Today we’d like to introduce you to Treyvon Brown.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Treyvon. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I knew I was destined to be an entertainer at a very young age. Michael Jackson was the first iconic musical influence to pique my interest in the performing arts. In fact, Somewhere boxed away in storage there’s a video of me dancing and singing karaoke to Michael Jackson’s “Rock with you” wearing a glove at the age of five years old. Eventually, I became intrigued with Jazz. I remember being in San Francisco, CA sitting in a Japanese Sushi Restaurant with my Grandmother. They were playing music and it was a much different sound than I was accustomed too. I asked my Grandmother “What’s that?” And with much enthusiasm, she replied, “That’s Jazz!”. It wasn’t long after that day I picked up my first Saxophone.
Throughout my childhood, I was pretty involved in sports, at least up until the eighth grade. My life had become torn between my two loves of sports and music but it seemed like sports were no longer gaining my full attention. After playing in Jazz Bands, School Bands and attending different summer programs such as “Stanford Jazz” and “Grammy Camp” in L.A, I decided music was going to be the main focus in my life. Once my music lessons collided with my sports team practices, it was clear that music was the path I would take.
I then went on to audition for “San Francisco Ruth Asawa School of the Arts” and “Oakland School for the Arts.” After being accepted to both, I decided to go to the School in San Francisco because it was closer to home. I also was heavily involved in bands outside of school such as “Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble”, “Loco Bloco”, and “SF Jazz”. One year, I even performed in the San Francisco Carnival Competition with “Loco Bloco”, a Brazilian influenced bacteria group that focuses on community unity through the performing arts. That year we won first place in the summer of 2014.
Following said events was the awarding of my “Talent Grant Scholarship” to Morehouse College Music Department via the efforts of Dr. Uzee Brown and the Music Department Faculty. Thus, I became first chair and Section Leader In “Jazz Band”, “Concert Band”, “Marching Band” and “Combo”. In order to sustain myself financially, I played paid gigs performing various genres of music playing the Saxophone. Most of my performances I was alone, with my fraternity “Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America Inc” or playing with my R&b Jazz Trio “Top Three” (I also performed with famous Saxophonist Najee). At the same time, I worked many jobs in retail and other areas as well. I worked as an intern for Jazz radio station “WCLK FM 91.9”. I even got to intern for Joy Young who Managed artist at Atlanta’s own “Wondaland Records”. This gave me the opportunity to work with artists such as “St. Beauty”, “Janelle Monáe” and “Hamilton Park”. After four years of hard work and intense dedication I eventually went on to receive my degree (B.A of Music) from Morehouse College.
Post college, I have played a variety of music gigs for weddings, conferences, private parties, churches, clubs, and lounges. I even had my own students working as a private music teacher. Over time, I added more instruments to my toolboxes such as flute, piano, and percussion. Now, I am focusing more on production and plan on pursuing a Masters Degree in Recording Arts and Technology in the spring Of 2020.
Has it been a smooth road?
It’s never easy getting off the ground as a struggling independent artist. Especially trying to have side hustles to maintain and fund your music career. I’m blessed to have a very supportive family and a few friends who really have helped me grow musically. At this stage in my career, my main focus is putting out high quality, professional sounding music. I haven’t been able to put music or content out at the rate that I would like. So, I have taken it upon myself to learn Recording Technologies and become more skilled in video shooting and editing. It’s been a difficult road but I have faith that God will bring me to where I need to be. The three biggest issues I have faced are time, money and effort. If I want something done that I don’t know how to do then I become subject to someone else’s time. If I want something done well with a good amount of effort then I have to pay “done well with good effort” prices. A big part of why I plan on pursuing a Masters in the Recording Arts is so that I can:
1. Produce better quality content for myself
2. Be taken more seriously in my craft.
3. Be on the receiving end of those engineering rates.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the BeatShop Exclusive Entertainment story. Tell us more about it.
“Beat Shop Exclusive Ent.” (BSE Ent.) specializes in music performance/production and other varieties of entertainment such as comedy, acting, and film. My primary focus is Saxophone performance and music production. Over the course of time, I have become a proud performer and instrumentalist. I have also shown myself I am not limited to just music. My dancing and acting skills have given me exposure to the film industry as well. I have big aspirations for “BSE Ent.” to grow as a business and a team, incorporating other gifted individuals with special skills and traits of their own.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
To be honest the entertainment industry is unpredictable. You never know when, where or how the next hottest trend will emerge. Nevertheless, Trap music has dominated the hip-hop and music industry over the last decade. As a true musician and live performer, I have noticed heightened appreciation as well as demand for real musicianship. New breakthroughs in music technology have taken away from the art form of music. Thus, creating a barrage of sounds and styles that lack originality. Quite often referred to as “Cookie Cutter” due to universal access to the same sounds and programs. However, slowly but surely, the music (more specifically “Hip-hop”) realm is turning back to incorporating live musicians in recordings and performances. Contrarily, the bulk of hip-hop music simply consists of electronic percussion and 808’s. Mainstream artists such as Anderson Paak, Bruno Mars, Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, and other artists alike stay true to the raw elements of music often by performing and recording with live instrumentation (at least in mainstream and commercialized music). Of course, there are dozens of notable artists that are all about musical roots such as “Jazz”, “Blues”, “Afro/Latin music”, “Soul” and other genres. (To name a few; “Robert Glasper”, “Snarky Puppy” and “Masego”.)
Contact Info:
- Email: thebsexclusive@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/norcali.king/?hl=en
- Twitter: @bsexclusive
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX0WAGzmLm7Whb82x3SBrlA
Image Credit:
Ig: @Norcali.king, Ig: @Toddwbarronphotography
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
