libraclassic!
so who is libraclassic!?
libraclassic! (the producer)
Super-Villain Backstory
aiight, so boom: I was a dancer before I was a DJ, and was a DJ before I was a producer (see below), but I was always interested in communicating through creating music. However, up until around 2001, I had no idea how to even begin doing something like that...
....then along came Windows 2001 and a then revolutionary app called Acid Pro 3 - the first DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) I'd ever worked on! Up until this point (and for a while after), there were significant barriers to entry if you lived in my hometown, had no guidance, and had no "people". Even if all this fell into place for you, you still needed a lot of expensive equipment, training, connections, some kind of money worth talking about, and space to house all this stuff - I had none of this. All that being said to stress how AP3 changed the game for me! This changed music production from a distant dream to a very attainable reality! This was the start of technology leveling the playing field, allowing folks like me to go around many gatekeepers.
It wasn't until I moved to NYC in 2005, where I went on to formally study music production, that I was able to get serious about producing music.
...in 2009, I signed to a then brand new, independent label called "Soul Sun Soul", created and owned by House/Afro producer Mikki Afflick, where I produced under my stage name "Libraclassic!". After producing a few things for her label, I decided that I knew enough at this point, and in 2011, I created my own label!
I created a name, consulted with entertainment lawyers, filed for a DBA from the City of New York, created a logo/brand, and that's how Zodiac Thump Music was born!
what kind of music do you produce?
When I started my label, I initially concentrated on the House music genre. Though I dwelled hard in this space for awhile, I am now opting for a more expansive palate - which, ironically, is more in alignment with the vision I had for myself in the first place (see "The Khamisi Project"). Make no mistake, you'll still hear plenty of House, but expect so much more than that!
*Libraclassic! (ASCAP) also records under the names "The Khamisi Project" (ASCAP), and "JAVA" (ASCAP)
the libraclassic! catalogue (so far)
libraclassic! the DJ
...and founder of Zodiac Thump Radio - an online mix blog featuring eclectic DJ mixes, free remixes, and musical commentary - basically, a unique, fresh take on what a DJ mix can be.
Super-Villain Backstory
Having come up in the Golden Era of Hip-Hop in Syracuse, NY, I was a RAGING Hip-Hop fanatic and naturally gifted Hip-Hop (later House) dancer, and though I'd heard DJs on the radio, the first person I met who was an actual DJ was my sister's older brother, Eddie (DJ E-Smuve). Though not a blood brother, he was responsible for some very pivotal "firsts" on my DJ and Producer journey.
In July of 1987, Eddie took me to my first rap concert (Fresh Fest 4 with Salt n' Pepa, The White Boys, Four by Four, Heavy D & The Boyz, and the headliners -The Fat Boys). This worked out better than he thought it would since it was discovered that I could dance my ass off, which leads to Eddie also being responsible for another VERY important "first" - in either '89 or '90, he took me with him to a D9 sponsored Syracuse University party in the Underground section of the Schine Student Center (the party was very aptly called just that - "The Underground"). It was there that I discovered the House community! Though House was taking over the world, this was still Syracuse, so up until this time, I'd only heard it on the radio (DJ Kevin Hicks, 93Q - "The Hicks Mix"), but there was no organic community in Syracuse where you could go to experience it (that I knew of or was old enough to attend).
When I entered the Underground for the first time, I felt like I just entered the "Brand New Day" sequence of The Wiz, LOL! I'd never seen ANY of these people before! The clothes, music, shoes, cologne, dance aesthetic - the whole scene was NEW to me and it just felt ELEVATED! I was instantly OBSESSED.
THIS was where the DJ bug actually HIT me...HARD. I spent a LOT of time on campus and, at this point, I was an upper echelon dancer and a RAGING Househead. All I wanted to do was learn how to move people like the DJs were moving me! I immediately started collecting records (I used to order from Vinylmania), and though the DJ bug had hit, I
wouldn't get my first turntables until around '96. They were these black Lineartech belt-drive numbers that looked like Technics, LOL. They weren't bad, but they weren't good either, LOLOL. I did some gigs here and there through the early 2000's, moved to Philly in 2002, did some gigs there during my brief time there, came back to Syracuse in 2004, did some more gigs there, and then...
NYC
After losing two almost entire record collections moving around like a damn toddler, I moved to NYC in 2005, and - up until around 2019 - concentrated my DJ and production efforts into the House community (pretty much everybody calls me "Libra", LOL) - almost exclusively. I experienced my first actual residency here in Brooklyn (Connect 1st Saturdays @ LP n' Harmony, now a dope little spot called "Haven"), but mostly guest spots at various venues (you'll see examples in the gallery).
Fast forward to now (with details spared), what I learned and experienced led to me to take a MASSIVE step back from the House community in order to zoom out, reassess my goals, and apply what I've learned (and un-learned) to a more expansive set of goals that are more in alignment with who I actually am as well as who I've become. My collective experience over the last 20 years gave birth to Zodiac Thump Music, Zodiac Thump Designs, and Zodiac Thump Radio!
So yeah - I'm ready for my close up!
