A D T H I S Y O U H A V E E N T I R E L Y T O O M U C H T I M E O N Y O U R H A N D S I A M W E T A L L D I D I F Y O U C A N R E A D T H I S Y O U H A V E E N T I R E L Y T O O M U C H T I M E O N Y O U R H A N D S I A M W E T A L L D I D I F Y O U C A N R E
A D T H I S Y O U H A V E E N T I R E L Y T O O M U C H T I M E O N Y O U R H A N D S I A M W E T A L L D I D I F Y O U C A N R E A D T H I S Y O U H A V E E N T I R E L Y T O O M U C H T I M E O N Y O U R H A N D S I A M W E T A L L D I D I F Y O U C A N R E
little byrd (cont’d)
MUSIC BACKGROUND
WHAT GOT YOU INTO MUSIC?
I was always into music. There was a white and blue radio made by Radio Shack (Radio Shack Portable AM Radio Cassette Tape Recorder 14-850A), that did it, which was a gift (either birthday or Christmas) from my parents [who also did music] and so the combination of them and that radio, and finding the record collection and my dad’s cd collections… MUSIC got me into music. In a sense, the at home feeling music offered, which came by way of my early experiences with it. I’m blessed there. Some people have had horrible things happen in life and since music was on at the time they now hate that music. I’ve never had any bad experiences with music. So, yeah, music and musical people, and that Radio Shack radio with AM only. I don’t know if you read the Musical influences page stuff in the TAKE 5 section.
MUSIC IN THE HOME/FAMILY… (on a side note, there’s a song called “HOME/FAMILY” by -The Beautiful Girls… its dope so i linked it there.) My mom plays the guitar, dad plays the sax and some other instruments. Like I said, the music in the house was always good. I remember i found a tape (cassette) from when i was a kid, of a family night with my older bro and little sis, singing, playing music… i was on punishment (a lot) so i wasn’t there but i could see how music brought people together. It made families family, you know? No matter who the individuals were, it was a bond for however long where everyone was on the same vibe and diggin’ it, because everything has it’s moment and that was a great moment. I was always around music tho. I liked music more than people. Music just is. Its like fire to me in that way. People do music and try to be “musicians” and “artists”, music doesn’t try to be or do people… like how folks want to imitate or sound like or be like other musicians, doing cover songs, tribute bands… the original artist was just making music. Labels try to make them into… fans want to make them into… the industry and evil soul sucking money wants to make them into… but the artist—the pure, imageless, no ego, full of wonder, simply expressing artist— is just a creator, a regular being, just being in their divinity. Just let it be. THE RADIO SHACK RADIO… One of the first presents i remember asking for was a radio. Got a RADIO SHACK joint, the blue one (AM dial only) and was like 7 or 8 digging jazz, salsa, oldies, gospel… talk radio… it was another world that just let you be you and sort things out and pushed for peace and answers. The AM dial was CRUCIAL. All of the popular crap was on FM, still is… but AM had actual music. There was oldies, there was classical, there was talk radio, the Christian stations were on AM (WZZD 990), jazz, blues, salsa, Banda, old Asian styled stuff, public radio…. REAL MUSIC was on AM. You could find a channel with classic rock or some of that new junk that was all commercial, but real DJ’s who talked about real things and about music and life, not just commercial crap and fake idols, they were on AM. I had a tape deck and didn’t even have any tapes. LOL!!! Later on my mom got me some BATMAN comics which had cassettes with them, which inspired the whole SAMURAI RUACH The Series (the comic book/graphic novel part). If you’re interested in that here’s a link. Most of the best moments i can remember there was music on or around, and some of the worst moments the music took the edge off. I’m a student of it. Learned a lot at bars and from the music itself… never went to school for any of it. I don’t try to make music for anyone, I just try to get the sounds that make everything shut up, or at least chill out and take the edge off.
