Joshua Curlett was enlisted as a stage hand for his church when he was a kid. That experience led him to pay close attention to the inner workings of stages and live performances. While i...
DJ Ken Heath grew up in a very musical family and was always encouraged to follow his passion for music. His mother and uncles performed on the radio over the years and Ken dreamed of per...
Daniel Haver was heavily influenced by the music he heard at home as a kid and wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and become an entrepreneur. He combined his love of music with hi...
DJ Aladdin’s musical career began in the late 1970s with a wooden turntable from his uncle and another from his aunt as well as a mixer from Radio Shack. He watched as Hip-Hop exploded in...
DJ Babu enjoys his journey teaching the artform of turntablism, a term he is credited for coining. Since buying his first set of mismatched turntables when he was seventeen, Babu has acco...
DJ Keith Shocklee was first introduced to DJing at a local Long Island youth center in the 1970s. He soon started performing at other youth centers in the area as well as house parties, l...
DJ Quest thought he was going to be a rapper while his cousin would DJ but once he saw the turntable set up at home he was hooked and never looked back. Quest is a founding member of the ...
DJ Ralph M still remembers a Halloween party he attended in 1982, where he was first introduced to hip-hop and break dancing. He was fascinated by the turntable and his dream was to becom...
DJ Chris The Glove remembers when he was a kid listening to Grandmaster Flash’s The Wheels of Steel on repeat trying to figure out what he was hearing and how he could replicate that soun...
DJ Qbert brought new energy to Hip-Hop as a DJ in the digital world of turntables. Keeping to the traditions of the pioneering DJs who influenced him, Qbert added new flare to the craft o...
DJ D-Styles entered the hip-hop scene B-Boying and popping but soon realized his strength was in DJing. He has pioneered many different scratch styles and techniques over the years and ha...
DJ Revolution can still remember the first time he heard Grand Master Flash’s 1981 album Adventures on the Wheels of Steel and being blown away that this music was created with existing s...
DJ Rhettmatic entered into the hip-hop world as a dancer (popping) and as a graffiti artist but quickly moved over to the DJ side. As a member of The Beat Junkies he won ITF World Team DJ...
DJ Melo-D saw his first mobile DJ set up during a middle school dance and was more interested in the set up than the dance itself. He begged his parents for a turntable and would seek out...
DJ Sir Jinx’s uncle played an important role for him growing up and in inspiring his passion for music. His uncle possessed an eclectic record collection and a DJ equipment set up at his ...
DJ Evil E was thirteen years old when he heard the pioneering artist Grandmaster Flash, which inspired E to get his own turntable rig. As a young DJ, Evil E was inspired by a performance ...
DJ Arabian Prince had to get creative with his overprotective mother. He figured out that by utilizing his new interest in DJing he could be the first at a party and the last to leave whi...
DJ Grandmaster Flash combined his love of music with his passion for electronics to become one of the pioneers of Hip Hop music. His innovative style of mixing records and blending beats ...
Chuck Davies is the founder of American DJ, which provides a long list of innovative products, many of which Chuck designed and engineered. He opened his own audio store in 1979 selling H...
Dave Lopez grew up in East Los Angeles and witnessed the explosive evolution of the mobile DJ, beginning in the late 1970s. During high school Dave was asked to provide the music for a da...
Russell Jewell played cornet in the 5th and 6th grade and took singing lessons in junior high school. He also performed in his church and grew up fully aware of the importance of a good s...
Brian Marsh joined his brother, Robert, on the ground floor of his DJ retailing business. The two brothers sought to grow the store and provide the best customer service possible. Their a...
Robert Marsh came into the music retail business following a frustration of purchasing equipment as a DJ. He was inspired by the role the DJ brings to a party, a nightclub, or family gath...
Derek Ash recalls that every family gathering always included talk of the music store. After all, Derek's great-grandfather was the founder of the family's business, Sam Ash Music. Thanks...
DJ Scratch is a legendary Hip Hop DJ and producer from Brooklyn New York. He has worked with many great Hip Hop artists such as Jam Master Jay, EPMD, Jay-Z and A Tribe Called Quest! Durin...
DJ Spindarella, from the Bronx New York, grew up in love with the Disney character Cinderella. She was wearing a Cinderella watch while spinning records in her local park, the day she got...
DJ Imperial JayCee first played records in the parks back in 1974. The world of Disco had created a career for DJ Kool Herc, a hero in JayCee's Bronx neighborhood, which inspired him to t...
Kool DJ Red Alert, from Harlem New York, grew up listening to the Caribbean music of his grandparents as well as his brother's record collection. He was greatly inspired the day he first ...
DJ Mean Gene (L Brothers) from the Bronx, was not only a legendary DJ but an early Hip Hop promoter and organizer of jams and shows. Gene was Grandmaster Flash's first DJ partner. His you...
DJ Hollywood always had the showbiz bug, even at six years old he would perform at his mother's parties. As he saw crowds gather to hear music in the Harlem parks, Hollywood brought out h...
Stephen Webber is a professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and helped create the Music Production/Engineering program. After working at Mid South Recording Studio in Nashvill...
Charles Kitch formed Sound Productions, Inc. in Irving, Texas in 1973. With the slogan, the "the Soundman's Connection," Charles has helped pioneer the pro audio industry from the early ...