Sunday, July 27, 2008
What You May Not Know...
*I lived in the same house 'til I was 18 years old.
*I started formal piano lessons when I was about 7 years old, and continued with those lessons 'til my teacher died of breast cancer my junior year in high school. My teacher had a twin and she allowed me to continue lessons 'til I was done with high school.
*I wasn't the best student, but I wasn't the worst either. When I practiced my assigned sheet music, I almost always would end up improvising or writing original licks and tunes.
*When I was growing up, I was in my church's children choir and bell choir.
*I picked the trombone in sixth grade to play in the public school bands. I played trombone from sixth grade all the way through my freshman year in college.
*When I was a freshman in high school, I was good enough to be the second or third string trombone player in the symphonic band but my teacher kept me in the lower level concert band to help lead the other young trombone players... I never forgave her for that, mainly because the symphonic band went on to compete in the state competitions and finished in the top five in the entire state of Oregon.
*I had a different band teacher every year from sixth grade to my senior year in high school... I can't remember all their names.
*My most rewarding memory of high school was playing trombone in the pit orchestra for the theater production of My Fair Lady.
*One of my favorite presents I ever received was a Wah-Wah pedal from my older brother.
*My first tape cassette I ever bought was The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest.
*My first vinyl album was Business As Usual by Men At Work... which I got from the local Goodwill store.
*I bought my first CD before I owned a CD player or Discman- that CD was the Bizarre Ride To The Pharcyde by the Pharcyde.
*My brother gave me the Across 110th Street album (by JJ Johnson) when I turned 15, but I gave it back to him... which I regret doing to this day.
*I threw a no-hitter my junior year of high school baseball.
*I am an Eagle Scout.
*I jammed with a band in college called Uzbek Dog that had one of my grad. student teachers playing bass and one of my Geography professors on lead guitar and vocals.
*My dad's stage name while I was a little kid was Sunnyside Turner. My dad always joked that my mom's stage name was Page Turner since she would occasionally sit next to him to turn the sheet music pages on his music stand.
*I graduated from the University of Oregon in 3.5 years with two degrees, one in Geography and one in Sociology. I also completed the requirements to earn a minor in International Studies, but they stopped funding minors in that department the semester I completed the requirements.
*I attended summer school at University of Washington in 1997, and took two classes: Sociology of Family and the History of Jazz. The History of Jazz class was a morning class that I was on time to everyday, except for the day of the final exam... I missed the first hour of the two hour final, which meant that I didn't hear the music for the listening comprehension section of the test. I received half the points on the listening comprehension questions section of the test even though I didn't get to hear the songs (I knew the music for the listening comprehension section like the back of my hand).
*I couldn't handle being away from a piano for so long during my freshman year in college, so my dad gave me my first electric keyboard that he found in a music warehouse in Portland, Oregon... it was a Mark II Fender Rhodes. I had it set up in my dorm room and everyone thought I was nuts.... and then they realized I could play.
*My first band I played with in the Bay Area was a live Hip Hop group called Gazzi. Gazzi is a South African slang term that means family, and the band featured a mc by the name of Dust, who has toured with the world renown rap group, Zion I.
*During college I visited my brother in Seattle many times and would get a behind the scene look at the music industry and scene in Seattle. I use to act as a Rodie to get into shows before I turned 21. I got into shows at legendary venues like the Showbox, Crocodile Cafe, and the infamous 700 club Sunday shows with members of Maktub and Source of Labor. I went on my first tour as the so-called keyboard Rodie with Maktub and Source of Labor in 1997.
*I played a short stint with a cover band that included the son of Lenny Williams- one of the original singers of Tower of Power.
*I was asked to play keyboards with a cover band that was fronted by Garry Jackson who was a ghost writer and bass player for the Oakland Funk group, ConFunkShun (see writing credit on Touch album). He was also a room mate of Sly Stone for several years.
