GWT: Well, I got into DJ'ing through Grand Master Flash and my brother Mean Jean. Flash went on to form his own group, the Furious Four. Me and my brother Mean Jean and my brother Cordio, we formed our own group called the L brothers.

Scratch: There wasn't really hip-hop back then, so what about the music got you into DJing?

GWT: The music that was out right then was the James Brown records and the Aerosmith's and the Billy Joel's. So many different rock bands had a lot of down beats in the record and we just played it. If it sounded funky we'd play it. No discrimination at all.

Scratch: How did you develop the scratch?

GWT: Actually, I created the needle drop before I created the scratch. My mother had a little turntable in our house. I'm sure everyone's moms had a little turntable in the house, and I used to play like, the James Brown records or the Dennis Coffey records. I used to skip the needle back and forth on the turntable and as time went by it developed into a skill and I was very astonished at myself. As far as the scratch is concerned, basically, I was just practicing it in my house after I got out of school [Theodore was 12 when he started DJ'ing]. I'd come home and do my homework, do whatever I was supposed to do, then I'd go into the room and just be fooling around with different records. It was important to me to know what record to play behind the record that was playing cause people were dancing so you had to keep the precise rhythm going. My moms was banging on the door because it was a little bit too loud. The music was like "boom-boom", and when she opened up the door she looked at me like, "You crazy?" and she was like, "Turn your music down or turn it off." So while she was talking to me I had one record playing real low and I was moving the other record back and forth and when she walked out the door I realized what I was doing. As time went by I practiced with different records and perfected it and practiced it and practiced it and as time went by people could actually come to the party or hear my tape and hear me actually scratching certain parts of the record and they'd be like, "wow!"

Scratch: Do you remember the first party that you went to and did that?

GWT: Yeah, we used to do a party every week at this place called the Sparkle. During the summer time all the DJ's had to do block parties around the area so that when it gets cold outside and you pass out your flyers, people would know that you had a nice sound system, you got all the records, you know, so they'd come to your party. As time went by people would come to the party and be like, "Wow, this guy is scratching the record back and forth" and it was killing everybody. Some people would keep dancing and some people would actually walk up to the front, trying to find out what's going on. It was mind boggling.

Scratch: What's going on with you right now?

GWT: Right now I have a CD coming out called "Hip-Hop Heads" and the CD has different MCs on it from San Francisco, London, the Midwest, Miami. It's just MC's from all over because I'm tired of listening to the same old recycled MCs on the radio every day... there's a lot of talent out there and I wanted to display the new talent... everywhere that I go there's always someone handing me a CD or cassette or something like that, so I take it home to listen to and if I like it I'll call them back and say, "Hey I want to put you on my CD."

Scratch: Do you do a lot of traveling around the United States?

GWT: I just recently came back from Berkeley, California. Me and Grandmaster Caz from the Cold Crush Brothers went to Berkeley and did a seminar... and in Seattle, Washington, Bill Gates has this private school for kids and I went out there with DS1 and brought our own turntables and did a little seminar. At the end we had the little kids come up and scratch on the turntables.

Scratch: How do you feel about seeing a new generation of people both in Seattle and here at Scratch DJ Academy getting into this art form that's been such a huge part of your life?

GWT: I think it's good because people are able to express themselves. I mean, this culture and this art form people… were waiting for it and didn't even know they were waiting for it. It's good because it creates a lot of jobs. We have a lot of women getting into it which is cool. It brings so many different cultures together, because hip-hop is around the world. You know what I'm saying, and I feel that the way hip-hop has brought so many ethnic groups together, people are able to understand each other better and people are able to get along with each other better which is cool man.... this art form is gonna be around for a long time because each generation that's listening to it is coming up and keeping it going. I mean, 20 years ago that generation was just getting into it and that generation is now keeping it going.

Scratch: Having been in the DJ game for more than 25 years, what would you tell people who are just getting into this art form?

GWT: Basically, just keep practicing. Try to develop your own style because it's just so competitive out there and it's very important for you to develop your own style so that you can stand out. Don't let nobody tell you that you can't do it, because it can be done. Surround yourself with positive people because you have people out there that don't want to see you make it before they make it, instead of you making it and them being like, "congratulations, you deserve it." I'm the kind of person that when I make it, I bring all my friends in. I just tell people to keep practicing. Get some turntables in your house. If you don't have any turntables you can come to the Scratch Academy and you will be taken care of. Because the Scratch Academy is definitely good for the people to come and actually practice and get on some turntables because everybody is not as fortunate to get turntables. I think it's good that people can actually go somewhere and get on the turntables and actually practice instead of going to someone's house... that said, there's nothing like having your own. And people out there that are trying to get into the DJ game, just be dedicated, make sure it's what you really want to do, because it's not as easy as it looks. I wouldn't like to say this, but it's not for everybody, but you will never know until you've tried.

Check out Theodore's forthcoming CD and find other news about him on his website, www.gwtmusic.com.

1. Place the instrumental record on one turntable and the scratch record
on the other turntable.

2. Slide the pitch on the instrumental record down to -8% or -10%
(depending on the pitch range of your turntable) and start playing the
record. Using the scratch record, start doing a baby scratch on beat
and continue to scratch for the length of instrumental's song.

3. Once you feel comfortable doing a baby scratch at -8%, slide the
pitch on the instrumental record up to 0. Start doing a baby scratch on
beat again. This time, you will need to be scratching at a slightly
faster pace to keep up with the faster beat.

4. Once you feel comfortable doing a baby scratch at 0, slide the pitch
on the instrumental record up to +8%. Start doing a baby scratch on
beat again.

5. Next, slide the pitch on the instrumental record back down to -8% and
turn the platter to 45 RPMs. Your instrumental should now be going very
fast. Start doing a baby scratch on beat again.

6. If you are still comfortable scratching to the beat, both quickly,
cleanly and rhythmically, repeat the steps from above by first moving
the pitch up to 0, and then up to +8%. If done properly, you will be
doing a baby scratch at the fastest possible speed that the record will
allow.

7. To take this exercise to the next level, perform all the steps over
again, except that you should scratch double time on beat - two baby
scratches per beat. This scratch is called the scribble scratch. So
turn your instrumental back to 331/3 RPMs, slide the pitch down to -8%
and start all over again.

This exercise will greatly increase your scratching speed and accuracy.
The most important thing is that you do not increase the speed of the
instrumental record until your are fully comfortable scratching at the
slower speed. As with any instrument, playing something fast and sloppy
is a lot easier than playing something fast and cleanly. Make sure you
master each level of speed before you advance to the next level.