In 2005, Bimal and Gill decided to go on a holiday to Cyprus for the first time. It proved to be one of the best holidays they had ever had, but also resulted in one of the most significant developments in the history of the band! Whilst there, they met Gino Abou-Chabke, who is a guitarist of incredible abilities. Bimal was immediately impressed by his technical mastery of all styles (his performance repertoire runs to many hundreds of songs!) but was also curious about the guitar that Gino was using. They got talking about it, and Bimal was thus introduced to the Line 6 Variax. Gino even invited Bimal to play a couple of numbers with him ("Smooth" by Santana and "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd), so Bimal got to experience the Variax for himself. This experience gradually turned into an obsession, until Bimal decided that he had to have a Variax as it would provide the band with such great flexibility. He now uses his Variax for every gig the band plays - all thanks to Gino!
In 2006, they returned to Cyprus for another enjoyable holiday, and for the chance to seek out Gino and let him know in person how much the band had been transformed since having met him. Bimal and Gino were soon talking about all kinds of musical stuff, and Bimal thanked Gino for having introduced him to the Variax!
If you go to Cyprus - particularly Paphos over on the western part of the island, look out for Gino: he is an incredibly talented musician, as well as being a very modest and approachable guy. He currently plays in the Alexander The Great hotel in Paphos, Cyprus, on Saturday nights with Alithea, another gifted singer, as you can see in the picture to the left. If you enjoy quality music performed to perfection, you'll love Gino!