Garth Trinidad. For those that know, the name says it all in the world of music and progressive worldwide urban culture. For those that don’t know – listen up.

The man has been so influential in the last decade with his award-winning KCRW (89.9) broadcast music show ‘Chocolate City’, that in 2003 The Grammys created a category based on the format of his music program and invited him on as a voting member for the ‘Best Urban Alternative Performance’ category. Even the powers that be (despite their perpetual tardiness in the recognition of true urban pioneering) had to recognize. But, we already knew Garth was the shit, didn’t we?

As a veteran DJ on one of the only stations in the country that breaks new artists, Garth has helped catapult such acts as Jill Scott, Van Hunt and Gnarls Barkley. In addition, The Authority On Urban Alternative Culture (newly created title by yours truly) has musically consulted for top companies such as HBO, Nike, Infiniti, and United Airlines, produced for labels such as Warner Bros. and BBE, and orchestrated countless events for charities and companies such as Toyota, and Ford.

But for all his accolades and successes The Authority On Urban Alternative Culture is a self-admitted “low-key dude”. If it were up to him (and it isn’t, just ask his loving wife and three kids) he would be completely content with just spinning five days a week at KCRW, having a couple of residencies at clubs, and blogging to further educate the masses with maybe a few panel appearances thrown in for good measure; all the while eschewing shameless (or any) self-promotion.

At 6’2” with a commanding presence, Garth could be an imposing figure – even boorish if he so chose – but his intellect and compassion conveys an old soul. He’s a husband, father, cultural revolutionary, and one hell of a DJ who embraces the community that he holds dear with the same passion that he spins his music. Here, Garth talks about life, music, and why he can’t “Play something faster”.

Cazembe Abena (LA2DAY) – Give us a little bit of your background - where you grew up, etc. Give us some stats.

Garth Trinidad – I grew up in the View Heights area of Los Angeles – near Crenshaw and Slauson.

Cazembe – For some reason I thought you were from back East.

Garth – I was born back East, but I was raised out here. Spent my time in Catholic school. My parents as teachers wanted better educational programs for the kids. They were of that first generation that was looking at moving to the suburbs, but still looking to get a solid public education for the kids without having to pay through the nose at private schools. At this time the crack epidemic was out of control with the gangs. The gang thing began to worry them a little bit. So I got a chance to be exposed to all types of music I had never thought about listening to before - like Rock.

Cazembe – You mean from the kids you went to school with?

Garth – Yeah, from the people I began to socialize with. I went to Calabasas, which was where the Menendez brothers went to school. It was an interesting cultural change for me. I’m a pretty adaptable dude, so I was old enough to have retained my roots really well, and I didn’t loose my love for Black music when I started listening to this other music. At that time Hip-Hop was on it’s way up and MTV Raps had just hit the air. And at the same time I was getting into, (I guess I can say this now without feeling bad about it (smiles)), Bon Jovi, The Cure, Metallica, and then Classic Rock like Zeppelin, AC/DC – this is what cats on the football team were listening too and they would try to tell the youngsters about it. So in the weight room it would be like, ‘Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy’ by Big Daddy Kane, and ‘Back In Black’ by AC/DC. Whenever the coaches weren’t annoyed they would let us listen to whatever.

Cazembe – It’s interesting to hear you say this. I was talking with a DJ friend of mine the other day and we were discussing how back in the day you would hear a DJ set that had Rob Bass and AC/DC or a mixture of genres, but you simply won’t hear this eclecticism in DJ sets today – unless they listen to your sets or show, or a few others here at KCRW - but certainly not in an ordinary club scene. It’s so segregated today that the kids are really missing out.

Garth – Big time. And, I’m still trying to put all this into perspective. It’s one of my daily meditations… it’s thinking about the relationship that the media in it’s exploitation of… well maybe exploitation is not the right word…

Cazembe – That’s probably the right word. Go ahead…

Garth – What they’re doing is taking the most creative ideas that come out of historical culture and turning it into pop culture so that you don’t get the real deal. For the most part, the kids that know Rap music today don’t know what Hip-Hop culture is. There are kids that obviously do, but the majority of youth and people in general when you are talking about the scope of where Rap music is today don’t. People come up to me in the club and ask me to play some Hip-Hop and I’m playing some Tribe Called Quest…

Cazembe – Wow. That’s scary…

Garth – Or some De La Soul… or even some Biggie - it’s even to the point where people don’t know who Notorious B.I.G. is who are under the age of 25. So, what they know as Hip-Hop or Rap music – they can’t connect it to anything. It’s just something that they’re enjoying at that moment in their lives, but there’s no context to it. So, they’re missing out, but it’s a blanket agreement for me as a DJ and I get to experience the gamete of where people are. There are some people who are in tune, there will be some people who don’t know who I am who will be in tune and say things like, “Yo, what’s your name? You remind me of someone back East.” and then they’ll find out about Chocolate City. Then there will be some first-timers who will say that they love my mixes, but haven’t ever experienced anything like this before and will want to know what it’s called – and I just love that. Then there will be other people that just don’t get it and will be like, “Yo, can you play some Rap, or some Rock or some Techno?” The one I love is when some White women will come up to me and ask me to, “Play something they can dance to.” and I’ll be in the middle of a set killin’ it, throwing down some serious Dancehall, or droppin’ some Prince, people will be groovin’, you know.

