Sleepin’ Pillow): Safe. The album was released in 5000 copies and was sold out in the first 3 months. A re-release of the album was planned but never happened. That same year GAD opened the stage for Chicane, Nouvelle Vague and Raining Pleasure. In January 2008, GAD shoot the first video of the album “The End Of The Road”. In 2009 GAD performed at the Rockwave Festival along with The Killers, Duffy, Dinosaur Jr. That was the end of the road in Greece for Hilaki.

Trapped In Static (2011–present)

In 2011, Hilaki met drummer David Torres, through an ad that he posted on Craigslist. They later recruited Peter Douskalis on guitar and George Kostopoulos on bass. In February 2012, they appeared in the TV show "Minding Your Business", on Manhattan Neighborhood Network and continued performing in New York.

In May 2013 the band was named Top Artist of the Month on ArtistSignal.com, winning $10.000 and big exposure in the United States, as well as in Europe. Later that year the band was voted in the Top 3 artists for RAW Awards in New York. In June 2013, they released their debut EP "On A Stage". In August 2013 while the band was gaining exposure in New York City as well as Las Vegas and the UK, they were signed with Red Thumbtack Records, an independent label based in New York City.

Their debut EP, On A Stage (EP), was released in June 2013, featuring Athan on guitars, bass, keyboards and vocals, David on drums and percussion, Peter Douskalis in lead guitars on "Lost Souls", "On A Stage", "What Else Is There" and "Elevate" as well as Zachary Gross, slide guitar on "Mirrors".

Athan and David self-produced and released several songs and played numerous shows in the New York area, as a duo in 2013-2014.

In 2015 the band decided to release their upcoming album with a different label, but staying with Red Thumbtack as management and public relations representatives.

Chasing Carmen (2015–present)

In April 2015, Athan Hilaki joined Chasing Carmen as their lead vocalist, as announced in the band's official facebook page.

United States

The Cringe, Ariana & The Rose, Synolo, Andriana Babali, Dvinchi Kode, Jarrah DeQuien, Chris Zan Batist, Christos Alexandrou

Greece

The Killers, Duffy, Dinosaur Jr, Tricky, Nouvelle Vague, Chicane, Mimis Plessas, Cherouvim, Argonaftes, Dioni (from Astyplaz): album/song: System May Fall / Don’t Forget To Live Before You Die, Apostolina Mai (from Ammos): album/song: System May Fall / Leslie, Debora E.C. Zeier (vocals & e-chello): album/song: System May Fall / Noone Knows Your Name, Daphne Gerogianni: album/song: System May Fall / No Songs For Her, Nomik (from Sleepin’ Pillow): album/song: System May Fall / Safe.

Movies / TV

Awards and nominations

GAD

Trapped In Static