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Gummy Soul Builds a New Hip Hop Empire

November 23, 2011 By 2 Comments
Amerigo Gazaway, Kurtis Stanley, & Wally Clark of Gummy Soul

From L to R: Amerigo Gazaway, Kurtis Stanley, & Wally Clark

Nashville really is the perfect Music City. It’s full of surprises. When I first moved here, the surprise was that this is not just a country music city. There is a pretty nice hip hop scene in Nashville as well as an electronic scene. So as I was trying to carve my special place in local Nashville hip hop, I found another surprise. I was scrolling Facebook and someone had posted The Stuyvesants Meet Gummy Soul mixtape.


I was really impressed. As it turns out there was a lot going on with Gummy Soul that I didn’t even know about. A lot has happened with Gummy Soul since that first listen. I inquired to find out more about them. One of the members, Wally Clark, wrote me back with everything I was wondering. I’ll just tell you what he told me.

Wally Clark of Gummy Soul

Walter 'Wally' Clark

Gummy Soul is a Nashville based record label and production company, founded by Walter “Wally” Clark. In 2006, Clark moved to Atlanta, to seclude himself while learning how to produce. Standing outside of a record store in the Little 5 Points district, Clark was approached by future Gummy Soul artist Rahlou “Nickel Plated Butter” Hodge. Impressed by Clark’s knowledge of soul music, Hodge surprised Clark with a unexpected gift the day after they met. He took Clark to a record collector friend of his, and convinced him to give Clark nearly 1,200 records. Clark spent a year in Atlanta, getting to know his collection, and perfecting the Gummy Soul sound. In 2007, Clark moved back to Nashville, to work on music with longtime friend and fellow producer, Amerigo Gazaway.

Amerigo Gazaway of Gummy Soul

Amerigo Gazaway

Clark met Gazaway in 2001, when he was only 15. They connected immediately; Clark taught Gazaway about hip hop, while Amerigo taught him about production and writing rhymes. In 2007, the two started The Gummy Soul Show, a weekly radio show on 91.1 FM WRVU. Inspired by former WRVU DJ and now Stones Throw label head, Eothen “Egon” Alapatt‘s 911 Emergency show. the Gummy Soul show featured rare soul songs, sampled to make classic hip hop records. The show was a staple in the Nashville community, until WRVU abruptly sold it’s license, and was reformatted as a classical station.

Kurtis Stanley and Wally Clark and Gummy Soul

Wally Clark & Kurtis Stanley performing their CD release as Gummy Soul

In 2008, Clark met Kurtis Stanley, who became Gummy Soul and began work on what became the label first official release. the aptly titled, Gummy Soul album. Showcasing Clark’s knack for soulful production and cleaver sample choices, as well as Stanley’s, accessible, yet intricate rhymes, the Gummy Soul album laid the template for all of the label’s future releases.


After releasing a handful of well received releases, the label earned it’s first hit, with the Fela Kuti/De La Soul mashup album Fela Soul. With over 300,000 downloads to date, Fela Soul gained praise from NPR and MTV, and established Gummy Soul as one of the most reliable sources in modern hip hop today.


The word that I got on the street was that Amerigo had the Fela Soul album done and finished for months and was just sitting on it while waiting on the right opportunity. ?uestlove was in town doing a DJ set. Amerigo gave it to him at his gig and then released it online via his site and on twitter. ?uestlove retweeted it. It got picked up on Okayplayer, NPR, MTV, The Source, NME, etc. They definitely knew how to take over the internet. They didn’t even have to tour. Gummy Soul is definitely my favorite hip hop group in Nashville right now. Honestly, they’re making music that’s comparable to anything else in the country. Check out the new Occupy Wall Street Anthem that Amerigo recently did.

They’re a force to be reckoned with! Check them at their website: GummySoul.com

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How I Quit My Day Job Too Early and Wasn’t Ready For The Next Step

November 14, 2011 By 34 Comments

Denzel Washington as Malcom X

I was Bamboozled! Hoodwinked! Led Astray!

However, it’s really my fault. I don’t think I was sold a lie. But I believed a lie. But let’s start with the truth.

