The tale of Tony ValadeZ..

“I got into a lot of trouble but never got caught. I think art changed my life. I remember roaming the halls listening to Blackmoon, Del, Hiero, and KRS ONE."

“I grew up in Van Nuys (Langdon and Roscoe) & just FYI, if your car ever dies any where near that area, run or call 911 for back up!”

Renaissance artist & radio show host Tony Valadez has a lot of stories to tell. This essay is a collection of our conversations. Let the tale of Tony unfold... “My past is pretty cliche, young boy grows up in the ‘hood, mother is a crack head, ends up in jail and is raised by foster care and with grandfather- the usual.” Tony, I got news for you partner, that’s not the usual. Tony is modest when he talks about himself, but after observing his workload & watching him work – it’s time to give this guy his props & I’m just the guy to do it.

There are never enough stories like Tony’s & these are the most important stories to tell. We already have enough tragedy. Let’s celebrate those who have prevailed in victory even when the odds were against them!

Tony’s example shows that above all art is a tool for growth. All at once, this cat excels as a DJ, radio show host, writer, performer & community organizer. “I got into a lot of trouble but never got caught. I think art changed my life. Just being able to dabble in class and create masterpieces on lined paper. I remember my mother being arrested, and just wanting to escape life, so I always carried around my headphones with tapes. I remember roaming the halls listening to Blackmoon, Del, Hiero, and KRS ONE.

Tony is a man of music. The first time I met him through filmmaker Rodney Lopez, within minutes we were in his home studio with a microphone & headphones. Tony lives in Das Bauhaus.

“Art, drawing, and music allowed me to create this world of self peace. My grandfather took custody of me and I worked for him over the summers earning enough money to buy a pair of turntables. I became a total music junkie. I remember taking the bus to Melrose to check out the record shops, and buy one record a week! I would sit on the RTD bus excited to go home and bump the record. I was introduced to Theatre by a gentleman named Phil Simms who had this project based in Watts (Jordon High School) entitled "Colors United". This was a program to help at risk youth develop theatre, art, dance and musical skills.

“I had to commute via bus from Van Nuys to get to this program. And sometimes the founder of the program Phil Simms would pick me up and take me home. Crazy ass drive, but he would sit there and kick knowledge on the ride home and it didn’t make any sense to me at the time, but now that shit is makes all sense. He now works out of Europe creating social programs for change and calls me every now and then and I sit there and go back to 94 when I was a shorty being driven home.”

Those early sessions provided the blueprint for his success. “We were part of this production entitled "Watts Side Story" and traveled to the FLorida Keys for the Ernest Hemmingway Festival, as well as Washington DC to perform for Pres. Clinton. A documentary was eventually made about this program and nominated for an Oscar.” Tony was later accepted to California State Summer School of the Arts, and received the Governors Medal in the Arts. He is now enrolled @ California State University at Northridge, where he is a couple units shy of his BA. in Theatre Arts. He is currently in the works of sound designing a production with the L.A Migration Theatre Project @ UCLA. “An awesome project which busses inner city youth to UCLA for a 3 week theatre/spoken word/video multi media project.”

He got involved in the project when Corky Dominguez (PLAY- Performances for Los Angeles Youth/Mark Taper Forum) came out to see his show entitled "Blasting Holes in the Night." In the play, Tony utilizes live mixing and turntablism. Tony says, “this hip hop aesthetic is beginning to catch on in Theatre today. The aesthetics and guerilla theatre are almost parallel to the birth of hip hop. And I’m glad Corky is able to grasp this concept!

Through his studies @ CSUN, he has traveled across the county performing theatre pieces. He also wrote his own play that was produced. It was a modern adaptation of Antigone's Sophocles and dealt with the prison system and urban culture. He has also traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico to work with the indigenous populations in the mountains. The man’s been working!

Tony also spins at several clubs around Los Angeles, including the Temple Bar. “Spinning at the Temple Bar has also allowed me to play music that I love and develop friendships based around music which is awesome! The show is all free! I don’t get paid to do this, its all love! I remember one night, we celebrated the life of Martin Luther King, and this woman tells us she is diggin’ the show! Turns out this lady was with the panthers during the late 60's and loved what we were doing! It was gratifying!

Tony’s radio show Tables of Content was not easy to get on air at first. KCSN is mainly an opera format station, & the previous GM of the station made that real clear. That didn’t stop Tony. “I read an awesome Chuck D interview somewhere where he said it was a battle to get his college radio show & that just inspired me to fight! I sent letters to the President of the university, The Dean & so on. Finally out of the blue, I get a call from the new GM telling me he is interested! I was excited! I love radio & the power it has to reach out and touch! I remember being a shorty and on Saturday nights & scanning the radio dial, and back in the day KCRW was playing some obscure stuff, and other public radio shows that would mix jazz with speeches by Malcolm X, Dr. King, and other great speakers, and I truly felt like I was the only person hearing this! I was real young, and while every one was out partying, here I was being exposed to some really crazy hip hop beats with these great intellectual minds discussing social commentary. I was blown away!

The format of Table of Contents shows the man has done his homework when it comes to radio shows, “There was KDAY, The Wake up Show, Chocolate City with Garth, Spacewaves --Radio with Carlos Nino, and Morning Becomes Eclectic, all which play some really cool music, exposing listeners to new and innovative sounds! This is what radio is supposed to be! Exposing, not playing the same 10 songs on constant rotation! Radio should lead the way for progression, and unite communities! That is what we attempt to do! Bring on local community members to discuss their projects! Bring on poets, painters, critics, homeless peeps, to discuss ideas!

He uses the airwaves as a template for this.

He's had a who’s who of underground culture on his show. He gets real excited talking about it, “We had: Danny Hoch (actor and activist from Jails Hospitals and Hip Hop discussing the Cuban Hip Hop delegation and his work with inmates in Rikers Island, Jerry Quickly kicking knowledge about his work with youth and his reporting from Iraq! Medusa kicking knowledge about the history of LA Hip Hop (and then guess who came in during the interview?? MEAR ONE from CBS Graff crew!) We had Cody ChesnuTT talking about working on his headphone masterpiece and not wanting to change his sound for no one – for the sake of his art! Awol One freestyling about his butt, We had Don Larson (local arts activist) on our air waves telling everyone to vote! We had Tre from the Pharcyde telling us his struggles as a human and artist. We were blessed with Carlos Nino (spacewaves radio) blessing us with some cool music, and his thoughts on music today! I’m a music lover first. And its an honor to utilize the airwaves as a tool to attempt to make some kind of change!

When I die, I want peeps to be able to say

‘yeah I remember that cat.’

Don’t worry Tony, with all of your positive work, there’ll be no way to forget about you. If you live in Los Angeles, you can check Tony @ the Temple Bar or you can catch his show online Monday nights, Midnight to 2AM. Tables of Content on 88.5 fm KCSN Spinning everything from soul, rare groove, underground hip hop classics, world beat to dub.

818 885 5276.