The Ethos of TONE DEF!
May 15th, 2010, almost 10 years ago to the day, I created a brand. I called it BUNGALOW 19. However, when I went down to the county register, I changed the name to STUDIO 19 at the advice of my family members. I regretted that decision immediately, but I decided to just roll with the punches. Shortly after that I started writing my first book, RELATIONTRIP. Which I wrote to help me deal with a break-up I was going through at that time. I would write about love, but deep down I was angry. The pain and anger that compelled me, and pushed me to start writing MELANCHOLY: THE BOOK OF PAIN, AGGRESSION AND REDEMPTION, at the same time I was writing RELATIONTRIP.
A few months later, somewhere around November that same year, I started previewing both books to friends and family. Some people loved my work, other people just crapped on it. The biggest complaint that I received was that each book was not poetry, they were song lyrics. My take away was that I rhymed too much to be a real poet, and I was too much of a poet to be a real Author. People laughed at me calling myself a Poet. One person told me to my face that I don’t look like or come across like an Author. That’s around the time I started writing my third poetry book, a book that would give life to my alter ego, “Tone Def”.
I started writing a book that would create a series of poetry collections that really spoke to my spirit, TONE DEF: THE SONGBOOK OF A FAILED MUSICIAN. 2010 was a definitive year in my life, as I grew into a new man. I felt free from everything. I felt connected to my soul. For the first time, I did not worry about tomorrow or what anybody thought about me. I was finally happy with me. Tone Def means that no matter what anybody says, I will pursue what’s in my heart and I will live my life doing my best. I will celebrate and champion all of my efforts even though I may be criticized for doing so. Tone Def also means that I don’t hear you, and I reject all of your negativity.
Now in 2025, a lot has changed. I got married, I wrote 15 more books, started a podcast based on RELATIONTRIP, and I started a photography business called BARKER SHOOTS. I even did Blog Contributing for STRANGE MUSIC.” Blessed all around, but yet I felt empty inside doing most of these things.
To be continued…