The truth is that I want to be a musician and DJ. I want to make great music and perform that music all across the country and all over the world. I want to do this just like all of my favorite artists have done. I also want my live show to create great experiences for people who like the music. I want people to be able to look back on a show of mine and say that it was one of their great life experiences either because of me or the people they met there; and of course, the art. I also want to act and perform on TV and film like my childhood heroes did. I want to be part of great storytelling and great presentation.

Quiet Entertainer

Additionally, I want to make a lot of money. I want to be able to be generous with that money in the same way that people have been generous with me. I want to support my local church. I also want to support organizations like Christ In Youth that really impacted me when I was younger. I also want a lot of free time. I would spend that time volunteering with kids at my local church, just like volunteers were there for me. I would spend time visiting all my friends all over the country and world that I’ve met over the years. I’d also spend time practicing my craft, both music and acting; and getting better. Eventually, I’d want to spend my time with a wife and kids.

That is the whole picture.

You can earn more money, but you can’t earn more time. We are always running out of time. Not only that, but we don’t know how much time we have left. I started looking to use technology in smarter ways to market music. I stumbled upon music marketing blogs. Those led me to lifestyle design blogs. Those led me to minimalism blogs. I settled on a few experts. One guy told me Sell all my crap. Another told me to stop being a wuss. Another said there is never a right time. Some more people said they quit their day job. What is a real job anyway?

Well, I quit my day job to pursue the music. I was doing great for a while. I had some shows lined up. I was making money. And then it all dried up. No shows. no money. No way to pay the bills. I was on the Ramen Noodles diet. I ate Ramen so often, one day I physically could not look at another packet of Ramen. I chose to just not eat. I’d never experienced it that bad. It was so bad, that I actually lost hosting on this site and the site was down. I suppose I didn’t work as hard as I could have.

A year and a half ago, I was inspired to run a full marathon. Not a half. a FULL 26.2 miles. Running a half isn’t on anyone’s bucket list. So I bought some great running shoes. Some insoles. I talked with a lot of runners. I signed up to a some running sites. Read some running blogs. I got a run your first marathon book. I suppose I did everything except actually get out and run every day. So when the marathon came, I wasn’t ready and I didn’t do it.

I suppose this quit your day job stuff is like that. I didn’t really hustle like I could have. I realized this when I read Jon Acuff’s book, Quitter. I should have figured it out sooner. I knew that there isn’t a lot of money to be made in music business. There’s just a lot more work that I have to do to make my big picture a reality. But that’s the task. I suppose I was seduced by the visions of trying to live the life now before it’s “too late.”

I really screwed it up this year. It’s tempting to focus only on these failures. However, I did have some victories. I played a great live PA show in Knoxville. I did a great DJ set this summer for some church kids (BTW: here’s the difference between Live PA & DJ Sets). I made my first DJ mix, Q-Gaze. And really, at least I tried it. I jumped without fear. It may have been financial suicide. But I tried it. So now that I have to take a minimum wage job just to try and catch up, I at least have a better perspective on what I need to do to create the life that I feel led to create. I need to hustle. I need to focus less on my marketing strategy and make sure my stuff is epic. I need to not care what other people think. I need to focus on the right things.

I say all this publicly so that I’ll actually have to do that. Hold me accountable.

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Interview with Sophie Reeves: From Fan to Frontlines with Pretty Lights

October 27, 2011 By 5 Comments
"sophie reeves" "pretty lights"

Derek Vincent Smith (Pretty Lights) & Sophie Reeves

What is it that you do? What is your job title?


I am Pretty Lights Assistant Tour Manger / Production Assistant and also cant forget that I’m on Vibe Control! Vibe control is me keeping the peace :)

Did you have a vision for how you’d be involved in the music industry? What else are you wanting to do?


I never really knew how I wanted to be involved in the music industry. I grew up in Nashville with my dad in the country music business but didn’t know till I was in my early 20s that I wanted to also be involved in the industry. I changed my major up half way through college to Music Business and started learning more about what I could even do or be involved in. I did an internship at Capitol Records my last semester in College and got to see the jobs inside a record label. Now working with Pretty Lights I have been able to see so many of the different jobs that are out there from the hospitality person to the production manager to daily accounting. As of right now I am really liking tour managing and what I am learning going into bigger venues with Pretty Lights. I would love to get more involved with our Record Label over the next few months that we have off of the road and get to know that side of things. At this point I am really open to learning what is out there and seeing where things take me. I just know I love live music and I love bringing live music to people.

