One of many things I have learned throughout my career, is that the best thing you can do with any notoriety or ‘celebrity’ that one may attain in life is to use it to help others.  Around 2007 I was riding a huge wave of attention for my work.  Around that same time, my good friend Jimmy Rollins (formerly of the Philadelphia Phillies and now of Los Angeles Dodgers) invited me to a charity bowling event in Center City Philadelphia.  While the event itself was a great time, it started making me think on how I could use my position in the music industry to help others.  It took me a few years to really work through my ideas and finally after moving to Atlanta in 2009, I figured it out.

Mind for Music was created to allow me to provide mentorship for young individuals with disabilities that show an affinity for music and wish to pursue a career within the industry.  The most important element is knowledge.  The purpose of knowledge is to hand it down to others so that they may have an advantage at an earlier point in life.  The things that I learned early on about production, recording, mixing, working with artists, etc etc I had taught myself.

Not until years into my career did I start surrounding myself with others that I could really learn from in order to maintain my career at a major level.  The mission of Mind for Music is for me to be able to almost go back in time and help someone who is in the same position I once was and provide knowledge and experience that they may not see for years into their own career.

Since its creation, we have been able to mentor several individuals in their entry phases into the music business. We have provided intern positions to learn all aspects of a career in production, conducted recording sessions with artists to provide production, recording, and mixing tips and also business advice in regards to everything from filing copyrights, contracts and overall business etiquette.  Those individuals are well on their way to thriving via music, and we look forward to helping many more in the future.