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on 3/20/2006 8:12:09 AM
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Bio: Born in Brooklyn, NY September 26th, 1971, DJ Harry Bellyfonte always knew from birth what he would become. As a child toys did'nt interest him. His mother (R.I.P.) would purchase all the latest toys and games every Christmas and they would all end up sitting in the closet. Harry never played with toys, all he did was listen to the radio. WBLS and Kiss FM to be exact. He always wanted to be a DJ. At first to be a radio DJ, talking and introducing new records. Realizing he was too shy for that he cut out all the talking and just played the music. You see Harry was a fan of the Kiss Mastermixes. Listening intently to figure out how the DJ's did such things with those records
When Harry was 10 years old he was invited to meet his uncle. His name was DJ "Sonny D". It was the first time Harry ever saw DJ equipment in its entirety. He had everything, two Technic turntables, mixer, amps, preamps, equalizers and the biggest speakers he's ever seen in his life literally because they were genuine 18" Earthquake speakers. Sonny knew Harry was interested in music and wanting to learning how to DJ so he wasted no time teaching him. He taught Harry how to mix two records and bring them back and forth. That's mostly what Sonny did because he was a "Block Party DJ." Once Harry learned how to mix records, he and his friends became the dj's for their sixth, seventh and eighth grade class parties.
Harry Bellyfonte grew up in Albany Projects, Brooklyn and just about all of Harry's friends were either rappers or dj's. Influenced by them all, he became both. DJ Scratch was "The man" in Albany when it came to tricks, cutting and scratching. Scratch was a "Trick" DJ or "Performance" DJ. Scratch taught him what he could but Harry was too heavy handed to be
as good as he could have been.
When Harry started high school, Scratch introduced him to the one DJ he credits the most when it comes to his career and thats DJ CLark Kent. Clark Kent taught him about music and how to listen to it. The first thing he said to Harry was "Just because its not on the radio doesn't mean it's not good." He told him that some of the best records won't get airplay.
Harry carries that with him to this day! Clark Kent taught him how to count bars in music and what a hook, chorus and bridge was. Clark also did something very unique while teaching Harry how to play. He would make tapes then tell Harry to listen to them at home and figure out what he did. This in turn gave him an audiovisual that allowed him not only to hear the music, but see the music. Clark Kent was and still is a "Party DJ."
When Harry graduated from high school in 1989 he turned professional. He started doing basement parties, baby showers, and the like. It wasn't until Clark Kent let him play reggae for him at South Street Seaport (NYC) "Aaron Hall's Birthday Party" is when he knew how badly he wanted to be a DJ. It was the biggest venue he's ever played at until that point and it gave him an education. He had no idea what it would be like until he got to "Sweetwater's." Clark Kent gave Harry the headphones and said "Do your thing!" and he did! Once Harry got off he remembers Clark Kent responding to rapper Heavy D - "Why don't you let your man play some more reggae?" Clark looked at him and said "Who's the DJ me or you?" and Heavy D threw his hands up and walked away!
Harry played with Clark a few more times before going alone, developing his own style along the way. Since the early 90's, Harry has played in numerous clubs in and out of state. His experience makes him a respected DJ in the industry and he plans to be for a very long time.
You can check Harry Bellyfonte out at WWW.DJHARRYBELLYFONTE.COM
Soundproof's own "Harry Bellyfonte"
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