The first influence in my life, before anything else, has been music. Having been born and raised in an environment of almost constant exposure to music, it is to be expected that music would be in my blood and in my veins.

My hearings from the time I was born covered a great variety of sounds. Greek music by itself is pretty much controversial. Traditional popular music, with its eastern sound, traditional greek instruments that have their origins in ancient Greece and Byzantium, and compositions of Byzantine (oriental) origins, was the most common sound in my early days.
Greek music of the late '70s and early '80s, when I was a little kid, had entered maturity of its "european" turn, which mainly took place in late '60s and early '70s. That "european" style meant dropping the traditional greek instruments such as bouzouki and lyra and adopting (rather re-embracing) -the then perceived as European- musical instruments such as the guitar, bass and percussion in their international form (i.e. drums). That trend in greek music was given the (very apt) term "new wave".

That oriented my early music hearings to some of the best modern greek music, and, subsequently, the guitar. Ever since, I've loved every and any kind of music featuring a guitar, be it Greek "new wave", rock 'n' roll, classic rock, oriental, Latin, flamenco, fado or classical music.
One of my favorite albums that has had great impact on me has been George Dalaras' "Latin". This collection of some of the most exquisite Latin songs performed by Dalaras' great guitar, along with guitar deity Al Di Meola and guitar magician Achilleas Persidis, still ranks very highly in my mind.

The mid-80s were marked by the purchase of my first guitar, and a 2.5-year guitar course in a local music school.

Growing up, I was influenced by the electronic music of the late '80s and early '90s. Turning to rock music, I found refuge from the electronisation of the music. Later on, about the time rock music was restored to "accepted" status, back from exile, I made my return to the roots, and explored the origins of rock, mainly late '50s and '60s music, ranging from American country and blues, transforming to rock'n'roll, rockabilly, the caleidoscope of experimentations of the early '60s, the revolution of the "Beatle" sound, to the escalation of the late '60s, the "stiffening" of the music that followed, on to the '70s explosion.
That, I believe, is the most productive time of the general "rock" branch, and some of the best sounds were created then. Needless to say, a big part of my favorite music comes from that era.