In this episode I had a chat with rapper, producer, and author Mike Exarchos. Known by his rap moniker as Stereo Mike, Exarchos was born in 1978 in Piraeus, Greece to a Greek father and Croatian mother from Rijeka. At the age of 18, his musical interest brought him to the UK for education in the field at the universities Leeds Metropolitan and University of Westminster. In the next four years, he obtained two degrees, Bachelor of Music Technology and Master on Sound Production.

Exarchos also worked as a producer at AMG Records, which led him to his first recording contract as 'Stereo Mike' with AMG's hip-hop sub-label, Mo' Money Recording$. Within two years, he composed and produced his debut album, while accepting a post-graduate lecturing position at London's University of Westminster in music production. He released his debut album in Greece titled Satirical Nomads by Mo' Money Recording$ under license to Universal Music Greece. The album's singles included the anti-racism anthem "O Allos Babis" and the remix "I Polis".

Stereo Mike subsequently signed to Minos EMI for his second album titled XLI3H, which is leet for the Greek word Εξέλιξη, meaning "evolution". He is concurrently doing research work toward a PhD in music.

Stereo Mike is the first MTV EMA Award winner in the "Best Greek Act" category, which came into effect with MTV's 2008 regional launch in Greece. He was also nominated for Greece in the category of Europe's Favourite Act for 2008.[4]

Stereo Mike with Loucas Yiorkas represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Germany with the song "Watch My Dance".

We talk to lecturer and synth pop producer Kirsten Hermes. She teaches at the University of Westminster as a Senior Lecturer in Music Performance Technology. Prior to this, she undertook an EPRSC funded PhD in Sound Recording and Psychoacoustic Engineering at the University of Surrey. Her research work is contributing towards measuring and modeling the perceived quality of music mixes. The focus in on the parameters influencing the spectral clarity of sounds. You can find her most recent book Performing Electronic Music Live here: https://www.routledge.com/Performing-Electronic-Music-Live/Hermes/p/book/9780367340735

Kirsten is also a music producer/electronica artist: (http://www.nyokeemusic.com).

We talk to professor of ethnomusicology Dr. Joseph Schloss. Dr. Schloss is a scholar, writer and lecturer who studies the way people use art — especially music — to develop new perspectives on social, cultural and political issues. His first book, Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop (Wesleyan University Press, 2004), is a study of hip-hop’s musical aesthetic, based on over ten years of study with hip-hop producers. His second book, Foundation: B-boys, B-girls and Hip-Hop Culture in New York (Oxford University Press, 2009), focuses on b-boying, a form of traditional Afro-Diasporic competitive dance that developed in New York City in the 1970s (and which is sometimes known as “breakdancing,” a term that most b-boys and b-girls reject). He has also written extensively about music and culture in many non-academic contexts, including the anthologies Total Chaos: The Art & Aesthetics of Hip-Hop and Classic Material; print media including URB, Vibe, The Seattle Weekly, and The Flavor; and many online publications.

In our first episode, I got to sit down and chat with hip-hop producer and TikTok phenom Vano3000. Vano gave the world a glimpse of what’s to come on social media when Web 3.0 arrives. Last year, the [adult swim] trend was arguably one of the biggest trends to hit social media and still continues to this day. The trend started on TikTok and was accompanied by an instrumental created by VANO 3000 called “Running Away” which has amassed billions of plays on the platform. Before the birth of the [as] trend VANO built his following through live beat making on TikTok live.

You can check him out here:

https://www.youtube.com/@VANO3000/featured

Hey all, while we're in the middle of scheduling new interviews, here's a bonus episode of me and Gabriel chatting about who we are and what we'd like to see happen with the podcast. Tune in for new episodes!