CARLOS BERRIOS

Ty Bless - Freakin' It

2010-04-08T16:15:00.008-04:00

I've been away from this page for a while. But here's a music video that I just directed and edited for Ty Bless. The track is called "Freakin' It" and it features K7 as well.

I produced the track for my own label ADM Records and I shot the video using the latest rage in technological wonders. The Canon 5D MKII.

Screenshot of "Freakin' It"

Holding a rigged out Canon 5D on writer/director Hightower's film "Last Chance"

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-15T06:39:00.010-05:00

It's been a while since I wrote on this blog.. I've received many requests asking me to continue jotting down these historical moments in Freestyle. But I won't be doing that. Mostly, the reason I haven't been writing is because I've been busy.

Around November I shot my first real short film "THE FOUND". Oh, I've shot several Music Videos and what I like to call Acting Vignette's with my actor friends. But this is the first time I shot a narrative (story) that I wrote myself and planned through to the actual shoot, where I found myself directing a crew of about 30.

It was a great learning experience. The edit was a little scary because after a while I realized that I couldn't be as objective as I needed to be. I've edited several films for other directors and found mine the most challenging because I found it difficult to be objective. But I did eventually get through it with a little help from my friends.

I love them because they are never shy with their opinions. And they shouldn't be if they really wish to help. Believe it or not, that's how films get made. Now, I'm waiting for word from the Tribeca Film Festival to see whether or not I've been accepted. After that, I'll submit it to other festivals.

But what I really need to do is shoot a feature this year. By any means necessary.

Carlos Berrios

Freestyle Hope for a New Generation

2008-02-23T21:27:00.008-05:00

I want everyone to read this note that was posted on one the Freestyle Forums by a person calling himself Mr. X. I’ll comment afterward.

Carlos

My Two Cents by Mr. X

I usually check out NYF on a daily basis and since the debut of PULSE, and after reading people's comments on the board, I would like to give my two cents.
I noticed that more and more people are excited about this new station and how it would be good for Freestyle, and even Dance music fans. Yet, I don't see the big deal about giving exposure out to the same old school and new school artists who been around for two decades. Old school artists already had the moment of "fame" back in the day and their music is still being played around the country. Its not brand new music but at least they're still on the radio and get the chance to perform in clubs and concerts, especially through the help of Sal B. of Fever Records. Personally, maybe if old school artists had stepped down for a year or two after 92, then new school artists would of had a better chance of getting exposure. Not to mention these artists are pushing their 40's so how do they expect to bring in newer, YOUNGER listeners? I’ve been hearing the words "Don't Look Back" a lot lately, but when you keep recycling the same artists the phrase has no meaning.

Now, on the subject of new school; At this point in the year 2008 I must admit that new school is just as old as old school. There are too many new school artists, many in their 30s already, and I'm noticing some of them consider themselves Freestyle artists, however, they release material that is not dance-oriental. Further more, many of these same new school artists never took the opportunity to send their material to major labels. Instead they care more about having things their way believing record labels will steal all the profit and leave them broke. Well, last time I checked record labels spent a lot of money themselves with things like promotion, manufacturing, and distribution, because after all it is a business. Even new school artists had their time being signed to labels like Tazmania, Viper, Artistik, etc, but unfortunately those labels did not try repeatedly to get the attention of major labels.

A lot of people, especially here in the metro area, always complain about how radio stations like KTU don't play any new freestyle music. Lets not forget that record labels PAY radio stations to play their songs. Maybe if tazmania, metropolitan, and other labels paid stations like KTU, then there new music would of been played. Just because one percent of the metro population wants radio a certain way, that doesn't mean everyone else wants the same thing.

As for PULSE87, like I said I'm glad that this station is up and running. I would like the station to get as many listeners as possible. However, I want the FREESTYLE scene to start coming up with some new talent already. One member on this site, I don't remember who it was, but that person said that KTU is for older demographics and PULSE is the opposite. If that's the case, then the Freestyle scene (artists, producers, etc) need to stop digging up artists from the past, new school artists need to recognize they are getting a little too old for younger audiences, and brand new talent should step in.
I know a lot of new school artists have become producer themselves, so why not work with some new talent?

Ok, so I probably offended a lot of people right now by the things I had to say, but I'm being realistic. I read all these comments on the board about supporting Freestyle, and I'm not sure what exactly you mean by supporting? Are you talking about supporting and keeping Freestyle alive for a BRAND NEW generation of younger audiences? Are you talking about bringing in new talent? Or are you really talking about is reliving your youth and making yourselves feel like its 1988 again?
If people really want change, then its time to bring someone, or something, young fresh, and new.

Mr. X

Okay, so I actually agree with most of what Mr. X is saying and I do feel his frustration. But as much as I feel what he feels, the real world is a much tougher one. I’m not writing this to put Mr. X down. Like I said, I agree with him on many points. But there are several ideas that either do not apply or are simply wrong.

Let’s take radio stations. If you know anything about radio stations, you know that almost 15 years ago the radio stations were forced to start programming according to demographic and market research in order to reach the widest audience possible. This, over time, had the effect of almost all dance music being removed from the airwaves because it simply didn’t sell as much as Rock, R&B or Hip Hop. Financially, it’s almost impossible to break a dance independent record in this country anymore. The one’s that do cross over have to have some sort of unusual journey, or are imported hits from abroad.

As far as paying radio stations, well that’s called payola, and it is against the law. There are radio-promotion people, who are paid to walk into a radio station and place your record on the desk of a program director in specific markets. But that costs a lot of money and they guarantee absolutely nothing. But they'll still take your money.

No one from my generation has been making records because it’s almost impossible to make a living off them anymore. The industry has changed to the point where not one company is able to justify the spending of money on promotion or music videos. Even when there was money, it didn’t matter. When did you ever see a Freestyle Music Video on MTV, except for the show, Club MTV, which they created to appease us.

There is so much hope with the new radio stations. A conglomerate does not control them like they do KTU and Z100. They are independent of the bullshit that radio has become. So now, suddenly, there's a feeling in the air. An electricity. A possibility that there may be Freestyle for a new generation. If we are going to have a chance, we have to all work together and keep moving forward.

Major Labels are not signing artists anymore. They do not and can no longer take the financial risks they once took. Everything now is a distribution deal. If you have a slate of artists and releases, you can get a distribution deal with a Major Label but they’re not putting money up for anything. You as an independent label are responsible for your own promotion and marketing. When I went up to Atlantic Records to try and work something out with them, I found a ghost town. Huge offices occupied by a skeleton staff. That’s when I realized how much things have changed.

As for the artists who are still kicking it after all these years, they are the reason why this music is still alive so you have to respect and appreciate that. No one is looking for past glory. This is a livelihood. They are artists and this is what artist’s do. We survive on our craft.

I do, however, agree that we need some new younger blood. It’s actually part of my plan for this year. I really want to introduce this music to a new generation, and believe me; the artists that have been around, keeping it going all this time, feel the same way. The baton will be passed.

Veterans like George Lamond, K7 and Lisette Melendez are willing to take a chance and help promote the new artists on my project. Trust me, we talk about it all the time. And we have so much we want to do.

Mr. X, I understand your frustration. I really do. But what we’re trying to do is to lead by example. Otherwise, how am I going to convince a 19-year old singer, who wants to sing R&B, to sing Freestyle instead. It ain’t gonna happen. Not until we make the music a happening again. That’s a responsibility that falls on us because no one else is going to do it. So please, respect it. It’s what you’ve been waiting for the last ten years.

Carlos “After Dark” Berrios

Don't Look Now - Available On Amazon

2008-02-15T21:07:00.023-05:00

Okay, so the CD's are finally here! Just click on the picture or the link underneath and it will direct you to where you can get your copies of both Session One and Session Two, now.

Those who only want downloads will have to wait for about 4 weeks until iTunes puts them up.

http://www.admrecords.com

And if you just happen to have a PayPal account, you'll be able to find it on Ebay as well.

It's been a little busy around here with all prep work needed to get this project out. After carefully researching all the options we chose to go with Amazon.com because of how wide their reach is.

George Lamond and K7, along with my partner Fernando Torres, and I are working out an idea on how to start a small tour in support of the project. It's my hope that we can bring brand new music directly to the audience, in the same way that it was done back in the Motown days.