*I scheduled to leave work without pay for two months in order to go on tour with Tone Record's signed guitarist, Rick Holmstrom. I played one show on the tour at Long Beach's Blues Cafe and was let go.... I had less than 24 hours to learn about 55 songs... so naturally that didn't work out, and I went home bummed. The tour schedule had over 45 shows booked across North America, including a spot at the Montreal Jazz Festival. I later was told by the band's bass player that the tour was long, hard, and difficult because the pay wasn't as good as expected, and many venues were empty.
*I recorded two songs with Timm Walker for a compilation album that was called the Oakland School of Funk... from the best of my knowledge I was the youngest player and the only white guy on the compilation. The album was never released for sale.
*I dated a girl that was a cocktail waitress and one night she received a $200 tip for serving Stevie Wonder one drink... yeah she was cute, and some how he knew too.
*My brother is a rock star in Brazil. Before he left for Brazil he recorded with Dave Matthews and went on tour with Peter Buck.
*My band The Get Down was Pabst Blue Ribbon's band of the week (a full page ad) in the 2006 Bay Guardian's Best of the Bay issue.
*I recorded a live 4 song music video and band interview at the world famous Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California. The video was supposed to have been one of many band videos to promote a new web site that featured music videos, but the site never took off.
*In 2006 my band The Get Down had our song, Stranger Danger, aired live on San Francisco's 97.3 FM radio station. This was the first time I had a recorded song aired on the radio.
*I had my own radio show in college that aired on Monday mornings from 4-6am. I called myself DJ Z. I spun and mixed songs from Funk, Soul, R&B, Hip Hop, and Jazz. Eugene needed this music on the air, and many of the donuts being made at that hour of the morning were the best the city has seen.
*I was interviewed in 2002 on Berkeley's KPFA's Hard Knock Radio Hip Hop show for being in the group Gazzi.
*I played live improvised organ with scratch DJ's on KALX's Sunday show with infamous DJ/writer Billy Jam.
*I was in an all harmonic group in grade school called the Adam School Aces.
*I grew up watching my dad play trumpet in a big band group- they wore tuxes, performed weekly, and had a huge repertoire of classic big band jazz music. The lead trombone player was the band leader, and I thought that was cool. My dad always had a show on New Year's Eve mainly due to this band getting lots of gigs.
*I once played a private show with The Get Down where the show was interrupted with a game of slide-down-the-table-naked... not sure what the point was, but it created quit a crowd.
Check back for more....
*I started formal piano lessons when I was about 7 years old, and continued with those lessons 'til my teacher died of breast cancer my junior year in high school. My teacher had a twin and she allowed me to continue lessons 'til I was done with high school.
*I wasn't the best student, but I wasn't the worst either. When I practiced my assigned sheet music, I almost always would end up improvising or writing original licks and tunes.
*When I was growing up, I was in my church's children choir and bell choir.
*I picked the trombone in sixth grade to play in the public school bands. I played trombone from sixth grade all the way through my freshman year in college.
*When I was a freshman in high school, I was good enough to be the second or third string trombone player in the symphonic band but my teacher kept me in the lower level concert band to help lead the other young trombone players... I never forgave her for that, mainly because the symphonic band went on to compete in the state competitions and finished in the top five in the entire state of Oregon.
*I had a different band teacher every year from sixth grade to my senior year in high school... I can't remember all their names.
*My most rewarding memory of high school was playing trombone in the pit orchestra for the theater production of My Fair Lady.
*One of my favorite presents I ever received was a Wah-Wah pedal from my older brother.
*My first tape cassette I ever bought was The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest.
*My first vinyl album was Business As Usual by Men At Work... which I got from the local Goodwill store.
*I bought my first CD before I owned a CD player or Discman- that CD was the Bizarre Ride To The Pharcyde by the Pharcyde.
*My brother gave me the Across 110th Street album (by JJ Johnson) when I turned 15, but I gave it back to him... which I regret doing to this day.
