Niko Bolas is an American music producer, sound engineer, and consultant and business developer in the fields of virtual reality and Internet radio. In 1989, Bolas founded Fakespace Music with Mark Bolas, Ian McDowall and Christian Greuel, which, in 1995, developed the Soundsculpt Toolkit, a software interface that allows music to communicate with the graphical elements of virtual reality.
In 1999, he became the CEO of Sonicbox, Inc., the Internet radio company he founded with Mark Bolas and Ian McDowall. Sonicbox developed and marketed the first internet radio device, which became available in consumer stores in year through a licensing agreement with Philips Consumer Electronics. For the first time, the iM Band(TM) was alongside AM and FM on the radio dial, allowing consumers to listen to Internet radio from around the world.
He assisted the start-up company LibSyn in creating the first podcast network in 2005. He also works with the University of Southern California's Interactive Media Division of the School for Cinematic Arts, as well as consulting for USC's Institute for Creative Technology, the Mixed Reality lab. His current music enterprise is McNeeks Production in Blackbird Studio.
Among his most notable production works are Neil Young's This Note's for You, Freedom and Living with War, Warren Zevon's Sentimental Hygiene and Melissa Etheridge debut self-titled album. Bolas' trademark technique is clear and loud recording of vocals. The same can be said of his talent at recording other musical instruments - in the early 80s, Bolas collaborated with legendary American hard rock band KISS, on their album Creatures of the Night, recording Eric Carr's drums.