Born into a musical family, Makis' talent on the drums was evident from a very early age. He studied classical percussion at the Athens Conservatoire (1986-1992) but is self-taught on the drumset. Since 1990 Makis has been playing and touring professionally. He has worked with some of the most notable artists of the Greek music scene, having participated in their recordings, concerts, and TV shows. Socrates, Yannis Spathas, Antonis Tourkogiorgis, The Idols, Demis Roussos, Vassilis Papakonstantinou, Costas Tournas, Costas Bigalis, Eleni Vitali, Mario Frangoulis, Vassilis Lekkas, Michalis Hatzigiannis, Christos Dantis are just some of the artists Makis has worked with throughout the years. Makis' most significant collaboration, which propelled his career and placed him amongst the top Greek drummers, came in 2002 with the internationally acclaimed Greek progressive rock group Socrates Drank the Conium, most affectionately known as ‘Socrates’ (2002-2010). Since March 2010 Makis has been the drummer for Akis Tourkogiorgis & The Blue Airways, a classic rock/hard rock band led by one of Greece's premiere guitarists, Akis Tourkogiorgis. The band has been gigging regularly, while they had a very successful string of sold-out shows between 2015-2017 featuring the legendary guitarist Yannis Spathas. They also released their debut CD “Three Days of 1969” in 2012. In addition, Makis has been actively involved in music education since 2007. He has worked both as a private teacher as well as a drum instructor in the renowned Art Music School Fakanas (2015-2019), while he has participated in many major drum festivals in Greece as a solo artist. Makis Gioulis is a Sonor, Paiste, VicFirth, Cympad and SkyGel artist.
