Born in Drama, Greece, in 1973, and raised in Τhessaloniki in a family of musicians, Michalis is the son of the late drummer Nikos Kapilidis.
He studied at the Contemporary Conservatory of Thessaloniki with Kostas Pagonidis for six years, and later at the Agostini School of Drums with Takis Barbas for two years. He began his professional career as a musician at the age of 16.
In the field of Greek popular music, he has performed with many leading artists, including Nikos Papazoglou, Eleni Tsaligopoulou, Sokratis Malamas, Melina Kana, Elli Paspala, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Kostas Tournas, Nikos Portokaloglou, Panos Mouzourakis, Anna Vissi, Dimitra Galani, Alkistis Protopsalti and Eleonora Zouganeli. His recording credits include collaborations with artists such as George Dalaras, Sakis Rouvas, Antonis Remos, Elena Paparizou, Christos Dantis and others. He has recorded on more than 500 songs, according to his officially registered repertoire with Apollon, the Collective Management Organisation for the Neighbouring Rights of Greek Musicians
His longest and most successful collaboration has been with Alkinoos Ioannidis, from 1999 to 2011 and again from 2022 to the present day. He also performed on Ioannidis’ classic live album Ektos Topou kai Chronou (2000).
He is a member of Stavros Lantsias’ group, with whom he has recorded three albums, including My Ennio Morricone (2023), a tribute to the work of the legendary film composer, and the more recent Waving Hands (2025). Other collaborations in the jazz/world music scene include David Lynch, Takis Barberis — whose group he was a permanent member of from 2007 to 2013 — Kostas Magginas, Christos Rafalides, Petros Klampanis, Panagiotis Andreou and Vasilis Xenopoulos. He is also a long-standing member of the trio Datfunk Band, with which he has been active for the past 16 years.
He has taken private lessons with Mark Guiliana, Derico Watson, Nathaniel Townsley, Joel Taylor, Stanton Moore, Dave DiCenso, Claus Hessler and Dave Elitch.
For the past twenty years, he has been working exclusively with Lab Music Education. He teaches drums, music workshops, rhythmic training and the History of Pop and Rock Music, and he is also Head of the Pop Department in the school’s Professional Program.
He was a member of the teaching faculty at Lab Drum Camp 2017, alongside Mike Johnston, Chris Coleman, Derek Roddy and George Kollias
He is endorsed by Vic Firth drumsticks, Meinl cymbals, Gretsch drums and Porter & Davies drum monitoring systems.
