Mr. Kool

Vocals, Guitars

Name	Jim Koulousidis, but everybody calls me Mr. Kool because they can't pronounce my surname (A cross between Demis Roussos and Luciano Pavarotti).
Born	1 July 1962, in Newcastle, Australia. (Same day as Pamela Anderson, Liv Tyler, Princess Di. Popular day for good looking people ;-) I'm the oldest, so they all respect me...
Plays	I’m the singer. I play with myself... oops... I play everybody else’s stuff…
History	Well, I’ve played in various bands for about 15 years, the most successful being Heaven Sent.
What are your musical influences?	It all started back in 1972. We were living in Germany at the time and the guys next door were in a covers band. They kept on playing Smoke on the Water over and over and over… you get the picture. My sister was doing guitar lessons, but never quite got the hang of it, so I picked up her guitar and guess what???? started playing Smoke on the Water. I listen to a lot of different genres of music, but I guess my biggest influence is my first luv, heavy metal. There’s something about a heavy, distorted, pulsating guitar sound that gets me goin'. The bands that have influenced my musical direction are too many to list, but here are some of the major ones: Van Halen, Dokken, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Dream Theater, Cacophony, Racer X, Stryper, Whitecross, Malmsteen, Impelitteri, Vinnie Moore, Greg Howe, Richie Kotzen and the list goes on and on…
What are your favourite Bands/Songs?	Well, all of the above, although lately I’ve been listening to Killswitch Engaged, Ill Nino, Sevendust and Pantera. From the JK set list, I would have to say Rebel Yell.
What equipment do you play?	I play guitar, ESP 1000 series (would like some customs Mr. ESP Man) and Yamaha electrics, and Ovation and Yamaha acoustics. I also play bass, a 6 string John Myung signature series Yamaha, but wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a Yamaha BB605. As for amplification, most self-respecting axe-man will cringe at me mentioning this but, at the moment I am using a Behringer V-Ampire LX210. But hey!!! It's a self-contained amp/fx/tuner unit that sound very good (can I get some free stuff now Mr. Behringer ;-) No more setting up 750 pedals that require a nuclear power plant to run them. And the best thing of all, it was $370 AUD, so, I can trash it, without worrying about braking the bank...
Best moment?	Kicking the ass of some of the "big name" bands we supported over the years.
What else do you do?	I try to do as little as possible, but that hasn't worked so far... I do some computer work / web design on the side, but my main passion at the moment, apart from the band, is working in my recording studio.