Being a disc jockey is a hobby Koullies Stylianou has enjoyed for decades, but he’s about to entertain a whole new audience.
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The 58-year-old Chatham man, known locally as DJ Koul, is a new disc jockey working for the United Kingdom-based online Greek radio station, Sfera.
Stylianou said Sfera radio’s Andreas Odysseos recently asked him to join his Facebook group. Wanting to support a fellow DJ, Stylianou signed on.
But he wasn’t expecting Odysseos to reach out and ask him to become a Sfera DJ.
Stylianou, who owned Andy’s Place, a popular Chatham restaurant and pizzeria, until his retirement in late 2022, said he never went looking for a radio gig: “It just came knocking on my door.”
Stylianou sees this opportunity as “just another venture for me, it’s kind of exciting; it’s something different to be on a radio station.”
As DJ Koul, Stylianou does plenty of weddings and other events at bars and parties, but playing Greek music is where he got his start, thanks to his late father, Soteris Stylianou.
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“My dad loved Greek music, he had a passion for it,” Stylianou said.
His dad used to DJ many Greek community events in Chatham-Kent, such as weddings and New Year’s Eve parties, he said
“Back then, (spinning records) was different,” Stylianou laughed. “It was stop a song, start a song.”
With a love for Greek music instilled by his dad, Stylianou slowly got into being a DJ for Greek events, building up his equipment and Greek music collection, starting at age 13.
While he has an extensive collection of Greek music, Stylianou admits he’ll have to add some of today’s Greek hits.
But he’s got plenty of music for listeners to enjoy during the few days a week he’ll be working online from his home studio in Chatham, because old school Greek music is popular.
Stylianou said just like North American music, there are fans of Greek music from the 1980s, ’90s and 2000s.
Stylianou, who has no previous radio experience, said his four-hour shows will be pre-recorded.
Though he won’t experience listeners’ live reactions to what he’s playing, Stylianou said the goal is still the same: to help people have fun.
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