The most common question I get asked is, “How did you come up with the name Quiet Entertainer?” The answer is pretty simple, but it deserves a not so simple explanation.
At the very beginning, Quiet Entertainer was just a screen name. Kind of an online alias. When I first went to college, I received my very first email address at MTSU where I attended. This was my introduction to the internet. I had a school email address but I wanted my OWN email. My real name is pretty common so when I signed up for a free email address I needed to come up with a name. I didn’t want to be gregfreeman12345@whatever .com .
So, the name Quiet Entertainer came to me quite easily. It most accurately reflected my personality at the time and still does today. When I was in elementary, junior high, & high school, I was the really quiet and nerdy guy. I didn’t really talk to anyone except for my one or two friends. And I usually only had just one or two friends at a time. In high school though, I started being involved in theater. Performing in front of a live audience, more than anything, made me feel very alive. So I was a very quiet dude, who suddenly had this very expressive outlet.
It not only reflected my personality then, but also what I wanted to be. I remember my high school self as being very self centered and egotistical. I really didn’t like a lot of other people. I loved to brag about how much better I was in whatever area. As I started to become more self aware about this, Quiet Entertainer as a name was a reminder to myself to practice humility, but put your best self forward. As it related to acting and theater, I wanted to stop being conceited, stop boasting, and just perform excellently. (By the way, I still am pursuing acting as a career. Take a look at my first national commercial.)
As life took its turns, I wanted my new title to spill into every area of my life instead of just acting. I think I parked quietentertainer@every-email-I-could-think-of.com at some point. I really didn’t know just how far you could take it or know anyone else who really embodied what I was trying to accomplish. As I type that, I realize I didn’t know exactly what I was trying to accomplish in the first place. That was until I discovered DJ Shadow.
I wanted to make people feel the way DJ Shadow made me feel.
So now, I had a template. In my mind, I had found the ultimate artist. I started looking for other artists like him. As I got more and more information, I started finding my favorite artists and watching their interviews and going to see them perform. I paid attention to everything. How they carried themselves. How they answered questions. All of my favorites had a few things in common.
They were all very humble.
All were doing things artistically that no one else was really doing.
They all were great performers.
Of course, I felt the same initial feeling that I felt when I would see these types of artists.
I suppose this is all very subjective from my point of view. Artistically, I’m influenced by DJ Shadow. Also, I got a lot from Blue Man Group. I remember seeing them in New York and I was absolutely blown away by what they were doing. It seemed like they almost appealed to all five senses with their performance. As I continued to learn more about DJ-ing, I wondered what would happen if Blue Man Group decided to become DJs?
So for me, it’s kind of an artistic pay-it-forward kind of thing. I want to intrigue and inspire people in the same way I was intrigued and inspired. I try to do that with the music, with my live show, with this blog, and especially through my emails.
If you have any questions about any of that, leave them in the comments below.
Quiet Entertainer (that's me) is a DJ/Producer that blends ambient electronica with hip-hop. I'm based in Nashville, TN.
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Excellent story!
The evolution of an artist is always intriguing.
Thanks Joshua! Yeah the evolution continues. 🙂 Thanks for checking in, dude!
This is something that you and I share, then, because DJ Shadow was my first introduction to electronica and every subgenre of it that he played at Bonnaroo 2007. His performance was mind-blowingly mesmerizing to me because I had never witnessed with my own two eyes a DJ do what he did that night, just playing for hours and hyping the crowd up. He made it clear by stating that it was his last U.S. tour stop for long while in the middle of that year.
Nice story. I liked your commercial as well.
Its good to go back sometimes and think. Is ‘what I am doing’ really what I ‘should’ be doing.
Cool that you pay homage. That DJ shadow track is pretty awesome too. Im waiting for the collab 😀
-adam
Yeah Austin, I just saw Shadow again on his most recent tour. He’s still ELITE, man!
Adam, we gotta make it work, brotha! Thanks for checking in. Yeah that’s a question I ask myself a lot. Especially when times are hard.
Thanks so much for posting this! I loved reading it, and I’m so glad to finally know the full story of how QE came about! Keep intriguing and inspiring!
Thanks G! I’m glad you stopped by!
This is beautiful.
Thanks for checking it out!
Very inspiring! Maybe soeday, someone, somewhere isu00a0going tou00a0say “I wanted to make people feel the way Quiet The Entertainer made me feel”.u00a0Keep up the good work!u00a0
That means a lot. thanks for checking in with me. 🙂
Excellent Music!! Sorry I haven’t commented I was kinda busy!! but loved it!! Specially the “Odd Soul Remix” you rock!! a big hug for you dude!
I’m a big fan of hugs. I appreciate you! Thank you.
I really liked reading this and I like what I read.nI can’t tell how much I appreciate the “humble-part”. I think this is something very demanding and time needing to look after all the interested people, fans or friends. but also this is something, maybe THE most essential thing, most artists and musicians or whoever in showbiz lose during getting famous. nI worked with some bands and staffs, and I always appreciated humble, friendly people to work with. Because, and you might get to learn this more and more; because you learn from them. Not only the skills, but also the way to behave appropriate or even better. Someone told me once he really enjoyed to work with me and that means a lot to me still.nI think I made my point quite clear. Keep that friendly, “touchable”, humble manner.nIt’s not only good for your work, it’s moreover good for you.nnnI enjoy getting and reading your mails and listenling to your stuff. :)nnLooking forward to hear from you :)nnJn
Thanks for checking in. I still have a long way to go with this. But Nashville definitely helps because there are a lot of people to learn from here just in this city alone! Hey J, thanks for taking the time to chime in. I truly appreciate it.
Very Cool!
Thanks for checking in over here!
[…] Greg Freeman. He’s a DJ/Producer who makes primarily hiphop/electronic/dubstep music. You can read what he’s all about, but long story short, he’s a guy who wants to create music that intrigues and inspires […]
Discovered you in Charlottesville tonight. Loved what you did, especially Insomniac! After reading this, I find you truly inspiring. =)
Thank you very much for coming out to the show; and thanks for checking in with me.
I walked into the Bijou in Knoxville expecting to catch Civil Twilight. From the lobby I hear the Pee Wee Herman dance… playing really loudly. Confusion set in. I’m not a fan of shows with two openers, typically, so I resisted your set for most of the show. Yet, here I am. Checking out your page. Looking for future shows. Mission successful. I am intrigued.
HEY! I think I still follow you on instagram!
You were the happiest surprise I’ve fallen into in a long time. You’ll remember me as girl and her dude who called you like “if DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist had a baby.” Thank you, thank you for the incredible show. We jammed to your shit all the way home. I bought it all, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Moving from L.A. to Fairfield, Iowa doesn’t lend itself to the possibility of discovering new music, but here we are, here you are, and I’m pretty stoked about the whole damn thing.
HEY!! THANK YOU so much for checking in. You guys really made my night that night! Hey, that bar in Fairfield is going to book a lot of cool music. So keep an eye on them and hopefully they’ll have me back soon!