Episode 80: Eighty Rooms, Still No Walls

Four times twenty. Eighty episodes. And somehow, the music keeps getting better.

I’m not entirely sure when Le Salon Indie de Mitxoda stopped feeling like a little radio experiment and became… this.

Eighty episodes.

Eighty doors opened onto music I probably would never have heard otherwise. Eighty gatherings of voices, guitars, machines, accidents, obsessions, strange ideas, beautiful mistakes, and songs created somewhere far away by people I had never met.

And yet, somehow, many of them don’t feel that far away anymore.

That’s the wonderful thing about independent music.

You start by listening to tracks. Then you start recognising names. Then voices. Then stories. And before you know it, you’re part of something that has no borders, no headquarters, and certainly no dress code.

Just music. And people.

A new breeze for Episode 80

And what better way to open this eightieth Salon than with a world premiere?

Groovalistics entrusted me with the very first worldwide broadcast of his latest track, New Breeze.

A new breeze to open a new chapter. Sometimes the universe has a rather good sense of timing.

From there, we travelled. As we always do.

All the way to New Zealand, where Vanessa Tottle brought us a wonderful ray of sunshine. Because yes, even when the Belgian skies seem determined to forget what daylight looks like, someone on the other side of the planet can send a little warmth through the speakers.

And then came another very special moment: The Immaculate Crows, whose track received its first radio broadcast outside Australia right here in the Salon.

Think about that for a second.

A song born in Australia, crossing oceans and finding a new home in the ears of listeners thousands of kilometres away.

That’s precisely why I do this.

Not for the numbers. Not for the charts.

For these little moments when the world suddenly feels smaller.

Where is my mind? Somewhere in Brussels, apparently.

My Brussels friends The Siffredis brought their own interpretation of the Pixies’ legendary Where Is My Mind?

Now, covering a song like that is quite a challenge. Some tracks are so deeply engraved in our collective musical memory that touching them almost feels dangerous.

But that’s the beauty of a cover: another band, another personality, another way of looking at something we thought we knew by heart.

And since we’re talking about losing our minds…

LUDIOSIS. TIME.

What. A. Monster.

Some tracks are simply impossible to describe without reducing them to something smaller than they deserve.

TIME is one of those.

Enormous. Absolutely enormous.

The kind of musical experience that makes you forget what you were doing, where you were going, and possibly what day it is.

I won’t even try to put it neatly into a box.

Just listen.

No brakes, no boundaries

And the rest of the journey?

Oh, we weren’t exactly running out of surprises.

Red Code, Happy Sad, Focus 29… each bringing something different to the table, each reminding us that independent music refuses to behave like a neatly organised supermarket aisle.

And then there was Basharan with the magnificent Monolith.

What a piece.

A title that already suggests something imposing, something carved out of time and stone. And a musical experience that absolutely deserves its place in this anniversary episode.

Some songs entertain you and others leave something behind.

Monolith belongs to that second category.

And that, my friends, is how you celebrate four times twenty.

Not with a nostalgic compilation of past glories, but with new discoveries, unexpected sounds, extraordinary musicians and a few moments that genuinely make you stop and think: how on earth is this music not everywhere?

Eighty episodes. Still hungry.

There’s no master plan for Le Salon Indie de Mitxoda.

No genre police at the entrance. Rock can collide with electronic music. Something fragile can follow something enormous. A three-minute pop song can sit beside a ten-minute instrumental journey.

Sometimes the technology works. Sometimes it has other plans.

Sometimes I talk too much. Sometimes I let the music do everything.

But the principle hasn’t changed since the very beginning:

If a song makes me feel something, it deserves a chance to be heard.

Eighty episodes later, I’m still discovering artists who surprise me. Still opening submissions with the curiosity of a kid unwrapping a present. Still wondering how so much extraordinary music can exist outside the usual machinery of the industry.

And I’m still grateful.

To the artists who trust me with their creations. To the radio stations that make this adventure possible. To everyone listening from Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Hungary, the United States, and all those other corners of the planet.

To everyone who shares a track, sends a message, joins the conversation or simply spends a couple of hours listening.

You’ve made this little Salon much bigger than I ever imagined.

Eighty Salons. Thousands of musical emotions. And absolutely no intention of closing the door.

A little experiment. And I really need you on this one.

For this 80th episode, I tried something new.

I recently created the Mitxoda WhatsApp Channel, and during the show, every single track appeared directly in the channel as it was being played.

A little experiment to make the Salon more interactive, more connected, and hopefully bring the artists and listeners even closer together.

Because sometimes you hear a song on the radio, you love it, and then… what’s the name again? Who was that artist? Where can I find them?

Well, that’s exactly what I’m trying to solve.

But here’s the thing.

I really need you to help me make this channel grow.

Not because I’m chasing followers or trying to collect impressive numbers. You know me better than that by now.

It’s because the more people join, the more visibility we can give to these incredible independent artists. And the more useful this little experiment becomes for everyone.

So please, join the Mitxoda WhatsApp Channel, follow it, share it with your music-loving friends, and help me spread the word.

It costs nothing. Just a few seconds of your time. And it would genuinely mean a lot to me.

I’m building all these little things around the Salon because I believe independent music deserves more than just a fleeting moment on the radio.

But I can’t build a community alone.

I can open the doors. You’re the ones who make the Salon come alive.

So come on in. Let’s make some noise together. ❤️

Join the Mitxoda WhatsApp Channel

One more thing: let’s give Timtmmusic a hand!

He wasn’t featured in this eightieth episode, but that doesn’t mean we can’t give him a little love.

Our indie friend Timtmmusic is taking part in The Next Music Star 2026, and he could really use our support.

Because supporting independent musicians isn’t just about playing their songs on the radio.

It’s also about showing up when they need us.

A vote, a share, a little encouragement. Sometimes the smallest gestures travel the greatest distances.

Support Timtmmusic, vote here!

Let’s show what this indie community can do.

And there we are.

Four times twenty.

Eighty reasons to believe there’s still an extraordinary amount of music waiting to be discovered.

Thank you for being part of this wonderfully unpredictable journey.

Keep creating. Keep listening. Keep surprising each other.

And above all, stay indie.

With love from Brussels,

Mitxoda

Le Salon Indie de Mitxoda – Episode 80