He was born and raised in the village of Kokkinogeia located in Drama, Greece.
[2] From 1986 to 1991 Gaitanos studied at the Athens Conservatoire and earned a degree in Byzantine music, as well as European music, while graduating magna cum laude.
In addition to his musical accomplishments, he has an extensive photo archive of his own photography that contains over one million photographs.
In 2012 he expressed support for the far-right Greek party Golden Dawn.
[4] He later apologized for the comments, stating he had no relationship with Golden Dawn.