Donald Gaye (also known as Don Ravon), is a singer, songwriter, student, sound engineer, music director and amateur drummer and guitar player.

We had decided to meet at the local downtown coffee shop to do this interview.  It was way past the time I was supposed to leave.  I borrowed my house mate’s cell phone to call Mr. Gaye.

When I finally showed up and got some coffee, Donald Ravonne Gaye was sitting outside at a back table.  I apologized for being late.  He was fine with it.  I lit up a cigarette, clicked on the digital recorder and we began to talk.  Within five minutes, we were talking to people at the coffee shop, my cigarette was done, and the digital recorder was off.

Realizing this may not have been the best choice of location, we got our caffeine to go and walked across the street to the Dotmatrix Project’s office.  We conducted our interview there.  It was as follows:

Monkeywhale:   First of all, I’m very sorry that I was late.

Donald Gaye:   It’s okay, I wasn’t exactly here on time myself.

MW:  Good. First question:  Sharks or Monkeywhales?

DG:  Monkeywhales.  (laughs)

MW:  What’s your favorite color?

DG:  Gray.

MW:  Tell us about this Dotmatrix Project, and what you do.

DG:  Since I joined Dotmatrix, I’ve started working with the mixes, mixing the live recordings of the shows so that they are ready to be cut into an album.  Eventually, I took on the responsibility of cutting the album into tracks, for the album to be posted online.  Recently, I have also started booking for the shows, the first ones in April and May.  Those are the first two shows I’ve actually booked the bands for.  In doing so, I took on the title of music director- which means it is my job to talk to the bands, to get them to play the show, make sure that the band is prepared, work on the recording after the show, make sure the band likes the mixes, put the album online via Amie Street… When that’s done, it’s time to move on to the next band.

MW:  Sounds like you’re producing the show.

DG:  Essentially, yeah.

MW:  Okay, so, after doing a Dotmatrix show, a band gets…

DG:  They get a portfolio from the photographers- there are at least two or three photographers per show, we try to have four per show, so there’s a variety of styles.  The band can use those pictures for their bio, or whatever they want to do with them.  They also get a music video for one of their songs, and a live recording  which gets posted online, that is actually for sale through Amie Street, and available for listening on Last FM.  The money acquired on Amie Street goes to the bands.

MW:  Cool.

DG:  So they get an album that they didn’t have to pay for, photography, and a video, none of which they have to pay for.  On the flip side, they don’t get paid anything either.  So, I guess you could say that that’s the drawback of it, but I think it’s a pretty good balance.

MW:  Yeah.  When you say the bands GET the album, GET the photos, GET the videos… You’ve explained that they get the money from the album sales and downloads, but what happens with the video or the photos?

DG:  The photos are posted to our Flickr page and available to use, as long as the photographer’s credit is given, which is easily done through Flickr.  All the photographs are tagged by the photographer, and then the band can download those photos and use them as they please.

MW:  As long as they don’t make money off of them.  Or, can they make money off them?  I’m just trying to understand.

DG:  They can use the photos for whatever they need them for.  If they are used to make money- that’s not going to go through Dotmatrix.

MW:  That would be between the photographer and the band?

DG:  Exactly.  That’s a conversation for them to have.

MW:  Same thing with the videos?

DG:  Same thing with the videos.

MW:  So the photographers, you, the sound crew, everyone is doing this on a volunteer basis.

DG:  Yes.  We try to stick to being the connection between the film makers, photographers, bands, so they can keep in touch with each other, so they know that all of these talents exist, so they can work together on their own.  When they want to, if they want to.

MW:  Thus, the Matrix.  What brought you to the project?

DG:  Originally, it was for me to learn how to be a sound engineer.  As I got involved, I realized that it’s a great… tool doesn’t quite describe it.  It’s something more than just a tool, it’s a tool, it’s an outlet, it’s a way for the music scene in this area to actually grow.  It’s a focal point.  It’s something that can be known, in and of itself, but only because of all the people that are involved with it.  There is so much musical potential in this area, it’s a good thing that this exists.

MW:  Would you guys ever consider having a show at a place other than the Green Burro?  Maybe a place that didn’t have so many stairs?

