KNOCKSTUDY

Spring 2013 Finale + Summer 2013 Session

dlee — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:41:10 +0000

As we continue to work through the details of our Summer 2013 session, we thought we’d share some more pics and video from the recent Spring 2013 classes. Enjoy!

DFD gives students pointers on rapping & writing.

KS students cypher after class

DFD signs autographs for students

DFD gives pointers on rapping

Spring 2013 students w/ some KS alumni

Spring 2013 Update 2 (MC Classes)

dlee — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 19:42:58 +0000

Wow, time sure does fly. We’re entering into our final weeks of the Knockstudy classes and wanted to provide a quick update. Dumbfoundead dropped by this week to work with the students on improving their rapping skills. It was also great to be see Knockstudy alumni stop by to show support to the new class. It’s always a blessing to have artists and musicians stop by the Bresee center and work with the students. I believe this is what makes the Knockstudy program so special. With that being said, I thought I’d share a short clip of Murs and Fashawn cyphering with the Knockstudy students from the Summer 2012. A huge thank you to them for being gracious enough to stop by. Also, here are a few flicks from our current Spring 2013 students!

First MC Class of the year!

Enjoying spoken word by one of the studentsJosh explains to the KS crew

Josh explains to the KS crew

Spring 2013 Update 1 (Film classes)

dlee — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:50:37 +0000

Whether you agreed or disagreed with the results of the Oscar’s last week, you can’t help but appreciate the tremendous amount of hard-work and talent infused in all of the nominated films. Great scripts, lighting, directing, acting, editing, and so on… so many little things that need to be done right to make a great film. Anyways, we were inspired (or at least I was), and wanted to upload some pics from our very own film class. Taught by Jerold at Bresee, the film class meets twice a week to go over all of the basics of shooting, directing, and editing film. While Knockstudy is typically known for its music programs, film and digital media play such a HUGE role in what we do. Here are some pics!

PS – one other cool thing, film students will be collaborating with our MC rap students to shoot their own music video.

Spring 2013 Session

dlee — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:02:54 +0000

Sup Folks,

We’re excited to make a few announcements for our upcoming Spring 2013 session.

During the Spring 2013 session, Knockstudy will be offering three classes: (1) Beat-Making; (2) MC Writing; and (3) Film Making. So, if you’re attending junior high or high school and interested, make sure to apply! Applications can be downloaded at knockstudy.org/spring2013/.

Program Begins: Monday, February 11, 2013
Program Ends: Friday, March 22, 2013

MC Writing Class (Both Middle School & High School students): Learn the creative writing and performance process of creating Raps and Spoken Word Poetry. Monday & Wednesday 6:00- 7:00pm (High School)

Beat Making Class (High School students only): Learn about the beat making process with specialized computer software and technical devices. Tuesday & Thursday 5:00-6:00pm

Film Class (High School students only): Learn how to shoot your own short films. Monday & Wednesday 6:00 – 7:00pm

Location for all Workshops: Bresee Community Center – 184 S. Bimini Pl., Los Angeles, CA 90004 (www.bresee.org)

Please submit completed applications by February 8th to applications@knockstudy.org. Preference will be given to students who apply earlier. Once we receive your application, we will review them and contact you via email or phone regarding next steps. Notifications will be given as the applications are processed and no later than February 10th. Please feel free to contact us with any questions via email or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/knockstudy.

Bresee 2013

dlee — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 20:59:19 +0000

We’ve had the privilege of working with the Bresee staff since the summer of 2010. It’s been a blessing. I wanted to use this post to share some videos on the work that Bresee has done. See for yourself.

A clip of volunteers at the Bresee Community Center in Los Angeles (behind the Vons market on Vermont and 3rd St.) In addition to the free music workshops that we offer, Bresee also offers free SAT prep classes.

This video is a compilation of interviews from various Bresee alumni including Dumbfoundead

Have a great week everyone!

-Dan

Happy Thanksgiving!

dlee — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:44:16 +0000

I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of the people who made the past summer program possible. From the volunteers who reached out to artists and interviewed applicants, to the artists, themselves, that took the time out of their schedules to show up and teach, this program is only possible because of people like you. Thank you again for your continued support and I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays! Below are some long overdue photos from the Summer 2012 session.

