Mario
The music years (1989 – 1998)
A decade as a working bassist in New York: two bands, a self-distributed album, a monthly residency, a German tour, and a Rawkus credit.
Rude Kulture (1989 – 1991)
Role: Co-founder.
Studio act. Self-funded about a year of paid studio time toward an album that was never released.
Tracks included Freedom Boots, Funky Love Train to Zion, Revolution Cried, and RagaDelic Moisture.
Tools and skills: Songwriting, Studio recording, Self-funding a project.
Sectors and areas: Music.
Survival Soundz (1993 – 1999)
Role: Bassist and co-founder.
Live band co-founded with JaMaki (James Knight). Six years of writing, recording, releasing, and touring on our own terms.
Tools and skills: Bass, Live performance, Arrangement, Band leadership, Booking.
Sectors and areas: Music.
Survival Soundz · Twilight 12" (1996)
Role: Bassist.
Twelve-inch single on Ceora Soul Records. B-side: Peace A De Rock.
Tools and skills: Bass, Recording, Vinyl release.
Sectors and areas: Music.
Survival Soundz · Rootzbop Melodies (1997)
Role: Bassist and co-founder.
Debut album. Self-released and self-distributed; about 10,000 copies sold hand to hand.
Tools and skills: Bass, Recording, Self-release, Direct distribution, Sales.
Sectors and areas: Music.
Avant Yard at ThoughtForms Underground, TriBeCa (From 1997)
Role: Founder and host, with Survival Soundz.
Monthly Saturday-night multimedia residency in Malik Yusef Cumbo’s basement gallery on Franklin Street: live band, guest MCs, spoken word, DJs, visual art.
Hosted a Mos Def benefit for Mumia Abu-Jamal; Black Thought and others came through. Named alongside Lyricist Lounge as a room where that generation came up (LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, Poetry Foundation).
Tools and skills: Event production, Curation, Live sound, Community building.
Sectors and areas: Music, Culture / Museums.
Survival Soundz · Marlboro Workwear Tour, Germany (1998)
Role: Bassist.
Thirty days, six cities: Hamburg (weekday base), Stuttgart, Hanover, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Cologne.
Tools and skills: Touring, Live performance.
Sectors and areas: Music.
Lyricist Lounge, Volume One · Rawkus Records (1998)
Role: Bassist, Survival Soundz.
Survival Soundz featured on the Kool Keith and Sir Menelik disc of the two-disc Rawkus compilation, credited as Mario “Jomo” Moorehead.
Alongside Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, Common, Black Thought, Jurassic 5, KRS-One. Disc 1 hosted by De La Soul at Tramps; Disc 2 “Live at Shea Stadium”.
Tools and skills: Bass, Studio recording.
Sectors and areas: Music, Media.