MySpace a place for friends

With unlimited environmental influences ranging from huge vinyl collections at home containing KISS, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, The Beatles, John Denver, and countless others to sitting in on an afternoon's jam session, there was almost no question that Zac would grow to love music in all its forms.

Piano and drums were the instruments Zac took a liking to at first. He began taking lessons in classical piano at age 6, but began to get discouraged after an argument with his teacher in which she scolded him for practicing advanced pieces rather than playing the more novice material over and over again. When Zac included extra measures he had composed into Chopin at a recital, his teacher told him that improving upon "classics" was frowned upon and very disrespectful. She insisted that he play the music as instructed, or quit. He chose the latter.

In the following years Zac suffered the loss of his father, difficult financial times, and trying times at home. After being told by his high school senior advisor he wouldn't graduate due to a 1/4 credit Zac continued to go to school until the final days, even showing up and taking his exams. Months later, after all his classmates walked the stage, he recieved his GED.

It was in those years that Zac found his handle, Lowd Mowf the Talkative Mime, and recorded his first album. Containing 100% original material produced entirely by himself on a Casio piano and recorded with a dynamic mic and a rebuilt 486 PC computer, "Open Wyde" was his first attempt to contribute to the world of hip-hop that he loved so much.

Compared to Eminem at every turn, MIME even parodied Em's current hit of the time "The Real Slim Shady" in a not-so-subtle mockery of the comparisons, due only to skin color. Although the album lacked any serious demand, those that did hear it took to numerous songs. "Drugs," a slow and dragging anthem to society's need for intoxicants, got the most attention. Although the quality of the mix was "complete and utter amatuer dog shit," as MIME put it, the quality of the lyrics is what got the most mention.

2 1/2 years later, some say too long, MIME got back to work and made the rough draft of a mixtape called "Destroy & Conquer."

Purchasing professional recording equipment with money saved, he stepped up both his mixing and his verbal ability. But months later he scrapped the project, not liking the direction he had felt forced to move with his material.

One of the songs from the unreleased mixtape called "Game Time," depicting MIME competing against the angel of death in a battle of wits and childhood games for his soul, is still hailed as one of his most original and comical tracks to date and was immediatly taken to by fans when he leaked a rough copy to the net.

"As soon as I realized people liked the same things I liked, it was pretty much a wrap. No pun intended," MIME said in an interview. "The hardest thing about being any kind of artist is putting your entire self into your works, because if they're rejected then you feel a personal blow. But thats how good music gets made, and I had to learn that. I was scrapping too many projects."

In fact, MIME's discology is only at a whopping 2 final products. The second effot by Zac, The PreWritten Mixtape, was finished and released in winter of 2004. The title poked fun at rappers who would memorize verses so they could spit them in cipher like they were freestyles. "When the mixtape game got heated, everybody had exclusive 'freestyles' on records. Only you'd hear those verses three or four times on a collection of beats, on different mixtapes," MIME remembers, chuckling. "I felt like people were being misled. Hence the title.

Songs like "Demolition Man," "I'm Hearing Things," and "Uncle Sam" got the attention of those who had yet to discover MIME's music, and got rave reviews from friends and fans. His mix of social consciousness and witty one liners combined with precise alliteration quickly made his sound unique, and he's kept busy since.

Taking some time off from the stage, MIME became a music enrichment teacher for the Akron Public School system, and taught afterschool classes to middleschool children in over half the district over the course of two years. Focusing on the instrumentalization of is music during that time, he produced something for almost everyone he's worked with. He now runs a SoundClick site where he sells his production and allows people to preview his works.

Fans need not fear, though, MIME has already made it clear that 2007 will be a year of his career people will remember. With two EPs slated for release late this year, and a long awaited Passion of Mics mixtape said to be nearing completion, it doesn't look like MIME ever stopped cooking up new batches of material.