Were you involved in the electronic music scene before your job? In what ways?


I was actually not really involved in the electronic music scene for that long before I got this job. I went to my first music festival (Bonnaroo) in the summer of 2009 when one of my friends had an extra free ticket. That weekend I saw Pretty Lights for the first time and was immediately hooked. The energy that the he and the crowd shared was dope. I spent that summer before getting my job with PL going from festival to festival and got to know the electronic music scene pretty well.


How did you get connected with Pretty Lights?


Like I said Bonnaroo was my first PL show. It was the Friday night and my roommate at the time Bo Cox had been listening to PL and told me I MUST MUST go. So we went, and as most people say when they go to their first PL show, I was hooked! After that weekend I went home and spent some time research PL and Derek (who is Pretty Lights if you didn’t already know). I found some really cool info about him. That he gave his music away for free online, was working on a new album, and that he had INCREDIBLE music! The following month after ‘roo I went to a few more PL shows and was more and more impressed. One day while I was at the computer I found his contact information on his website and decided I would send him an email and see if he had any opportunities for work or internships, I was only a month out from graduating and had no idea where I was going to go with my Music Business Degree from MTSU. I sent Derek an email telling him that I was about to graduate and that I would love the opportunity to work for him and help spread his music. Later that day I was out eating lunch with my good friend Jeremy who I had met at a Pretty Lights show and got an email back from him saying that he was about to go on his first fall tour and he would love to talk. Well to shorten things up he asked for my resume. I sent it to him and he sent back what could be my job description; Merch Girl / Assistant with long hours and a 5 week tour. His question to me – Why do you think you could handle this job!? I remember sitting at home writing the email back (which I still have and could forward to you) basically writing an essay on myself and how I could do this job. The whole thing was very professional from my end and my biggest selling point of myself; that I am extremely passionate about everything I do and I wanted to help bring his music to more people. After that we kept emailing back and forth till I went to one of his shows and finally got to introduce myself and talk to him one on one. We had a quick conversation after his set at King Plow in July 2009, exchanged phone numbers and he left me with saying, “let me talk to my agent and manager on monday and give me a call on tuesday.” Before I had the chance to call him tuesday morning he called me and told me that he would love to bring me out on a week tour and see how it goes. So yea I went on that week tour which was an SUV tour, we had no bus, no semi. Just a box truck and an SUV with 5 of us in it. I went on that tour and did a great job. After my first show with him which was in Tuscaloosa at Bama Theater, Derek asked me to come out to Colorado for the 3 day run of sold out shows and before I could make it to Colorado he asked me to come out for the fall tour with the 8 other guys he was taking.

I understand that you run the PL day to day operations. What kinds of things do you do on the daily?


Well at this point we are running a pretty big operation on the road with 14 people, tour tour buses, a semi and a trailer. The things I deal with daily are forever changing, which is part of the job. Some days I will deal with something that I have never dealt with before. Right now I am “in charge” of the merch, hospitality, catering, runners, daily accounting, being derek’s personal assistant, local opening acts on tour, tour / production assistant, and like I said vibe control. I am like tour mom on steroids i make sure things happen when they should, that people get what they need when they need to and I make sure everyone is happy, feed, clean, and well yea just happy. I would really need to think about this one and take a minute to write out what I do all day.

"sophie reeves" "pretty lights"

Max (stage manager), Phil (Production Manager) and Greg (Lighting Designer) and Sophie in front of two tour buses, one semi, trailer and vespa - Oct 2011

If an artist wanted to get to that level, what kind of work would that artist have to do? (What kinds of things do you see happening on your team everyday that an artist would have to emulate?)


