Melbourne band Omados first played together in 2015 as individual musicians in Adelaide for a Greek Orthodox Community of South Australia (GOCSA) dance concert. It wasn’t until the following year for the same performance that they thought it was a good idea to form an official band. Initially starting out as a band to accompany Melbourne dance ensemble ‘O Periklis’, the band then developed into a musical performance group in it’s own right and added percussionist Rosco Heck into the mix.
The name, Omados, was inspired by the wonderful and incredibly loud sound of the Gaida and the energetic approach to the repertoire which feature in much of their repertoire. Omados is the personification of battle noise, or, the sound two armies make when they ‘clash’ on the battle field.
Omados plays regional dance music from many regions of Greece including – the northern regions such as Thrace and Macedonia, the mainland such as Epirus and Peloponnese, and the islands such as Crete and Ikaria.
Utilising instruments such as violin, gaida and tsambouna (bagpipes), clarinet, laouto (lute), oud and various percussions, the members of the band take pride in representing the authentic traditional music of Greece.
The EP will be available online at Band Camp and the link will be posted on 1 November at https://www.facebook.com/events/384538599339087
For people who have difficulties accessing the music online, contact Omados for alternatives ways to get in.