OH Taxonomy
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 Bullet Proof Scratch Hamsters/Space Travelers who created one of the first DJ battle records Hamster Breaks....
Charles Wright had a desire to form a solid soul band that would take the drive of R&B and push it to the limits. With an amazing cast of musicians, Charles formed the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, which recorded a string of hit songs including the classic “Express Yourself.” Charles took...
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 sound. Chris first became well known for his 1984 appearance in the classic hip-hop movie Breakin’ and for producing...
Karrie Keyes grew up with a deep appreciation and understanding of art. She played in both band and orchestra at school. As a teenager in Los Angeles in the early days of the punk rock movement, Karrie began helping load out gear for local bands. The staging company Rat Sound hired her and before...
Michael Strickland was paid $25.00 for lighting his first rock concert in 1968 at the age of twelve. He knew The Grass Roots were in town to perform so he borrowed the overhead projectors and lights from his school and set them up for their show. The band was impressed, and Michael was hooked! He...
Jodi Siegel grew up in a musical family and developed a passion for music at a young age. Jodi started playing the ukulele because of its size but quickly moved onto the guitar. A big influence for her was Duane Allman, whom she would try to figure out how to replicate the sound of without...
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 of mixing by utilizing cutting edge technology and gear. His first set up included a turntable where the records...
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 New York and wanted to bring his own unique sounds to his audiences in his neighborhood of Compton, near Los...
Roger Smith began playing the piano and singing in church at an early age, quickly falling in love with the way people reacted to the music he performed. He was introduced to the Hammond organ thanks to a friend from school whose uncle was the legendary Jimmy McGriff. Jimmy shared his love of the...
Stefano Trabucchi’s father loved music and encouraged his son to play the violin when he was eight. Stefano was fascinated by the instrument and by thirteen wanted to build his own. The following year his supportive parents allowed him to travel to Cremona to study violin making in the same town as...