Cazembe – And what does that mean? What are they saying when they ask you that?

Garth – If I could sum it up in a general statement, it means, “Play something faster”. And I would love to press pause in a moment and take them into a parallel universe and teach them about why they need me to play something faster so that they can feel more comfortable because they don’t know how to dance to what I’m playing already. But, I can’t help you with that. I can’t play anything faster for you. We’re not going there. So, all at the same time the experience can be stressful, annoying and wonderful. I look at myself as an educator, to educate as often as I can.

Cazembe – It seems that your parents being educators seems to have rubbed off on you in your approach to what you do with music and as a DJ with the whole vibe and philosophy that you bring.

Garth - Yeah, and to get back to my background… I eventually went to Otis and got a degree in Illustration.

Cazembe – Ever use it?

Garth – No. By the time I graduated I had been on the air for over a year. My Junior and Senior years at Otis were spent juggling art school and being a DJ – and it was tough. Nothing was ever quite 100%; I felt I had to share. So, by the time I graduated and during my last year I was on 5 nights a week already. It was killing me, and I’m drug free – but not even caffeine has an effect on me so I had to make it work. However, if I can, one of these days God willing, I would like to get my Masters in Fine Arts. I feel like it’s something in my blood that I can’t really get away from. After I graduated, I did spend some time teaching at a local charter school – great school – View Park Prep I believed is what it’s called.

Cazembe – Would you ever use Garth Trinidad Sound as a vehicle for your work?

Garth – Sure.

Cazembe – And speaking of that, what is the vision of Garth Trinidad Sound?

Garth – The launch of that WAS Spring 2006. It’s had some delays. I’m almost methodical to a fault. I don’t have a publicist. I don’t market or brand myself. I don’t promote my events unless it’s through an e-mail list or a shout on the radio. I’ve always been very low-key when it comes to that, not because I’m being purposefully low-key, but because I feel that it will reach the people that it’s supposed to reach.

Cazembe – So you’re not interested in branding yourself like a Gilles Peterson…?

(laughter)

Garth – I want you to hear me out… So this has been going on for the last decade. The great thing about that is word of mouth is the strongest, longest lasting promotion you could ever have. So, by me being on the radio, in the clubs, working on the type of projects I’m working on, doing what I do for the last 10 years, and establishing that type of reputation that I have amidst the public and professional community there is a real respect. I think the respect is there because I represent something of a hope, or something that is dear yet separate from everything else that is going on. I think having that in mind was also one of the reasons why I never got into being this super, social promoter energizer bunny. There are even some of my peers who were even upset at me at times years back who said, “You know, if I had what you had I’d be doing this, and I’d be unstoppable. You don’t understand the power that you have and the position that you have…” But, for me that went in one ear and out the other. Maybe it’s the Pisces in me, but I just didn’t give a damn. I was happy and content. I was single. Then, I met my wife, we got married and now have three kids – and all three were happy accidents, mind you, none of them were planned. But my wife has not had to work since the first. We discussed it, and this is what works for us. I remember when we were dating she told me that her work was just a fallback plan. What she really wanted to do was raise babies and cook for her man. I was like, “For real!? Are you serious!?”

(laughter)

Cazembe – Lights start going off in your head. You start doing flips…

(laughter)

Garth – So… it worked for us. When our first child came around The Grammys stepped to me and said, “Look man, we’ve got this new category, and to be honest it’s based on your show”.

Cazembe – Wow.

Garth – I said OK. That was the first of standing at the crossroads… I have a child to look after and take care of now, I been coasting, enjoying myself, hustlin’ making a good living, eatin’ great, gainin’ weight, being married, chillin’…

Cazembe – Livin’ the life of Riley… it’s gettin’ serious now…

(laughter)