MUSICAL HISTORY (How did i get here?)… Dang, you’re still reading?! I appreciate you. Thanks, sincerely. Right on. As far as bands and groups… first was Mixed Mediums with Pennsfold The Heckler (Ray Benner) and “Reece” (Mauricette Houston) in Philly, PA. That got me into the whole energy of music shows, well, that and [doing sound at] church. We ran an open mic in Philly out of [back then] FeeWee Coffee. It was a blend of hip-hop/rap, and spoken word [the group. The show was everything—open mic] and I learned an appreciation for people being able to express. Everyone wants the mic or the camera. I get it, however, being the one with the venue stuck out to me then. The show, the platform. So that got me into events, and while I do love creating material, i love even more seeing people doing their thing and them getting the energy and reactions. Anyways, Mixed-Mediums (Mixed-Meeds, because if you shorten it to Mixed Meds, it’s Meds and not Meeds and you don’t wanna mix meds)… We all went to art school together. Around the same time i linked up with my boy Nico (N-Dot) and we were doing DEF[inition] Theory. I got into producing and doing beats then, and learned the difference between the two, but still some mic stuff like Mixed Meds. ALSO, all in the same time, i got into The Zephaniah Chesterfield Project stuff which was a blend of EVERYTHING: jazz, blues, rock, punk, electro, hip hop, trip hop, yadda yadda yadda. THAT led to Jaiden Malone, with Saige Row, out in Cali (Monrovia). So then, in Cali, i linked up with Latoya Rhodes, playing bass, which connected me with The Mikey (The Large Animal) and Phil Phree, which kicked off Caffine Con Leche’ (Saige Row was in that too), which at the same time I was putting out some solo stuff, Z.C.P. stuff, a Jaiden Malone now and then, and stuff under "Neville Ninja Squatch” (Also with Saige Row, D’Jordj LeBeard, and Estevertzio). Phil Phree introduced me to Imani Akil and Lovey who were doing True Spitters Certified Entertainment and it blew up more from there. With T.S. i met Bing Bing, HiiiwAvs, Crooked Noise, and this one genius kid called The Glitch of Glyphe’. We were the same type of creators, even when mirror opposites, so it worked and we experimented with a bunch of concepts, sounds and ideas and… boom… Welcome to The Adventures Of The Glitch of Glyphe’ and little byrd. THE EVOLUTION OF NAMES? ok, but we gotta be quick. I’m not trying to hold you up from exploring more of the site here. I appreciate you for giving a crap and getting this far. Respect. Ok, names… so in DefTheory it was J. Sometimes J The Alleykatalist. Mixed Mediums J Moore, J, and Alleykatalist J. The Zephaniah Chesterfield popped off and is still going. Then in Cali doing Jaiden Malone it was just J. Then working in Cali a Bird got added on, which turned into Byrd. With Latoya Rhodes it was J Byrd, and going into True Spitters Certified J Byrd and then little byrd. Still at little byrd in The Adventures Of The Glitch of Glyphe’ and little byrd. There are some that say Mr. Byrd. Now go treat yourself to some tacos. Why? It’s good for you. Says who? A little byrd told you. If it were 3 of me, every little thing… would be… alright alright I’ll stop. Don’t worry… about a… Well there’s also that finger thing too. There’s a flippin little byrd for everyone I guess.
WHY DO YOU “DO MUSIC”?
I’m looking for silence for the most part… not necessarily peace because, taking from Gil Scott Heron (paraphrasing) “there is no peace, only the absence of war.” Peace is death in the purest sense, which is just flicking the switch off which drives you to flick it back on because even in death you never cease to be. Peace is oneness with being but there’s no rest in being. To stop being is death. It’s not really stillness because stillness is lack of vibration and our being is vibrational, but it’s a moment of nothingness in which you’re at one with all things and the reflection… like a lack of self, or the self that’s rooted more in thought, less in pure being. It’s a silence… not peace, maybe stillness… but yes, silence. Vibration on its purest and simplest level. Pure being is the sound of silence, in a way. We add our vibes when in a-cchord and the song gets louder and louder. In music, when listening or creating there’s not much thought at a lot of points, it just is… in it i just am. ME fades and I AM (period). Silence.. Still being, but in silence. No need to see or think, but at the same time you feel and know and are experiencing everything. Divinity. Then i click from the music back to my self and lyrics come in or some reaction from my “self” is expressed which colors the music in it’s way. I don’t really care what people think about the music I do, honestly. Not to be mean, but you can’t make anyone think anything they don’t want to think. Feelings are the same. You have no control over anything else but you and your mind. According to me there’s 3 relationships, all playing out and being balanced in their moments seemingly all at once, but really just one at a time: (1) you and your self, (2) you and your world, and (3) you and the world around you. The first two you have control over, so you SHOULD BE the majority influence on your mind. Given that, whatever outside things do is whatever… they’re outside things. It’s a reflection of me, yeah… self-ish, not the full self but a reflection of it, but it’s rooted in vibration and the secondary point the energy is flowing between is not anything you can control. Having said that, when folks come up, “Yo that was dope.” I’m like, “Ok, right on.” but it rarely impacts what or how and most importantly WHY i do what i do. I’m doing me. Their reaction is them doing them. Do you. 100%. ALL THE TIME.
ANOTHER THING… I do music so you can do better. I’m dope. Facts. YOU’RE DOPER. Facts. I want to see it. I do a lot of tutorials and put out there how I do things, and try to do them as close to free as possible so folks with no bread can still get it done, ya know? But I want to see you shine. I want to hear your music, see your art. I want you to outdo me. Challenge. It makes me better.
