About Me
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I once read that in order to know someones true soul you must first know their life experiences. Since I believe that philosophy, here's some info about me.I was born on January 17, 1972 in Santa Cruz, CA. For the first 10 years of my life I did what basically every kid from that generation did. I played little league baseball, soccer, caught frogs and snakes, and played all the video games. Donkey Kong, Pacman, Defender, Centipede, Tempest, Rally X, Mr. Do, etc.Then, at the age of 10, life changed. My best friend since the age of 5, Francisco "Pepe" Perez, introduced me to the world of Hip Hop. One day while hanging out at his house, he played me a tape of a local radio show that he had got from his older sister. The music and the dj made an instant impression on me. Not only did he introduce me to the music on that day, but he actually showed me how to dance to this new music. In other words, he also introduced me to Break Dancing. The "centipede" to be specific. This was in the late Spring / early Summer of 1982.For the next year, all I could do was practice Breaking. All day, all night. I had tunnel vision. Sure I played school Basketball as well but I had my agenda. And nothing would interrupt that. Or so I thought. In December of 1983, "Pepe" was struck by an 18 wheeler and killed while riding his bike home from school. I was really devastated by this. But in a weird way, that tragedy helped to intensify my passion for the music and culture. In the Spring of 1985, I was awarded the "Break Dancer Of The Year" award by the Santa Cruz Boys Club. I was and still am extremely proud of that award because I feel as that it's an acknowledgement of the role he played in my life at that time.With Break Dancing beginning to fade out in the late 84 / early 85, it was time for me to adjust. Since I already had a good collection of records, thanks to the need to have music to dance to, I focused my attention on dj'ing. In the fall of 84, at the age of 12, I began visiting a local teen club called "Club Culture". I know what you're saying. "How could you go to a teen club if you were 12"? Well times were a bit different back then and the atmosphere was more relaxed. So as long as nothing jumped off, it was cool.Upon one of my many visits to the club on Saturday nights, I met the resident dj, Bubba G Scotch. I must have come off as a total tool but what can I say. I was in awe of this guy for two reasons. 1) He had the place rockin' with what he was doing on the turntables and 2) he was the dj on the tape that "Pepe" had played for me a couple years back and that I had tuned into ever since. Just watching the way he manipulated the crowd sold me on my mission. I was meant to be a dj.From late 84 until the Spring of 86, I bought as many records as I could. Hip Hop, New Wave, Pop, R & B, Dance, etc. Whatever I could get my hands on. I felt that in order to reach as many people as I could, I would have to be able to cater to as many styles as possible. Then in May of 1986, I made my "official" public debut as a dj. I played at my Junior High Graduation Dance. And the next night, I dj'ed at a classmates graduation party. I was officially in effect!Around this time, Summer of 1986, I really started to notice another new form of music that was gaining a lot of popularity. Although it had yet to be named, it was what eventually would be known as "Freestyle" or "Latin Hip Hop". Initially, artists from this rising genre such as Shannon, Debbie Deb, Lisa Lisa, and Nayobe were associated with Hip Hop because they were very raw and street sounding. So I knew of them and had all their records. Then in late 86 / early 87, this music exploded. It was all over the radio. The Cover Girls, Sweet Sensation, Expose, TKA, Connie, Trinere, and on and on. This was my Freshman year of High school and it was crazy. My two musical loves, Hip Hop and Freestyle, were spreading like wildfire. This was the year that I began to actually have a social life. LOL. Car shows, school dances, house parties, etc. Life was good. Oh yeah did I mention girls? Yes indeed, being a dj was a very good thing back then.In the Fall of 87 is when a new chapter began for me. On going were the dj'ing gigs, the car shows, the house parties, the school dances. But now throw in the a 16 & over club in San Jose and it get’s wild.Me and the crew found a new spot to go to. That being San Jose's "Studio 47". I will say this until the day I die, that