My Life, My Music

Ever wondered what it is like to be the boss at the bank? My guest this week is just that, John Denhof is President of the management board and CEO of Nova KBM. He originates from the US and has travelled the world helping financial institutions but this time he has rather fallen for Slovenia and thinks he will make a base here. We talk about investing and the financial world’s responsibility for green issues but mostly about outdoor activities and John’s work at keeping healthy and quite a bit about rock and blues music.

The British Ambassador to Slovenia Tiffany Sadler has been here for a full year now so I felt it was time to have a conversation and discover what she feels about the country she is Currently working in. Not only did I discover her thoughts and love for Slovenia but also a fascinating insight into her time spent on an earlier post to Burma and her conversations with Aung San Suu Kyi. Of course, there are some great music choices all of which have very personal memories for her.

It’s rare for someone to become super popular in the world of music almost overnight, it’s also amazing for a Slovene song to achieve nearly 9 million hits on YouTube but Challe Salle has achieved both these things and more. With a new video being released this week I invited him to join me in the studio and a more down to earth guy you cannot imagine. Find out what’s important to him and why he’s so happy to please his audience. You will also discover that Reggaeton, Hip-Hop and Rap can be positive happy genres!

If you are interested in a really holistic approach to education, then my guest in this show is a breath of fresh air. How to engage our children in learning and growing at school is what John Marshall Newton is all about. He comes from America and brings a broad world-wide experience to Slovenia as the Director of the Ljubljana International School.

Over a period of a few months, art historian Kanika Gupta has been an activist-in-residence at the Slovene Ethnographic Museum. She is here to continue her work cataloguing artifacts and images that were originally brought to the museum by Slovenes in the early 1900s. This collaboration with the Museum’s Indian collection started back in 2018. Her residency also includes an authorial artistic performance as well as a documentary film. The music Kanika chose to accompany our conversation spans a broad area of Indian music from traditional to folk as well as modern styles and film themes.

Nastja Bremec Rynia began her career in ballet and modern dance when she was just six years old. Michal Rynia began his career as a hip hop dancer in Poland becoming Polish National Champion several times and five times has held the title of World-Champion Hip-Hop dancer. They met at the CODARTS – Rotterdam Dance Academy in The Netherlands. Today they run a Dance studio in Nova Gorica and travel around the world to work with modern dance performances as well as teaching dance in their studio at home.

Edin Zubcˇevic´ is from Sarajevo. he has produced hundreds music and other events from chamber music concerts to big arena pop-rock shows and is the founder of Jazz Fest Sarajevo. Since 2018 he has also been the co-curator of the Ljubljana Jazz Festival in Slovenia alongside Bogdan Benigar. Last year the festival was on-line but this year it’s available to all with outside stages that are free to attend. I invited him to talk about the festival.

Today’s journalism rarely offers a chance to get behind the face of many people in our society. My Life, My Music offers conversations that allow time to understand how the guest has reached their goals and what is important to them. Along with 8 tracks of music chosen by the guest the programme takes a journey though many different personal philosophies with inspirational guests from all walks of life.

As we approach the summer and anyone with children maybe considering the next step after primary school I felt it would be useful and interesting to talk someone from a well respected secondary school. I was lucky to be able to discuss the topic with the Deputy Principal of Prva Gimnazija Maribor, Mrs Irena Smole. Some of her responses may surprise you but you will be assured that the schools have the best interest of your children at the heart of their work.

Špela Pirnat was attracted to music from a very early age and chose violin, soon moving onto viola, an instrument that she plays to this day. She may be a classical musician but that doesn’t stop her working with other musicians in rock or popular Slovene songs and much more. Her band co-operations include MojcArt, the No Borders Trio and for the last 7 years has worked with her dear friend and pianist Tadej Horvat. Śpela is also the founder and director of ArSensei mentoring and offering music masterclasses.

This week I am honoured to have two guests in the studio. Her Excellency Natalie Kauther and His Excellency Adrian Pollmann have come to Slovenia with their three children to make Slovenia their home for the next four years. They are taking their ambassador role in turns whilst the other partner looks after the family. They have already fallen for this country and look forward to more freedom to properly meet its people. Some great rock music accompanies this fascinating conversation.

Today’s journalism rarely offers a chance to get behind the face of many people in our society. My Life, My Music offers conversations that allow time to understand how the guest has reached their goals and what is important to them. Along with 8 tracks of music chosen by the guest the programme takes a journey though many different personal philosophies with inspirational guests from all walks of life.

This week the story is a family one. Boštjan Kozole studied economics and his father is a farmer but together they are the amazingly successful company Evrosad. A major apple exporter to Europe including the UK Boštjan is also a very keen sportsman, in particular handball. This is a story of highs and lows but of great family cooperation and considerable strengths and music plays an important role too.

The Covid restrictions have been a real issue for entertainment and the world of music. If you want to release new music you certainly cannot have a party to celebrate it. In spite of this the rock band Strain from Gornja Radgona decided to go ahead anyway and do the whole thing themselves. They recorded at a friend’s studio and then didn’t just make the material available on-line but produced an EP version with 4 tracks issued on a USB key. Their sound is great so I invited them to talk about the process and how they go about composing the music they certainly love. There are several other bands they wanted to introduce to our listeners too.

The Help Tribute Band managed 100 shows in 2019 and they have still been entertaining us throughout the Covid restrictions so I thought it would be great to speak with Ernie Mendillo the force behind the band and its Paul McCartney. It's a great story with experiences of early bands in the USA and music being the prime mover throughout his life. There's also some great music in this show as well as the first ever broadcast of a very personal track, the only one the band have ever written and recorded.

Many people will remember Maja Keuc from Eurovision 2011 but now there is a new girl in town recording under the name of "Amaja". With many new experiences from voice training in the Netherlands to working and recording in Sweden Amaja is currently here in Slovenia with some new tracks starting her journey into the world of soul. Some great stories and a very personal view of working in the music industry this conversation is really interesting!

The Polish Ambassador to Slovenia His Excellency Krzvsztof Olendski has been here since April 2020 so it's certainly time to hear what he has to say about Slovenia. He has had considerable experience, from the Holy See to being in Tunisia at the very start of the Arab Spring and he speaks of many concerning occasions as well as other inspirational ones. The music is a great cross-section of Polish and other personal favourites.

Data released last month showed that over the past 5 years the death rate due to road traffic accidents involving drivers between 18 and 24 has reduced by 60%. Much of this must be due to the work of the initiative "Heroes drive in Pyjamas" organised though the encouraging work of Zavod Vozim. This conversation is with the director, David Razboršek.

What do you know about the Pan-Europa Movement? It is the oldest European unification movement and will be 100 years old next year. The recently re-elected president of the Slovene Pan European Movement is Dr Lars Gaiser. Dr. Gaiser is one of a new generation of politicians and businessmen with top education, knowledge and international experience. Educated at world-renowned universities and with international work experience in politics and economics mean he is among a small number of geopolitical analysts with an excellent who can offer a real insight into world political events.

Today’s journalism rarely offers a chance to get behind the face of many people in our society. My Life, My Music offers conversations that allow time to understand how the guest has reached their goals and what is important to them. Along with 8 tracks of music chosen by the guest the programme takes a journey though many different personal philosophies with inspirational guests from all walks of life.