DJ Leon Lamont

Every now and then, an artist will ask the question, “Can I put auditions with famous people on my resume?”
Not unless you got the gig.  If you ran track in the Olympics and came in last, would you put that among your list of achievements?  I hope not.  With auditions it’s the same thing.  An audition is a competition.  If you don’t get the gig as a result of your efforts, that’s right…you lost.  What you are left with is a good story for when you’re hanging out at a bar or a house party. 




If you’re a musician, only actual gigs go on your resume.  You played three notes on Adele’s record?  Good for you, that can go on your resume’.  You auditioned for Slipknot and didn’t get the gig?  You failed, don’t put that on your resume’.  It’s all pretty simple and straight forward.  Nobody brags about what they didn’t do or almost did and nobody cares anyway. 





Can you put a famous person on your resume’ if you did the gig but they stiffed you? Absolutely, using their name on your resume’ is part…

It was 2005, and while reading one of the various music magazines I had piled in a corner, I came across a promotional interview with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails.  As a promotional gimmick for his then new release, "With Teeth", on Interscope Records, he invited any and all to remix his new single, "The Hand That Feeds".  Reznor gave an url where a person could find the individually separated tracks for download along with the track's BPM.

What compelled me to go to Reznor's site and download the track elements was how convenient Reznor had made it for people to remix his track.  Out of boredom, I downloaded the tracks one night and threw the elements into Garageband to do a quick House remix.  I just did it for fun.  If I were doing a serious remix, I doubt I would've used Garageband.  After remixing the track, I acquired the video and chopped it in video editing software to match my audio remix and uploaded it to YouTube.

My remix was quickly done…

First there was the text from a childhood friend, then there were the FB messages.  The first saxophone player I'd ever known…my first girlfriend…was dead.  She had become part of a trend in my life where I  would reconcile with someone and soon after reconciliation…the person would die.  Very strange.  Very disturbing. 

When I asked how the saxophonist died, not one person would give me an answer.  I later found myself at the funeral on the receiving end of disapproving stares of disgust because I asked the question again.  The funeral was in a place that nobody wanted to be, at a time when nobody wanted to be there; Ferguson, MO…during the riots.  The viewing room was practically empty when I walked inside because everyone was standing in the hallway of the funeral home.  For a brief moment, I felt like my nine-year-old self (our age when we met in grade school) as I approached the casket.  When I peaked inside the casket, she appeared to be scowling.  For some strange reason I…

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When asked if I thought musicians should date other musicians, I had to start with a disclaimer.  I'm not all musicians, so I can't speak for a diverse group of people with different backgrounds and intelligence levels.  That being said, I can only talk about my own experience dating other musicians.  For the most part, I didn't really see any huge benefit or difference in dating a musician or a non-musician.  In some cases I would even say it made the dating situation worse.





My first girlfriend, when I was in my early teens, was a musician.  It wasn't plotted or planned, it just happened that way.  When you're a teenager in school, and both you and your girlfriend are musicians, you get to see each other throughout the school day more often than you usually would as non-musicians.  From the outside of the relationship looking in, it might have seemed like a bit of overkill.  My first girlfriend lived down the street from me, we rode the bus to school together, we …

My brothers and I think that music can be funny on it's own without lyrics.  We would always make fun of each other by making soundtracks to describe each other.  I don't know if that really transfers to non-musicians.  Anyway, that was the idea behind this video and track.  I thought it was funny and a great soundtrack to an old man.

Band Leader

Whenever I try to lead a band, there is always that one member that considers themselves to be a better leader than myself.  They'll say something colorful like, "Why should we listen to and follow you?"  And I'll say something arrogant like, "Because my failures are bigger than your successes."  

I don't consider myself to be a "success" (whatever that means).  I consider myself to be a creative person that tries things very loudly and very proudly.  "I love this.  Hmm, nobody else loved it.  Back to the lab."  There's that burden of your art that you love so much not being considered good unless a lot of other people love it too.  That conflict starts first…in a band.

Being a band leader is all sacrifice and compromise.  It's always a situation of "what you want versus what you can get".  Sometimes there is big talent with no personality and then big personality with no talent.  There's the talented…

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Lying is just like anything else; if you want to be good at it...you have to practice.