Promoters today are reluctant to take chances with new music, regardless of who's making it. Without proper radio support, I suppose I understand the reason why. But in New York we have two new stations to augment the dance music played by KTU.

In Long Island we have Party 105.3 with Vic Latino, and now we also have Pulse 87.7 helmed by legendary Program Director Joel Salkowitz, the man responsible for the Hot 97 era of dance music in New York from the mid 80's to the early 90's.

This project is only the beginning. I'm hoping to have another one ready in a few months with all the singers I wanted to work with but didn't get a chance to. The list there includes Cynthia, Coro, Noel, Maribell, Betty D, Brenda K. Starr, Safire, Little Suzy, Joey Kidd, and the forever fabulous Judy Torres. Then of course there should be room for new, up and coming artists. So the search is on for new singers.

I'm also looking for remixers to help work on different mixes of certain favorites. I'm hoping to make George Lamond's "What Is Love" the first single. But I'm also going to make A Capella's available of every track so that any track can be remixed.

I think it's a great time to start believing that there will be a dance music renaissance here in New York, and that it be carried over to the other markets would just be icing on the cake. But we have so much work to do.

A tremendous amount of work.

Carlos "After Dark" Berrios

Happy New Year!

2008-01-02T08:28:00.001-05:00

I hope everybody had a great holiday. I finally posted that 7 song, 15 minute medley on MySpace that we're using to test out our new SnoCap account. After much debate we've decided to sell it for $2.99.

My intention was to make a teaser for those that are really curious about some of the cuts on the project, so I made it more like a mix that you might hear on the radio.

Some edits, not too much, and you only get part of the song The intro, verse and chorus. It also has DJ tags like you might hear on the radio. I tested out over the holidays and got a great response.

The list is as follows:

1. George Lamond - "What Is Love"
2. Emma Collado - "Walking Away"
3. Willie Valentin - "I've Been Waiting"
4. Katya - "No Hay Nada"
5. Nyasia - "Physical Attraction"
6. Synthia Figueroa - "I'm Torn"
7. Jessica Fabus - "Obviously"

If you can wait to the end of the month, great. If you can't, then this teaser is for you. You can get it here, on my MySpace page.

All the best,

Carlos "After Dark" Berrios

Mega Medley tonight on the Willie Valentin Show

2007-12-27T16:45:00.001-05:00

I've been working on a 17 minute Mega Medley of the "Don't Look Back Project" meant for radio Dj's to test out some of the cuts. I just gave a copy to Willie Valentin and he said he would play it tonight on his Freestyle show. The link is http://www.freestyle.fm/

The show starts at 9PM but I'm not sure what time he's going to play it. It's a medley with 7 of the 22 tracks. I'm going to make another one and but both up on my MySpace page for whoever wants a preview to the album.

Carlos "After Dark" Berrios

Latinos In Hollywood

2007-12-22T03:13:00.000-05:00

Illegal Tender, starring Rick Gonzalez and Wanda De Jesus, has just been released on DVD. The film financed and produced by John Singleton (Boyz In The Hood, Shaft), is the second film by writer/director Franc. Reyes.

You may remember Franc. Reyes as the writer who penned the lyric and melody for “Together Forever” and “A Day In My Life Without You” along with most of Lisette Melendez's first album and several other popular songs including Joei Mae's "Promise Me Your Heart" and Coro's "Do Unto To Me".

A Little History

I first met Franc. Reyes back in 1987 when I was DJing at L’amour East in Queens, New York. He was looking for a producer to help launch the career of a fledgling singer he was managing at the time.

Her name was Marisol Laureano, but Franc would later rename her Raiana Paige, after Jimmy Paige, former member of The Yardbirds and founder and lead guitarist for Led Zeppelin.

When I first met Raiana I have to admit, I wasn’t too impressed. She was reserved, a little chunky and she wore glasses. In my youthful ignorance, I couldn’t see what Franc saw. Of course, with Franc.’s careful and persistent guidance, she went on to be one of the best performers on the dance music circuit.

Franc. later approached me to collaborate on some music. A walking encyclopedia of Rock history, he suggested that we try a remake of Cream’s classic “White Room”. We did manage to produce an interesting demo, but I still thought we should working on original songs.

Franc. had already written a song that was produced by Todd Terry titled “Just Waiting For You” for Ann Marie, an artist on Sleeping Bag Records. Franc was big fan of the Beatles and passed that love onto me.

He made me watch “The Compleat Beatles” dozens of times and I probably watched it dozens more on my own. Then I thought it might be a good idea if we studied the top Freestyle records of the time. We sat for hours and played everything from “Let Me Be The One” to “Tears Shed”, but Franc’s favorites were the TKA songs.

Franc. has never been an idle person; he always finds something to keep himself busy. In the middle of all this, he was also staging and choreographing Corina’s show, a skill that he picked up as part of a dance troupe that successfully performed and traveled throughout Europe when he was still a teenager. After watching what he did with Raiana Paige and Corina, I convinced him to also take on Lisette Melendez and he started putting a show together for her as well.

Things got so busy that Franc had to move in with me just so that he wouldn’t waste any time traveling back and forth from the Bronx. We went on this way for a couple of years until finally, one our efforts took off. “Together Forever” finally moved us up a rung on the ladder.

A LATINO EMPIRE

Franc. has now successfully moved on from music to making films. Illegal Tender is his second movie, the first being “Empire” starring John Leguizamo, Peter Sarsgard and Denise Richards.

It’s important to point out that Empire, shot with a modest 3.5 million dollar budget, made about 18 million in the box office and about another 25 million in DVD sales. This fact was pointed out in an article published by industry rag Variety, stating that Empire made more money than any other film to come put of the Sundance Film Festival that year.

It’s interesting that Franc. has been having the same problem in Hollywood that we had with music. The fact that second and third generation Latino’s have been weaned on a steady diet of American pop culture is a foreign concept to the powers that run Hollywood. Every time Franc. has a meeting with a movie executive or financier, he has to explain that he doesn’t wish to make Latino films, he wants to make American films with Latino’s in them, a completely different concept.

Yet even after having had success with “Empire”, Universal dropped the ball with “Illegal Tender” and did not promote the movie in the regular pop culture outlets. They only promoted the film to Spanish television and Black Entertainment Television. But there were no ads or television commercials in the English market. It reminds me so much of what MTV did to us.

Still, Franc., ever the fighter, is continuing with his plan to write, produce and direct commercial films with Latino talent. In reality, his idea is so simple, it’s astonishing that Latino’s in Hollywood are still resistant to it. “Make movies with stories as commercial as Spiderman, and Latinos will come to the theater in droves”, says Franc.

The word "commercial" here is very important. Franc is not talking about movies that are so cultural that they alienate a non-Latino audience. He’s talking about stories that are universal in theme. With Spy Kids, Robert Rodriguez has already proved that it can be done. It was the first film written, directed, starred Latinos and broke $100 million at the box office.

ILLEGAL TENDER

Illegal Tender is an experiment of sorts. There are no stars in it. But how many Latino stars are there in Hollywood? It’s a huge obstacle.

You need a star to finance your film. And if you want to make a film with a Latino in the starring lead, you’re options are whittled down to a handful. Hopefully, over time, this will change. But for now, you have to appreciate any movie that is released commercially with a Latino in the lead. Because I can assure you, that movie was close to impossible to get financed.

Rick Gonzalez is a name that isn’t known by most. But you’ll recognize his face when you see it. He’s been in “War Of The Worlds” with Tom Cruise, “Old School” with Will Ferrell, “Coach Carter” with Sam Jackson, “Biker Boyz” with Laurence Fishburne. He’s even been in a Crocodile Dundee movie. People always remember him as the Latino kid with the “fro”.

Dania Ramirez is up and coming. She’s been in “Fat Albert”, “The Sopranos” and she played Callisto in “X-Men – The Last Stand”.

Wanda De Jesus, a wonderful actor, plays the mother. She’s been in “Flawless” with Robert DeNiro and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, “The Insider” with Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, and “Blood Work” with Clint Eastwood.

