Riris / Owner / Producer

Riris aka Teddy “2Fast” Papas (Chicago days alias), started playing records back in 1976, in a club in his summer resort home in the island of Sifnos, somewhere in the Aegean Sea.
It was there at the tender age of 15, that he learned the “art” of programming music. Beat-by-Beat mixing though came much later in 1980.
In 1978, the golden year of Disco, he was packing dance floors till 5am with just 20 LPs!
1980 was the year he visited Chicago and stayed there for 3 months. The art of beat-by-beat mixing was almost unknown to him till then, he became a constant listener of WDAI radio and he was thrilled to listen to such DJ “artists” as Lou DiVito, Peter Lewicki and Kenny Jason doing their hot-mixes everyday.
He used to go to McGreevies teen disco in Des Plaines IL, where Kenny Jason and Alex Childs used to spin records every Sunday night, he instantly became a “groupie” and it was there where he picked up the “art” of spinning records.
He went back to Greece where he continued honing his craft in various clubs. At the end of 1982 he came back to Chicago to study and was hired to DJ, Mondays and Tuesdays at the Gatz brothers’ Olivers bar in Des Plaines. His work there was quickly appreciated and he started working the rest of the nights as well. The Gatz brothers expanded their business first by enlarging and remodeling the Olivers in Des Plaines and then opening up a further 2 more venues in Elmhurst and Downers Grove.
Teddy was studying and also managed to work in all 3 locations where legendary DJs like Kenny “Jammin” Jason, Ralphi “Rockin” Rosario, Frankie “Hollywood” Rodriguez, Julian “Jumpin” Perez, Farley “Funkin” Keith aka Farley “Jackmaster Funk” and Mickey “Mixin” Oliver were hired to work as well and he had the pleasure of working alongside all of them.

In 1984 “HotMix 5 Inc.” needed a new member DJ, announced the opening and asked for a demo tape from every DJ who wanted to participate and be one of the “elite” to win the HotMix 5 membership. His name was the first among hundreds to be announced on WBMX 102.7, by Kenny “Jammin” Jason. He was the first Semi-Finalist in the Suburban Battle of the DJs, which took place at the O’Hare Expo Center on December 15th 1984. He didn’t make it to the finals though, he didn’t stand a fair chance, rumors of a “fixed” battle were spreading all around, and everyone knew who was going to win, way before he even participated in the battle.

The following years, he was a regular correspondent for Dance Music Report (DMR) and also his Dance Top 20 Charts, were published in the Chicago Tribune.
He was there, at the birth of House music, which he promoted greatly considering he harbored such love for it and could foresee it’s huge potential; it was to be the new dance craze.
Around 1987, he was the head DJ at Gatz 223, the new down town Chicago, Gatz brothers awesome club, with clientele including celebrities such as Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Patrick Swayze among others.
He worked there till 1989 during which time he also managed to get his diploma for Computer Science and Programming.
Sadly he decided to quit his DJ career and start working on what he studied, he was by this time also a computer “nut”.
He stayed in Chicago for one more year working in the Software business and in 1990 relocated back to Athens, Greece where he lives half of the year, even today and still works as a successful Software Engineer in his own company.
He never forgets his DJaying years and spins it whenever he can… Amazingly he has not lost his touch, “it’s like riding a bike” he says.
Hey… what about the other half of the year?
Well, from April till the end of September, he lives in his favorite island of Sifnos. It was his love for the island, his love of music and his need to “communicate” this music to everyone, that created RadioActive back in 1999.

Since 2007, he hosts the famous RadioActive Street parties in Sifnos island. Street parties became his signature, attracting global party goers. Riris’ DJ prowess became synonymous with these electrifying gatherings, drawing fashion brands like Pucci to seek his rhythmic magic in exotic locations.
Currently he’s the “resident” DJ of choice for Pucci and he hosted parties in the island of Capri, in St. Moritz, in Florence amongst others.

PS. Disco lives!