DJ Brent Crampton

YAMBUKA salutes Brent Crampton, http://brentcrampton.typepad.com/

Championing purpose, hard work and social growth. Building community wealth.


LOOM founders/Co-Captains Jay “rhythSOULdier” Kline & DJ Brent Crampton (in a custom made Kiros on Black Yambuka t-shirt), July 31st 2009, LJAC.


Hello fam, my name is Brent Crampton. I'm an artist based in Omaha, contributing and interacting with its hidden Bohemia. I'm a DJ, journalist, graphic designer, events promoter and experiential lover of life. I realized my life gifts are: mixing life, bringing people together, having them connect through music and then release in dance. Yambuka has been gracious enough to give me an opportunity to talk a bit about how I manifest those things in my life.

1) Project name, purpose, history, goals & objectives, 18 month vision.

First off, one of the biggest things in my life is a party I do called "loom." The next event is taking place this Thursday, August 6 at España Tapas Bar in Benson. We're doing a Jamaican tribute since the date falls on Jamaica's independence day. Check out the flyer below and a link to the Facebook event page to RSVP.

http://brentcrampton.typepad.com/loom44WEB.jpg
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=101740433718

And here's the background story on loom . . .

loom - Weaving the Social Fabric Through Dance is a social ideology conceptualized by Jay Kline and Brent Crampto with the idea of creating various social and artistic platforms to promote social integration.

Since March of 2006, loom has manifested as a monthly dance event at España Tapas Restaurant in downtown Benson. Blacks, Whites, Latinos, Asians, young, old, gay and straight have gathered in a peaceful assembly to connect and dance with groups of people they'd normally never encounter in a city that is notorious for its problem of racism.

On the community outreach level, loom's partnered with LA-based nonprofit, NextAid.org which finds sustainable and green ways to help children in Africa who are orphaned by AIDS. Event theme's have jumped continents and timelines, celebrating diversity across the board, including the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., Brazil's Carnival festival, Nigeria's Fela Kuti or dance arts from Salsa, Rueda, Bellydancing and Breakdancing.

loom has hosted a series one-off events at places such as The Bemis Center, Heartland of America Park, Hot Shops Art Gallery, Love's Jazz & Art Center, The Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge and more. Apart from dance celebrations, loom's involvement has covered everything from fashion, film, green living and race relation dialogues.


LOOM team members Jay, Kirstin, Logan & Farai, July 31st 2009, LJAC.



2) Bio, pic’s, videos, links (myspace, twitter etc) , url to website , redirect websites etc

Hello fam, my name is Brent Crampton. I'm an artist based in Omaha, contributing and interacting with its hidden Bohemia. I'm a DJ, journalist, graphic designer, events promoter and experiential lover of life. I realized my life gifts are: mixing life, bringing people together, having them connect through music and then release in dance. I do that as a DJ. Here's info on that . . .

Multi-award winning DJ, including Best DJ in 2006, 2007 & 2008 for the Omaha Entertainment & Arts Awards, named Scion Breakthru Emerging Artist in 2006, titled a “Deep House Pioneer” by The Reader and recognized as a NextAid.org artist, Brent Crampton has been pushing the boundaries of music and culture throughout the Midwest.

His sound centers around the Deep House and Global Soul movement, yet defies genres, dropping anything from underground disco, credible & conscious hip hop, party rocking classics and world flavors such as afrobeat, batucada and afro-cuban drum sections. Most importantly, his music has a message: Bringing people together – connecting through music – releasing in dance.

He began his love affair of DJing in the fall of 2000 and has since held residencies or played at all of the top nightlife spots in the Omaha area. His monthly event, "loom - Weaving the Social Fabric Through Dance" founded in 2006 has established itself as "the longest running dance party" in Omaha, according to the City Weekly. Guests such as Kevin Yost, jojoflores, Sabo, FLX, Sabine, Raven Fox, Joe DiPadova and Julius The Madthinker alongside Crampton have brought a soulful dance party to a middle-tier Midwestern city that previously had none.

In addition to his Turntable Tutorial DJ class, the art-music fusion shows - ColorSound and Art Reach, holding the Mr. X spot for the Red Bull Music Academy and being the NextAid.org Omaha rep, his promotions and DJing falls within philanthropy, touches on social progression, education, art and elevating culture.

His impression has been made throughout North America and beyond, having performed in places such as London, Chicago, Miami, Montreal, Las Vegas, Boston, Dallas, Hawaii. He's promoted shows or played alongside talent such as King Britt, The Rapture DJs (The Rapture), Alton Miller, Colette (OM), Sierra Leones Refugee Allstars, Woody McBride, Josh One and Tim Sweeney (DFA). In all, his driving ambitions have made him one of the most sought after and active DJs in the area. “There is a healing power in music - and I want to get that out to the people.”

You can connect to me through my blog at http://www.brentcrampton.com, check out photos from my parties at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mixinglife, check out videos of places I've been and DJed at http://www.youtube.com/brentcrampton, or connect on social networks such as, http://facebook.com/mixinglife, http://myspace.com/brent_crampton, http://twitter.com/brentcrampton.

3) ABOUT You- last concert attended, last CD purchased, favorite TV show as a child, most anticipated 2010 event/CD/movie.

Last concert I went to was Gogol Bordello - a crazy, high intensity gypsy punk band that had the place rocking. Last CD I purchased? Well, it's the digital age, so I don't really buy CDs anymore, but local MC, Buck Bowen gave me all of his back catalogue on CD, so I've been checking that out lately. As a child, and still probably today, my favorite show was The Simpsons.


LJAC dance party, July 2009.

4) Yambuka theme: Life (and Business) is tough: summarize an incident(s) you had to OVERCOME a challenge or an obstacle.
One challenge that was really tough for me was worrying about the hate language people use against you as an artist. When I'd hear things about so-and-so talking sh**, it used to really bother me. Naturally, within human nature, whenever someone puts themselves out in the world with art, music, business, politics, etc, people are naturally going to make a judgement. Depending on the scope of influence your product or talent exerts, the more extreme people's opinions can be of you. I call it the Mountain Theory. No one minds much the guy selling papaya down the street from his cart. But compare that to Whole Foods. Some folks absolutely love the place. Some think they've unjustly cornered the market, are unfair with their prices, etc.

The problem arises when you try to fulfill the impossible goal of trying to please everyone. That's an illusion that's unattainable, but I believe somewhere along our maturation we're taught to pursue this. In actuality, all we need to do is examine ourselves. If we're doing the right thing, then proceed with your art/business/whatever and let the haters hate. And if their hate speech is legit, listen to it, because it may make your game even better.



YAMBUKA salutes Brent Crampton, http://brentcrampton.typepad.com/

Championing purpose, hard work and social growth. Building community wealth.