I’m proud to announce that as of this morning, I have been brought into the highly reputable Moog Music, Inc. circle as an official Moog artist (shouts to my brother, Nicolay for the connection). Already an avid user of Moog products (Voyager & Minitaur), this news makes has me EXTRA excited. Not to mention, this is my very first instrument endorsement… The new year is proving itself to be one of great impact already.
A shot of my Moog Voyager (May, 2012)
Well folks, after you have played a few shows here and there, done some touring with the same brand of equipment and gotten no love from the endorsement side of things after trying repeatedly to contact a Yamaha company that shall remain nameless (oops)… There comes a time for a little something that I like to call “SELF endorsement”…
Endorsing one’s self doesn’t have to involve anything huge like opening a store or starting your own television channel…hell, you don’t even have to involve your ego. Most of the time it simply serves as a brief reminder to folks, corporate and otherwise that, “Hey, us bottom of the barrel musicians who travel the world using nothing but your products are working hard too!” *insert laugh here* With that being said, I’d like to introduce you to a product that was newly delivered to my studio earlier this evening… The “Zotif” Keyboard!
Looks like you may have seen this board before huh? I know, I know… Well, it actually functions verrrry similarly to the Yamaha Motif keyboard, BUT this one is crazy because it actually advertises my logo and new website. *waves index finger and quotes Eddie Murphy’s elder Jewish character from ‘Coming To America’* “Ahhhckkhaaaa!!!!!” I feel extremely privileged because they don’t manufacture too many of these, so I wouldn’t even waste my time on eBay or Craig’s List looking for one. I have heard the numbers from the manufacturer and they’re actually keeping it in the single digits, so I’ll be a nice guy and I’ll let you steal some views of mine… You may see me on stage at an +FE or a Zo! + Sy Smith show with a Zotif sometime soon – Then again now that I think about it some more, you just never know WHEN it may surface…
*end sarcasm*
The ultra rare “Zotif” keyboard…
This is a pretty big deal to me since I have never been asked to endorse anything before until James Sackor (who I am pictured with) with Hats On the Belfry approached me with his card after a Foreign Exchange show in Baltimore back in June and told me that if I needed anything with regards to hats, hit him up. I stuck the card in my wallet (which can be classified at times as ‘No Man’s Land’) and did not see the card again for another month or so. Needless to say, I got back in touch with James in July, worked out the endorsement and I have been getting all of my hats from their stores ever since. Props to y’all… Now let’s see if Yamaha is willing to join in on the endorsement fun!