club was the best club I have ever been to. It was split down the middle. One side for the 16 and over and the other side for the 21 and over. It was always packed and every weekend they had someone performing. Usually it was a "Freestyle" act and that was fine. That only meant the place would be packed with females. I can still smell the Aqua Net hairspray. LOL. That was my main hang out until I graduated high school in 1990.Join My Message Board!Now it was time to really get my hustle on. I began dj'ing steadily and living off of it. Well the bills were paid so it was cool. From weddings to birthday parties to quincineras, whatever it was, I did it. Then in the early part of 91 I began working with a friend from high school to throw community dances. All of them were Hip Hop themed and the success was great. So in November of 91, we threw a concert. And it was packed. 2 months prior to them breaking nationwide, here we brought Cypress Hill. It was amazing because 2 weeks after the show, every car in town was riding around blasting "How I could Just Kill A Man". Around this same time, since I was doing the event promotion thing, I began frequenting the local Hip Hop radio show on 88.1fm KZSC in Santa Cruz. The host of the show was Jason D. Jason and I immediately hit it off and I began hanging on the show more and more. I got a lot of knowledge about the technical aspect of radio from watching him do his show.From June 1992 until June 1993, I was the director of a local record pool. Basically I supplied records to all the local club dj's and mixtape dj's as well as filling in the gaps for local college radio dj's. In doing this, I had a chance to meet many people locally that would help me advance in my dj aspirations. Through this, I was given a slot on a local commercial station, 93.5 KMXZ in Salinas, CA to host a weekly 3 hour Hip Hop show. I was living the dream now. It was a commercial station. They were paying me to play and talk about Hip Hop. And the audience was huge. It was too good to be true. And it sure was.The show began airing in May of 93. Prior to the first broadcast, it was made clear to the station management that in July I would be in NY for two weeks at the annual New Music Conference.This was the year where Supernatural beat Mad Skillz in the MC Battle. I was there and saw it. It was also the year that 2Pac brought Out Biggie Smalls during his set at the Palladium. I was there and saw it. I was in a basement club called the Muse where Wu Tang and Mobb Deep rocked until 3 in the morning. My first visit to NYC was the bomb. Then, like the Soul 2 Soul song says, "Back To Life".I returned from NYC to learn that my show had been cancelled because management didn’t like me leaving the show during the beginning stages. Even though they knew well ahead of time. Fine. Whatever. I quickly went cross town and began doing sub shows at a smaller community based station known as KHDC. What made this ironic is that this was the same station that my mentor, so to speak, Bubba G. Scotch had first caught my attention on. This was in August of 1993.In September of 1993, I was officially part of the KHDC air staff. Since that point, I have hosted 2 shows. Wednesday nights from 6pm - 8pm is the Hip Hop show and Thursdays from 6pm - 8pm is the Freestyle show.I know there are plenty of things I may have skipped but dammit, my fingers are tired. If you want to know more, just ask.I would be remiss if I didn't shout out my "crew". Nothing but love goes out to Baby C, Niko, and Anoush. Also, big up to Jason D. You guys rock! Now let's get to some good old fashioned "myspacing".In addition, if you're a new Hip Hop artist who is looking to get your music heard on college radio nationwide, hit me up. I have college radio contacts in every major market in the country. I can make your project happen.Join My Message Board!From a dj perspective, I'm very proud of the fact that I have dj'd at every single jumpin' nightspot in Santa Cruz county at one point or another. That includes the Catalyst, Palookaville, the Red Room, Rosie McCann's, Emi's, Skinny McDoogles, Larry's, Diamonds, the Flamingo Club, Cilantro's, Jose's Cantina, Maxter's, and the Tampico. Not to mention clubs in other parts of the Central Coast. I've also spun at every single one of the local High Schools and Colleges. I know that may not be much to some of you from around the country but for a small town guy, it's very gratifying to know that I've rocked them all.Join My Message Board!