Ya know one of the biggest things is putting yourself out there. We have so many opening acts and the one thing that I notice is that none of them really ever have flyers. When I use to actually sell the merch at our shows I would have people come up to me all night asking who was the opener and I would have to write it down on an index card or piece of scrap paper. I think that one of the best parts about opening for a bigger act is that you are put in front of an large audience that wants to hear music. So play music and put some cards at the merch booth so people don’t forget who you are. Also I think that giving your music away for free digitally is a great way to get yourself out there. These days people are either downloading illegally or getting music from their friends so why not as an artist get the credit for giving it away. I think it is a great idea and a great way to put yourself out there. I also think that you need to think about your business as a whole not just the music. Who you involve, where you want to go. You need a vision!

Does your job enable you to be in touch with lots of different artists/people in different music scenes? Do you see anything cool happening out there?


Yes! My job is amazing. I have done over 250 PL shows at this point maybe more than 300 I would have to think about it for a minute. But yes I am seeing some really cool things happening out here. Derek is involved in a new documentary called Re:Generation.


You can connect with Sophie on Twitter @Sophie_E_Reeves .

Also, Pretty Lights will be in Nashville on Oct. 31. Tickets are still on sale! Click the flyer to get those.

pretty lights; illumination; zeds dead; porter robinson; wick-it; cherub nashville

Click this to buy tickets!

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Quiet Entertainer Drops New Mix EP: Q-Gaze

September 19, 2011 By 1 Comment
"quiet entertainer" "q-gaze"

Artwork: Josh Jenkins & Levi Watson

My new mix EP is up! It’s called Q-Gaze. Q-Gaze basically is a collection of songs that I’ve found recently that I really enjoy. Songs that I’ve discovered from my Pandora Station, soundcloud, or from going out to shows. It’s my first mix of any kind; so, I’m really excited and proud of it! You can download Q-Gaze for free here!

"quiet entertainer" "q-gaze"

Artwork: Josh Jenkins & Levi Watson

If you can’t see that image, here’s the track listing.

Blue Sky Black Death – Farewell To the Former World
Saxon Shore – Silence Lends a Face to the Soul
Nordlight – Feel Yourself
Dead Prez – Hip Hop (Live Peripheral Remix)
DJ Shadow – Walkie Talkie (Irn Mnky Beat Down Mix)
RJD2 – One Day (Instrumental)
Lymbyc Systym – Pittsburgh Left (Eliot Lipp Remix)
Between The Buried And Me – Medicine Wheel (Instrumental)
Bassnectar – Dorfex Bos
Diplo – Big Lost
Charlie Blacksmoke and The Swamp Energy Mass Choir – Hippie Glue (Extreme Super Death Moon Mix)
Al B. Sure – Night and Day (Onra Mix)
(Interlude)
Tallest Trees – We Were Just An Echo (Echo 2)
P-Love – Palisades (Extendomix)
Rae & Christian – Swimming Pool
Bonobo – Recurring
This Will Destroy You – Quiet

I sent this mix to my email list a few weeks ago, and the response has been very encouraging. Definitely have a listen and let me know what you think in the comments.

Q-Gaze by Quiet Entertainer

Don’t forget that you can download the entire mix for free here.

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Interview with Orig the DJ Part Three: Big Smo, Spoken Nerd, & Teaching DJs

September 13, 2011 By 4 Comments
"orig the dj" "big smo"

Orig with Big Smo & Kinfoke

This is part three of my interview with Orig the DJ. If you missed part one or part two, you can click the links to read it. In this section, he discusses Big Smo, Spoken Nerd, and his philosophy as a DJ teacher.

QE: How did you end up working with Big Smo?

Orig: Well, Smo is a good friend of mine. John Smith. We’ve known each other a long time. I think I was still in high school. We met in 96. I was already a DJ in my bedroom. I knew how to make beats and sample just a little bit. I was real amateur at it. So, Smo wrote poetry on a personal level. He wanted to take that and do something with it. He figured rapping would be the route to go. We already knew each other at the time. He started to introduce to me his ideas. I told him “Come over. I’ll make some beats for you or whatever and we can figure something out.” Several years later, we’re continuing to do it. We created our own studio. We kind of went half and half on studio equipment. We got other people involved just so we could practice recording. It was really for me. I was the engineer, producer, and beatmaker involved with it. We made an album. His brother helped make it a reality. We took a bunch of our recordings. I did the best I could to make it sound the best I could. He helped us get it put on an actual CD. Shrink-wrapped with a barcode and everything. He helped us create a website for it back in 2002. It was called the Country Kitchen. It was cool. It showcased a lot of talent in our area. In Shelbyville of all places. You probably don’t even know about Shelbyville unless they’re into walking horses. Walking Horse Capital of the world.
"big smo"