BEHIND THE SCENES

I’ve been prepping myself for a move to Hollywood. I’ve directed a few music videos and short subjects. But mostly, I’ve been editing while I write my “eternally in progress” screenplay. I suppose it’s no surprise that editing came easy to me, considering my history. And when it came time to “crew up” for “Illegal Tender”, Franc. called and asked if I thought I was ready to cut a feature film. My answer was, “Absolutely!”

To Franc.’s credit, he really tried to get me on, including flying me down to Puerto Rico to meet with John Singleton to discuss it. But it became clear that it wasn’t going to happen for several reasons. The first concern was that my friendship with Franc would affect my ability to remain objective.

Objectivity is the single most important thing a director expects from his editor, so I understood their concern. But if Singleton only knew how much Franc. and I debate issues, they wouldn’t have worried.

The second issue was that I’m not in the union, yet. Hollywood is all about unions. You could get in trouble for unplugging a lamp if it’s not your job. So we talked about getting me into the edit room as an associate editor, a credit that can get you into the union. But the editor that was hired cuts on an Avid System, and I cut on Final Cut Pro.

So in the end it didn’t work out. But I was grateful to Franc. for trying. So when he asked if I would consider filming the behind the scenes, I said yes.

MY ACTING DEBUT

In my quest to learn about film, I took a two-year acting program under James Price at The Acting Studio, where he taught the technique developed by Sanford Meisner. I was in a stage play written by Miguel Piñero called “Eulogy Of A Small Time Thief”. I had the distinct pleasure of working with Coati Mundi and Delilah Cotto. I even did a small part in a film that never came out called “Home Invaders”, where after a phone conversation, I was bashed with bottles and baseball bats. It was a fun day.

But I decide to give it up after I realized that there just wasn’t enough work to go around, and it didn’t make sense to me to put your life in the hands of others. So I started working behind the camera.

So here I was, in Puerto Rico, filming the behind the scenes with Singleton’s camera when one day I get on set and they hand me a denim jacket. I asked, “What’s going on?” “Franc. wants you in this scene,” they tell me.

So, for about ten seconds in the opening scene of Illegal Tender, you’ll see me, in a denim jacket, holding back the guy beating up the old man. Finally, I'm a star!

Carlos “After Dark” Berrios

Scars of Love in Spanish Harlem

2007-12-16T06:27:00.000-05:00

Future Force

Once upon a time in Spanish Harlem, before there was ever a group called TKA, there were four of teenagers who formed a rap performance group called “Future Force”.

Future Force members Farid Abdula, Kayel, Andrew Welsh, and John Lindsey, did their best to perform in any venue that would allow them, including a couple of performances at the Roxy nightclub at the peak of Afrika Bambaataa’s reign over street music in New York.

Elevated to legendary status by the film “Beat Street”, The Roxy was one of a number of nightclubs in New York that catered to the burgeoning Rap and Dance Music scene of the early 80’s.

Groups were forming at every corner of the neighborhood, it seemed; and everyone wanted to be a singer or rapper. Groups formed and if they couldn’t stand the test of time, they would disband. Unfortunately, “Future Force” would be one of these groups that would eventually disband.

The Disciples of Spanish Harlem

It was an interesting time to grow up in. The Bronx, and Spanish or East Harlem in particular was filled with an energy that made dreaming of becoming a stage performer an absolute possibility.

At any given moment you could cross paths with future teenage artists like Lisa Velez (Lisa Lisa), Marc Anthony, Wilma Cosme (Safire), Tony Moran and Albert Cabrera (The Latin Rascals), Brenda K. Starr, and more, all before they were discovered, each with an idea that they could become something more than what they were.

Around the same time as “Future Force”, another East Harlem teenager, Tony Ortiz had a group with Marc Anthony’s cousin, Johnny Rodriguez, called “Supersonic”.

When that group eventually disbanded, Tony and Kayel decided to join together, along with another kid named “Spider”, who had a knack for imitating Prince, and formed a group called “The Disciples”.

The Disciples worked hard at promoting themselves, performing in various small clubs around the neighborhood. Not satisfied with the limited opportunities they were getting, they would also perform in front of family members and pretty much anyone that would listen.

Later on, Tony would invite his cousin Aby to become part of the group. As the oldest member by two years, Tony was seen as the leader. “We would follow Tony around like we were his little protégé’s”, says Kayel.

One of their earliest public performances took place at St. Francis De-Sale High School. Located at 97th Street and Park Avenue; this show allowed “The Disciples” to be seen by a crowd of kids their own age.

“We didn’t have any original material”, says Kayel, “but I had an early version of ‘Scars of Love’, which I had performed when I was with “Future Force”. It was originally more rap than song, but the guys liked it. We would meet at Tony’s apartment on East 112th street and hangout on the fire escape, spending most of the day learning and practicing both rap and singing”.

Since they didn’t have any original tracks to perform to, their shows consisted of rapping and singing over instrumental tracks like Spoonie G’s “Love Rap”, Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust” and other popular songs of the time.

Soon, their public performances were starting to pick up. They played the community center on 110th Street, and the Mirage on 120th Street. They also performed at the Sweet Sixteen of almost every girl that they knew. The word was spreading.

Afrika Bambaataa and The Soccor Store

“I used to pass out flyers in the street for Harlem World”, Kayel says. “One day I see Afrika Bambaataa going into what I thought had been the entrance to a soccer store. It wasn’t hard to spot him, he had that Mohawk and wore a leather outfit.”

Kayel, young and impulsive, approached Bambaataa and introduced himself. “Bam then brought me upstairs to what turned out to be Tommy Boy Records”, relates Kayel.

“The receptionist was a dude with a pushed back D.A. and a moustache”, Kayel tells me. “He asks, what is this place?” “It's a record company”, is the response from Joey Gardner.

Kayel had lived just about everywhere in Spanish Harlem at one time or another. But now he realized he was living only three blocks away from Tommy Boy Records, the home of “Planet Rock” and The Soul Sonic Force.

A Sweet 16 with The Latin Rascals

Every week Kayel would bring rap demos to Joey Gardner, but Joey would reject them. Kayel then tried to get Joey to come to a show and watch them work the crowd. But Joey would never make it.

Joey Gardener relates, “When he (Kayel) told me he could also sing, I agreed to go to a performance at a sweet sixteen party in the basement of a church in East Harlem. It was there I first heard "Scars of Love," a song Kayel wrote that they would perform over the instrumentals of the biggest rap tracks of the moment. When I saw the reaction of the largely Latin crowd of kids, I knew I had to do something to get them signed.”

Spinning at that Sweet Sixteen were two other rising stars. DJ’s. Albert Cabrera and Tony Moran had already been working together as The Latin Rascals.

Kayel relates the importance of this night, “So at a sweet sixteen in the middle of Spanish Harlem, the Latin Rascals were DJing and the future TKA was performing. When you look back now, it seems pretty amazing.”

Joey got the Disciples signed to Tommy Boy Records without even having a demo to play. Joey Gardner got them signed on his word that they were an important group to sign.

Meanwhile, Joey was making it this business to introduce the group to radio stations and record pools. They performed for the late Eddie Rivera’s IRDC. They also got to perform for KISS FM events, performing side by side with artists like Fonda Rae (“Over Like A Fat Rat”), Gwen Guthrie (“Pad Lock”), D-Train (“Keep On”), and Dougie Fresh (“The Show”). All without having a record out.

The idea was to create a younger Latin version of Planet Patrol with Tony as lead. Their first record was supposed to be “Scars of Love”.

Joey made the best of his meeting with the Latin Rascals and worked on a really rough version of “Scars of Love” with them, but the demo wasn’t coming out right, and the original beat, which featured Tony rapping, was never used.

Joey Gardner made the decision to abandon rap altogether and make the group a singing one instead. A second attempt at “Scars of Love” was also abandoned. Although this second track would later evolve into “Don't be Afraid”.

About this time, Joey Gardner and the group met Jeffrey Feldman and Marco Antonio Olivo, two songwriters who presented them with the song “One Way Love”. Joey liked the song and decided to record it in spite of the fact that it was unfinished. It only had a verse and a half. The third verse was written in the vain of “Scars of Love”. The demo they had been working so hard on.

Kayel remembers, “‘One Way Love’ was supposed to be a shared vocal, like “Scars of Love” was a shared vocal. The Force MD's were doing the shared vocal thing, The Cold Crush Brothers too. Line for line.”

