Gregory Preston Athanasiadis

Gregory Preston Athanasiadis (born Grigorios Krestenitis Chondroyannos Athanasiadis [Greek: Γρηγόριος Κρεστενίτης Χονδρογιάννης Αθανασιάδης; Hebrew: Athanasiadis גרגורי פרסטון] on 8 April 1991), currently known as Greg Pledger, is an American singer and songwriter who is the co-founder and lead singer of the indie pop band Curriculum. Athanasiadis sings lead on almost all of the band's material and occasionally plays lead guitar. His last name, Athanasiadis, is pronounced (phonetically) as "uh-THAN-uh-see-AA-diss".

Early life
Gregory Preston Athanasiadis was born as Griogorios Krestenitis Chondroyannos Athanasiadis in New York City, New York, United States to Greek Jewish parents. Athanasiadis had his name anglicized to Gregory Preston to make it easier to pronounce; Gregory Preston are his first two names and he prefers to be called by both names.

Athanasiadis was raised in a wealthy family in the Upper East Side of New York City. His mother is an heiress who owns her own highly successful multi-million dollar business while his father in the Dean of the English department at Columbia University. Athanasiadis stated the use of proper grammar was heavily emphasized by his father in the household when he was growing up while the use of slang or purposeful improper grammar was heavily discouraged and more than likely frowned upon. Athanasiadis was raised listening to a variety of music depending on the musical tastes of either one of his parents. His father introduced him to classical and soul music while his mother introduced him to pop and rock music. Athanasiadis was often taught how to sing traditional songs in Greek and Hebrew by his parents and grandparents.

Athanasiadis initially wanted to be an English professor just as his father was before he became the Dean of the English department at Columbia University. However, Athanasiadis always stated that music was his passion though he would often put his schoolwork before music when he was growing up and attending school. Athanasiadis attended Glen Ridge High School in New Jersey, which was something that caused a "scandal" of sorts in his Upper East Side neighborhood where the other kids there went to private school. Athanasiadis attended Glen Ridge High with his future bandmates Phillip Mandelbaum, Wyatt van Cleef, and Dana Breckenridge. Athanasiadis and Mandelbaum had been best friends since they were both three years old, while Athanasiadis became friends with van Cleef and Breckenridge during middle school. Athanasiadis graduated from Glen Ridge High as the valedictorian of his class.

Athanasiadis is the youngest of four children; he has one older brother and two older sisters. He currently attends Columbia University where he majors in English. Prior to launching a music career with Curriculum, he worked at a bookstore where he was "sensationally" fired from as Curriculum would rise to prominence.

Career
Athanasiadis was friends with Mandelbaum, van Cleef, and Breckenridge mainly because they all had a very strong appreciation for music. Eventually realizing that could all play instruments and with Athanasiadis being recognized as the vocally strongest out of all them, they all decided to form a band. The band was initially titled "The Lost" and then went through a series of name changes before finally settling on "Curriculum", which is named after the band's fondness for academia and education.

The band would have jam sessions together and had never played live in front of an audience. Though all of them saw their schoolwork as the main priority, they took working on their music more seriously.

The band independently released two EPs and then rose to prominence by posting a YouTube video of themselves singing "All I Need (All I Don't)". After the video became a viral hit, the band released their first single "So Mainstream" which reached the top three in the UK and also reached the top ten in other countries as well. In February 2012, Curriculum released their debut album Syllabus, which reached the top five or top ten in many countries and peaked at #1 in the UK.

Voice
Athanasiadis has a voice type of a tenor and is considered to have a very wide vocal range. He is known to hit very low notes while also reaching very high notes in his falsetto ranges. Recent YouTube video has surfaced proving that he can also reach the whistle register, which is usually done by female singers. Athanasiadis is said to have a vocal range of multiple octaves. His voice has been widely praised by critics for its flexibility and its wide range.

Compared to his singing voice, his speaking voice is known be "medium-low though its leaning to low more than medium".

Image
Athanasiadis is known to very snobbish and opinionated, with him being often criticized for being "highly pretentious". He, along with the rest of the band, is known for the preppy choice of fashion. Athanasiadis is also known for his penchant for good English grammar and his use of his rather "advanced" vocabulary.

After he began dating pop singer Kleo in 2012, fans, along with those close to him, noticed a significant change in his personality as he began to incorporate more figurative language in his speech and vocabulary. After he began dating Kleo, he changed his name to Greg Pledger.

Personal life
In August 2012, Athanasiadis began dating popular singer Kleo. After his relationship began, Athanasiadis was often seen signing autographs with the name "Gregory Preston Pledger"; Pledger is the last name of Kleo. He has since (not officially) changed his name to Greg Pledger.

Discography
See Curriculum discography