DG:  Definitley.  (laughs).  We have had some challenges with those stairs.  The venue isn’t the important thing, though, it’s what happens there.

MW:  So, you’re a singer, a songwriter, a sound engineer (of both recorded and live music), you’re producing shows, you’re booking shows, you work in the music business on a lot of levels.  You are going to school for sound engineering.  Is your goal to become a sound engineer?

DG:  Originally, my goal was to become a studio engineer, to eventually own my own studio – or at the very least, to work at a studio.  Recording bands, putting out albums, you know, recording stuff.  That’s still a goal of mine.  I want to have my own studio space where I can record, bands can come in and make a record, and I can work on my own stuff – as I am a singer songwriter myself.  Inspiration shouldn’t be limited to the time that a certain place is open.  Right now, I can’t even afford to book studio time.  Being able to do it myself was part of the reason to go to school for sound engineering.  Now that I’m doing it – now that I’m THERE, all I’ve learned has made me want to do live sound, too.  Especially with the way the music industry is headed now.  There’s so much that you can do in a studio – and I’ve read a number of articles that say this- that you can lose some of the natural vibe of what you are trying to record.

MW:  Yeah, sure.

DG:  You can lose the human aspect of the recording, because you can tweek EVERYTHING.  Every single aspect of any song, you can tweek nowadays.. and, while it’s great to make something sound perfect,  the more perfect you get it, chances are, the less human its gonna sound.  (laughs)

MW:  I heard Perry Ferrell say, in an interview, when asked about the future of the music industry and the decline of the record industry:  Who cares?  The girl is always gonna want to wear her nice dress and go out on Friday and Saturday night, and the guy is always gonna take her, and so live music will never die.

DG:  I definetly agree with that.  Everyone always asks around: what’s going on this weekend?  what’s happening?  who’s playing where? – because they WANT to go out.  They want to see a live band and they want to be a part of that experience.  It really is as old as time.  I don’t see that ever changing.

MW:  I like that.

MW: You have your hands in a lot of pots, so to speak, with music… Do you consider yourself as a sort of a Jack of all trades, or is your focus is more on one than the other?

DG:  I like the idea of being a Jack of all trades.  I was talking to some friends the other day and during the conversation, someone brought up the Renaissance man.  Is there such a thing anymore?  Are there any Renaissance people anymore?  People tend to focus on one thing, one genre, and at the very least I want to do that with music.  No matter how much fun one thing is, I don’t think I could be happy just doing ONE thing with music.

MW:  You do so much already, and I have to ask you, do you make any money from all this?

DG:  Up until recently, I have made absolutely no money.  I have a couple of projects coming up that will bring me some money.  Nothing incredible, but I will have some money coming in from doing what I do.  …  I do WANT to make money doing this.  It would be great to be doing what I actually want to do, and make an income, make a living off doing it, you know, but it’s something I’m willing to wait for.

MW: What would you tell someone who said:  You’re stupid.  You should just get a job and make some money.  What would you tell them?

DG:  I’m too old for that.  (laughs)  I’ve gotta do what I wanna do, and I just have to run with it.  If it doesn’t work out, that’s great, and I can move on to something else.  I’m at a point where I have got to do what I can, and want, to do.  I’ve got to hold on to that motivation- and it’s really easy to hold on to that motivation.  If you find  something that you are easily motivated to do…  you should do it.  If I don’t make money at this, well, at least I did something that was fulfilling.  It may not draw wealth financially, but personally, I’ll feel wealthier.

MW:  Happiness doesn’t equal money to you, right?

DG:  No, it doesn’t.

MW:  What does happiness equal?

DG:  Fulfillment.

MW:  What would you tell someone who was younger than you, and was considering getting into music?

DG:  Run with it.  Do it.  Don’t hesitate.  If it’s something you don’t want to do, better to find out now instead of thinking back later in life and saying:  maybe I could’ve done that.  The only thing you can regret is something that you haven’t done.  My favorite quote is “choose again.”  That touches on the concept of free will.  You have the freedom to do what you will yourself to do.  In that respect, the sky’s the limit.

THE END

Learn more about the Dotmatrix Project.