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I've deejayed a bunch of times...I think.
I bought my first record when I was 8 with money I earned from washing dishes. After that collecting records, cassette singles, 45's, and LPs became an obsession. But it wasn't until high school that I got to see real live deejaying. It was then that I realized I could do some weird stuff with this collection that I had amassed.
College brought the opportunity to bring my favorite music to my peers via campus radio. Through school, I started meeting other music geeks, industry insiders, and most important to me other deejays. These events and people shaped the sound and style of what was to come.
By the mid 90's, I had my first club residency( got paid nothing), a college radio show slot(got paid less than nothing), and was doing guest deejay appearances for KSOL, KYLD 107.7, and Wild 94.9 (got paid a little something). I also landed a music geek's dream job: working at a small indie record store ten blocks from my apartment, Amoeba San Francisco. For the next 6 years, I got a stellar education on the appreciation for all music.
As if I didn't have enough on my plate, my brother and I created a cable access show dedicated to deejaying, underground hip hop, really violent wrestling, and top ramen recipes. All of this was shot with one video camera on a shoe string budget in my bedroom like Wayne's World. Too many cool guests to name. But a typical episode might have had Dre Dog, Q-bert, Z-Trip, and Sean Lennon all sharing air time.
The late 90's brought a different musical direction for me. Radio and commercial clubs were paying the bills but not artistically satisfying. My introduction to the Future Primitive Collective changed all of that. A mixture of battle deejays, crate diggers, producers, video geniuses, graphic artists, and unstoppable party rockers, FPSS gave me collaborators and a stage to be who I wanted to be in a musical sense. I was the opening act for legends and eventually earned the honor to play alongside them.
With FPSS, I started traveling. France, Switzerland, London, New York, Japan. I deejayed at the X-Games. Boat parties. Articles in XlR8R, SF Guardian, and the SF Chronicle. Future Primitive got featured in the "Scratch documentary" (I'm in it for a fifteenth of a second!) I deejayed live for a theater troupe.
Around this time, I met my favorite rapper (the then little known) Mr. Lif walking down my street with his girlfriend. We had a bunch of friends in common and I found out he needed a deejay for a couple of shows. What a dream come true for a music nerd like me. Those next couple of years were amazing. Check the video "Live From The Plantation". (That's me deejaying in the elevator subbing for the amazing Fakts One.)
A few years ago video games became a big part of my life. EA Sports reps came to a club to see me deejay and asked me to be a part of their new project right on the spot. I was to bring club deejaying and a certain lifestyle look to their video game events. I've been touring with them relentlessly for the past four years for various different projects and games. On these tours, I've visited at least one city in EVERY state in the continental U.S. Deejaying in small clubs, college campuses, football stadiums, and even parking lots. (If you've ever seen any of their tv shows that's me in the corner!!)
These days when I'm not racking frequent flyer miles; I'm deejaying around the City with the Red Wine crew. Every Thursday night you can catch me at downtown hotspot Farmer Brown eating soul food and dropping jewels on some beautiful people. If it's Friday then you're at Vessel with my longtime deejay partner and friend DJ Pause rocking out at our long-running monthly (almost 2 years) "CRUSH". Or chilling with my cousin at our monthly get down "Rebel Bass."
Like the Bay Boy Bandits say, " just ripping and running".
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