*I threw a no-hitter my junior year of high school baseball.
*I am an Eagle Scout.
*I jammed with a band in college called Uzbek Dog that had one of my grad. student teachers playing bass and one of my Geography professors on lead guitar and vocals.
*My dad's stage name while I was a little kid was Sunnyside Turner. My dad always joked that my mom's stage name was Page Turner since she would occasionally sit next to him to turn the sheet music pages on his music stand.
*I graduated from the University of Oregon in 3.5 years with two degrees, one in Geography and one in Sociology. I also completed the requirements to earn a minor in International Studies, but they stopped funding minors in that department the semester I completed the requirements.
*I attended summer school at University of Washington in 1997, and took two classes: Sociology of Family and the History of Jazz. The History of Jazz class was a morning class that I was on time to everyday, except for the day of the final exam... I missed the first hour of the two hour final, which meant that I didn't hear the music for the listening comprehension section of the test. I received half the points on the listening comprehension questions section of the test even though I didn't get to hear the songs (I knew the music for the listening comprehension section like the back of my hand).
*I couldn't handle being away from a piano for so long during my freshman year in college, so my dad gave me my first electric keyboard that he found in a music warehouse in Portland, Oregon... it was a Mark II Fender Rhodes. I had it set up in my dorm room and everyone thought I was nuts.... and then they realized I could play.
*My first band I played with in the Bay Area was a live Hip Hop group called Gazzi. Gazzi is a South African slang term that means family, and the band featured a mc by the name of Dust, who has toured with the world renown rap group, Zion I.
*During college I visited my brother in Seattle many times and would get a behind the scene look at the music industry and scene in Seattle. I use to act as a Rodie to get into shows before I turned 21. I got into shows at legendary venues like the Showbox, Crocodile Cafe, and the infamous 700 club Sunday shows with members of Maktub and Source of Labor. I went on my first tour as the so-called keyboard Rodie with Maktub and Source of Labor in 1997.
*I played a short stint with a cover band that included the son of Lenny Williams- one of the original singers of Tower of Power.
*I was asked to play keyboards with a cover band that was fronted by Garry Jackson who was a ghost writer and bass player for the Oakland Funk group, ConFunkShun (see writing credit on Touch album). He was also a room mate of Sly Stone for several years.
*I scheduled to leave work without pay for two months in order to go on tour with Tone Record's signed guitarist, Rick Holmstrom. I played one show on the tour at Long Beach's Blues Cafe and was let go.... I had less than 24 hours to learn about 55 songs... so naturally that didn't work out, and I went home bummed. The tour schedule had over 45 shows booked across North America, including a spot at the Montreal Jazz Festival. I later was told by the band's bass player that the tour was long, hard, and difficult because the pay wasn't as good as expected, and many venues were empty.
*I recorded two songs with Timm Walker for a compilation album that was called the Oakland School of Funk... from the best of my knowledge I was the youngest player and the only white guy on the compilation. The album was never released for sale.
*I dated a girl that was a cocktail waitress and one night she received a $200 tip for serving Stevie Wonder one drink... yeah she was cute, and some how he knew too.
*My brother is a rock star in Brazil. Before he left for Brazil he recorded with Dave Matthews and went on tour with Peter Buck.
*My band The Get Down was Pabst Blue Ribbon's band of the week (a full page ad) in the 2006 Bay Guardian's Best of the Bay issue.
*I recorded a live 4 song music video and band interview at the world famous Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California. The video was supposed to have been one of many band videos to promote a new web site that featured music videos, but the site never took off.
*In 2006 my band The Get Down had our song, Stranger Danger, aired live on San Francisco's 97.3 FM radio station. This was the first time I had a recorded song aired on the radio.
*I had my own radio show in college that aired on Monday mornings from 4-6am. I called myself DJ Z. I spun and mixed songs from Funk, Soul, R&B, Hip Hop, and Jazz. Eugene needed this music on the air, and many of the donuts being made at that hour of the morning were the best the city has seen.
