DJ Scribe
Scribe fell
in love with music at an early age and never fell out. "I used to march
around the house with my grandfather banging pot lids together as
cymbals." His interest progressed, quite naturally, from pots and pans
to violin to piano to synthesizers to samplers to turntables. Inspired
by Public Enemy and The Pharcyde (among others), in the golden age of
hip-hop that was the early 90's, he began collecting records. "Hip-hop,
especially at that time, was unique in the history of recorded music,
because for every new record that came out, there were three more you
got educated about through the samples. My music knowledge and my
collection were moving forwards and backwards through time
simultaneously. I got hooked." Hip-hop (along with the dancehall reggae
and acid jazz of the time), led him back in time to soul, funk, disco,
r&b, roots reggae and jazz, and would later expand into a musical
repertoire spanning afrobeat, house, broken-beat, latin, and his
beloved 80s pop childhood roots.
Without turntables of his own yet, Scribe taught himself how to mix
live
on WOBC FM at Oberlin College in Ohio, where he then began to cut
his teeth as a dj at house parties and campus events, eventually
opening for a A Tribe Called Quest in front of 3,000 people at an
historic concert. It was the
first show of their groundbreaking Low End Theory Tour. Back in NYC
after college, Scribe dabbled in hip-hop production under the guidance
of Russell Simmons' RUSH Producers Management, and deejayed part-time,
opening major concerts for A Tribe Called Quest again, and Digable
Planets.
Fast forward to present. DJ Scribe has been spinning full-time since
2002. In that time, he has developed numerous notable and acclaimed
residencies in NYC: Love Revolution at Joe's Pub, a freeform soul night
that often featured Tortured Soul playing live, and guest djs such as
E-Man, Carol C. of Si*Sé, Will "Quantic" Holland, Qool DJ Marv,
and Ian Friday; Tag, in partnership with Wax Poetics Magazine, whose
unique format featured Scribe alternating every other record all night
with such legends as Kool DJ Red Alert, Justin Strauss, Jazzy
Nice, Yam
Who?, Prince
Language and Rich Medina; Stone Soup in conjunction with
BBE Records; Soulnado, at the world-famous Knitting Factory, a joint
effort with DJ Busquelo, fusing the headsnapping broken beat drum
tracks of London's underground CO-OP scene with classic dancefloor jazz
(another UK staple) played live and fully improvised by rotating
top-notch instrumentalists; and one of the most respected parties at
Miami's annual Winter Music Conference since 2006: the Raw Fusion Miami
party, which has featured the best of the best djs from around the
world: Spinna, Karizma,
Simbad, Daz-I-Kue, Benji B, Phil Asher, Mad Mats, Freddie Cruger aka
Red Astaire, Karl Injex, and many more. Raw Fusion is a
13-years-running party in Stockholm, Sweden, founded by Mad Mats.
In 2006, Scribe and partner OP! (Suite 903) founded Nu-iSh, a
multifaceted venture dedicated to representing, supporting, and
exposing the best new music. Nu-iSh, partnering with a who's-who of
quality independent labels around the world, began as a monthly party
at Element, a weekly music review column on Coolhunting.com, a concert
presenter for emerging artists like Heavy, and more.
Then, in 2008, Scribe and OP!, under the Nu-iSh umbrella, launched the
instant smash Raw Fusion NYC monthly, the New York arm of the Raw
Fusion franchise, at APT, one of NYC's top dj venues. Raw Fusion NYC
has featured guest djs such as Simbad, Daz, 7 Samurai, Probe DMS, and
live performances by Muhsinah, Kissey Asplund, Taylor McFerrin, TK
Wonder, Zaki Ibrahim, Stephanie McKay, Daru, Erik Rico, Cecilia Stalin,
and Ivana Santilli.
And most recently, in May 2009, Scribe founded I Love Vinyl, an
all-vinyl party, with six resident djs: himself, Ge-Ology, The Twilite
Tone, Amir (Kon & Amir), OP! and Jon Oliver. From the first party,
at Le Poisson Rouge's Gallery Bar, it has been packed and jumping.
In conjunction with the party, Scribe started a vinyl appreciation page
on Facebook which attracted an impressive 10,000 fans in 10 days (now
nearing 20K), and is
also launching a line of I Love Vinyl merchandise featuring the party's
logo, by
popular demand.
Scribe's name has shared the marquee at NYC's top live music venues
like the Highline
Ballroom, Le Poisson Rouge, SOB's and Joe's Pub with artists like
Floetry, Roy
Ayers, The Black Eyed Peas, Scratch of The Roots, Omar, Eve, Dwele, Les
Nubians, Stephanie McKay, Antibalas, Little Dragon, Chin Chin and
others, and internationally from Cargo (London) to Ikra (Moscow). He
has moved the crowd at nightclubs all over Western and Eastern Europe;
and
traveled extensively within the US and Canada, including multiple
appearances at the annual Candela Art and Music Festival in Puerto
Rico, Miami's Winter Music Conference, and the Detroit Electronic Music
Festival.
A socially/politically conscious and committed individual, Scribe has
donated performances to such organizations as Craigslist Foundation,
Drug Policy Alliance, Take Back the Land (featured in Michael Moore’s
Capitalism: A Love Story), Green Drinks, Ubuntu, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn,
Fort Greene Film Society, Third Wave
Foundation, Active Listening, Paper Tiger TV, and Momentum Aids
Project; and has also done major industry events for Gen-Art, and The
Fader, Esquire, Details, Talk, and Elle Girl magazines.
In 2005, Scribe founded the DJ Collective, a forum for
musically-oriented djs in NYC to develop resources and address the
concerns of the dj community. The group also produced a number of
benefit events, including a fundraiser in conjunction with
Turntables on the Hudson at NYC's Cielo for rebuilding New Orleans
after Hurricane Katrina.
Scribe has also done extensive studio work with DJ Spinna, including
mixing remixes he did for Michael Jackson and Shaun Escoffery, and The
Beyond Real Experience Vol.2 album for Spinna's Beyond Real label; as
well as producing and mixing much of Tortured Soul frontman
Christian Urich's soul project Cooly's Hot Box's album Take It, on Dome
records, including the UK classic "Make Me Happy".
As of 2005, Scribe runs the stateside offices for Mad Mats'
Stockholm-based Raw Fusion Recordings, as US Label Manager.
DJ Scribe spins dynamic sets from the heart, ranging from deep soul to
dancefloor killers. Acoustic jazz to glitch-hop and detroit techno.
Coming soon to a
dancefloor near you.
for bookings email scribelove@djscribe.com