On the day the were to record the vocals to “One Way Love” at Unique Recording Studios, Kayel had the misfortune of suffering an allergy attack and fell asleep. Kayel relates, “For years my mom thought I was a sickly kid, until we all realized I was allergic to the family cat.”

Joey tried Spider's voice but it didn’t seem right. It was Aby who wound up singing the lead vocal to “One Way Love”, and the rest of the vocals were shared among the group.

The TKA Disciples

After changing their name to The TKA Disciples, Joey Gardner presented the new tracks to Tommy Boy Records. Impressed with the group, Tommy Boy asked them to sing backup on a new group they were about to release called Rock Squad. Their first job as The TKA Disciples was to record backup vocals on the song “Facts Of Life”.

Joey wanted the boys seen and started taking them to the Devils' Nest in the Bronx. “Little” Louie Vega was already playing the demos to “Scars of Love” and “One Way Love” and they were getting notoriety.

Sal Abbatiello, the owner of The Devil’s Nest, convinced Joey Gardner to let the TKA Disciples perform on his stage. They agreed. But at the last minute there was a change to the group. “We met a girl at the Devils Nest, Linda Caballero, who called herself India, and could sing like nobody's business”, Kayel says. “She wasn't on any of the demos, but she did perform with us.”

The Devil’s Nest

Their first real public performance in front of a potentially hostile audience gave the TKA Disciples thought for concern. They had no professional stage experience and thought hard about what their show should look like. At that time there weren’t any “choreographed” shows in the Bronx. And their only references up to that point were the performances that they had seen rappers do.

There were no limos or cars to pick them up. The guys took the subway to the show. Arriving at the club, they saw that it was really, really packed, and they were nervous.

Still, they realized that they were about to start something knew, and here they were in a club packed with people waiting for them to perform.

After waiting for what must have seemed like an eternity in a tiny dressing room, they finally walked out onto the stage, wearing their men's Espidrille’s, and very bright pastel colored outfits.

The crowd, upon hearing the now familiar intro to the first song, let out a roar. This, of course, sent adrenaline through all of their veins. Adrenaline that they used to perform their butts off, and the crowd loved them for it.

One Way Track Not Black!

In the summer of 1986 “One Way Love” was released. On one particular day, TKA were walking down the street when they heard Kiss FM playing the song on the radio.

Kayel remembers, “The guys were crying like little kids cause the record was on the radio. Kiss had a top ten count down, and after a few weeks “One Way Love” went #1”.

They were invited by KISS FM to meet the staff and to be interviewed. What should have been a wonderful experience was instead an eye opener. The next day KISS FM pulled the record off the air because TKA wasn't black.

Although they didn’t get radio play in New York again until 1987, when Hot 103 began broadcasting, they did enjoy plenty of play in Miami.

TKA’s first album, Scars of Love, spawned six hit singles. They went on to record two more albums, Louder Than Love, and Forever.

K7 and The Swing Kids

Over the years, the group went through several changes, and by 1991, TKA officially disbanded. Kayel went on to start the group K7 and The Swing Kids, best known for their 1993 hit “Come Baby Come” and 1994’s “Hi De Ho” which was featured on the soundtrack for “The Mask”.

K7 and the Swing Kids have traveled and performed in several countries, including England, Germany, and Japan.

Carlos “After Dark” Berrios

MTV and Freestyle

2007-12-09T22:46:00.000-05:00

Who invented MTV?

Michael Nesmith, former member of a 60’s pop-rock band called “The Monkees”, has been credited with creating the concept for what we now know as MTV. Having developed a music-video pilot called “PopClips” for Nickelodeon, he eventually sold the rights to Time-Warner.

MTV was launched on August 1, 1981, originally conceived to play Rock and Roll and only Rock and Roll. Michael Jackson soon changed that when he released the “Thriller” album on December 1, 1982.

Michael Jackson is credited with helping put MTV on the map with his groundbreaking videos (Thriller, Billie Jean, Beat It). He also has the distinction of being the first black artist to play on MTV.

In the late 80’s and early 90’s, Hip Hop and Dance Music were in heavy radio rotation across the country. But at the time, this was not reflected on MTV’s play list, or the Billboard Top 100. Eventually, MTV did test the waters with two shows directed at both the Hip Hop and Dance music genres.

Yo! MTV Raps, hosted by Ed Lover and Dr. Dre, played Hip Hop music videos and interviewed artists. Club MTV, a sort of American Bandstand for Dance, hosted by downtown Julie Brown, was filmed in New York’s Palladium and featured dancers and live performances. To date this has been the only time Freestyle videos have been featured on MTV.

So what happened? How did Hip Hop take over as the pop music of the new millennium and Freestyle shoved aside? The answer is SoundScan.

What Is SoundScan?

“Nielsen SoundScan is an information system that tracks sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada. Sales data from point-of-sale cash registers is collected weekly from over 14,000 retail, mass merchant and non-traditional (on-line stores, venues, etc.) outlets. Weekly data is compiled and made available every Wednesday. Nielsen SoundScan is the sales source for the Billboard Music Charts.” - www.soundscan.com

In the past, Billboard had tracked sales by calling stores across the U.S. and asking about sales, a method that was open to error and payola, or fraud. But SoundScan removes the human element altogether.

This is how it works. A barcode is on the back of most label-released CDs. When a customer is about to buy an album or single, the store clerk runs the barcode across a scanner (cash register). The sale is put into the store's computer and the sale data is also sent to the Nielsen Media Research offices for that region.

When SoundScan began tracking sales data for Billboard on March 1, 1991, Billboard’s Hot 100 chart changed dramatically. Before that date, Rock and Country dominated the charts. Rap was already outselling Rock but Billboards charts were not reflecting this. The chart was political and corrupt. The truth came out when SoundScan debuted. In a matter of weeks, Hip Hop had taken over the charts.

Freestyle, and most dance music in general, wasn’t selling the units Rap was. Radio stations across the country were being pressured by their parent companies to cater to the largest audience possible. Desperate for more listeners, they hired research companies and started using the SoundScan service to learn what music was selling most in their markets.

Almost overnight, dance music in the U.S. was abandoned. Nightclubs that catered to Dance Music across the country either went bankrupt or were forced to become Hip Hop clubs. The result is what we have now, Hip Hop as the new Pop culture. This is reflected on today’s MTV with programs like MTV cribs and Pimp My Ride.

Freestyle Music Videos

In my opinion, Freestyle Music Videos of the 80’s and 90’s lacked a cultural identity. Hip Hop has always had a cultural identity but Freestyle never put forth a cultural presence to go hand in hand with it’s music. Over the course of Hip Hop history we’ve seen everything from baseball caps worn to the side to baggy clothes. Gaudy jewelry, graffiti, break-dancing, etc.

Even though Freestyle and Rap were spawned from the same seed, Freestyle chose to move away from it's Hip Hop image roots. Unfortunately, the music never found an image to replace it.

Even today, most of the images you see in Reggaeton are Hip Hop ones. Reggaeton is trying so hard to be accepted by the Hip Hop mainstream that it's moving close to losing it's own identity. But that's another story.

Here's a little story from my own experience. I remember how difficult it was for the wardrobe person to dress Lisette Melendez on the set for the video to "Together Forever". I remember thinking it odd that they couldn’t figure out how to dress a Latina from Spanish Harlem. Their only reference must have been West Side Story, because they tried to get Lisette to wear a t-shirt, with tight Levi’s and a pair of Converse sneakers without laces. Funny, I know, but it was a scary moment for Lisette and she panicked.

Rosie Perez, who choreographed the video, ran to Russell Simmons and insisted that he do something. Russell handed Rosie his credit card. Rosie then grabbed Lisette and they both jumped into a cab and drove off to the village. All this while the crew for the video waited on set. When they came back about two hours later, they had the outfit that helped Lisette define her feminine street style. After all, she is from Spanish Harlem.

I also remember watching the video to "Temptation" for the first time, thinking how great the opening shot was and Corina looked fantastic. Then, out of nowhere, I see two flamenco dancers! What the hell are two flamenco dancers doing in a video about Temptation?

All jokes aside, I just wanted to illustrate how much Latinos have been a mystery to both white and black people.