Orig: At the Time, Smo and I were just doing hip hop. Straight rapping about what everybody else was rapping about. He eventually hired Haystak to be featured on a song. Haystak was really impressed with him. Kind of took him under his wing. Smo not only was a rapper at the time. He could make beats, but that wasn’t his forte. That wasn’t his thing. He could also record. He did a lot of recording for local artists. I went to school at SAE. Every day I’d get out of school I’d come home and show Smo what I learned. So, that’s kind of how he developed his professional recording abilities and skills. We were also doing music videos. I was helping him back in 2003 doing our own home music videos and trying to figure stuff out. Trying to sync the music with the video. Anyway back to Haystak. Haystak started to hire Smo to do his music videos for him. And then he got Smo to be his backup. His right hand man on the stage when he did shows. Smo got to learn a lot about the business on an independent level through Haystak. Got to travel around the country on a tour that Haystak was on with the Dark Lotus tour with ICP. Smo was promoting his album. I made a mixtape for him. We had already done an album together called The True South. So there was Country Kitchen. There was True South. So that was what Smo was promoting out there. Selling whatever he could. He got to meet a lot of people along the way. that’s where he started to develop the idea of the hick-hop sound.

"Big Smo"

Big Smo

He didn’t pioneer it. But he realized that the urban hip hop was not his true passion. It was too much of trying to do that. Like the hood, hip hop dirty south type deal. So he actually did his third album, American Made. I wasn’t around at that time. He hired a guy, Charlie Bonnett, who was a guitar player. kind of a heavy metal rock singer, country singer to work with him on certain song ideas. He had other beatmakers working with him and I made a few beats for him to help him out. American Made was really the beginning of that sound that was Smo was able to pinpoint. The Hick Hop sound. Basically, hip hop beats with southern rock guitars. And southern rock type of hooks but with rap verses. Instead of rapping about the hood, he raps about back roads, cornfields, John Deere tractors, moonshine, home grown pot, all that good stuff. (laughs)

QE: yeah man.


Orig: So that’s what he’s been doing since last year. He called me and asked me to get involved in a new project called KinFoke. It was Smo, Charlie Bonnett, Brahma Bull, Mr. Sneed who really helped Smo develop his sound also. He needed me to come in and help him finalize the album. He had a lot of tracks on his album that he needed to finalize. He asked me to come in and finalize it. Make it sound like a mixtape. Master it. I was responsible for turning all these song ideas. I was more or less just the DJ portion of it. The songs were already done and recorded. I had some beats on it but I was mixing it together. Last fall was when I went abroad to do a show for the first time. It was the first time I went away from Tennessee to DJ. It was an awesome experience. Unfortunately, Kinfoke’s not really around anymore. couple of guys went different ways. Kind of left us in the air. But we’re back at it. Smo and I have been together for a long time. I’m still his DJ but Smo is the main focus. We’re working on a new album called Grassroots. Smo’s been able to land a legitimate management deal with a guy out of LA, Dan Nelson. His father is Jay Nelson who managed Queen. Hopefully I’ll be able to land a management deal sometime soon. Everyone needs a manager man.


QE: This is great stuff. Who else have you been making beats for? You did an album for Spoken Nerd as well, right?

Orig: Yeah. Spoken Nerd came to me. He was digging me as a DJ. When he found out I made beats, he approached me with an idea for an album. He wanted me to help produce it. So I said “OK cool.” So he came over. It started out with him. He brought his acoustic bass guitar. He had a melody and played it for me and I recorded it. I took that recording and chopped it up and edited it in Ableton. Made a loop out of it; and started making beats to complement and support that and then make a bass line. And whatever else. We’d make a basic beat. Then we recorded vocals. After the vocals were on, I started to tailor the beat to go along with the vocals. Maybe a drop here, add something there. A Scratch there. For the most part that’s how that went.

