MadPunK

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MadPunK is a spoken word artist and musician in the Washington, D.C. area.

He has been writing poems and music since 1987 and has performed with nationally known artists such as Fishbone and Doctor MaddVibe as well as some local DC bands like Evick, AfunkUnation, and Grilled. Throughout his life he has been in bands and written and performed songs in multiple musical genre's from rock to punk to rap and even R&B.

1 Musical Beginnings
2 Mississippi State University
3 Washington D.C. and Fishbone
4 Discovering Spoken Word
5 Bands
6 Discography
7 External links

[edit] Musical Beginnings

His parents insisted at an early age that he learn a musical instrument so he chose the electric guitar. His mother would bring the acoustic guitar that he'd settled for to the school at Christmas time and make him play Christmas songs for his class every year. Finally he discovered that pianos aren't portable and switched to piano lessons. He eventually changed instruments again in high school to the saxophone and got his first trumpet by trading a car stereo for it with a friend.

At around 13 he began writing poems and music and trying to figure out creative ways to mix them together. His parents had always discouraged him from Rock'n'Roll, which of course drove him straight to it. In 2nd grade he discovered his father's Beatles and Drifters albums and the soundtrack to American Graffiti. By the age of 14 he had discovered bands like Black Flag, the Descendents, The Cure, Jimi Hendrix, and Fugazi. These are the bands that would influence his poems and music until 1991 at a boarding school when he would be introduced to the music of Fishbone by his roommate. When he heard Fishbone he realized that this is a band that has found a way to merge all the music he loved into one style. Fishbone would become a major force in his life and music.

[edit] Mississippi State University

In college, MadPunK made friends with Del Rendon of The Downstroke and Mike Freed (Bubba Cheese) of Rag Magnolia who would influence and push his music even further.

[edit] Washington D.C. and Fishbone

MadPunK would leave Mississippi State University for Washington, D.C. in 1995. The first month he was there, Fishbone was playing at the 9:30 Club on the Chim Chim's Badass Revenge Tour. He went to the show and vowed to meet the band that night before he left. After the show he met Norwood Fisher and got a poster signed by the band. Neither of them realized at the time that just 3 years later they would be friends.

Eventually MadPunK got a job doing Internet Technology stuff and learned to make websites. He made a fan site for Fishbone, which caught Norwood's attention and soon became the band's official website. He hung out with the band regularly when they were in town and eventually MadPunK, Norwood, and Angelo were very close friends.

[edit] Discovering Spoken Word

Angelo Moore gave MadPunK some of his Doctor Maddvibe spoken word CDs. It had never occurred to him before to read his poems out loud or perform them. Eventually he would show Angelo some of his own poems. Angelo liked them and encouraged MadPunK to begin performing. He offered to let him open for him at the Velvet Lounge on U Street in Washington, D.C. To prepare for this, MadPunK started performing at open mic nights at the Poet's Den in the Kaffa House, also on U Street. After his performance with Angelo, he began doing more spoken word shows around the D.C. area. He eventually began performing in other states as well. He has also done a one time spoken word event on RadioBBQ in 2005.