*I was interviewed in 2002 on Berkeley's KPFA's Hard Knock Radio Hip Hop show for being in the group Gazzi.
*I played live improvised organ with scratch DJ's on KALX's Sunday show with infamous DJ/writer Billy Jam.
*I was in an all harmonic group in grade school called the Adam School Aces.
*I grew up watching my dad play trumpet in a big band group- they wore tuxes, performed weekly, and had a huge repertoire of classic big band jazz music. The lead trombone player was the band leader, and I thought that was cool. My dad always had a show on New Year's Eve mainly due to this band getting lots of gigs.
*I once played a private show with The Get Down where the show was interrupted with a game of slide-down-the-table-naked... not sure what the point was, but it created quit a crowd.
Check back for more....
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Catchin' Up Wit The Get Down
It has been a long minute since many of you have heard any news about The Get Down. About a year ago our lead singer quit the band. We had many auditions, and basically didn't find the right fit for a new singer. We took some time off, and for a while it seemed as if The Get Down's career had come to an end. After taking time to focus on our individual needs, the band is back together. We're in the middle of updated our web site, writing new material for a full length album, and auditioning and searching for that perfect singer. In the meantime, check out some of our newer material at our myspace page.
If you're in the Bay, and know a great male Soul singer, hook me up! Hope all is good, peace- Z
If you're in the Bay, and know a great male Soul singer, hook me up! Hope all is good, peace- Z
Mind The Gap
As some of you already know, I just recently visited Europe for the first time. It was an amazing trip to say the least. I pretty much did as much as possible in a very little amount of time. Most of my trip was in London, where I stayed with my friend Albert. Albert was a great host, and he pretty much showed me the ropes on how to fit in the "Brick City".
After about 6 full days in London, we went to Amsterdam for a couple of nights. Amsterdam was beautiful, but super crazy. We were there for their biggest holiday of the year, "Queen's Day". It's basically the day when they celebrate the Queen's birthday by dressing in orange, dancing and drinking in the streets, and some of the younger kids sell their parents old stuff to make money. It was so crowded that half the time I could barely move. Amsterdam is awesome, and I also got to see the city by bike- which is their first mode of transportation.
From Amsterdam, we took a train down to Paris for a couple of nights. We weren't even there for more than 40 hours, but I had a great time. Paris, as they always say, is a beautiful city. However, it's so expensive I couldn't believe it. I was practically throwing money at people everywhere I went. The cheese is good y'all. I dug how a lot of residential streets had little grocery stores every few blocks, and half the people would walk out with baguette's under their arm. I think I would love this city even more if I knew some French... oui?
From Paris, we took the train back to London for a couple of more nights before I flew back to the Bay. London was pretty hip, I thought. I can see how some people don't like it with brick building after brick building, and it being grey with clouds all the time. None of that really bothered me. There's always trade offs with everything, right? How cool is it that they have a tube station every 1/8 of a mile. It makes me laugh when the train doors open and you hear, "mind the gap"- it's so British. The London bus system is amazing, and I probably could have sat on the top level of the double decker all day if I hadn't been pressed for time.
The trip was one to remember. Here's a couple of pictures for your enjoyment:
1) Street shot in Paris, near Montmartre and our hostel.
2) Chamberlayne Road in London, a few blocks from Albert's place.
3) Here's your postcard shot of Amsterdam, with a nice shot of the clouds at sunset.
After about 6 full days in London, we went to Amsterdam for a couple of nights. Amsterdam was beautiful, but super crazy. We were there for their biggest holiday of the year, "Queen's Day". It's basically the day when they celebrate the Queen's birthday by dressing in orange, dancing and drinking in the streets, and some of the younger kids sell their parents old stuff to make money. It was so crowded that half the time I could barely move. Amsterdam is awesome, and I also got to see the city by bike- which is their first mode of transportation.
