For Stefano Papandreos, the partying and late-night lifestyle of a DJ was cool at first but it soon began to wear thin and he knew that a change needed to be made.
Papandreos was inspired to become a DJ when he took a trip to Toronto to visit his brother and they attended a Deadmau5 concert, Deadmau5 being an alias for DJ Joel Zimmerman.
“Everyone was dancing and having fun and he (Zimmerman) was the centre of attention,” Papandreos said. “And I was like, ‘Dang I want to try to do this.’”
Papandreos’ DJ exploits took him to several party locations including “Ride or Die” in British Columbia and even so far as Nicaragua on a two-year, on-and-off stint.
“I definitely got caught up in the lifestyle; DJing you’re a night owl so partying becomes your job, said Papandreos.
“But the DJ lifestyle kind of got transferred over to the rockstar lifestyle, all the girls want to hang out with the DJ, everyone wanted to be your friend, everyone wanted to come hang out with you and everyone wanted to get into the show. You’re the centre of attention which is kind of what I wanted.”
But Papandreos hit a low when, during his time in Nicaragua, he broke up with his girlfriend. Papandreos moved back to Regina to continue DJing but the passion for his craft had left him. He turned to drinking, became easily angered and was depressed. On Jan. 20, 2018, Papandreos took a hard look in the mirror and was not at all pleased with what he saw, even claiming to have a “broken soul” at this point, so he decided to make a change for the better.
Papandreos texted a friend of his, Jacob Suppes to go for coffee. Suppes then invited Papandreos to the gym and said it would take 21 days to form a good workout habit. But a mere three days into the workouts, Papandreos tore his bicep; however he had the perseverance, with the help and support of Suppes, to continue to better himself.
Papandreos wanted to get back into the shape he was in during his athletic days playing football and soccer and Suppes was there to “remind me and refresh me,” Papandreos said.
“He was there to push me mentally and he would come in my room and wake me up and drag me to the gym on the days I didn’t want to go.”
Suppes admitted that Papandreos was “absolutely miserable” during the first phase of training but slowly began to come around. He recalled a particular instance in which he and Papandreos took a trip to a local 7-Eleven and Papandreos was “really feeling himself and flexing in the camera,” Suppes said.
“I could just see it exponentially he was starting to feel better about himself,” said Suppes. He was getting lots of compliments because he had lost a bunch of weight (from 198 pounds down to 155 pounds).
Papandreos wanted to push himself out of his comfort zone and try something extremely difficult so he decided to take up boxing. At first it was nothing more than a hobby and a good workout to get in better shape but it has now turned into a serious endeavour.
Papandreos is in training for a marquee fight at the University of Regina’s campus bar, The Owl, on March 15 against one of the top fighters in Saskatchewan, Moe Majien. He has been sparring with some of the top fighters in the country in preparation for the bout even travelling to Niagara Falls and Toronto to partake in boxing camps.
As for what message he would relay to Suppes to show his appreciation, Papandreos mentioned that “he pushed me in ways where I wanted to make him proud, I wanted the results to reflect his time that he invested in me.”
