Vasilis Podaras (Billy Pod) was born in Athens in 1988. He started with music really early in his childhood days and at the age of 9 drums became his passion. He studied classical piano and violin and later got his BA and MA in jazz drums performance at the Ionian University.

French "Batterie Magazine" awarded him as one of the Top 10 new drummers for 2019. He has performed in international festivals and venues in Europe, USA and Asia (Pori Jazz Festival, London Jazz Festival, Taichung Jazz Festival and Made in New York Jazz Gala among others).

At the same time he has been one of the most in demand drummers in the Greek music scene for more than ten years.

He has performed with world class artists, such as Manfred Schoof, JD Walter, Rufus Reid, Craig Bailey, Olivier Temime, Tivon Pennicott, Gilad Atzmon and George Kontrafouris among others.

He is also one of the founding members of the Next Step quintet.

His debut album "Drums to heal Society" was released in 2019.