Below is a link to a short film from New Zealand that features a track from one of my releases from my net label, Num Num Nah Records.  Special thanks to my friend Paul Summers for using one of my tracks.  My contribution is the abstract drum beat during the scene when the two guys are talking in the car (which comes from the release "DJ Leon Lamont - Free Grooves").  Always fun to see my name at the end of a film during the credits (especially when they include Num Num Nah Records). 

Num Num Nah Records is a net label that has free downloads of mostly original music.  I welcome and encourage independent filmmakers to use tracks from the label if they think a track fits a scene in their works.  It's royalty free and only requires mention of the track, artist, and label in the film credits.

WRONG (the movie)





                                                       DJ Leon Lamont - Free Grooves

A couple of months ago, while working on a short film for a local St. Louis film contest, I was questioned by a friend, "How do you continue to create stuff and not get discouraged?"  I responded, "I don't understand the question."  My friend explained how he had never won anything in his entire life and just pretty much gave up trying years ago when it comes to creative competitions.  I explained to him, "Oh, that's simple.  Sometimes I win."  The only type of competitions that I have not and will not participate in are battle of the bands.  In my youth, I was groomed to believe that battle of the bands competitions were beneath me.  I don't know where I got the idea, but it sticks to me like flypaper.
Competitions aren't just about winning for me…they are an excuse for me to create something (not that I really need one).  With video, even though there are places like Vimeo and YouTube to post your work, it's a different vibe and ene…

A stranger, making conversation at a bar, whom was a self-described non-creative type asked, "How do you guys become musicians?  I mean, how do you even know you're a musician and how does it start?"  These questions will produce a variety of answers from various individuals, but there are basically just two answers; 1) by being inspired (usually by seeing a musician perform on said instrument) or 2) as the result of a calculated guess by others around the musician (whom are usually music educators).

While I presented the answer to the question as an "either or " answer, I actually became a musician by both methods.  I became a drummer by hearing one of my uncles play a set of drums when I was a little kid and becoming madly in love with the sound of drums and obsessed with the idea of becoming a drummer.  I became a bass player as a result of taking the initiative to correct a miscalculation made in my grade school years that incorrectly labeled me as a violi…

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Num Num Nah Records

When I was a kid living in the ghetto, between the ages of zero and eight years,  it seemed like we had bullies everywhere.  It felt like I was living next door to the Bullies Union Hall or something.  One of the main bullies on my block was a kid we'll call Robert Jerome Frankenstein.  Of course, that's not his real name. To make things go faster, we'll just call him "Jerome"  (also not his real name).  
Jerome was almost like a mythical creature or magician.  No matter how well you looked out for him and thought the coast was clear, you would start walking and he would seem to appear out of thin air to terrorize you and your friends.  I mean, you could do a full 360 on a football field and see nothing.  The minute you start walking in a straight line…here comes Jerome and his boys totally undetected.  Incredible.  
One day, I was walking home from school and reading a Fantastic Four comic book.  The street seemed suspiciously empty as I was walking and sure as…

Yes, that's right.  It's safe for all of you American, racist a**holes to come back to my humble Chop Suey in Ferguson.  "Hello?  Yes, this is Ferguson Fried Rice, how may I help you?"  Stupid racist pricks.  I'm not Chinese, I'm f**king Korean!  But you don't care do you?  Especially you black Americans…everybody is fucking Chinese to you…even the Mexicans.  Nobody asked me how I felt about racism when the riots happened.  No sir ree Bob.  Just "make us some rice, Mr. Chinaman".  News people came into my place and it was like I was invisible and didn't have a voice or opinion about what was going on in Ferguson.  Who knows racism better than me?  I deal with it every stinking day.  Imagine if you were a black man and you ran a Mexican food place…not because you are Mexican, but because all of the racist people around you THINK you are Mexican and will buy your food because of it.  You could correct them or you can make money.  Personally, …

Most people think being in a band is a democracy when it comes to leadership. During songwriting, democracy is the way to go… but as far as leading the band, someone has to step up and be the leader.  When there are two strong identities in the band there will probably be conflict and argument as to whom should be the leader.  Fight it out and let a dispute happen.  That democracy that you wanted so badly should come in handy at that point.  "We all make decisions together and nobody is really the leader" is cute on a playground, but in a band it's just silly and informs the world that you're not that serious about your band.  Pay attention to the people that say the aforementioned statement and what level of success they've actually achieved…if any.  
It might help to think of your band as a business (ooh, there's a novel idea).  When you go to your job, there is someone there that can fire you or hire other people.  You need the same such person in your ba…