Orig: I also made some beats on the side that I’d let him go through. A list of beats that I’d made. He would pick some stuff that he liked. So it was a combination of him on guitar and then also me with beats from years ago that he picked through. But it wasn’t that simple. About halfway through the album production, I lost everything from my computer. It was my fault. It was a stupid dumb mistake. I hope nobody has to go through this. I was doing what I thought was the right thing. I was cleaning my computer, I was backing stuff up. So I go through my music folder and I dragged all my important stuff to my external hard drive. I was mainly focusing on music that I use to DJ with because that took up a lot of space. And all the music I used for producing, that wasn’t backed up. I was going to leave on my computer because I was working on it. So what I accidentally did in the middle of all this dragging and dropping, I drug the entire music folder to my trash. I didn’t even realize it; I didn’t notice I had done that. And when I clicked empty trash it was taking SO LONG. I was wondering why. After it was done, I noticed my music folder wasn’t there anymore. I lost so many beats…

"orig the dj" "spoken nerd"

Orig with Spoken Nerd

Orig: Man, I had to break the news to Nathan. He’s such a good guy. He just said “Oh well; let’s re-do it. Are you up for re-doing it?” And I was like “Of course, it’s the least I could do.” So, I had to remake a bunch of the beats. It was hard to recapture some of that feeling and emotion of the originals. Even when you’re chopping and editing, programming drum machines and stuff; there’s still an emotion there. It’s very similar to capturing sound from a microphone. There’s littlie mistakes you make in the editing. Very subtle things that aren’t otherwise reproduced. But anyway, we got back on there and started the album in 08. It took a long time because of that and all the other stuff I was doing. All the beats for Smo… Get Got…. my own thing…. Really my own thing, which usually ends up being things for other people. I’ll do little beat sketches in my program. Then, I’ll come back at it with another artist or rapper; or turn it into a Get Got song. Well, we had the album near completion. Nathan had a guitar player, 2Shon. He’s a very interesting guy; I got along with him really well. He laid down guitar. The funny thing about it; we had no guitar parts for him. We had no melodies for him, no sheet music. We just said, “play along and do whatever the heck you want.’ All I did was hit record and just let him play from the beginning to the end. I captured whatever ideas that he put on the recording. I’d take those and slice, chop them, and piece them until I came up with something that I liked. Even the guitar solos on some of the tracks are just pieced together parts from somewhere in the song. You can’t really tell because I’d splice them together where a snare hits. You can use a snare to cover up an edit.


QE: How about that, learning all the tricks! So you were saying about you never get to work on your own stuff… Why are you always helping people?

Orig: Yeah that’s become my style, man. It’s fortunate, but unfortunately I don’t focus on myself. I’m always helping people out. Everything I’ve been doing as a DJ, producer, an engineer; it’s been for other people. I DJ for a crowd. I DJ for a wedding. I DJ for a birthday. I DJ for a rapper. I DJ for a band. I DJ… You name it: I DJ. That’s what usually DJs do; they take care of the crowd anyway, right? Then as an engineer, I’m recording other people. Recording rappers, singers, guitarists… whatever. Capturing sounds. Capturing videos. Live sound; I’m making sure that whoever’s on stage sounds great. Even when I make beats, I think I started out making stuff for myself. But as soon as I started getting involved with other people, I was more selfless. Everything was for my friend. I make a beat for my friend. I’d do whatever I can for whoever whether it’s Smo, or my band Get Got, or MASHVILLE. Even going to school for engineering; the best thing that’s come out of that has been the ability to teach other friends. How to work software, engineering, acoustics, tips and tricks, techniques, philosophy. I learned a lot from school. And mostly from magazines and a lot of trial and error. I wish I could say that I learned a lot from others that are above me in the industry, but I haven’t had a lot of opportunity to be around mentors. I’ve always played the role of mentor for my fellow DJs. Whether it’s scratching, or letting people borrow equipment, you name it. If there’s help to be done, I’m there to help.

"orig the dj"

QE: Is that part of your personality? or are you doing it on purpose?