Yes, the music videos were horrible but this was not the fault of the label or the artist. It was the fault of people like myself, who should have made it their business to know the difference. The truth is music video directors of that time had no idea what to do with us. And the consequence was that we didn’t stand a chance at being portrayed properly on MTV. This and the fact that in those years MTV was racist.

Today

Today, with YouTube, MetaCafe and other outlets, we don’t need MTV. Ask a kid if he or she watches MTV, they'll say no. And I don’t know how many articles I’ve read about how kids get most of their information and entertainment from the Internet. Is MTV important? Not anymore. That’s probably why they play more reality show programming than actual Music Videos.

It is important, though, that there be a connection between image and music. A face to the music that we love. Most people not from an urban city have probably heard a Judy Torres record at one time or another. They'll recognize it if you play it for them. But they won't know her name, and they won't know what she looks like. That's been a problem that we've had little or no control over.

But the truth is MTV was never going to play dance music videos, in spite of a large number of complaints on the subject. In 2006, MTV's solution to the bi-cultural question was to create MTV3.

Technically Telemundo got there first with Mun2. Originally launched in 2001, the show went through a revamp, and in late 2005, Mun2 was relaunched with new staff, shows and studios.

Now that we also have the power to control how we promote ourselves in cyberspace, it's not like we don't have options, we have options and we have the outlets. The only problem now is that a music video still costs money to produce.

You could probably make a music video with a handheld camcorder and get creative with the editing, but it could never compete with a video that's been shot with a proper budget.

The average Music Video costs 60 to 70 thousand dollars to produce. That's low end. The budget for a star's music video could go into the hundreds of thousands. Even with today's technology it would be hard to film a creative music video worthy of broadcast without spending a bundle.

I’ve personally directed several low budget music videos. I've shot a ten thousand dollar music video. And I've shot a twenty thousand dollar video. I produced a thirty thousand dollar music video for an artist in Canada. Guess what. The thirty thousand dollar music video looked better than the other two.

Would I like to shoot music videos for my project? Absolutely. I would love to personally direct and edit them. Now if someone could just tell me where I could find the money.

Carlos "After Dark" Berrios

I'll Be Back Tomorrow!

2007-12-05T13:06:00.000-05:00

Been a little caught up getting familiar with the different forums. I'll be back tomorrow to talk about Freestyle and Music Videos.

CB

Together Forever Pt. 2

2007-11-28T08:20:00.000-05:00

Lisette Melendez's vocal for the demo for "Together Forever" was recorded with a hand held Shure mic plugged into a small Mackie mixer and sent to a Tascam 8 track. Equipment loaned to me by my good friend Henry Santos.

For what was probably the entire year of 1990 I did my best to shop the demo. I presented it to, Bruce Carbone at Mercury Records. Months passed and I don't think he ever got back to me.

I played it for Sweet Sensation's producer Ted Currier in the hope that he might walk it into Altantic Records for me. He told me he didn't like the record.

Then, for some reason I really wanted the record signed by Columbia Records. I think it was because I had just finished reading "Hit Men" by Fredric Dannen; an expose of payola in the music business throughout the 80's. It's an amazing book.

Anyway, I sent the demo to Dave Jurman at Columbia Records. A month later he called to pass on it. It seemed like no one wanted the record. The reasons ranged from "It's a weird record" to "It's not very good".

Then I got a call from Andy "Panda" Tripoli over at Fever Records. He wanted to know if I had any demos to play him. At the time I had "Together Forever" and "Do Unto Me", which was later recorded by Cutting Records artist Coro.

After hearing it, Andy Panda and Sal Abbatiello were interested in "Together Forever" but weren't entirely convinced that they wanted to sign it. But Fever Records had just worked out a deal with Russell Simmons and Rush Associated Labels (RAL), and the deal called for Fever to release two singles by the end of the year. It was now the Fall of 1990 and time was running out.

At the time, Andy Panda and Sal Abbatiello felt the demo was a bit too raw and convinced me to re-create it in a studio Fever Records had set up in their office. The results were less than we all expected and we went back to the original demo.

After going back and forth on the contract for a while, we finally sealed a deal and I got an advance to produce the record.

I had done so much work at Unique Recording Studios I felt most comfortable recording it there. I've always been kind of a perfectionist when it comes to production. I had notes and charts and who knows what else for my engineer Richard Joseph. We recorded the basic tracks on the first day in about 8 hours. The second and third days were reserved for vocals, 4 hours each session. The last day was for additional production.

I had done a remix for "Love Child" by Sweet Sensation in early 90'. But my favorite Sweet Sensation song off that album was "I Surrender". It was kind of dark and had this scratch break by DJ King Shameek that was really interesting. So I hired Shameek to scratch on the break of "Together Forever". I gave him about 8 open tracks and he just went to work. I think he was done in 15 minutes.

Now it was time for the mix and I took the tapes to Butch Jones and Hip Pocket Studios. I've mixed with Butch Jones on just about every record going back to Corina's "Out Of Control". I bought a 48 hour block of time and we got to work over a weekend.

I took the finished mix and played it for Andy at Fever Records who wasn't satisfied with it and asked me to go back in to tweak it. So I did, and it was better. Now I had to edit it.

I booked some time at Prime Cuts, which was owned by Brazillian producer Tuta Aquino and DJ/Producer Mark Kamins, who also produced Madonna's "Everybody" for Sire Records in 1982. Prime Cuts was where all the editors took their projects to cut. Except for Chep Nuñez who had a room at Sleeping Bag Records.

I remember working on the Otari machines with headphones on because I didn't want Tuta to hear me working on a Freestyle record. Freestyle was very much on it's way out, and even though it was my record, I was still sort of embarrassed.

In the edit room I realized that I had screwed up the mix again. I had mixed Lisette's vocal too low in the first verse and there was nothing I could do about it now that the budget was exhausted.

I sat there trying to figure out what to do and decided that I would have to drop the drums as soon as the verse came in so you could hear what she was singing. Then bring the drums back in after 4 bars. It had never been done before and I expected some backlash from it, but no one said anything. I got away with it!

Fever presented the final version to Columbia Records, who also felt that the record was too raw to be a pop record and that it would never get radio support.

Columbia asked and paid for a remixed radio version. Fever Records hired Tony Moran, who did his best to offer an alternate version. But again, everyone realized that the main mix was the best bet for radio. To Andy and Sal's credit, they supported and went with the original mix, probably not without a fight with RAL and Columbia Records.

Fever knew that RAL and Columbia Records were not impressed with the record and chose not to leave their fate in someone else's hands. They hired key independent promotion people to work different markets across the country. This was probably the main ingredient in giving the record a real chance to be heard. Because without any real support from RAL or Columbia, Fever managed to get "Together Forever" into the top 100, and eventually peaking at #36, "Together Forever", for better or worse, started a new era in Freestyle.

Carlos "After Dark" Berrios

Webster Hall

2007-11-26T01:51:00.001-05:00

The party has moved to Webster Hall. Sal Abbatiello, owner of Fever Records and legendary owner of both Disco Fever and The Devil's Nest in the Bronx where Freestyle was born, had a party on Wednesday night, and it was great.
The lineup included Willie Valentin, The Sugar Hill Gang, TKA & K7, Judy Torres, George Lamond, Rob Bass, Cynthia, Johnny O, Lisette Melendez, Coro, and Nice & Smooth with James Anthony and Mickey Garcia (MicMac Records) DJing.

As far as I'm concerned, Sal has always known how to throw a party and this night was no exception. When I got there Willie Valentin was on stage. I had never seen Willie perform before and was surprised by his stage presence. I really, really enjoyed his performance.

When I finally made it upstairs and into VIP, I ran into George Lamond, then Lisette Melendez, then others. Everyone seemed surprised to see me since I hardly go to clubs anymore. But I ran into great old friends and met a few new ones.

After talking with Kenny Guido and Sal Collaziano from NewYorkFreestyle.com I went down to the stage to say hello to Sal Abbatiello.

When I got there Cynthia was on stage, performing her classics. The stage is an amazing place from which to watch performances, and there’s something special about the stage at Webster Hall. Or maybe it’s just the fact that it’s a real stage. Although the Copa is or was a much nicer club, the stage was not a traditional one. But watching several acts perform on Webster Hall’s stage took me all the way back to La’mour East, where it all started for me.

