Smoke is Grad Dai’s keyboardist. He is one of the six members of a hot new group on the Baltimore underground scene.
Shani: You just had a show at Fish Head Cantina. Do you have any other upcoming shows?
Smoke: August will be going to perform at the Pit, a beach in North Carolina. There will be a lot of featured bands and this will being our first time performing there.
Shani: How long have you been playing keys?
Smoke: I started playing at 7 at my church.
Shani: Do you play any other instruments?
Smoke: I play a little bit of guitar, little bit of trumpet and drums, but my main instruments are piano and saxophone.
Shani: Oh, you play sax too? Do you have any songs with Grad Dai playing sax?
Smoke: Oh, no, no, no , no , no! That’s where our other band member, Gary Who, plays sax for the band. I am working on a song that both of us can play the sax at the same time.
Shani: How long has the band been established? <br><br>
Smoke: It's about to be two years, we started playing in August 2008.
Shani: I had the chance to check the band out at Club Reality for the “Jazz and Friends” show.
Smoke: Oh yeah! I like Club Reality. I think it’s one of the best venues that we performed thus far. I love the atmosphere.
Shani: How did you get to work with Jazz of Dru Hill?
Smoke: To be honest with you, Kato, the rapper in the group, has been keeping contact with Jazz. There was a performance at Reality called “Unframed” and he was just randomly there. While we were playing, someone from the group pointed him out. I didn’t know he was there, that was extra wild for me. Afterwards, someone told us that Jazz wanted to talk to him upstairs in the club, from that point on we have been keeping in contact with him. Another big show that we did was Ram’s Head! I’m going to speak on my perspective, Ram’s Head was like Madison Square Garden, as far as stage and performance. It was a great experience. It’s always a beautiful thing when you see everyone come in and focus on what we’re playing.
Shani: That’s awesome! Do the members have their own Facebook pages?
Smoke: Yes, we have our own pages, but you can find on Facebook under Grad Dai.
Please visit the previous articles on Kato and Zeno of Grad Dai.
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