In 7th grade, I built a mobile DJ setup using my stereo and an extra turntable, some wood, some black lights, and a microphone. It provided a good excuse to buy records!
As I've already mentioned in the Voice Over section, I transferred to a new school in 9th grade, and told all my new friends that I was a DJ, so they asked me if I wanted to DJ the upcoming dance. I said yes, and realized that my dinky little pretend setup wasn't going to do the job, so I created Stoner Sound Systems and designed and built a whole new setup, complete with a giant switch panel for all the lights that I also built. Eventually I started DJ-ing at other schools, parties, weddings, etc..
The "Last Dance" for Stoner Sound Systems was the actual 'last dance' of my last year in high school. From there, off to college! My experience custom building all of that equipment provided me with the abilities to get a work-study job at Berklee College of Music as part of the team that built, installed, and maintained the studios at Berklee that would be used for their (then) new Music Production & Engineering program, from which I eventually graduated.
These pics are amusing - they're from 1979 - 1982 while I was in high school!