Garth – Renting videos… whatever… So the baby comes along and that’s the fire under your behind. So, The Grammys says that they have a category and they want me to come sit on the board and be a part of it. I looked around at my peers who had made these really productive careers by being at KCRW - Jason Bentley, Nic Harcourt, Liza Richardson, Chris Douridas, Tom Schnabel – and I thought that it was time to make a decision and step off the crossroads and start walking that path - you’ve got to take this down low thing and monetize it. I kind of hate to say this, but the only reason I’m doing this now in this way is because I have kids. If not, I would still be that same loose, low-key dude and gladly pass the torch along when it was time and then get into something else. But, I have to take responsibility for my position. Ultimately, those that have been feeling what I have been doing have built the brand for me. I can’t credit myself for building any kind of “brand”, because all I’m doing is doing me. I often tell people that I may as well be at home putting on records for friends at my house because that’s what I do on the radio. The club business is different because I’m trying to rock the party, so you get a different aspect of what I do. Still, it’s very much me doing what I love with passion. Now that I have that built, or that it’s been built for me, all the hustling that I’ve done, all the events that I’ve produced, all the charity work that I’ve done, all the things that I’ve had the pleasure of being a part of, from films to TV pilots, to whatever… all that stuff that I do that’s way scattered, I’m trying to bring that into one house and say this is the brand, these are the services, this is who I am and this is what I do – can you dig it - because this is my business. I am becoming my business, and that’s the idea of Garth Trinidad Sound. Whether it becomes something outside of music, I feel that the sound represents the core of how this has been built, which is the type of sounds that I like that have inspired me.

Cazembe – And those types of sounds are?

Garth – It’s difficult to explain. It’s something in the melody. The ghost note of the drumbeat or the congas, or the cowbell, or the woman’s voice, or the melodies that the brother brings, sometimes it's hard to tell what you like. Some sounds you relate to and some you just don’t. It’s very spiritual. But it very much has to do with soul. Soul is my thing, I guess.

Cazembe – That would seem to be the connecting thread throughout?

Garth – I think so. I listen to a lot of Rock music, and I can go back and listen to certain songs from Metallica to date, and for me there is a soul in the arrangement – even though it’s bangin’ and hard. If you broke it down and did an acoustic to it, it would be gorgeous - same with AC/DC, the old school cats. The school that these guys were coming from comes from Blues anyway. When you trace Rock back to its real roots you’re talking about a bunch of English dudes, not to mention with the help of Jimmy Hendrix when he got to London, who were like vibing on this Blues music. The Beatles have said that when they heard Muddy Waters their lives changed; it was over. That’s when they started to become a rock band.

Cazembe – What is it that you would ultimately like to accomplish with Garth Trinidad Sound?

Garth – Pretty much what I’ve already been doing which encompasses a number of things in entertainment. Looking at everything technology wise and realizing that there is this huge void in what I call the “Hip-Hop Intelligencia Generation” where everyone 25 and up is looking for something that is NOT this teeny-bop, wannabee studio gangsta hard Rap, Urban, but falls somewhere in-between that and isn’t being exposed.

Cazembe – Is this the “Urban Alternative” that’s being used now?

Garth – Yeah, and I (for lack of a better term) am trying to be the poster child for that. For people that need to know what this is – and isn’t – I can help you with that. This is what I do. I’m riding this wave because the industry needs to create that wave to have an identifier for everything. You can’t run a record store and have everything clumped together. That’s the thing about marketing and promotion. But, the less education there is, the less people know about context and the worse off the masses are. I’m trying to bring a balance in the marketplace by saying, “Ok, we have this, and this, and that too.” Black music, Urban music is treated like it’s so disposable. It’s not given the same type of attention that other genres are given – and it’s shameful. It’s the same old story like the Black cultural struggle here in America. And, I know we are not here to talk about the struggle, but I just feel like the messages out there now… there needs to be a balance with that and there isn’t. So, when the Grammys came to me I saw that what I was doing was being recognized, and I saw it as an opportunity.

Cazembe – It’s interesting to hear you say that you’ve sort of taken on this duty so to speak with Urban Alternative to fill the gaps – especially since the Grammys contacted you – that’s huge - I want to say congratulations on that.

Garth – Thank you. When the Grammys came to me there was a melee of things that were running through my mind at the time, and the question was were those things that I had been doing for the last decade been impactful enough to try and make a living to support a family.

Cazembe – And there was your answer.

Garth – Exactly. And I said, “I’m going to do this”. And I’ve been blessed enough to have a wife that sees the vision, and has seen me in action and believes in what I’m doing so that the little sacrifices we’ve had to make are fine because it looks like we’re going to get there. When the Grammys hit it was like, “OK, you’re in the frying pan now, what are you going to do?” I could keep moving and stay the course or I could go and get a job doing whatever. The more feedback I continue to get from peers, professionals, and people on the street alike, it was like a message from God saying don’t stop doing this. I’ve had religious friends of mine in the church saying, “You don’t know how necessary what you’re doing is, so keep doing it”. I was like “Cool”, and so I’ve kept on.

Cazembe – And many of us including myself are happy that you have.

www.garthtrinidad.biz

www.myspace.com/garthtrinidad

By Cazembe Abena

Also Read Part 2

Also Read Part 3