DJ Scribe

Scribe fell in love with music at an early age and never fell out. Inspired by Public Enemy and The Pharcyde (among others), in the golden age of hip-hop, he started collecting records. Hip-hop (along with the dancehall reggae and acid jazz of that time), led him back in time to soul, funk, disco, r&b, roots reggae and jazz, and would later grow into a musical repertoire spanning afrobeat, house, broken-beat, latin, and his beloved 80's pop childhood roots. Before he got his first set of 1200s, Scribe taught himself how to mix on live radio at WOBC FM at Oberlin College, where he then began to cut his teeth as a dj at house parties and campus events, eventually opening for A Tribe Called Quest in front of 3,000 people. It was the historic first show on their groundbreaking Low End Theory Tour. Back in NYC after college, Scribe dabbled in hip-hop production under the guidance of Russell Simmons' RUSH Producers Management, and deejayed part-time, opening major concerts for A Tribe Called Quest again, and Digable Planets. Fast forward to present and DJ Scribe has been spinning full-time since 2002. In that time, he has developed numerous notable and acclaimed residencies in NYC: 'Love Revolution' at Joe's Pub, a freeform soul night that often featured Tortured Soul playing live, and guest djs such as E-Man, Carol C. of Si*Sé, Will "Quantic" Holland, Qool DJ Marv, and Ian Friday; Tag, in partnership with Wax Poetics Magazine, whose unique format featured Scribe alternating every other record all night with such legends as Yam Who?, Kool DJ Red Alert, Justin Strauss, Jazzy Nice, Prince Language and Rich Medina; 'Stone Soup' in conjunction with BBE Records; 'Soulnado', at the world-famous Knitting Factory, a joint effort with DJ Busquelo, fusing the headsnapping broken beat drum tracks of London's underground CO-OP scene with classic dancefloor jazz (another UK staple) played live and fully improvised by rotating top-notch instrumentalists; 'Nu-iSh', which began as a monthly party with co-resident OP! at the Vault at Element, and partnered with a who's-who of quality independent soul labels around the world, then growing into a weekly music review column on Coolhunting.com, and concert presenter for emerging artists like Heavy; and one of the most respected parties at Miami's annual Winter Music Conference since 2006: the 'Raw Fusion' Miami party, which has featured the best of the best djs, Spinna, Karizma, Simbad, Daz-I-Kue, Benji B, Phil Asher, Mad Mats, Freddie Cruger aka Red Astaire, Karl Injex, and many more. The original Raw Fusion party, founded by Mad Mats, has been going strong since 1996 in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2002 Mats launched Raw Fusion Recordings. And since 2005, Scribe has run their stateside offices, as US Label Manager. In 2008, Scribe, with partner OP!, founded a series of Raw Fusion parties at one of NYC's top dj venues, APT, which featured guest djs such as Simbad, Daz, 7 Samurai, Probe DMS, and live performances by Muhsinah, Kissey Asplund, Taylor McFerrin, TK Wonder, Zaki Ibrahim, Stephanie McKay, Daru, Erik Rico, Cecilia Stalin, and Ivana Santilli. In May 2009, Scribe founded 'I Love Vinyl', an all-vinyl dance party featuring the "Dream Team", six resident djs playing every party together. Ge-Ology, OP!, The Twilite Tone, Amir (Kon & Amir), Jon Oliver, and himself. The first party, at Le Poisson Rouge's Gallery Bar, was packed and jumping, and they have been ever since. In conjunction with the party, Scribe started a vinyl appreciation page on Facebook which attracted 10,000 fans in 10 days (now nearing 38K+). In March 2010, 'I Love Vinyl: On the B-Side', the Brooklyn arm of the party, debuted at the fantastic green venue Brooklyn Bowl. A few months later, the I Love Vinyl Dream Team made an even bigger Brooklyn Debut, at the season opener of Prospect Park's Celebrate Brooklyn free summer concert series, where they headlined a gala afterparty for the Norah Jones concert. Today the b-side party is hosted in Southpaw's "down south" basement. In addition to creating his own parties, Scribe has shared the marquee at live music venues like the Highline Ballroom, Le Poisson Rouge, SOB's and Joe's Pub with Lykke Li, Little Dragon, Antibalas, Chin Chin, Roy Ayers, Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Omar, Dwele, Les Nubians, Stephanie McKay, Floetry, Alice Smith, and others; moved the crowd all over Western and Eastern Europe; and traveled extensively within the US and Canada, including multiple appearances at the annual Candela Art and Music Festival in Puerto Rico, Miami's Winter Music Conference, and the Detroit Electronic Music Festival. Scribe has also done extensive studio work with DJ Spinna, including mixing remixes he did for Michael Jackson and Shaun Escoffery, and The Beyond Real Experience Vol.2 album for Spinna's Beyond Real label; as well as producing and mixing much of Tortured Soul frontman Christian Urich's soul project Cooly's Hot Box's album 'Take It', on Dome records, including the UK classic "Make Me Happy". A socially/environmentally conscious and committed individual, Scribe has done benefits with such organizations as Green Drinks, Third Wave Foundation, Active Listening, Paper Tiger TV, and Momentum Aids Project; and has also done major industry events for Gen-Art, and The Fader, Esquire, Details, Talk, and Elle magazines. In 2005, Scribe founded the DJ Collective, a forum for musically-oriented djs in NYC to develop resources and address the concerns of the dj community. The group also produced a number of benefit events, including a fundraiser in conjunction with Turntables on the Hudson at NYC's Cielo for rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. DJ Scribe spins dynamic sets from the heart, ranging from deep soul to dancefloor killers, acoustic jazz to glitch-hop and techno. But a list of genres can't accurately describe his style, because for Scribe it's all about the right feeling. And that's exactly what it is, the right feeling. Coming to a dancefloor near you. Ben Goldfarb aka DJ Scribe, since 1990.