T-Porter

Born in San Pablo/ Raised in San Pablo/ Live in San Pablo/ Bury me at Rolling Hills. ____________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ I grew up on the mean streets of San Pablo and Richmond(made famous by the movie "Coach Carter"). I was impacted by everything I saw around me: from the Lowriders on 23rd st, to the Hoodbangers from the South Side of Richmond, and my Metal Head homeboys in the hood. Underground music is the soundtrack of my life. I listen to and respect any artist who pours his heart and soul into his music. It doesn't matter if it is Rock, Rap, Pop or Soul, but it has to be real. ____________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ In highschool, I had a 4-track studio in my room. Some of the local rappers and DJ's from the East Bay would come over to my crib and freestyle or make demos. I programmed the beats, sampled loops and laid down the cuts on my turntables. At the same time, you could catch me at Ruthie's Inn, The Paradigm, or the Omni watching my dogs giving birth to the Metal style made popular by Metallica. After highschool, I decided to pursue music as a full-time gig. I got together with my homeboy, Redge Green, who later played “Lil’ Chris” in the movie “Boys in the Hood”. We hooked up with Super Producers: Studio Tone and Al Eaton, who later produced artist like: "Tupac","Too Short" and "E-40", and we made a 4 song demo. Our demo earned us plane tickets to the New Music Seminar in New York to meet with DEF JAM and Tommyboy Records during the Big Daddy Kane and Public Enemy Era (at that time, very few West Coast groups were shown luv). The only thing that came out of our collaboration was a show with "D.J. Cash Money and Marvelous", “Rodney O and Joe Cooley” and some soundtrack and video work on a “Quit Smoking” rap educational spot. Redge decided to pursue acting full-time and I went back into the laboratory. ____________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ I, instantly, cooked up a song called “Crankster”, www.myspace.com/mandrelrecords, talking about my experiences with the Meth scene in San Pablo. I did all the vocals and used Heavy Metal riffs on the track. I passed out some copies to my homeboys and it hit the street like wildfire. I couldn’t make enough copies to keep up with the demand (this was pre-Internet boom). After a while, I would go to parties and a 4th generation copy would be playing, so people would say, “shut the @*$# up” so they could hear the lyrics through the hissing. I got tired of hearing my 4- track version everywhere, so I went into the studio with Al Eaton and John Nielson and made a prostyle version. Again, I couldn’t keep up with demand. ____________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ My good friend Rick Durocher, who was playing in a band called “Colonel Flagg” with Carlson Melson, former bass player from “Exodus”, talked me into performing the song live at a party. Rick played drums. The mostly metal crowd dug the performance, so it was on! I got invited to play "Crankster" live at several local spots. I didn’t have a set band, so each time I performed, it was like an allstar jam. Some nights “Colonel Flagg” backed me on stage and on others Ron and Ray from “Razor Sharp”. Rick Hunolt from “Exodus” jumped in one night at the Omni to play bass(which he is not known for) and his solo was off the hook. It wasn’t long before wannabe managers and Indie labels came calling, so I put together a set line up with Leonard Haze from “Y&T” and "Ian Gillan" on drums, Ray Painter on guitar and Ron Taylor on bass. We wrote another 5 or 6 songs recorded and performed around the Bay Area, but the only band similar to our style was Ice T’s “Body Count”, who I was suppose to open for at The Stone in San Francisco, but the Rodney King riots broke out that day. We were a little ahead of our time and we didn't cash in on the Rap/Metal era of Limpbizkit and Kid Rock, which came and went quickly. ____________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ During my music career, I had the pleasure of working with some of the best in the bay. Rob Flynn of “Machine Head” helped out on one of my first live band demos. I spent some long nights with Jeff Becerra of “Possessed” and we jammed frequently. One night, a producer, who was working on one of my live recordings, woke up a young drummer who was sleeping on a couch at the studio. He asked him to do an overdub. The drummer put on the headphones and proceeded to play my stuff like he was live at the concert. He killed it! That drummer was Rob Rampy of “DRI” who was trying out for the group at the time. Though I'm in the studio from time to time, a few years back, I took a break from being a performer to become a full-time Father and to get some education. I currently, have my own label and I still support all of my homies that are making good music: Harvey and the Wallbangers, The Pole Project, Machine Head, Possessed, C4Inc, DRI, Shotgunn Haze, The Ghost Next Door and Clay Aiken (just kidding). Rock on! and keep it real!San Francisco California Skyline myspace layouts
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