Fox Tales - a music industry podcast by Stereofox Stereofox

Danny Hajjar is a music journalist, curator, DJ, and creator of the newsletter Sa’alouni El Nas. The newsletter focuses on the music, culture, social, and political stories of the Middle East, North Africa, and the diaspora community. Danny has a wealth of experience, having worked at Spotify's Data Curation team and contributed to esteemed publications such as The Washington Post, Esquire, and The New Arab. 

His unwavering dedication and commitment to popularizing the rich culture of the region is commendable and inspiring to us. His rich overview of the music industry and dedication to be present and keep doing what he loves are among the reasons why we are more than honoured to welcome him to the Fox Tales.

The episode is published in the midst of the horrific earthquake that happened in Turkey and Syria. Our heart goes out to everyone affected. Below we are sharing a list of resources for people to donate and help.

List of resources for people to help and donate:

» Molham

» Syrian American Medical Society

» AKUT

» Turkish Red Crescent

Links

» Sa’alouni El Nas newsletter

» @DanielGHajjar (Twitter)

» Stereofox IG (@wearestereofox)

» our newsletter at Stereofox.com

» host (@himynameisivo)

» Join our Discord Server

Mentioned:

@bladelsham

@frenchysaysrelax

@dj.bonita

@narcynarce

@big_hass

@offendum

@thanksjoey 

@abdulisms

@norfafrica

Podcast notes

[2:50] on music in Danny’s life growing up

[06:10] on his goal when it comes to popularising music from the Middle East and North African region 

[07:20] on the creation of the Saaluni newsletter and how to stay consistent when it comes to content creation

[11:05] on the balance between music and social / political stories and how they humanize the culture 

[13:30] on the future of the newsletter and turning it into a media platform

[16:50] on music that resonates with you 

[19:30] on Danny’s career path toward, writing  

[24:00] on being part of the creator’s ecosystem and connecting with artists from the Middle East and North African region  

[27:10] key curators in the Arab Music / Middle Eastern scene

[29:30] the next growth wave of Arabic music

[33:35] Spotify, the Arab team there and what’s happening for artists from the region

[35:30] on everyone’s responsibility to explore and be open to global  music

[40:00 ] the balance between data and human curation aka the human vibe check at Spotify

[42:30] an advice for artists

In our new episode we had the pleasure of talking to US producer xander. on the release day of his new album Bliss. We cover the creative process behind and and how it all came to be, his journey from picking up Fruity Loops to working with Meek Mill and building up his followership in recent years.

Shoutout to all the amazing people mentioned in the podcast!

Links

» xander. (@iamxandermusic)

» artworks (@jim_spendlove)

» Stereofox IG (@wearestereofox)

» subscribe to our newsletter at Stereofox.com

» listen to our label releases 

» host (@himynameisivo)

» Join our Discord Server

Podcast notes

[1:26] Moving to Boston and the beat/culture scene there

[3:12] The Xander sound

[5:17] The new Bliss album creative process and release journey

[11:20] On playing instruments

[13:10] The importance of collaboration 

[18:24] On meeting his collaborators

[24:32] Drumming and early days of producing music

[26:30] On getting triple gold certified and working with Meek Mill

[29:52] On the important of being consistent & building followership

[33:10] Pros and cons of social media

[35:50] What to look for in a record label

[37:45] Xander’s favourite place to listen to Bliss

Stephan Kunze is a German music journalist and author, radio host, editor and curator with over 20 years of experience. 

He currently curates Zen Sounds - a newsletter dedicated on ambient, jazz and experimental music. Stephan’s colourful experience - from print to radio and now digital streaming makes him really interesting and multi-layered guest.

Previously Stephan was Global Editorial Lead at Spotify, had his own imprint (Heart Working Class), consultant for Red Bull, editor-in-chief for the German hip hop magazine Juice, and writer for Berlin-based Spex (to name a few). 

Links

» Zen Sounds newsletter

» Zen Sounds IG (@zen__sounds)

» Stereofox IG (@wearestereofox)

» subscribe for our newsletter at Stereofox.com

» listen to our label releases 

» host (@himynameisivo)

» Join our Discord Server

Podcast notes

[01:50] intro, earliest music memories and buying records in the 90s

[06:10] degree in law and first writing experiences for SPEX and Juice

[09:10] music journalism in the 2000s and interviewing Pharrell Williams and working at Juice

[14:50] curating a newsletter (Zen Sounds) vs running a magazine or curating editorial playlists at Spotify

[19:00] switching Zen Sounds to English

[22:15] staying consistent and motivated when it comes to creating content

[23:40] Living in Berlin, the Pandemic, and staying balanced

[29:10] the Deep Listening philosophy and impact on life

[33:10] building listening habits as a listener and Spotify playlist editor

[36:50] today’s consumption of music and art and the future of the attention economy in mainstream media

[38:45] how to build a career and audience as an artist and be successful on Spotify and the state of lofi music

[42:30] singles vs albums when it comes to lofi hip hop

[45:20] the story and growth of the German hip hop beat scene

[49:40] Stephan path’s in Spotify and the evolution / creation of editorial playlists

[52:10] the culture of lofi hip hop

[54:45] are music publications still relevant, social media and does audience size matters

[1:06:20] 2022 end-of-year lists, the Zen Sounds newsletter, and future plans

Our next Artist Stories episode is with someone we’ve been fans of for many years - ever since his 2016 “Give Back What You Stole From Me”.

