We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tromac a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tromac, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I learned how to DJ in 2017. I wanted to perform my beats live for audiences, so I decided the best way to do that would be to learn how to DJ like some of my favorite producers Kaytranada, Flying Lotus or Tek.lun. I used a combination of various YouTube channels to teach myself how to master the 1s and 2s. Being a music producer definitely gives you an upper hand in becoming a DJ. It’s a lot easier to understand because of the similarities of the two activities. If I could do it over again, I would have learned how to use CDJs a lot sooner. For whatever reason, Baltimore doesn’t have any CDJs. Like, there’s only one venue I can think of in the city that has them, and its not even technically a legal venue. That makes learning CDJs and specific aspects of DJing a bit more challenging in this area, but not impossible. I ended up learning them in DC, where almost every venue has CDJs.

Tromac, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started teaching myself how to make music in 2012. That was when I met Vlaad in high school, who at the time had already been rapping for maybe 5 years and had been in the studio to record many times. We became best friends and he inspired me to try being artistic and begin my music journey which began as me making pretty bad and super long beats and writing songs to YouTube instrumentals. Over time I would meet other producers in the DMV area and learn from them while collaborating or just hanging out. I really think I wouldn’t be as good at producing as I am today without the time I spent chilling with with Fonlon, Tek.lun, Cadeem LaMarr and MFUNDISHi over the years. All producers who I’ve heard some of the craziest beats in my life from.

As a curator, I have to say i’m really proud of the progress I’ve made. It takes a certain amount of patience and level headedness to pull off a successful event with a bunch of different moving parts. My first event was called “FREE MONEY” scheduled to be at the Bell Foundry in 2016, but the building was shut down almost two weeks before the show date so I moved it to Pipe Dreamz (the first location on howard st.). There wasn’t much of a turnout, but it was the start of my journey into throwing events. Now I can proudly say I’ve curated shows with over 400 guests and shows on both coasts of the U.S.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I feel like the best part of being an artist, for me, is just being able to create. The fact that as artists we get to take our thoughts, emotions, and observations and turn them into real tangible works of art is a blessing. It serves us as a form of therapy, a form of release. It can also be a way of connecting to those you love or appreciate, or just something you enjoy doing that happened to end up becoming your main thing. Personally making art brings me closer to feeling human.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

If more people could see value in art I think our society would be more peaceful and accepting. People should allow themselves to enjoy things rather than not because of what they think might not be acceptable by their peers. When I say the “value in art” i don’t mean it in a monetary way though. I mean if art was held in the same regard as science or mathematics, then i think society would really benefit from that.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tromac.net
• Instagram: @tromac
• Twitter: @tromac_wav
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk8V_fNChvM

Image Credits
First image my Theresa Robertson (@blu3magic_) and the rest are by Jarett Loeffler (@jarettloeffler)