After reading Zoe Hayter's biography you might be left wondering if there's anything she hasn't tried!

A street performer since the age of 13, Zoe was bought her first guitar by Glen Hansard and she hasn't looked back since. She's currently readying herself for a touring theatre show having recently toured her last EP, "RAW" and releasing new single "Je te veux" which combine 2 of her 3 fluent langauges!

We caught up for a chat about everything. I have a feeling we'll be chatting again soon too as it seems there's more songs being prepared...

And follow the ⁠⁠⁠⁠10000 Hours of Indie⁠⁠⁠⁠ podcast. I'm speaking to some great artists over the coming weeks and months, so don't miss out!

Picture: Ivi Rebova

Series 1 - Being Independent delves into what it means to be an indie artist, from writing/composing and making an album right through to getting up on stage. I've spoken to 9 independent musical acts about their journey, how they got to where they are now and much more...

For the 9th and final episode in this series, I spoke to Jukio Kallio, formerly Kozilek and Kuabee, a Finnish composer who is best known for creating game soundtracks and electronic music.

The conversation covers writing music to spec, exhaustion, social media addiction and much more, trust me, this one is well worth a listen (as were the other 8 to be fair, maybe you should catch up if you aren't up-to-date!).

Come and give 10000 Hours of Indie a follow via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠your favourite social tools⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. There's some great interviews coming over the next few months.

Picture: Rudolf Westerholm

I first "discovered" Carla Aakre when I visited Oddfest a few weeks ago. Her soothing folk style had hints of Nick Drake so I was intrigued to find out a little more about her music and vegetable patch (check her instagram to see what I'm talking about)!

And follow the ⁠⁠⁠10000 Hours of Indie⁠⁠⁠ podcast. I'm speaking to some great artists over the coming weeks and months, so don't miss out!

Photo - ⁠Ludwig Strötz

Series 1 - Being Independent delves into what it means to be an indie artist, from writing/composing and making an album right through to getting up on stage. I've spoken to 9 independent musical acts about their journey, how they got to where they are now and much more...

Episode 8 is a dive into the mind of an independent musician who took things to the next level when he started his own label in the Netherlands 10 years ago. Stefan Breuer, head of Tiny Room Records, juggles family life, solo project The World of Dust and band Combo Qazam (I'm probably missing some here to be fair!).

Stefan and I discuss it all, the benefits of running a unique independent leabel, playing shows and so much more in this penultimate episode of the series.

Come and give 10000 Hours of Indie a follow via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠your favourite social tools⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. There's some great interviews coming over the next few months.

Picture: Anneke Nieuwdorp

I heard rock and roll band Silveroller's latest single "Black Crow" and instantly wanted to have a chat with the band!

Singer Jonnie Hodson and I delved into the life of the band, line-up changes, creative idea stealing and had a bit of a rant about social media (of which I included about 25% of the whole rant...maybe the rest for a separate episode later!).

And follow the ⁠⁠10000 Hours of Indie⁠⁠ podcast. I'm speaking to some great artists over the coming weeks and months, so don't miss out!

Photo - @handofglorymedia

Series 1 - Being Independent delves into what it means to be an indie artist, from writing/composing and making an album right through to getting up on stage. I've spoken to 9 independent musical acts about their journey, how they got to where they are now and much more...

Episode 7 is probably the deepest music hole I travelled down while chatting with a guest. I met up for a rare face-to-face chat with Kjell Simosas, singer in Finnish hardcore punk outfit Bob Malmström. Alongside fronting a band with a unique heritage, he also co-hosts the breakfast show on Yle X3M, a Swedish language radio station here in Helsinki. He also books shows for his own and other bands throughout Europe. There is so much covered in this episode, so put the kettle on and relax!

Come and give 10000 Hours of Indie a follow via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠your favourite social tools⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. There's some great interviews coming over the next few months.

In this episode I delve into the world of classical music with Hub New Music and more specifically Michael Avitabile, their Executive Director and flautist.

The day of release for this podcast is also the day of their 6th album release "What If We're Beautiful", a five-movement celebration of queer joy composed by Daniel Thomas Davis.

We talk about the release, upcoming projects, and the colaborative approach to a new composition.

Find out more about Hub New Music ⁠here⁠.

And the live album release show stream we mention during the chat will be live here.

And follow the ⁠10000 Hours of Indie⁠ podcast. I'm speaking to some great artists over the coming weeks and months, so don't miss out!

Photo - Robert Torres

Series 1 - Being Independent delves into what it means to be an indie artist, from writing/composing and making an album right through to getting up on stage. I've spoken to 9 independent musical acts about their journey, how they got to where they are now and much more...

In episode 6, I spoke with Estyr and Danielle from Canadian chamber pop/alt-folk band (or collective as they prefer) Tiger Balme. We talk about their slow but steady collaborative writing process, the issues of mic-ing up a vibraphone and the difficult decision not to play at Tallinn Music Week amongst other things.

Come and give 10000 Hours of Indie a follow via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠your favourite social tools⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. There's some great interviews coming over the next few months.

Picture: Felice Trinidad

London based Black Orchid Empire have released 4 albums since forming in 2015. The second single "Blood God" from their upcoming 5th album (unknown release date - as you'll hear in the interview!) is due out on 12th July, so I caught up with guitarist and singer Paul Visser to chat about it and many other aspects of the bands' music.

Find out more about Black Orchid Empire here.

And follow the 10000 Hours of Indie podcast. I'm speaking to some great artists over the coming weeks and months, so don't miss out!

Photo - Dobs Vasilev

I took my first festival visit of 2025 to a new central Helsinki event called Oddfest. This was 2 days of oddness with music, tech and media talks, films, presentations and more.

Here's some highlights and my overall observations of what will hopefully become a regular event in the city.

Join the journey as trawl the wonderful world of independent music on 10000 Hours of Indie.