Knockstudy Summer 2012 Group Photo

Knockstudy DJs

Knockstudy Summer 2012 MC Class

Knockstudy 2012 MC Cipher

Summer 2012 Update & LACMA: Through the Mic

dlee — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:57:26 +0000

Sup y’all! Hope everyone’s summer has kicked off nicely. We wanted to give a quick update on what’s been going on here at Knockstudy. Our Summer 2012 session is just around the corner, starting on July 2nd. We’ve received a TON of applications and the team has been diligently reviewing and making phone calls. If you applied, please expect a phone call this week, if you have not received one already. The phone call will serve as a short interview to get to know the applicants better.

Due to our limited resources and the growing size of the program, we will not be accepting students that have already graduated from high school. With that said, we are super excited to announce that we will be posting Youtube videos of our classes on our very own Knockstudy channel. This will give access to those students who are unable to attend. We will make announcements on our Facebook page when we post videos, so make sure to Like!

Lastly, our very own Knockstudy alumni and instructors DJ’d an event two days ago featuring Murs, Dumbfoundead, and Medusa called Through the Mic. Thought we’d share some flicks from the night. Have a great week everyone!

DJ Zo having fun on the ones and twos.

DFD rhyming in the lime light.

Gizzle mixes in a little crowd interaction

Breezy performs his solo.

Summer 2012 Applications Available Now!

dlee — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:16:53 +0000

Details and Applications for the Summer 2012 Knockstudy Program are now available at: 2012 Summer Session

Program Dates: Begins July 2nd and Ends Aug 10th

DJ Workshops: Learn how to scratch and mix with opportunities to DJ future events. Tues & Thurs 2:00 – 4:00pm

MC/Writing Workshops: Learn the technical and creative aspects of the art of rap and MCing. Tues & Thurs 4:00-6:00pm

Beat Making Workshops: Learn about the beat making process with specialized computer software and technical devices. Wed & Fri 4:00-6:00pm

Dance Workshops: Learn about popping and other elements of dance. Wed & Fri 4:00-6:00pm

Note: The applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. The final deadline to apply is 5pm, Monday, June 25th. Final decision notifications will be released by 5pm, Saturday, June 30th.

2012 LACMA & Knockstudy

dlee — Sat, 12 May 2012 01:24:27 +0000

Knockstudy came back to the LACMA! Jammin’ and rappin’, our Knockstudy musicians performed on stage once again at the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts. With over 400 high school students attending, the night was filled with loud music and crazy dancing. As it got darker with clouds filling the sky, hives of students rushed to the dance floor. The sky beamed of red lights and the speakers blasted with crazy combinations of dubstep and hip-hop. The hectic, yet extravagant, night lasted until LACMA closed.

It’s loud and it’s crazy! DJ Libra spins his set for the crowd for half the night. The crowd gathers to hear his remix on some of the most popular hip-hop songs out. ”I felt as if I had reached my dream but this is barely the start” -DJ LIBRA You can also check him out on his facebook page! http://www.facebook.com/pages/DJ-Libra/190676837643410

The audience goes up on stage and starts dancing while Amani Murphy spins! “I don’t know what it was about LACMA, but I got some weird energy surge there and was going crazy in the best way possible. Haha, I think it was the dubstep..” – Amani Murphy

Ryo Kawamata, a graduate of Intuition’s MC/Writing Class back in February, goes on stage to freestyle a verse. Listening to Ryo’s improvisational skills, the crowd cheers and awes simultaneously. “I look forward to the next collab event between Knockstudy and LACMA!” – Ryo Kawamata

Summer 2012 – Coming Soon!

dlee — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:51:32 +0000

Hey Y’all! Just wanted to give everyone a quick update on our upcoming Summer 2012 session. We’re in the planning process and look forward to announcing the details soon. Applications will be made available in late-May/early-June. For those of you not familiar with the program, Knockstudy offers a free 6-week DJ and Music Production program every summer at the Bresee Community Center in Los Angeles. (Note, you must apply to the program as equipment/space is limited.) The classes run for 2-hours and are taught by some of the best DJs and producers out there. We’re very excited to host our third year of classes and look forward to announcing the details as they become available! Check out some of our instructors from last two years!

A quick set by DJ Zo who is a founding father of our program and instructor for the DJ class!

A beat produced by Duke Westlake who helped teach our music production classes!

A song by Intuition who taught our MC/writing workshop!