Stefano Carlos Hiwat aka “Musicien Extraordinaire” (M.E.), born and raised in Rotterdam Holland discovered his talent for music at the early age of 7 having huge interest in the guitar and the keyboard. When he was 8 years his uncle finally taught him how to play the keyboard. Approximately one year after he taught himself how to play guitar. Two years later he got approached for his first teaching experience and has been teaching guitar ever since. During the years of puberty he started to discover other skills, namely composing and songwriting, which he has been using for both his own career and for other local artists in The Netherlands. After joining several bands such as Quarter Past Eight and La Fiesta, M.E. decided to focus more on working behind the scenes doing songwriting and composing for other local artists and developing his Hip Hop rap skills. In 2006 he also co-operated in directing and managing a primary school musical called “Verona & Ahmal”, which has been recorded on DVD. In January 2008 Stefano came to Shanghai trying to get the best out of his music career. He started performing at Zentral Hongmei branch but it wasn’t long before the venue got shut down. He teamed up with keyboard player Joel Lindberg and his girlfriend and formed a band called Blue Moment, a temporary project for performances at the Shangri-la hotel. Unfortunately the deal did not get through, so the band members went on focusing on their individual careers as well. In the meantime Stefano has been joining “Cross-Culture Band” as special guest on some occasions. Recently he joined “Cross-Culture” as a regular member as a rapper and guitarist showing off their skills in venues such as Club Caribbean and Muse Shanghai. His appetite for versatility and blending different styles together has made him suitable for both recording and performing many kinds of music, such as latin, blues, rock, hip hop, r&b, funk.
Main influences: Jimi Hendrix, Joe Satriani, Jay-Z, Mos Def, Common, DMX, Richie Kotzen, Toto, Prince, Frank Zappa, John Legend, Dream Theater, Timbaland, Paul Gilbert, Musiq Soulchild, Anthony Hamilton, Paul Rodgers.
We sure enjoyed your music and entertainment at Lunas in Shanghai. As you can see we are avid night club folks and again really enjoyed your spirit and variety of songs. Please keep me advised of where you and the band are and we will make a point to visit that establishment on the weekends.
Good luck and thanks again for the exciting and entertaining evenings in Shanghai.
