User:Manthadara

Manthadara is a Lao/Thai rapper/singer/songwriter and music/video producer.   

A self proclaimed goof and focused when the time calls for it, Manthadara a.k.a. DJ Laobass is an accomplished editor, photographer and driven music artist. He was first introduced to the culture of music through his father. "When I stayed with my dad, me and a friend of mine would often go down to the basement and sing or mess with the band equipment, we didn't really know what we were doing but it was fun." While partying at a club, Manthadara began noticing the DJ's spinning their sets. "I use to go to Raves a lot and heard the music style before it became commercialized. It was the manipulation of different tracks that first seduced my ears. So I went and got myself Technic MK 1200's." From that day forth was the birth of Manthadara the producer. He first started off as a Local DJ in Boston, MA being inspired by other legendary DJ's and producers like Armand Van Helden,  The Scratch Picklez, Todd Terry, Roger Sanchez, and DJ Honda just to name a few. "If I had $10 dollars, I'd go and buy a vinyl instead of getting lunch." Eventually spinning other people's record became secondary to the thought of having his own music spun by other DJ's. Manthadara enrolled into Bunker Hill College to learn Media Technology. A course that offered music production, video production, graphic design, photography, and mass media development. However, during the terms that he enrolled, the transition from analog to digital production was in its incubation stage. Realizing that his professors were no more knowledgeable about the new software programs, he decided to learn the fundamental elements of media production and music theory by doing research to teach himself the new technologies and skills. "I guess you could say I learned everything through trial and error. From recording with artist to filming live footage and figuring out what works and doesn't work." With his newly acquired skills he sought out to polish his abilities by working for The Jewish Channel in NYC, Megan Wong Studios in Toronto, Traveling around the globe with Maestro Marlon Daniel, Recording with French Rapper, Zamal, Buffalo Producer/DJ, DigiRamm, Seattle Producer/DJ, Neebor, Boston Rappers, Moodz, Empathy, Pearl Harlem, DJ Dewey, and many more. With much grunt work and accomplishments, Manthadara is often seeking new talent to collaborate new projects with. "I enjoy working with newbies who are unaware of what gift they may have inside and pull it out of them. I don't mind getting the job done for other seasoned pros, but a lot of the time too many egos are involved." But that's not to say that he is not influential to the people around him. "My cell goes off and it's one of my friends or family. I usually tell them they can do it or you inspire me." The compassion and passion in his music and production ability is the same as how he views the world. With hard hitting drums and hypnotizing melodies, his music is like no other. "When I make my drums I tend to tweek it to the point where it punches you right in the face! It's probably another form of competitive fighting for me." But that's not to say that Manthadara can't get sentimental. While tuning into some melodies, you can often find yourself in a trance of a variety of emotions that are attached to deeply rooted lyrics. He admits he use to get into trouble a lot and moved back and forth here and there. "I'd right poems expressing how I felt inside and day dream a lot." Many songs that are written have very deep metaphoric meaning. While already possessing the knowledge to write songs he met other artist who were rappers. "I like the art of being a lyricist. You can say so much and it helps with knowing rhythm." Aside from knowing music theory, Manthadara can get pretty technical with the music hardware and software. He is aware of what other producers are doing and tries to stay ahead of their production technics. "Everybody has their own style of doing things. Ranging from a combination of software to use together or what hardware is accessible. The stuff I hear these days, I already thought of a long long time ago. I was just never able to find the right people to see the vision until it was too late. And I always ended up saying, I told you so." With his expertise with the industry standard recording program Pro Tools under his belt, he does not limit himself with just one tool. "I like to play around with different programs on mac and pc to see why people like Logic Pro verses Sonar for example. Once you get the hang of how sequencers like Propellerheads Reason looks like, you will notice the similarities in the others and will be able to use any program a client requires." Though he states that he is not a singer or lyricist, he sure can write, sing, rap, and produce some great shit!