From Amsterdam, we took a train down to Paris for a couple of nights. We weren't even there for more than 40 hours, but I had a great time. Paris, as they always say, is a beautiful city. However, it's so expensive I couldn't believe it. I was practically throwing money at people everywhere I went. The cheese is good y'all. I dug how a lot of residential streets had little grocery stores every few blocks, and half the people would walk out with baguette's under their arm. I think I would love this city even more if I knew some French... oui?
From Paris, we took the train back to London for a couple of more nights before I flew back to the Bay. London was pretty hip, I thought. I can see how some people don't like it with brick building after brick building, and it being grey with clouds all the time. None of that really bothered me. There's always trade offs with everything, right? How cool is it that they have a tube station every 1/8 of a mile. It makes me laugh when the train doors open and you hear, "mind the gap"- it's so British. The London bus system is amazing, and I probably could have sat on the top level of the double decker all day if I hadn't been pressed for time.
The trip was one to remember. Here's a couple of pictures for your enjoyment:
1) Street shot in Paris, near Montmartre and our hostel.
2) Chamberlayne Road in London, a few blocks from Albert's place.
3) Here's your postcard shot of Amsterdam, with a nice shot of the clouds at sunset.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
A Lesson In Rockin' It
Herbie Hancock is one of the baddest, funkiest, impressive keyboardists to have ever played the keys. This world is a better place because of him- I ain't jokin'. Not only is he jazzy, but he's super funky. Check out these three video's I found on YouTube- Herbie is tearin' it up and schooling kids on the radness of electronic musical instruments:
(Part 1 of 2)
(Part 2 of 2)
(Teaching)
(Part 1 of 2)
(Part 2 of 2)
(Teaching)
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Show Some Support, Get a Free Download
Check out my friend Piseas in his latest Bash Brothers double-CD release, Dirty Work/A Good Day To Die. You can hear selected songs from Dirty Work/A Good Day To Die on their new website. You should listen to the song Firefighter first (not on the new album), not because I co-produced the cut... but it sounds hot, too. Check it for yo'self- bump Firefighter now. Let me know if this hits.
For the first time ever, y'all can download one of my songs for free. FREE Y'ALL!!! Firefighter was a lot of fun to produce, and I hope to work with Piseas and Dawgisht (co-producer) in the near future. Before you take a groove, give some love to the artist and vote on the URB's Next 1000 contest. Click here to vote for the BASH BROTHERS. To download song, click here.
For the first time ever, y'all can download one of my songs for free. FREE Y'ALL!!! Firefighter was a lot of fun to produce, and I hope to work with Piseas and Dawgisht (co-producer) in the near future. Before you take a groove, give some love to the artist and vote on the URB's Next 1000 contest. Click here to vote for the BASH BROTHERS. To download song, click here.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Behind the Beat: Dawgisht
If you like down-tempo laid back grooves, then check out the beats of Geoff Rantala, or otherwise known as Dawgisht. He and I met through mutual friend, Piseas (of the Bash Brothers), one weekend afternoon in 2004. After shaking hands, he helped plug in my 1/4" keyboard chord into his home studio system, and we jammed for hours. I played my Fender Rhodes and Korg CX3 (Hammond B3 clone keyboard), Piseas held down the rhymes on the mic, while Dawgisht put together beats and samples on the spot with his computer software (he uses too many to list all of them, but Reason, CuBase, are a couple I can remember).
A few months after meeting, Dawgisht and I were talking about how surreal it was that a lot of his samples sounded like my keyboard licks. Kind of a funky, but a jazzy feeling with mixes of Hip Hop roots and today's urban flavors. Really hooky lines that seem to scream at rappers to do their thang over the cut. "Come ooooonnnnn, man. You know you wanna!" On Dawgisht's Myspace profile he explains perfectly how his music is understood and heard:
"Kinda crunchy mellowy instrumentally beat-driveny funky smoothy quirky jumpy sampley 8-bity backgroundy loopy bumpy bassy whatever shit... put it on while you wash your cat."
