Today we’d like to introduce you to Butch Gibson.
Hi Butch, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am a CompTIA A+ Certified Computer Tech / On Air Radio Announcer / Award Winning Mobile DJ & Entertainment Specialist. I started DJing in the mid-1980s with an assortment of cheap, free, found, broken equipment. I played around, practiced, and experimented inside my parents’ basement and even in a small ‘fleet’ of VW vans. From those humble beginnings, I have quite a few awards and plaques including but not limited platinum and gold sales awards from my days in community radio, a 2015 Guinness World Record award (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhrFkXFV6HI) as the DJ for the LARGEST Wobble dance consisting of 2,241 participants, and others. I’ve also worked day jobs in mainly in retail sales management and eventually computer tech support.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Most if not all of the things I’ve done have been because of the way I look at things. I don’t think that I’m that different but maybe I look at things differently. Picking and choosing tools or resources from one industry and attempting to repurpose them for another. One of the first things I did was buy a VW van for $185 and using masking tape, I spelled out my name on the side. Then using a collection of Radio Shack adapters, I hooked up a sound system with PA speakers, a digital delay/sampler, four-track recorder, and microphone. Taking the party on the road, to the park, or any other location with or without electricity. I didn’t have a lot of money but I tried to have a lot of creativity. That might have been my message, especially while doing a radio show on WAIF 88.3 FM in Cincinnati, Ohio. I think there is opportunity out there and maybe it just takes a certain perspective to be able to see it. So not necessarily a smooth road for me, but the struggle was just to be able to see and find a way through the challenges.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I enjoy playing around with audio. I’ve told people when they ask me to do things for them that I might do ‘that thing’ in the same way that I cut my own hair. I cut my own hair to my level of satisfaction but I may not be ready to open up a barbershop. Some of the work that I’m most proud of has just been when I’m poking around with sound. I’ve provided a few links (if you’ve got time) for you to review. One of the longer links (2 hours long) is audio from an event held right after a local disc jockey committed suicide. We just wanted to get together and talk about it and try to help. Not sure if it helped anyone but the effort was made. I think that might set me apart too. While some folks look up to me, I find that I might uplift or promote others and that might make me the happiest. Since about 2016 one of the projects that I’m happiest about is the #MyHiddenFigures project. Every year and for each day during Black History Month, I highlight and honor someone who has made some sort of impact in my life.
The 1988 – 1989 Audio Collage – 1989 side of the original cassette
https://soundcloud.com/butchgibson/audiocollage1989
The 3rd Annual Rollerworld / Royals Reunion Day Party
Public Enemy Samuel Jackson Fight The Power 2nd Draft Audacity Remix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooscBgj3m6Y&t=1s
Butch and Genine’s African Wedding 1992 (1080p)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxy6uf17Z_8
Disc Jockeys (DJ’s), Depression and Suicide (audio only) PG-13 Serious Topics – Some Adult Language
#MyHiddenFigures 2018 TED Triangle Talk
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Experimenting with audio in my parents’ basement.
Contact Info:
- Email: ButchGibson@ButchGibson.com
- Website: ButchGibson.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butchgibson/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ButchGibson/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ButchGibson
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ButchGibson
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/butchgibson/
Image Credits
Frank D. Young
Malcolm A. Gibson
William Imperial
D Brown
Greg Reese Jr.
Richard Ricky
Warner Christian Boykin