Oscar Jerome is a UK singer, guitarist, and composer who’s been involved with music since a very young age. He’s got a pretty signature blend of jazz & soul that you have most probably already heard in his acclaimed songs “Do You Really” & “Gravitate”.

He just released his sophomore album called The Spoon which took a more cinematic & melancholic approach and he stopped by for a chat to give us some details about it and to also share stories about his creative process, touring with Kamasi Washington and the Blue Note: Reimagined project.

Links

» Oscar Jerome (@oscjerome)

» Stereofox (@wearestereofox)

» host (@atanas.kutsev)

» Join our Discord Server

Show Notes

[03:29] On random non-music fact

[04:16] On singing & playing the guitar

[05:50] On the Pandemic

[08:18] On creating The Spoon and the new sonic direction

[11:22] On 1st single “Sweet Isolation”

[15:04] On the Metropole Orkest version

[17:05] On song length and staying true to yourself

[22:30] On 2nd single “Berlin 1” & shooting the music video

[28:38] On the two personas in the album - Jerry & Ice Guycicle

[34:44] On cancel culture

[36:48] On title track “The Spoon”

[39:30] On poetry

[41:40] On his IG feed

[42:41] On breaking down gender roles, toxic masculinity & ego

[46:16] On heavy metal music & its connection with jazz

[51:09] On playing live vs. working in the studio

[53:43] On touring with Kamasi Washington

[55:02] On dream collaborator & to play live with

[56:16] On Blue Note: Reimagined II

[59:20] On “Gravitate”

[01:01:24] On debut album Breathe Deep

[01:03:20] On advice for emerging artists

Today’s Artist Story episode of Fox Tales is a really special one.

We found Carmody back in 2014 with her delightful first EP with Tom Misch called Out to Sea and completely fell in love with her voice and storytelling. You might also know her from her other wonderful releases like Skin, My Jupiter & Catching Blue, or from her collaborations with Connor Albert, edbl, or Alfa Mist.

She dropped by for a chat to talk about her debut album Imperfect Constellations that just got its Deluxe Version released, and to share about her experience with alternative therapy and about her love for poetry.

Links

» Carmody (@thisiscarmody)

» Stereofox (@wearestereofox)

» host (@atanas.kutsev)

» Join our Discord Server

Show Notes

[02:58] On the most random places for song ideas

[03:52] On the name of Imperfect Constellations

[05:57] On finally having a debut album out in the open

[07:45] On the personal topics of the album

[10:04] On the album rollout

[11:54] On the track order of the album

[13:11] On the symbols in the artwork

[15:14] On alternative therapy

[17:20] On mental health in the music industry

[19:50] On “Morning”

[24:28] On “Hurricane” & the gap between generations

[27:31] On “Memory” with Alfa Mist & Laura Misch

[29:10] On releasing a Deluxe version of Imperfect Constellations

[31:35] On relationships & technology

[34:44] On poetry

[37:55] On her creative process

[40:14] On working with Tom Misch

[43:13] On Out To Sea EP

[46:02] On her collab dynamics with Tom

[48:53] On working with Marie Dahlstrom

[50:08] On dream collaborator

[52:02] On what to expect next

In our new Fox Tales episode we welcome Inner Ocean's founder Cory Giordano. We go over label's 10 years history and the transition to digital straming, some remarkable moments and we deep-dive into the value of doing physical products (vinyls, cassette tapes and merch).

Links

» Inner Ocean (@inneroceanrecords)

» Stereofox (@wearestereofox)

» host (@himynameisivo)

» Join our Discord Server

Show Notes

[2:20] The early days of Inner Ocean

[09:11] The value of physical products

[15:55] The environmental impact of physical products & Anjunadeep’s example

[18:35] Physical products and digital streaming

[19:50] Singles vs album releases

[22:02] Curation at Inner Ocean

[26:45] Submissions 

[31:50] Team setup and behind-the-scenes

[34:05] Inner Ocean artist careers

[36:30] Working exclusively vs non-exclusively with artists

[42:50] On long-term success, growth and Questlove’s manager story

[49:45] On the tough side of a running a label

[58:40] Doing physical products during COVID