Original Vraggamuffin fusionist – a poet on a difficult mission. London was then in 1990 home and an appearance on BBC TV’s ‘Rhythms of the World’ resulted in wider exposure. Simon Emmerson (Working Week, Afro Celt Sound System) checked the program and hooked up. ‘Mousiki’ was the outcome - a single that mapped out the trademark Vragga sound. The person who played a key role in Haji Mike becoming a household and coffee shop name was Zaharias ‘Sugar’ Hajishacalli. ‘Sugar’ gave the sound definition - a magical quality. 12 trips to Cyprus followed in 1993-4. ‘Stavroulla’ and ‘Vragaman’ became the number 1 people’s choice

The dream of returning to the homeland became a reality through music. There was however one outstanding matter - an uncompleted PhD Thesis. Tell some people he has a PhD and heads tend to turn sideways. In fact he is now also teaching as a fully-fledged assistant professor in Communications at Intercollege in Nicosia. Coming back to Cyprus also meant he became an in-demand media personality with weekly TV and radio shows.

2001 saw a number of new and innovating projects. ‘Gimme 6’ TV show for ‘Sesame Street Children’s Workshop’ - employed as a script writer, music supervisor and joint composer with long time collaborator Mike Minas. ‘The Weeping Island Project’ - a collaboration that transcended one of the last great divides of the world - the ‘Green Line’ in Cyprus. In the early part of 2002, Steffen Franz from PSM / San Francisco came to Cyprus to work with Haji Mike & Zeki Ali on an innovative new project called ‘Poetz4Peace’. 'A pair of olive leaves' was the group's first CD and label release, on Olive Tree Music. This was followed up in 2004 with 'Cyprus Thing Vol 1' an ambitious double CD of urban, poetry and world beats from Cyprus and beyond. In the summer of 2004, Poetz4Peace also toured the west coast, appearing live at Sierra Nevada World Music Festival.

In 2005 Haji Mike began working on his new solo LP, 'The Storyman'. Recorded in Cyprus, San Francisco, Athens and London, this is his most ambitious project to date, featuring appearences by Hmiskoubria, Rocker T, CES-ONE, Greekie Lion, Mike Cherry, MD and Cut Master G. Release date May 1st 2006, and already getting some hot reviews - check the press section at www.hajimike.com.

Haji Mike is available for production work, live dj sets, touring and workshops.

Solo Releases:
‘Haji Mike On The Mike’(KKM 1994)
‘Aphrodite’s Dream’ (HMP 1997)
‘Haji Mike Meets Dirty Harri Vol 1’ (Axion/Minos EMI 1999)
'The StoryMan' (Olive Tree Music/IDC 2006)

Collaborations:
1993 featured on Izit’s ‘The Whole Affair’ track ‘Sugar & Spice’(Tongue & Groove)
2000 featured on Imiskoubria’s ‘2030’ track ‘Hmiz & the Haji’ (Universal/DefJam)
2001 – Gimme6 TV Show – music supervisor and producer
2003 – Poetz4Peace – “A pair of olive leaves” (OTM)
2004 - Various - "Cyprus Thing Vol 1"
2006 - 'Bling Bling Bling Pt 2' song to be featured on new Imiskoubria CD MINOS EMI Greece.

More info:
HMP PO BOX 25116 NICOSIA CYPRUS CY-1307
email vraggadon@yahoo.com