As you can see, it really details the intricacies and depth of his music. You will have to hear it to believe it. He has a personal website (www.dawgisht.com/music) but his Myspace profile is perhaps a little more obtainable. Click here to hear beats now!.
Not only is Dawgisht a creative beat maker and sampler, but he's been apart of special projects no matter what he's doing. Fresh out of high school (this would have been in the early 90's) he started doing graphic art and online design. One of his more well known album covers he produced was an early Kofy Brown album- who rocks Bay Area clubs and tours Europe on occasion with her Soul/R&B band. He established a close relationship with friend and business partner, Billy Jam, who has been an integral source and activist for Bay Area rappers, DJ's, and Hip Hop radio. Released in 2006, Dawgisht provided a remix on the 12" track by P.E.A.C.E. (Freestyle Fellowship) called Twisted Tongue. He's also been a key contributer to DJ scratch compilation disc sets released by Billy Jam's record company Hip Hop Slam. Live on stage Dawgisht has appeared with Bay Area favorite and Japanese phenom, Shingo 02, who not only creates samples, beats, and mixes, but also invented the Faderboard. Dawgisht has helped facilitate many jobs over the years, and the bottom line is he's good at what he does, and it shows by who he has worked with throughout his career.
Dawgisht and his wife, Nell, just celebrated their new born baby girl, Mya Rose Rantala. Mya, you've got yourself a talented Daddy.
A few months after meeting, Dawgisht and I were talking about how surreal it was that a lot of his samples sounded like my keyboard licks. Kind of a funky, but a jazzy feeling with mixes of Hip Hop roots and today's urban flavors. Really hooky lines that seem to scream at rappers to do their thang over the cut. "Come ooooonnnnn, man. You know you wanna!" On Dawgisht's Myspace profile he explains perfectly how his music is understood and heard:
"Kinda crunchy mellowy instrumentally beat-driveny funky smoothy quirky jumpy sampley 8-bity backgroundy loopy bumpy bassy whatever shit... put it on while you wash your cat."
As you can see, it really details the intricacies and depth of his music. You will have to hear it to believe it. He has a personal website (www.dawgisht.com/music) but his Myspace profile is perhaps a little more obtainable. Click here to hear beats now!.
Not only is Dawgisht a creative beat maker and sampler, but he's been apart of special projects no matter what he's doing. Fresh out of high school (this would have been in the early 90's) he started doing graphic art and online design. One of his more well known album covers he produced was an early Kofy Brown album- who rocks Bay Area clubs and tours Europe on occasion with her Soul/R&B band. He established a close relationship with friend and business partner, Billy Jam, who has been an integral source and activist for Bay Area rappers, DJ's, and Hip Hop radio. Released in 2006, Dawgisht provided a remix on the 12" track by P.E.A.C.E. (Freestyle Fellowship) called Twisted Tongue. He's also been a key contributer to DJ scratch compilation disc sets released by Billy Jam's record company Hip Hop Slam. Live on stage Dawgisht has appeared with Bay Area favorite and Japanese phenom, Shingo 02, who not only creates samples, beats, and mixes, but also invented the Faderboard. Dawgisht has helped facilitate many jobs over the years, and the bottom line is he's good at what he does, and it shows by who he has worked with throughout his career.
Dawgisht and his wife, Nell, just celebrated their new born baby girl, Mya Rose Rantala. Mya, you've got yourself a talented Daddy.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Booooo!
Note: to all who tried reading one of my latest messages entitled "Summer of '97", it was hacked- so I have deleted the posting. It was a story that illustrated when and why I decided to pursue music as a career. Hopefully, after the smoke disappears I will re-write it for you all to read. Keep checkin' back for more posts!!! Thanks