For the past few days I’ve been in a kind of haze. I attended a few of the shows at the Copa and the first Madison Square Garden show was amazing, but they didn’t give me the feeling I got this night. For the first time it felt like there could be a chance at something new here. But God knows nobody likes change. Change is a scary proposition, but you can’t move forward without it.

Freestyle has remained the same for the last 12 years, especially in New York. Everyone performs the same records they performed 12 to 15 even 20 years ago, but I do understand why. In those days, without radio support you couldn’t introduce any new music. Radio stations dictated the flow of all the new music.

But the music industry has changed. Music is now being downloaded from Itunes, Beatport, and Snocap, and CD sales are down to the point where Towers records had to close down. Even Britney’s new LP is only selling a few hundred thousand.

Rock bands are making their new CD’s available at their shows as a way of introducing their new music to their audience. We could do the same. But I’m talking about new music, not the compilations of the same old songs we’ve been listening to for 20 years.

The playing field has leveled out. And my point is that we can now put up a fight.

All artists have the legal right to sell merchandise at their shows, but no one has taken the bold move to introduce new music because it takes money and it takes time to produce a worthwhile track. But today, technology allows productions that can rival the product of the early 90’s at a fraction of the cost.

The industry has changed and we have an opportunity to unite and transform this music in a way that we couldn’t before. We have an opportunity to become partners. Artists, writers, producers and promoters could unite and share the benefits in a new and more profitable way. The whole royalty thing is dead and even Madonna signed with promoter Live Nation instead of a record label and got an advance of $25 Million of a total $100 Million deal over 10 years to split every stream of income.

You all know I have 2 CD’s with 22 new tracks I’m prepping for release. I don’t expect them all to work. But I know that some could absolutely help introduce some new music and possibly some new artists into the mix. We have to shake things up a bit and see how far we can push the boundaries; and I know it’s not going to be easy.

I have to acknowledge the courage of George Lamond and K7 and even Lisette Melendez in their support of this idea. Without them it could never work. But they’re the one’s that pushed me to try this. Especially George.

Even Sal Abbatiello indirectly encouraged me to do this when in a documentary, I heard him ask, “where are the Andy Panda’s? Where are the Joey Gardner’s? Where are the Carlos Berrios’?”

Well, here I am, trying to do something to help bring this music to where it belongs. My question is where will the help and support come from.

I'm open to sugesstions....

Carlos “After Dark” Berrios

"Give Your Love To Me"

2007-11-21T06:57:00.000-05:00

UPDATE!

In the last post, I wrote about "Give Your Love To Me" and how it came to be. Well it seems that I didn't have the entire story! And it’s a great story to tell.

In the Bronx, there was a small studio that was home to Blue Dog records, which released both Marc Anthony’s self penned “Rebel” and Chrissy I-Eece’s “Love Desire”.

The studio was run by Chrissy I-eece and was a regular hangout for producers and artists, myself included.

At any given time you would see people like Marc Anthony, who at the time was writing songs for, and tutoring the boy band Menudo back when Ricky Martin was still part of the group.

Marc would also sing background on their tours when he wasn’t experimenting in the studio. Marc eventually started recording Latin tracks in that little studio. But not before working on several Freestyle records as writer, producer and singer. Many people are not aware of his work in the dance genre.

It was in this studio in the Bronx that “Give Your Love To Me” was created. Written and recorded by K7, the demo was produced by Frankie Cutlass, with K co-producing, as a possible TKA record.

Chrissy I-eece and Marc Anthony were only feet away in the studio and were easily recorded on the break along with George Lamond, Danny “Holiday” Vargas and Joey Kidd. It was to be an All-Star finish to a TKA record.

The demo was then presented to TKA’s legendary producer, Joey Gardner. But Joey, who didn't like the record, turned it down.

K7 tells me, “Joey Gardner would often reject my demo’s and it would drive me crazy. He would turn them down but then later come up with something similar only transformed in a different way. For examlple, "More Than Words Can Say" was also rejected at one time and came close to never being recorded.”

With “Give Your Love To Me” rejected, K7 suggested that Frankie Cutlass record and release it as his first solo record. (This is the version that I heard back in 1991)

The demo was presented to Fever Records with Frankie Cutlass’s vocal and was to be released. But there was a dispute as to the ownership of the master with the owner of the studio.

With no compromise being reached, Fever Records decided not to release the record.

But, Frankie had been playing the demo off a cassette tape for anyone that would listen. (That’s how I came to hear it.) Eventually, an underground buzz swirled around the demo with the All-Star ending.

After Joey Gardner heard about the buzz he changed his mind and decided to record the record after all. But it had to be re-created because the master was at the studio and could not be used.

The new version of “Give Your Love To Me” was to feature K7, George Lamond and Joey Kidd as the new TKA. But that lineup never materialized.

There was even a moment when Marc Anthony was considered for TKA, being that K7 and Marc had been best friends since High School. But according to K, Joey Gardner felt that Marc would outshine anyone that tried to sing next to him.

There was also concern over their notorious girl chasing. The idea of having K and Marc on the road together was seed for concern and eventually the label rejected the idea.

“To this day, I feel it was the worst mistake they ever made, to not put Marc in the group”, K says.

K7 finally recorded the TKA vocal with the guidance of Marc Anthony. “Marc coached me through that performance. I did what Marc told me to do”, K tells me.

Ultimately “Give Your Love To Me” found it’s home on the Louder than Love LP, without the All-Star break. The idea was rejected by the label.

Carlos “After Dark” Berrios

Together Forever Pt. 1

2007-11-20T07:13:00.000-05:00

I had a busy weekend. We're trying to organize photo shoots for the artists featured on "Don't Look Back". The plan is to create a website where I can promote both project and artist to a wider demographic. The website will also feature a store from where future projects can easily be purchased.

I got a message on MySpace from Freestyle Radio Brazil the other day asking for a promotional drop from Ron Esco. Apparently Ron's "Give Me Your Heart" from the 1994 compilation is in their top ten. I'm wondering if we might be performing out there soon. Pretty cool.

Okay, so how did Lisette Melendez end up singing Together Forever? Well, one day I get a call from Frankie Cutlass, who at one time was a member and writer/producer of a little group called "& More". You might remember their song "You'll Never Find Another Love".

Anyway, Frankie Cutlass says he wants me to produce him as a solo artist. I remember being excited at the idea because I had heard him sing solo before.

TKA had a song on their album called "Give Your Love To Me". Most people don't know that song was originally meant for Frankie Cutlass; he wrote and produced the original demo with him singing lead. The original version of that song is one of those lost gems in the world of Freestyle that we'll never get back. Frankie performed it with earnest and an almost innocent appeal.

But it was what was he did at the break that made it special. What he did had never been done before. He had 4 singers adlib for 8 bars each until the song ended. Those singers were George Lamond, Danny "Holiday" Vargas (Danny and his brother Victor invented the Wepa Man), Marc Anthony, and Chrissy I-eece. Every time I heard that demo it sent chills up my spine. But the original master was lost forever, and all that remains are a few bad copies on cassette tape. The version that TKA eventually released is a reproduced version, and although it still is a great record, it did lose a little something. (Read This Update!)

Anyway, Frankie and I agreed to get together at my place in Rego Park. At the time I think I had an R8 drum machine, an Akai S-950 sampler, a D-50, and a Juno 106. Frankie had the idea of using a loop from the record "Sing Sing" by Gaz. It was one of my favorite records and I used to play it constantly when I was a teenage DJ.

So we get to work, feeding the record into the sampler and finding the loop points. Then I took my R8 in my lap and spit out a beat in a few minutes. My intention was to create a rough beat and then re-do it later. But it ended up being the final.

Frankie jumped on the Juno 106 and came up with a bass line, I came up with some string pads and it went back and forth until we had a rough idea. We were pretty excited because it came rather quickly. It was a great collaboration.

My partner at the time, Franc. Reyes, wrote the lyric and melody. I forget how long it took but it must have been fairly quick. By the time he was done he had the lyric and most of the melody, but not the melody for the chorus.

Franc. Reyes had worked with Ann Marie, who had "With Or Without You" on Sleeping Bag Records. The night he was teaching the song to Cutlass, he got a phone call from Ann Marie and decided to sing her the melody he had come up with so far. She made a small suggestion for the chorus melody and Franc. completed the song.

