It all started when the Hypnotist's brother Bryan bought a turntable and mixer in 1994, when the Hypnotist was 13. They put it in a room separate from the basement, and called it the studio. For just being a tight little studio behind the middle school in Norwalk, CT, many emcees came down to freestyle every day. The Hypnotist, known as DJ Boss back then, finally picked up the microphone and started rapping. Months later, tired of rapping to industry beats on vinyl, they bought a Yamaha beat machine and hooked up their old Casio keyboard and started making beats. Bryan brought in a crossover from a car stereo system (splits highs from lows and filters out the "trebles" from the mix to go to a subwoofer in a car) and hooked it up to the casio to get a bassy sound. The Hypnotist would then play along with one drum line (the Yamaha only had 8 sounds in it) and recorded to cassette tape. He would then take that mix, put it in another tape player, and rap over that. The hiss was worse than waves hitting the shore of Maui. It was only a matter of time before equipment started racking up, skills started developing, and all of a sudden the Hypnotist had a group called Hypnotik The name, he believed, made sense to the music. "Music is hypnotik itself, and puts the listener in some sort of trance."
Hypnotik consisted of three other emcees: Aristokrat, Ill Kase, and Face, who joined the group later on. This group started in 1997, and released three albums from 1999 to 2001 that were pretty successful in Norwalk, considering they did everything themselves for production, composition, performance, recording, mixing, marketing and distribution. That's a lot of work for a bunch of 17 and 18-year-olds. Some of Hypnotik's music is still online at www.hypnot.com .
The Hypnotist had a good ear for music back then, but wasn't satisfied with his little experience in the mini studios around Norwalk and the local area. In 2001 he moved to Boston to attend the New England Institute of Art for audio production. At school, he had a very humbling experience. In Norwalk, he was known as that kid with the studio, but being in Boston with hundreds of kids with studios made him strive harder to find himself and stand out among the rest. He broadened his horizons by analyzing rock music and not limiting himself to strictly hip hop, which is important. He recorded a few bands in the area, learned a lot, and got out of there as quick as possible. And during his time up there, Aristokrat was attending Savannah College of Art and Design, in Georgia. They continued to make music online together, emailing songs and verses back and forth, but from the distance, Hypnotik didn't survive as a group.
In June of 2004, the Hypnotist got hired at Soundtrack New York as a general assistant (everyone's bitch) and is now once again, in a humbling experience. Just watching Andy Wallace come in and mix (mixed Beastie Boys, System of a Down, Sum 41, Saliva, Nirvana, and EVERY other rock song you can think of) is humbling in itself when you realize where you're at in the industry.
The Hypnotist still makes beats and writes lyrics, and collaborates with his right-hand producer Aristokrat, in the process of forming a new group throughout New York and surrounding areas. The Hypnotist's solo album will be releasing soon, and you can preview and download songs at www.hypnot.com . You can also read song lyrics , check News and Updates , and buy and preview BEATS .