Athanasios Lichoudaris was 15 years old when he first sat on the drum kit, replacing the drummer of his heavy metal band. “I was actually the singer,” he remembers, “and I instantly fell in love with the drums.”

Twelve years later, he is the winner of Australia’s Best Up & Coming Drummer Competition. Held by DrumTek, a centre for drums and percussion, that includes a music school, a retail shop and publishes a magazine, the competition is aiming to showcase drumming talent in Australia, giving winners the opportunity for a good head-start, or boost in their career, along with a series of prizes and much coveted endorsements.

“It’s been a dream of mine since I was very young,” Athanasios says.

“I wanted to take part [in] this competition every year, but I never really put in the time to do it, I was always saying that I’d do it next year. Then, about a year and a half ago, I decided that I needed to do this, or I might regret it when I’m older. So I started practicing hard, about 2-3 hours every night, ever since.”

This recent victory is hardly the first drumming achievement for the 27-year-old, who states Australian legend Virgil Donati and his coeval Matt Garstka, among his influences. Two years after his first foray into drumming, he won the title of ‘Australia’s fastest drummer’. After that, his course was set. He went on to study Music Performance at the Melbourne Polytechnic and the Victorian College of the Arts, followed by a Masters Degree in Music Education at Melbourne University.

He now works as a full-time music teacher, but he’s also the drummer at the LifeHouse church in Westmeadows. Anyone who wants to see him perform, might need to pay a visit to the church, or wait for the next Ultimate Drummer’s weekend, organised by DrumTek, where Athanasios is set to perform, this being one of the prizes included in the competition.

“I’m going to be preparing for that to put on a good show,” he says, adding that he will not be resting on his laurels anytime soon.

“I’m always trying to push boundaries of my own playing,” he says.

“Just because I won a competition doesn’t mean that I’m not trying to get better and go to the next level.”

Apart from being Australia’s Best Up-and-Coming Drummer, Athanasios is a proud Greek Australian.

“I like to carry the name of my grandfather, instead of an English version,” he says.

“I’m proud of my heritage; my family is Pontian, we love a good dance.”