I am sitting in the room of Patrick Sorensen, otherwise known as DJ Swan. DJ Swan is a hip-hop DJ for the Pittsfield-based rap group The Pinch and works with another group from the city named Mind & Soul, the three members of which are currently working on new songs for their upcoming show at Muddy McGees, a bar and music venue located in the Crowne Plaza downtown.
For a long time, Sorensen has been DJing, a hip-hop art form involving various pieces of electrical equipment, where, as vinyl spins on two turntables, the DJ scratches (with special needles that won’t damage the vinyl) back and forth on the vinyl, toying with the rhythm of the songs, and mixes songs together using another piece of equipment.
Mind & Soul, comprising J.Soul, Driemz and DJ Molest, are currently rehearsing, revising and finishing songs that they’ll be performing this Saturday at Muddy's, where they’ve played a few times in the past two months, most recently March 29.
Sorensen, who lives in Dalton and is the DJ of the group The Pinch, met each of the members of Mind & Soul at different times; the four all shared a love for hip-hop music and decided to start trying to make their own music. DJ Molest, whose real name is Jake Casey, has been DJing for about seven years. He didn’t grow up listening to rap music, but he said when he began listening to it, he was more intrigued by the DJ elements of rap music — cutting and scratching vinyl — than its MC element, a person rhyming and rapping verses to the beats. Casey, a 22-year-old Hinsdale native who currently lives in Richmond, and Sorensen said they have known each other since they were very young, eventually graduating together from Wahconah Regional High School. The two became interested in DJing, they said, when they got to witness the DJing abilities of a guy they knew from town, who's about five years older.
Once he purchased another piece of equipment called a drum machine, which allows him to loop together elements of various songs to create beats, Casey was able to begin creating his own beats, over which his friends and the MCs in the group he's in are able to rap their own rhymes, or lyrics.
The two MCs of Mind & Soul, J.Soul and Driemz, and Pittsfield residents and went to Pittsfield High School. Their real names are Jon Goodman and Walter "Wally" Bradley, respectively. They were brought together, as MCs and friends, and with Casey by Sorensen.
At this time Bradley is rehearsing a verse to a song called "Here You Are All Alone in the City." This title is also the chorus, made from a loop of a woman singing the line from another song. Bradley said his rhymes for this particular song are rooted in the chorus, focusing on his experience growing up in the city — Pittsfield.
The members of Mind & Soul all say there isn't a set formula for the creation of their songs. Sometimes, like in the case of the song they're working on now, Bradley and Goodman write their rhymes for a beat that Casey has already produced. Other times their rhymes come first, and the beat comes second. Regardless Bradley said that, in all their songs, he and Goodman write their rhymes around a certain theme.
Casey, who said he has produced between 30 to 40 beats since he bought his drum machine, likewise said he doesn't have a set formula for making beats.
Although it only takes a few hours to make a beat, he said he spends hours going through and listening to records to try to find the elements for a head-nodding beat — snares, kicks, piano loops, vocal snippets, etc. Casey said he tries to make beats that his MC friends "will feed off of."
The DJ said the beat-making process is an emotional one; likewise Mind & Soul's two MCs said writing rhymes is also an emotional process, but somehow their rhymes and his beats always seem to come together to create a total package. "It's kinda messed up how it works out," Bradley said.
There are no rules when it comes to writing rhymes, and, at least for Bradley, his mood when he writes plays a big factor in the themes and tone of his lyrics, he said. When he writes when he's depressed, his rhymes are more emotional and help him cope with whatever's getting him down. "It helps me stay sane."
When he's feeling upbeat and happy, he said he tends to write "battle rhymes," hip-hop braggadocio that MCs spout when "battling" other MCs for hip-hop respect.
As it stands now, the members of Mind & Soul continue to make music because they love doing it and they love to perform for audiences. Over the past couple of months, they have been gradually recording their songs with equipment that Sorensen owns and might be doing some recording at a Boston studio as well. Along with The Pinch, they hope to begin playing some other music venues in the area and possibly Boston as well.
Recently Sorensen made some hip-hip instrumental tracks for a learning tool that he and his mother, Mary, developed. She works for Mental Health and Substance Services of the Berkshires, in Pittsfield, and was looking for ways to help young people, training to be clinicians, more easily learn the material. Since many young people listen to rap music, they decided to try to develop the learning tool as a way to make the material more easily remembered.
Sorensen made beats, over which his mother recites the training information. So far, she's had one trial with which to test the recordings and said it was pretty successful. They said they plan to pursue a business deal with a Seattle-based company that Mary said is one of the largest trainers of clinicians in the country.
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Winter Storm Warning Issued for Berkshires
Another snowstorm is expected to move through the region overnight on Friday, bringing 5 to 8 inches of snow. This is updated from Thursday's winter weather advisory.
The National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y., has posted a winter storm warning for all of Berkshire County and parts of eastern New York State beginning Friday at 4 p.m. through Saturday at 1 p.m.
The region could see heavy to moderate snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour overnight, tapering off Saturday morning to flurries.
Drivers should exercise caution on Friday night and Saturday morning, as travel conditions may be hazardous.
Saturday night should be clear and calm, but warming temperatures means freezing rain Sunday night and rain through Monday with highs in the 40s. The forecast isn't much better through the week as temperatures dip back into the teens with New Year's Eve looking cloudy and frigid.
Samuel Currence served his country in the Air Force with distinction, professionalism and unparalleled humility from 1962 to 1985, retiring as a technical sergeant. click for more
Many homeowners are showing their holiday spirit by decorating their houses. We asked for submissions so those in the community can check out these fanciful lights and decor when they're out.
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