HOW I GOT STARTED AND CHASED MY DREAM........

In response to quite a few emails and posts asking the same GENERAL question, here goes.....

I left St.Thomas when I was 18 years old in 1991. ….I enjoyed growing up in St.Thomas….BUT I was so ready to leave.
Immediately after graduation I was on a plane to Orlando where I attended FULL SAIL CENTER FOR THE RECORDING ARTS. My dad got me started by paying my rent for a few months, paying for school, and helping me get my first BUCKET of a car….(I am VERY thankful though). – I was determined not to ask him for ANY more help. During the year I spent at FULL SAIL, I worked in a blockbuster video store part time to pay for my apt and car.

I decided that I was going to move to Atlanta the day I graduated and I did just that. I chose Atlanta because at the time New York and Los Angeles seemed too saturated with people looking for similar work. I had read an article while living in Orlando, about a young up and coming producer named DALLAS AUSTIN, and how he was opening a new studio in Atlanta. I made it my mission in life to find him and work at his studio.
2 weeks after graduation…….MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

In august 1992, I started out at the lowest possible level in the music industry. I was an intern at the studio. I didn’t make ANY money. I went on food runs, I cleaned the bathrooms, I made coffee, I packed up equipment and just about anything else they needed done at the studio.....FOR FREE. .....IN EXCHANGE, I got the opportunity to be around, observe, learn, and every now and then ask questions. It was an awesome exchange. Besides my part time job (to pay for my car and rent), I would spend every waking hour at the studio. Eventually I moved my way up the ranks and by summertime, 1993, I had became an ASSISTANT ENGINEER. I hadn’t quite started working with Dallas directly. Instead I was working with a handful of engineers and some producers he had signed to him in production deals. I would also work steadily with a host of outside clients that would book studio time there.

As things rolled on, more and more producers noticed that I was pretty good and had potential. Eventually Dallas himself started to take notice and that’s when things really got rolling. I would go on to record and mix my first hit record…Monica’s “DON’T TAKE IT PERSONAL” in 1995.

After that, I continued to work with Dallas closely and consistently as a RECORDING and MIX ENGINEER for the next 6 years. My career REALLY blossomed in that time period because my discography started to get full with names like MADONNA, BOYS II MEN, MICHAEL JACKSON, ARETHA FRANKLIN, TLC, DEBORAH COX, TONI BRAXTON, OUTKAST, BUSTA RHYMES, NOTORIUS B.I.G., 2 PAC, WILL SMITH, and many more big names.

During that time I also started producing records as well. I managed to produce records for 112, ICE CUBE, MACK 10, MONICA, SHANICE, SCARFACE, NIVEA and a few others. Production wasn’t really my focus though. I did it because It was fun, I was good at it, and I made some good money…………..BUT I was PASSIONATE about MIXING records.

In 2001, it was time for me to grow into my own and focus on becoming a MIX ENGINEER. I parted ways with Dallas and made my home over at PATCHWERK STUDIOS (right down the street) where I continue to work to this day. Patchwerk had (and still HAS in my opinion) the best mix room in Atlanta, so it was an easy choice for me……….I ONLY mess with the best.
Since then, I’ve mixed records for so many including JEEZY, CASH MONEY MILLIONAIRES, LIL WAYNE, JAY-Z, EMINEM, 2 PAC, RICK ROSS, LUDACRIS, CHER, SANTANA, MARY J. BLIGE, P. DIDDY, and so on.

I worked VERY hard to get to where I am. I stayed very focused all these years. I HARDLY EVER go out. I don’t goto nightclubs, stripclubs, etc. I don’t smoke or do ANY types of drugs. I rarely drink, AND ONLY when I’m not working. I’m never in the streets chasing women or attention. I take vacations, We goto Disney, Aspen, and Lake Lanier REGULARLY. Other than that…………..I wake up EVERY day goto the studio, work, have fun…………… and EVERY NIGHT, I go home to DORIS (and my unborn child).

This WAS……IS…..AND CONTINUES TO BE…….the story of my success.

I'm glad my story has inspired some in the past and hope it continues to do so for others in the future.