George Drakoulias

George Drakoulias is a Greek-American music producer and a former A&R executive at the American Recordings label.
Drakoulias grew up in Syosset, New York, and attended Syosset High School, where he started his musical career with a band called Lifeline. He went to college at New York University, where he majored in music and business. There he befriended Rick Rubin, whom he met after he started dating an ex-girlfriend of Rubin's. He became one of the first hires for Rubin's Def Jam label. After Rubin left Def Jam to move to Los Angeles and form the Def American label, which was later retitled American Recordings, Drakoulias moved with him and became a producer. Drakoulias signed The Black Crowes, The Jayhawks and The Freewheelers to American Recordings, and produced albums for all three. He has also produced albums for artists including Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Maria McKee, Primal Scream, Madrugada, Screaming Trees and Unida. He has also produced tracks for Kula Shaker and served as a music supervisor for a number of movies, including Blades of Glory, School of Rock, Star Trek, Team America: World Police, Tropic Thunder, The Runaways, Zodiac, The Hangover, The Hangover Part II, Super 8, Joker, and Barbie. Drakoulias also plays bass guitar on the Glenn Danzig & the Power and Fury Orchestra song "Less Than Zero".

Cultural references

Drakoulias is mentioned in the "Stop That Train" section of the song B-Boy Bouillabaisse on the Beastie Boys album Paul's Boutique in the lyric, "Sat across from my man reading El Diario, riding the train down from the El Barrio. Went from the station, to Orange Julius, I brought a hot dog from who? George Drakoulias."
The character Oseary Drakoulias in the film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is named after Drakoulias and Guy Oseary.
The character Big George Drakoulias, played by Billy Bob Thornton in the film Dead Man, is named after Drakoulias.
In a nod to his work on Star Trek, an alien predator which hunts down young James T. Kirk on Delta Vega is officially named the drakoulias.

Shake your Money Maker, The Black CrowesWhite Trash, White TrashThe Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, The Black CrowesHollywood Town Hall, The JayhawksYou Gotta Sin to Get Saved, Maria McKeeGive Out But Don't Give Up, Primal ScreamCarnival of Light, Ride Tomorrow the Green Grass, The JayhawksDust, Screaming Trees Waitin' for George, The FreewheelersGlow, ReefNo. 4 Record, You Am IThe Red Record, LoudermilkThe Last DJ, Tom Petty and the HeartbreakersTambourine, Tift MerrittThe Deep End, MadrugadaThe Believer, Rhett Miller8 Diagrams, Wu-Tang Clan Low Stars, Low StarsAnother Country, Tift MerrittYou Can Do Anything, The ZutonsAddicted to Company Part 1,Paddy CaseyBack to the River, Susan TedeschiBlind Sighted Faith, The Dunwells Wreckless Abandon, The Dirty Knobs