Orig: I think it’s part of my personality. I do get frustrated sometimes where I help and help and help and when I need help I don’t get it. So I do get frustrated. But I think it’s just that I come across as such a nice guy and really I’m willing to help. I always ask if I can help. I am always making myself available for stuff like that. When I probably should be in the studio working on my own stuff or practicing my own set, I’m at a friend’s house with my hard drive letting them have my music. When I should be making my own beats, I’m at another friend’s house helping them learn how to make beats. So actually, I think it’s a combination of doing it on purpose and also accidentally being someone that someone else can call. I’m not gonna stop.
"orig the dj"

Orig: As a matter a fact, I’m taking this helping curse…but really it’s a blessing to be the unofficial teacher to my fellow DJs and producers. I can’t tell you how many times I’m navigating through a program over the program saying “Go to Options, and go down to Preferences, and go to Audio, and blah blah blah.” I can troubleshoot any program over the phone. Anyway, I’m going to take that skill and I have the opportunity now to be a teacher. Thanks to a guy I met: Victor Chatman. At the last MASHVILLE, I was trying to kill some time before we set up. So I went to Guitar Center. That’s my Toys R Us. They have the DJ room, so I went over there and I was messing with the Numark NS7 with the Serato Itch. This older guy came up to me and said “Hey, that’s pretty good! Where else do you DJ?” and I was saying ” I don’t really have a club or anything; I do this thing called MAASHVILLE.” We were just chatting. Anyway, he had this idea to teach children how to set up sound systems and how to DJ. and I was like “Yes! That’s my vision too! That’s my dream and I’m teaching a lot of my friends how to do stuff anyway!” So we exchanged numbers, and even as busy as I am; I just called him on a weekly basis. We never were able to get together. “I’d just say “Hey this is Ray. Just wanted to call in. I wish I could come out to your spot sometime but I’m really swamped right now.” And he’d say “Oh, I appreciate you calling man. That’s cool.” When we finally got a chance to sit down to talk about it; he said his idea launched and it blew up more than he expected. He’s got a bunch of kids and they’re really eager to learn. He’s already got the ball rolling. Probably within a month; I’ll be teaching my first class. it’s at the Hickory Hollow Mall next to Macy’s is Victor Chatman Studios. So I’ll be able to take that dilemma I had of helping all these people and getting frustrated. Now I’m getting the help I wanted to get. That just goes to show: Don’t expect anything. Just do it. Unconditionally. Just like you love your family. Love your art. Love our THING. You know? don’t expect money back. Until you get a manager. Then your manager will be the one that will fight and get that money for you. Be smart in choosing your manager! Yeah so that’s what happens when you’re selfless. You always get rewarded.

"victor chatman" "mc lyte"

Victor Chatman with MC Lyte

QE: Man, this was awesome. Anything else you want to say to people who might be reading this? DJs? Musicians?

Orig: I’m not going to say what most people say in their closing and just say “Love the art and keep practicing.” That’s known. That’s a given. It should be a default. I think that you should take care of yourself first and foremost. If you want to pursue a career, no matter what it is, make sure you’re prepared. There’s really no guideline because everyone has a unique list of things to do. So make sure you know that list. An make sure you ACT on that list. Whether it’s financially, relationship-wise, emotionally. Take care of that list. Clean your room.

QE: Wow.

Orig: (laughs) As silly as it sounds, it’s true. You got to organize yourself before you can organize stuff around you. It’s all about organizing schedules. gigs. Being prepared. Prepare Yourself for your dream. Figure out what your dream is and start preparing for it because it’s going to happen. The more you prepare for it; the easier it’s going to get to you. Or it’s not going to be easy at all. Really, it’s still not going to be easy, but at least you’ll be somewhat prepared. Love your family as best you can; they’re your first audience. Take their opinions under considerations all the time but then do what you really feel you want to do. Don’t just go with the crowd. Don’t go with what everyone else is digging on. You can dig on it too, but don’t use that as YOUR platform. Everybody has their own unique sound. Everyone has their own two cents. Stick to your two cents. Stick to your sound. Listen to everybody and soak as much as you can. Listen; that way you can develop your style. The more you listen, the better words you can speak without speaking so much.

QE: That is absolutely relevant to me. That was great.
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