Leopulde is the telescopic outlet for the songwriting excursions of Ted Velykis. Orphaned at birth, Ted was adopted from a hospital in Atlantic City by a nice young couple and raised as their own in Gibbstown, a small town in Southern New Jersey not far from Clarksboro, home of Sounds Familyre and the Danielson Famile. The first evidence of an interest in songwriting was in 1975 when young Ted reworked the lyrics of Glen Campbell's hit, Rhinestone Cowboy, to reflect his concern for the plight of the North Atlantic whale. By early high school Ted had taught himself to play the guitar and was soon writing and recording his own songs obsessively on a friend's 4-track machine.  During this time, he began amassing a stockpile of old low end instruments of any kind to fill out his one man "band". Some of these early songs were performed at local parties with a fresh faced Daniel Smith on rhythm guitar!

Though his folks thought he ought to become a doctor, the call of entertainment industry was too strong. A person who truly values his free time, Ted has made ends meet as a clown, as a singing telegram performer and more recently by opening his own music school in Collingswood, NJ where he lives with his fiancé, Anita Santiago, a Papier Maché sculptress and Leopulde contributor.

After founding the stoner rock group, Sasquatch, in the early 90's, Velykis has kept busy by contributing bass and various other instruments to Danielson releases since the early days - most recently working closely with his old friend Daniel to provide orchestration for Ships. There was a short stint playing guitar in John Boothman's (Vibrolux, Gelcaps) shortlived Naked Movie Star  and finally the release of a CD of his home recordings mixed by Kramer. The Ladytron was released in 2000 on Shimmy Disc to some initial critical acclaim - but a collapsing label and a name conflict with a rising synth-pop act cut the Ladytron's days short.

Six years later, Leopulde is emerging with new resolve. Playing live with an all Greek rhythm section and stalwarts Santiago and Boothman returning, Leopulde is sounding dynamic and fresh. Outré folkiness gives way to full-on electric freak-glam chaos. Imagine Donovan fronting Pere Ubu or Syd Barrett collaborating with Pascal Comelade, and you'll get an idea of the Leopulde sound of late. Classic sounds abound, but always in service of the song. Look for the new CD, Lobe, on Sounds Familyre this year!