Meet the Greek Creators of Revolutionary iPhone Application StudioMini

(L-R) George Stamatakis with his brother Nikiforos showing their creation

When George Stamatakis left Greece to come to the States he had a lot of dreams for his future and a goal: “To study music at the highest level.” However, back then- he couldn’t have imagined where the journey would take him. Instead of creating music himself, he created a revolutionary tool for the world to create music. The software StudioMini for iPhone and iPad, a creation of George and his brother, Nikiforos, is a unique tool for musicians to produce music entirely on mobile devices like if they were in a studio.

George and his brother are responsible for the recording of hundreds if not thousands of songs that may otherwise never have been recorded. The Greek brothers have made such a high quality product that it is able to give the ability to everybody to record sound professionally outside of a music studio.

In December, StudioMini gained national attention when the British rock band Gorillaz announced that they recorded their new CD on an iPad, using StudioMini, among a few other apps.

In our interview, we talked with George Stamatakis about the creation of StudioMini, and his future plans.

What is your educational background?

I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from USC. Specifically I studied Jazz Guitar at the Thornton School of Music.

Where are you from?

I’m from Iraklio, Crete. My father is from Crete and my mother is from the U.S.

How and why did you come to the USA?

I moved to Los Angeles from Crete to attend USC. It was the summer after I graduated high school and I was 17, which seems crazy to me now but I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to study music at the highest level. I also wanted to be in a university environment surrounded with people from other disciplines.

Where you always good with computers?

I was always intrigued by computers, and I convinced my parents to sign me up for a programming class in Basic when I was in the sixth grade. I was never into video games though. I started really getting into computers when I was at USC, where I started recording and producing music using all the latest software. I’m really close with my brother, who is an amazing software developer, and I’ve learned a lot from him over the years.

Was this the job that you always wanted to do?

Not really! I wanted to be a professional musician first and foremost, which I was doing until I decided to follow my current path a couple of years ago. I was looking for a way out of playing and teaching music full time, I guess I felt I wanted a new and different challenge.

How did you get the idea for your application?

My brother and I were home for Christmas a couple of years ago, we were talking and it just popped up: why don’t we do something for the iPhone? I immediately got very excited and realized that this was the new direction I was looking for. I started spending all my time reading books on computer programming and UI design, along with reading all of Apple’s documentation for developers. When I felt I had a working understanding of the iPhone OS I started brainstorming for App ideas. I wanted to create something I really believed in, I didn’t want to do something gimmicky just for the money. That’s when the first idea for StudioMini came about.

Please explain to us what does the application do?

StudioMini is a multitrack recording app. It’s an audio recording and production tool for musicians of all levels that lets users layer tracks, just like they do in professional studios. The audio quality is amazing, it records in true CD quality audio. Users can use built in pro-quality audio Loops for accompaniment, there is a tuner, a metronome and users can create final mixes and email them without leaving their iPhone/iPad.

Did you imagine becoming successful?

Well, I fantasized in the beginning, but it didn’t happen overnight. We slowly and gradually built up our sales by constantly improving StudioMini and getting great reviews from our users. Our big break came this past December when the British rock band Gorillaz announced that they recorded their new CD on an iPad. They used a number of apps, and StudioMini XL (our iPad version) was the one they used for multitracking. The story made CNN, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The New York Post, etc. That really sent us to the next level making StudioMini a consistent Top 20 Music App.

Do you have any more applications in mind? Please tell us a little about your upcoming projects.

I have tons of brainstorming ideas, which I write down. I’ve been so busy with StudioMini and with starting my company that I haven’t had time to really get into the next one. Hopefully I will be able to soon! I would like to stay in the music field and create more tools that will help musicians.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?

Establishing myself in the audio software/hardware world, growing my company, hiring people full time, and creating great new tools for musicians.

Is it tough to work with your brother?

Not at all actually! We’ve always been very close and we get along extremely well. We never argue and working with him is the easiest thing in the world for me.

Tell us a few words about him.

My brother’s name is Nikiforos and he lives in Manhattan, where he’s a Senior Software Developer for the NFL. He mainly creates original software that the NFL uses for some cutting edge projects. He studied Computer Engineering at the University of Michigan.

To download StudioMini visit: http://itunes.com/fantastocrats. For more info. visit: www.studiomini.me