Haji Mike

..it all began way back in 1990 when I was preparing for an event in a basement somewhere in Hackney. Picking up the mic and freestyling in my own Gringlish Patois made me feel righteous: so I decided to make it into a song: then a label: and a form of living. Kebab Kulture Music was the name of the label: and to my bank mangers surprise it broke even. Being in the right place at the right time: is for me one of the flukey things in this business called music. I found myself talking to TV Producer Jenny Cathcart: who included me on BBC TV Rhythms of The World. This led to a collaboration with innovative music producer Simon Booth (Working Week: Afro Celt Sound System: Baaba Maal ). Simon took things in a new direction with the next single Mousiki a Cypriot version of Murder She Wrote. The song was widely appreciated for its respect to the reggae genre: and even in 2006 some 14 years after its release hit top the top twenty in SoundClick.com reggae chart (out of a total of 6:212 songs) . Mousiki was also the first time I worked with bouzouki master Zaharias Sugar Hajishacalli: who taught me so many things. Sugar produced some of my most populist tunes: Stavroulla: Vragaman: and Jikkos. Many of these became appreciated in Cyprus leading to me making 12 trips in 1992/3 for TV appearences and live shows. I also did several live radio sessions for Andy Kershaw and John Peel (RiP) who put me on radio long before any one else in the world. In fact Andy Kershaw was probably the first person to play Haji Mike: to an unsuspecting audience in Cyprus via the BBC World Service. Following this I returned to Cyprus: produced weekly radio and TV music shows: and toured extensively: including Ireland: South Africa: Germany: Greece and later USA. Haji Mike Music Productions was also established: as a continuation but in many ways a progression from Kebab Kulture Music. I also finally completed a PhD Thesis. Music and academia have gone hand in hand for many decades for me. Completing a Phd also led me into teaching: which I thoroughly enjoy. For the last 5 years I have taught communications at Intercollege: the leading tertiary education establishment in Cyprus: and now hold the post of assistant professor. In 2000 I linked up with Zeki Ali: Turkish Cypriot poet and radio broadcaster. Together with support from UNOP: the US Embassy Bi-Communal Services and several key music people in Cyprus: such as Mike Cherry: Mike Minas: Spike: Marina Toufexis and Chris Louvieris we made our own label: Olive Tree Music (OTM) and band Poetz4Peace. None of this would not have happened without the involvement of Stand Out Selector: from San Francisco: a conscious roots dancehall producer and PSM label owner....Poetz toured the USA in 2004: culminating in a peformance at Sierra Nevada World Music Festival. OTM also released Cyprus Thing Vol 1 a doubler compilation featuring local and international acts. Olive Tree Music is an independent music company dedicated to the concepts of peace: tolerance and individual creative fullfilment. Our music is distributed far and wide online through companies such as i-Tunes: Rhapsody: Napster: Audio LunchBox: MSN and many more.My new CD is called The StoryMan and feels like a life times work. Recorded in Cyprus: UK: USA and Greece: the CD features guest apprearences from Hmiskoubria: Mike Cherry: Mike D: Greekie Lion: CES-ONE: Rocker T: Cutmaster G and Zeki Ali. It was produced by Stand Out Selector: Tony Matthew: CES-ONE and me. The CD is distributed by IDC in the USA.