We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Wahid Hashime a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Wahid, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Our band formed in 2012 and we spent majority of our years as a band in the dmv area or D.C. Maryland and Virginia rather, which is also where we are all from. In 2018 we all decided to move to California to try a new music scene. For most of us it was a huge move and risk for all of us since we had never played in California before. Part of it was that our former band manager is originally from California, so when she moved back she kind of convinced us to move there as well. We didn’t know what to expect really, but we were bold enough to give it a shot and 5 years later we’re still goin on strong.

Wahid, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Back in 2012 I met Jey Williams. He was the cofounder of StereoRiots. I met him from a Craiglist ad and then we ended up jamming at his apartment and started writing songs together. Our drummer Moe Sesay I knew through college. So we all got together and started jamming and formed the band. That was the core formation of the band. My girlfriend at the time played keys, so she joined the band as well. And that was basically the official formation of the band. We started playing all over Virginia, D.C., Maryland and even New York. We released our first EP called Intervals in 2015. We worked with Austin Bello from Forever The Sickest Kids. It was interesting writing with him and mixing in his kind of pop rock style with our own. Also challenging because we would write different parts of the song at once, then put it all together at the end. Whereas we usually write the parts of the song one step at a time. Soo that was pretty new for us lol. Around that time our bassist and keyboardist left the band. Not too long after Chris Ruffin became the new bassist and is still our current bassist. We knew him from another band we played with before. Then in 2018 we released our second EP Monsters On The Moon. We signed with our first label/management company Bread & Circuses and finally went on our first two week tour. We’d never been on tour up until that point so there were a lot of new challenges. Especially budgeting gas, food, and trying to share one hotel room nightly. After the tour which was a first awesome memorable experience, we finally made our official move to California. Then we would continue to play in Los Angeles and other cities in California including Pasadena, Anaheim, and Long Beach. And out of state shows as well like Arizona and Texas. Before Covid hit we played at Whiskey A Go Go, The Viper Room, The House of Blues. Obviously with Covid we got hit pretty hard and it threw everything off. But we’re slowly trying to get back on the road again.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think witnessing songs evolving and coming to life is beautiful. Like from an idea recorded on a phone, to being played live, to being recorded in a studio, then living on forever on the internet. It’s like there’s a certain legacy to that. Also really, the impact it has on our fans. It means so much when somebody is impacted by your art, and it can impact them for years and years of their life. It’s things like that want make us to want to continue to do this.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think having a strong mental capacity for motivation can constantly be a challenge. As a writer and musician I’m always really hard on myself, overanalyzing, criticizing myself, or never really sure if things are good enough, or if people will like the music that’s made. Doubting if things are working or going the way you want it to. It’s things like that, that can really become major mental obstacles that are not always the easiest things to work through. But the main thing is, no matter what you just gotta keep going, cause at the end of the day I still find myself writing or creating. Even if I’m not at my best.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.stereoriots.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/stereoriots
• Facebook: facebook.com/stereoriots
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/stereoriots
• Twitter: twitter.com/stereoriots
• Youtube: youtube.com/stereoriots