I live in Philly, and I love it quite a lot. I grew up about an hour outside, way out in the country on a big hill with deer and bunnies. I spent the early years sloloming through the wilds of pop radio and prog rock, and making covert excursions into hardcore and punk, until I finally discovered non-commercial radio. Home!

I studied English and Latin American studies at the Univeristy of Pittsburgh, where I also bummed around The Pitt News and our beloved WPTS-FM for a few years, picking up a couple directorships and immersing myself in everything from shoegazer ambient to indie rock to underground hip hop to experimental jazz to world music to random strangeness to "electronica." Remember, in 1995, that wasn't yet a dirty word. =)

I dabbled in raving early on, and around '95 jumped in with both feet. The energy was incredible at that time. You could feel the buzz in the air, and everyone knew it was a historic time. I loved it all, but found myself totally smitten with the ruff, rude basslines and relentless rhythmic pummelling of jungle. Remember Super Sharp Shooter? Oh my god, hell yeah!!! My big I-can-die-happy-now moment was when I had a story on the local rave scene printed in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette while I was interning there...front cover of the Weekend section. What a trip that was. I changed up my stilo on the radio and started spinning jungle (badly)...right before I had to pack up my crap and make the trek back to Philly.

When I got back, I followed the advice of a friend and settled in West Philadelphia, where I've been ever since. In early '97 I finally got my beat-ass turntables (which have provided me with some fascinating soldering opportunities over the years) and hooked up with the bombastic hoodlums of the Substitution crew for a bit, playing sweaty, smoky, crazy house parties and those shady clubs we used to hit back then. Oh boy.

Over time, jungle started to suck and I took it very personally. My interest in djing flagged and I battled to find good tracks and the enthuisasm to play them. Then one day I discovered Mongo Santamaria... I was in the store, and on a whim I dropped the needle on this comp on Soul Jazz called NuYorica 2. (Please let this serve as a personal Thank You to the gods and goddesses at Soul Jazz for bringing immeasurable joy into the world.) I kid you not, my knees went wobbly and I had to hold myself up. When something makes your knees wobble or your toes tingle, you go with it. So I did, changed things up again, and went on a record buying binge for way-left-of-center DnB (Amon Tobin, Friend, Animals On Wheels, Mr. Scruff, etc), strange trip hop, and uptempo-ish percussive stuff, anything with a Brazilian/Afro/Cuban/etc feel to it. This was around the summer of 1999, and that winter, I got Neon Phusions's "The Future Ain't The Same As It Used To Be". Boom, game over.

In '99 as a result of chatting on the Acid Jazz list I hooked up with Philly's Dj Argo, the other founder of Broke & Beat Radio. Over the next couple years, we built the website, and played and threw parties all over Philly and New Jersey, including the legendary Beleza and Messin' Around park parties in Center City and West Philly. I was honored to play at the Don't Fake The Funk and Mud People parties, and managed to scam my way onto the tables at Fluid as part of the tragi-comic musical maelstrom known as the Four Headed Hydra, while maintaining a few weeklies around town. I've also played in Indianapolis, Columbus, somewhere in the countryside of Western Ohio at Family Affair, Club XVI in NYC, WPRK and venues in Orlando, Durham, NC, Ottawa, Montreal, DC's wonderful Club Five, the 2004 and 2005 Winter Music Conferences, San Juan, Puerto Rico for both Candela Bar and Amalgama Records, and Sao Paulo, Brazil with Bruno E.

Which brings us to now. This site is a really fun project for me, a place to explore the minds of the people making these beats happen. It's kind of selfish, really... I want to find out what makes this music tick from the inside out. As queen of my own compost heap, it's kinda tricky to devote the time I'd like to it, but when I do, I try to make this site a depot for conversations, original tracks, dj sets, art, and anything else soulful and relevant to this area of today's creative life.

Couple more facts about myself, besides djing I am flirting with original production (I want to marry Ableton Live <3 <3 <3), I played some instruments through school and college, most notably flute and classical guitar, and hope to someday not suck too badly at percussion. I am a Brazil fanatic and I'm currently working toward my second belt in Capoeira under Mestre Doutor of ASCAB Capoeira. Incidentally, I'm not Brazilian, I'm actually half Central American. During the day I'm a geek--a Unix Sys Admin and security nerd. Oh, and for what it's worth, I'm not a guy.

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Email:info@beleza-music.org
Aim: grokgrrrl
Address: P.O. Box 5457, Philadelphia, PA 19143, USA