We were ready to record a rough vocal when Cutlass stops and says, "I can't do this." I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "this is a girl's song... you should give it to Lisette." Franc. and I look at each other and ask him if he's sure and he says, "yeah."

So I believe we called Lisette and tried to get her there that very night. That's the way we worked back then. But I'm pretty sure Lisette didn't demo it until the next day. But when she did, I knew this was the song I had been searching for. It fit her like a glove.

Next Up.... "Together Forever" - The record that no one wanted!

The First Freestyle Record

2007-11-16T06:49:00.001-05:00

I was going to write about "Together Forever" today, but I felt like writing about this other subject instead.

The debate has been going on for years. Between Nayobe's "Please Don't Go" and Shannon's "Let The Music Play", which is the historical first Freestyle record? I know there are arguments for both sides, but I just feel a need to put my ten cents in.

I was still a teenager in 1983 when I first heard "Let The Music Play" at the Funhouse in New York City. Jellybean was playing a record called "Key West" by Kasso.

When the break hit, he started mixing into the Dub version of Shannon's record. If I had a dogs ears, they would have shot straight up. I remember standing there, taking in that amazing sound. It felt like I just discovered electricity. When the beat finally kicked in... well, let's just say that's the day the seed was planted. I wanted to make music.

For the next two years, there were many records that inspired me; although not like that first time I heard "Let The Music Play". But there was Jenny Buton's "I Remember What You Like", apparently released only three months after Shannon's; along with Tina B's "Honey To A Bee" released in 1984. And then one of my favorites, Unlimited Touch's "Reach Out (Everlasting Lover)" also released in 1984.

Then one day in 1985, I was on my way to Rock and Soul Records in the city to pick up some new vinyl. This car passes by, playing a dance record with so much percussion it stood out from anything I had ever heard before. Again my ears would have shot up if I were a dog. I run into Rock and Soul and describe the record I just heard and they hand me Nayobe's "Please Don't Go".

Now, which one of these is the first Freestyle record? In my opinion, it's Nayobe's. Although "Let The Music Play" came first and pretty much changed my life, it was Nayobe's that touched on something cultural, something undeniably Latin. In my opinion, Nayobe's record was spawned by Shannon's record. But Shannon's record was spawned by the Jazz Funk Dance music of the early 80's, like D-Train's "You're The One For Me", released in 1981.

Shannon's record had a new sound, yes, but it was still derived from those earlier black urban dance records. All of hits of the day were. But Nayobe's record was the first to feature a Latina lead singer, and you can't ignore how much Latin percussion that record had.

Although "Let The Music Play" was the record that changed my life, it was "Please Don't Go" that gave me the courage to try and make music. The first "Latin" Freestyle record.

But like I said, this is only my opinion.

Carlos "After Dark" Berrios

The Making of "Make Noise" Pt. 2

2007-11-15T04:31:00.000-05:00

Tomax was a very hyper kid. Full of ideas and energy. It was easy to get caught up in any one of his grand plans. He had a lot of them. I first met Lisette when Tomax was forming a singing group with two guys and a girl. She was the girl. They auditioned for me but they didn't really blend well together. I told him I wasn't interested. But Tomax was also very good at spinning or reinventing a situation.

At the time Tomax was working on some demos with Hanson and Davis ("Hungry for Your Love") and other producers while Lisette was trying to get something going with Crazy Legs from The Rock
Steady Crew.

One day he plays me a demo with a strange background vocal. It was a sustained type of vocal, almost Arabic sounding. But the thing that caught my ear was the tone. It was a unique tone. So I asked Tomax who the background singer was and he says that it's Lisette. "The same girl I met before?", I asked. He said, "Yeah".

Up to this point I had recorded the new vocal to "Make Noise", the one the label demanded; with Nayobe, who was signed to Fever Records at the time. The problem was that Fever would not give us permission to feature her. So I asked Tomax to arrange for Lisette to come down to Hip Pocket Studios, on 20th Street, off of 6th Avenue.

So I met Lisette Melendez for a second time. She came in and recorded several takes of the vocal with my engineer Butch Jones. I have to admit that in those days, I really didn't know much about recording vocals and I could have probably coached her better. But I also didn't speak very much in those days.

I remember paying Lisette something like $200 and thinking that I'll probably never see this girl again. Boy was I wrong.

Before the record came out, I had given reel to reel copies to certain DJ's in the city. It was a common thing to do in those days to build up a buzz. A few weeks later I get a call from Little Louie Vega who was spinning at Studio 54.

He asked me to come down to the club; he wanted me to see something. Little Louie Vega had never called me be before and I was curious so I went. He instructed me to come to the DJ booth at about 1AM. When I did, he had my reel cued on the tape machine. He smiled and said, "Watch this!".

Little Louie pressed play and started blending into the James Brown intro. All I heard was the roar from the crowd. It was the first time I experienced that kind of reaction to my work and it was incredible. All I could do was watch the crowd dance to the track I had created in Elvin Molina's bedroom.

After the record hit the streets and the record pools, I got a call from Profile Records. They told me the record was building steam and they wanted to know if the group could do a few shows. Group? What group? There is no group! There's only me and I'm not interested in getting up on a stage! "What about the girl?", they asked. I told them I'd get back to them.

I called Lisette Melendez and told her everything that had happened. It was hard to gauge her reaction because Lisette is not really the type to show any outward excitement. I asked her if she had a manager, she said no. I asked her if she was willing to perform the record with two dancers, she said yes. I asked her if she was willing to let me act as her manager until she found a real one, and she said okay. And that's how I started working with Lisette Melendez.

Later on, I tried several times to demo what I felt would be an appropriate follow up to "Make Noise". I had just finished reading a book on the life of Ronnie Spector, who also had a unique voice and I knew that I had to come up with something special for Lisette, something that would showcase the tone of her voice. We tried and tried. To this day I don't why we chose "If You Truly Love Me" as the follow up. It was an experiment and it bombed.

It took four more years before I finally found the right song for Lisette. Except it wasn't written for her. It was originally written for Frankie Cutlass and it came really close to never being heard.

Carlos "After Dark" Berrios

Next... The Making of "Together Forever".

The Making of "Make Noise" Pt. 1

2007-11-14T05:23:00.000-05:00

The year was 1987. My idea was to use James Brown's "Give It Up Or Turn It Loose" as the foundation for a new track.

I called Elvin Molina who I had met recently, and asked if he would rent me his studio. I knew that he didn't really rent his studio out. He was the other half of MicMac's creative team and they were pretty busy at the time. But I also knew he had an actual Roland 808 drum machine, and I wanted to use it.

At the time I was DJing at L'amour East in Queens and was playing a mix that Elvin had put together using Depeche Mode's "It Doesn't Matter Too". It was a favorite at the club. It consisted of the record, which had no beats, and Elvin's 808 drum machine programed to play the beats from the Covergirl's "Show Me".

Everytime I played it, off a 1/4 reel to reel, the crowd, all 3,000 of them, would jump and scream. I would mix out of it with TKA's "Tears May Fall".

When I got to Elvin's apartment in the Bronx I found that the studio consisted of an Akai 12 track recorder/mixer that recorded sound to a Betamax Tape.

He had the 808 and 909 drum machines and at least one keyboard from what I remember. All this was in his bedroom and I remember being jealous that he was using club sub-woofer bass bottoms as the box spring for his bed. I had wondered why I hadn't thought of that when I had my bass bottoms.

Anyway, we start by sampling the James Brown loop into his Mirage keyboard. Then I programmed the beat on the 808, choosing to program the beat in the same pattern as "Tears May Fall". It was, and probably still is my favorite Freestyle beat of all time.

Once I had the pattern down, I started grabbing records from the crate I brought along and started laying them into Elvin's Mirage Sampler. I figured I would lay down as many ideas as I could, then sort them out later. That was a bad idea because we only had 12 tracks to play with. I decided to lay my ideas down in blocks of 12. So 12 tracks would play, then a number of bars later they would switch to something else. By the time I was done there were 4 different blocks of 12. Later I realized that it was impossible to mix this at Elvin's. I needed to mix this at an actual studio.

