Vagelis Karipis was born in Athens in 1971. He studied byzantine music and theory at the Hellenic Conservatory of Music and Arts and gained a diploma in 1992. He also started to play percussion as a self-taught and then studying with acclaimed teachers such as Trichy Sankaran, Joe Santos, Jamey Haddad and Arto Tuncboyaciayan.

He has collaborated with many Greek composers and singers. Among them are: Eleftheria Arvantitaki, Dionysis Savvopoulos, Yiorgos Dalaras, Alkinoos Ioannidis, Domna Samiou, Chronis Aidonidis, Yiorgos Andreou and more. He has performed at concerts in Greece and in many countries and international festivals (Womad, Sfinx, Meinz festival). He has played with internationally distinguished soloers at many shows and recordings (Manos Achalinotopoulos, Yiotis Kiourtsoglou, Αra Dinkjan, Zohar Fresco, Arto Tuncboyaciayan, Theodossi Spasov, Haig Yazdjian etc.).

In 1995 he released the album "Krousta" with Andreas Pappas and Yiorgos Yevgelis and in 1998 he created the percussion ensemble Krotala, with Petros Kourtis και Andreas Pappas, with which he released the homonymous album and played in Greece and abroad. 

He teaches traditional percussion in music schools and conservatories of Athens.