Meet John Kotrides—better known to the analog generation as Gen X Jono, a man who didn’t just survive the 70s, 80s, and 90s… he archived them in his brain like a human VHS tape set to EP mode.
Bringing serious East Coast flavor to Nice Pull!, Jono grew up in a loud, fast-moving, no-nonsense household where his Greek parents mostly spoke Greek—especially when they were mad, which, according to Jono, was often and usually justified. If you didn’t understand the words, you definitely understood the tone.
By day, Jono and his siblings helped run the family restaurant. By afternoon and evening, they “ran the streets”—his words, not ours—which meant figuring things out the old-school way: no phones, no tracking, just instincts, bad decisions, and a very loose concept of curfew.
Raised on a steady diet of Saturday morning cartoons, mall arcades, questionable cafeteria pizza, and whatever chaos MTV was serving up before it forgot it was supposed to play music, Jono has turned Gen X nostalgia into an art form—and possibly a mild condition.
He’s the guy who remembers the smell of a brand-new cassette, the exact moment your parents stopped understanding technology, and why rewinding something “just to be kind” was a moral obligation. While the rest of the world moved on, Jono stayed behind… not stuck, just carefully curating the good stuff.
As Gen X Jono, he brings a mix of sharp wit, deep-cut pop culture knowledge, and the kind of perspective that only comes from growing up in the last truly analog childhood—with a little East Coast edge and a lot of Greek family energy thrown in for good measure.
On Episode 80 of Nice Pull!, Jono doesn’t just join the conversation—he kicks the door open, cranks the volume, and rewinds the culture.