Tomax, who I had also met recently, was great at meeting people, and introducing them to other people. He brought me up to Profile Records and introduced me to their A&R exec, Brian Chin. Brian heard "Make Noise" and agreed to sign it. I told him I still needed to mix it. I can't really remember how much they paid me, but it had to be about $5,000. So now I had the money to get into a real studio.

I had to rent the same Akai 12 track device I had used at Elvin's to record the 4 layers of 12 tracks across two 2' tapes for a total of 48 tracks. It was crazy, but it was the only way I was going to be able to mix it.

When I turned it in to Profile Records for approval, they decided that they wanted a vocal in there somewhere. That was tough because "Make Noise" was not structured for a vocal. But I turned to my new friend Tomax and he wrote something. He also found the singer for me. A young girl with lots of attitude.

Next... How I met Lisette Melendez

The Relevancy of Dance Music

2007-11-13T07:33:00.000-05:00

It's been stated by Afrika Bambaataa in at least one Hip Hop documentary that Hip Hop and Freestyle Music sprung from the same seed. At the time, the struggle for both genres were the same; searching unconsciously for some form of relevancy. Fate would step in when Melle Mel recorded "The Message", long known to be the first rap song with a social statement. This social statement caused Hip Hop to evolve from a meaningless party music to a relevant genre. For all the complaints as to why Freestyle Music was never given the attention that it deserved, there has never been a Freestyle song that has crossed over talking about social or political issues.

In defense of the genre, it was never meant to be more than an earnest plea from young romance minded Latinos in search of that one true love. Although love is not a superficial emotion, the expression of that emotion through the music was. There are only so many was you can say I love you in a lyric. Metaphor and irony was non existent and the artists had little if nothing to do with the creation of their own music. It was a producer driven genre.

But unlike today, the producers were not considered artists in their own right. The producers were work for hire workhorses that reaped little benefit from the success of a particular song/track. Unless of course they were involved in the writing. There's a lot of money to be made in writing.

I've also heard it said that the pop records of the mid to late 80's were produced to sound like Freestyle records and the genre was unfairly ripped off. I don't believe that's true. Having had the pleasure of producing out of Unique Recording Studios in New York taught me that there was a huge difference between what the big names were doing and what we were doing. There was a rawness in what we were doing, probably because we were also huge fans of Hip Hop at the time. Hip Hop had still not made the jump to radio or MTV. So it was underground and that's where we lived.

Because the New York studio scene was so small, everyone knew what everyone else was doing. The A&R executives started hiring the street remixers to give their pop records more of an underground dance edge. Most of the top remixers and editors were Latino, obviously, because they were connected to the street. They knew what was going on. So the idea that the pop producers and artists ripped us off is a little funny to me. I heard them try to do what we did, and they sucked. They needed us. Of course, that all changed when in 1993, Hip Hop and R&B was chosen over dance music as the pop music across the country and almost instantly, everyone was out of a job.

Today, in a world filled with Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, reality shows, TMZ.com, etc., it seems as though the need for relevancy is no longer important. Even Hip Hop is no longer relevant because it is now part of Pop Culture. The music has become a parody of itself and has lost almost all it's credibility. But that's not important. The important thing is that you can now create a star on the internet by singing a song badly on the edge of your bed wearing a tight t-shirt. That's where we're at.

I know I'm sounding kind of negative, but my real point here is that there is now a really big window of opportunity. The Music and Film industry is suffering through some really hard transitions. This is a time of few or no rules. It's what everyone has been waiting for.

I really hope that the new year brings with it some of that old fire with it.

ProTools vs Tape Recording

2007-11-12T01:46:00.000-05:00

If I had my way, I would always record to 2" tape. For the warmth and compression that the older dance records used to have. Unfortunately, the last decade has made it close to impossible to do. With recording budgets falling to almost nothing, I turned to Computer recording about ten years ago. For years I had been using an Atari Mega 4 computer to produce my records, using a program called Dr. T.

I finally upgraded to an Apple Mac G4 during a Macworld Convention and learned how to use it on the "When I'm Gone" remix for Rockell.

I found my way around Logic Audio well enough but I never really liked it. Mostly because I couldn't get my mixes to sound close the mixes I had been doing on the SSL or even the 48 input Soundcraft analogue board I had set up in the middle of my apartment. I had been mixing first off a Tascam 1" 24 track tape recorder, and later from 3 ADATs.

2 years ago, I started working on my album using that same G4 I bought at Macworld, using Protools 6 on a oo1. The first track I worked on was George Lamond's (What Is Love). But I quickly realized that I didn't have the processing power to handle the mix. Even recording the vocals was somewhat of a nightmare. because of the constant lockups. After a few tracks I moved up to the G5 Dual Core and then started cooking.

But I still had a problem getting the mixes sounding great. Then, like an answer to a prayer, Waves released the SSL bundle. My mixes changed overnight. The list of new software based eq's and virtual synths is growing quickly, and now I know that I can't work without them. But my favorite plugin has to be the Waves SSL eq bundle. It's very close to the actual SSL eq and makes my mixing work fun again. I actually prefer to mix than to produce. It's a good way to make some extra income without having to dedicate an enormous amount of time.

I also came across a really useful tutorial on mixing in the box (on a computer) by Charles Dye. It's a DVD workshop called "Mix It Like A Record". As much experience as I have, I found these DVD's useful and informative.

Carlos Berrios - Don't Look Back

2007-11-09T13:52:00.001-05:00

The album is finally finished! It was mastered by Duncan Stanbury at Frankford Wayne here in
New York about two weeks ago.

The project has been split into two separate CD's, titled Session One and Session Two respectively. Each CD has 11 tracks for a total of 22 brand new tracks. That's 22 folks!

Included on each CD is an edit battle featuring some the best virtual cutters still keeping the art alive. If you don't know what editing is, I plan to post a later segment breaking down how and why editing became so popular in the late 80's.

We're in the middle of preparing for the manufacturing process, which by itself takes several weeks. But my hope is to have it ready for Christmas. That's really cutting it close, so I can't promise that it will be ready to ship, so many things can go wrong. But we will try.

We're setting up an e-mail for those that want to know the minute that it does ship. So if you want to know the minute it's ready and where you can get it,

you can e-mail me at: cbdontlookback@gmail.com

and I will keep you at the top of the list.

This is the final lineup (I really mean it this time!)

Session One

1. “The Jump Off” (featuring K7 & Ty Bless)
2. “You Better Stop” (featuring Bethaney)
3. “I’ve Been Waiting” (featuring Willie Valentin)
4. “Physical Attraction” (featuring Nyasia)
5. “Veronica” (featuring Tomax)
6. “Do You Want It Right Now” (featuring Joei Mae)
7. “Obviously” (featuring Jessica Fabus)
8. “I Need A Lover” (featuring Lisette Melendez)
9. “I Can’t Go On” (featuring Joei Mae)
10. “You Left Me” (featuring Miles Petty)
11. “Se Marcho” (featuring Katya)
12. “The Ultimate Edit Battle” (Part One)

Session Two

1. “What Is Love” (featuring George Lamond)
2. “For Your Eyes Only” (featuring Joei Mae)
3. “Light Of My Life” (featuring Ron Esco)
4. “No Hay Nada” (featuring Katya)
5. “Let It Go” (featuring Miles Petty)
6. “Don’t Ever Say” (featuring Lisette Melendez)
7. “Walking Away” (featuring Emma Collado)
8. “I’m Torn” (featuring Synthia Figueroa)
9. “Rescue Me” (featuring Julie Carrozzi)
10. “No Lo Niegues” (featuring Tomax)
11. “Sexy Boy” (featuring Connie Lapara)
12. “The Ultimate Edit Battle” (Part Two)

Most people know that I have a history of experimenting with my music, so although most of the music on these CD's is Freestyle in one form or another, I also tried my hand at Freestyle Rock, Freestyle in Spanish , which led to a Spanish House track titled "Se Marcho" as well as a Spanish Rock-Dance track titled "No Lo Niegues".

As for this Blog, I set this up back in April but didn't have time to post anything. Now that I have more time, I plan to lay down some of the history of certain tracks like "Make Noise" or "Together Forever" and how I met Lisette Melendez and got my first deal with Profile Records back in 1987.

I also really want to post some tips on mixing and production as well. Let's see how far we get!

CB