Locomondo is one of the most known and successful bands in Greece. The 6-member band fronted by Markos Koumaris, the main songwriter and composer of the group, fuses Reggae, Ska and Caribbean sounds with greek lyrics and greek traditional musical elements.
Career
They have released 8 albums, including Locomondo Live!, an album which turned gold in December 2011. Two of their video clips have received the "Best Alternative Video Clip" award from Mad-TV Greece.
Locomondo is the most known Reggae band in Greece, as well as the only Greek group that has recorded in Jamaica. This happened in 2005, when the band followed an invitation of ex Skatalites trombonist and Studio One legend Vin Gordon to the "island in the sun" and recorded the album "12 meres stin Jamaica". The album contained two songs that meant to be great hits in Greece, but also attracted attention beyond the Greek borders.
The first was a reggae cover of the Rembetiko song Frangosyriani composed in 1935 by the legendary Markos Vamvakaris.
The second hit of this album was Den kani kryo stin Ellada, a hymn to a positive way of thinking. The song’s chorus became a slogan in Greece and is considered the band’s most known song.
In the next album “Me wanna dance” the band collaborated with Spanish singer Amparo Sanchez in Barcelona and Natty Bo in Athens.
In 2010 Locomondo recorded "Goal", a romantic song about football, which turned out to be an unofficial soundtrack for the Greek National Football Team qualifying for the second time in its history in the final phase of the World Cup. The video clip of the song featured Greek national player Dimitris Salpingidis who scored the qualifying goal against Ukraine. Although the Greek team disqualified in the first round in South Africa, the band considered it as a strike of luck as Salpingidis scored against Nigeria in the 2nd match, becoming the first player to ever score for Greece in a WorldCup final phase.
In 2012 the italian rap bandClub Dogo released the single titled P.E.S. which was based on Locomondo’s song “Pro” and reached platinum. The song became a summer hit in Italy. The album containing the song P.E.S. became platinum as well.
In 2015 turkish singerZiynet Sali Ziynet Sali releases a turkish version of Locomondo’s song “Magiko Hali” which achieves respectable success.
In March of 2020 the band performed on a well known greek show named .
In 2007 the band collaborated with Greek American director Christine Crokos, composing and recording the sound track for the comedy "Gamilio Party". The film sold over 250.000 tickets and the song "Gamilio Party" became one of the most beloved wedding songs.
In 2010 the Band recorded a reggae cover of the popular German song Griechischer Wein of the Austrian composer and singer Udo Jürgens. The song was produced by Marco Baresi, drummer of the Far East Band that used to play for German Reggae star Gentleman, and is included in Locomondo’s release "Locomondo- Best of".
The band has supported a lot of environmental and humanitarian organizations in the past such as Greenpeace, Amnesty International, A21 and the greek homeless street paper “Shedia”.
