EL DISJOKI...

As Puerto Rican native, Dj Soundwav's musical taste buds were first exposed to the rich sounds of salsa, plena, bomba and the early stages of reggaeton in the late 80s early 90s . After relocating with his family to multi-cultural Miami , FL in the US of A in 1991, he was then introduced to many other genres of music. Growing up in the church, his spiritual roots grew deep with a passion for music with a message. At that time his only avenue was his youth group, camp retreats and local parties where he would 'mix' with tapedecks.

Years passed and a young Soundwav grew more zealous after his new found hobby. As his music library grew along with the passion to expose music to the masses his spiritual leaders took notice and offered him an opportunity to Dj at a local skating ring on Thursday nights what was then known as "Christian Skating Night". After that chapter in his life closed another opportunity opened up to start an official Christian Club for high-school/college on Friday's known as Club Tsunami by Grace Church of Kendall. Tsunami grew to be one of the most successful night spots for Christians and non-alike to spend the time on Fridays. This opened up many doors for Soundwav and set a trend for Night-Hangouts in South Florida.

After much hard work, Dj Soundwav has had the privilege of being a part of major movements within the Christian underground scene. He's helped launch Christian clubs and events in South Florida along with helping contribute to current organizations and ministries.

In 2005, Soundwav was invited to be a part of a new program for young people on a reformatted station along with JBlaze. During this time, Friday Night Fuego was born; a unique show that blends Reggaeton with Hiphop all while JBlaze and Soundwav pilot the program. The success of this show has been phenomenal and is now syndicated online to thousands of listeners along with the thousands that listen on the FM dial through La Nueva 88.3 & 90.9 fm. Out of this, Radio Revolution FM branched out. A show starring Dj Soundwav & co-host Andrea that mixes Top40 format music along with electronic mixes by Djs from around the world known as the "Trance.formed Sessions."

Now known for being an on-air personality on La Nueva 88.3 & 90.9 fm on Fridays and Saturday nights in Friday Night Fuego & Radio Revolution, the Revolution Team plan on expanding the ideas to a new magazine, video (that has already been established as MyFuegoTV.com) and some other top-secret endeavors. His ideas along with the teams on FNF & Radio Rev has begun a wild-fire of programming in radio never before seen in So. Florida with these two innovative shows and Dj Soundwav couldn't feel more privileged and honored that God has placed him in the right place, at the right time to be a part of a revolution.

The Designer...

The accounts per Angel A. Acevedo:

As I graduated high school, I went ahead and enrolled in Miami-Dade College [then known as Miami-Dade Community College ] in late 1998 since it was the scholarly thing to do. Going into college with the naive-ness (if there is such a word) of a high-schooler proved to not be such a great idea. Frankly, it was high-school allover again, except that we didn't really have to attend class... so I didn't, I mean, who in their right mind would actually attend class, right? (so I thought).

After failing at college miserably (which was really just 2 semesters for me) I decided to work full-time. I had different retail jobs here and there until I landed at DSW Shoe Warehouse. It was the beginning stages of the company so I actually enjoyed working and moved up in rank rather quickly. I was there for about two years until I was fed up with cleaning after peoples mess, dealing with holiday foot (literal) traffic, and the crazy hours for inventory. I remember the last 6 months I was in anguish. I kept telling God to give me a job in front of a computer. I kept telling Him over, and over, and over. Matter of fact, I even told my co-workers, that I would one day be in front of a computer getting paper cuts and sitting all day. They didn't quite believe me.

After about 4 months of that, I received a call from a friend needing "Photoshop" help. I didn't even know Photoshop existed. I trained for about 1 hour and gave it a go, frankly, I had no idea what I was doing. According to him, I did great. A couple of weeks passed and he called me again, saying that he had a client of his looking for a 'young apprentice' to help on some clerical and design work. I though "what the heck why not." So I left the retail biz for good by faith not knowing what I was getting into. God honors that thought, the leap of faith.

At my job interview with Sioux (pronounced Sue) she asked what programs did I know... I said "uhh, I know paintbrush?!" in a self-assuring way. And believe me, knowing paint was a stretch even though my dad always said I was good at the computer. She gave me a puzzled look and said "Ok, I'll give you a chance and I'll train you as we go." I, of course, was super excited and at $8.75 /hr that's not too shabby for an inexperienced apprentice.

I worked like a sponge, absorbing anything and everything that came my way. I did everything in the office, answered phones, deliveries, made morning coffee (don't ask me how), filed etc... since it was just my boss, the pressman and myself. It was, really, an experience that proved to be priceless. The first program I learned was Corel Draw 8. I found it to be quite easy. Then I learned about bleeds, pre-press, color separation and tons of stuff. I made loads of errors but asked alot of questions to Alex, the press guy to vendors, printshops. I learned a lot during those years. My biggest feat was a "Denny's" style menu that I designed in Corel. It took me forever to finish and I now look back and laugh, but it was my greatest accomplishment at that shop. Our vendor that was printing it wasn't too happy since it was designed in Corel and it took approx 45 min to open the file. During that time I also learned a program called Adobe Illustrator, I had no idea what it was for but came to the conclusion that Illustrator along with Photoshop was a good mix. I dabbled a bit in those two til' I really started picking up speed. The first flyer I designed in Photoshop was for Club Tsunami (its beginning stage, you can read my Dj bio about it) and I used about 10 fonts and all the effects possible, I'll upload it so you can have a good laugh.

After asking for a raise and not getting it, I decided to look elsewhere and ended up at another printshop where I learned the MAC format. I grew much there and my design style evolved quite nicely. I was still doing newbie mistakes but I was getting pretty good at design. I worked there for about 3 years and worked in different departments. I remember they actually stationed me at Downtown Miami where I had to take a train in the mornings and evenings to come and go. I even had my own scooter to make deliveries for copies to local attorneys. It was quite fun. At another point I ended up being Manager for the sign-shop, there I learned how to combine programs to get the desired result. I remember I had to install vinyl signs on a huge 40' delivery truck for a Party Company, those confettis were a mission to put on in vinyl. I used PC for Corel Draw and MAC for the Adobe software. I learned a lot there.

I decided to leave that shop to pursue freelance with a fellow friend/designer, Ambert Rodriguez. Things there were not as hectic as a printshop but we had more creative freedom. Though I think the print-shop experience is priceless, the design studio atmosphere is indescribable. During this time I started going back to school. I attended Robert Morgan Ed Center (a Vo-tech College ) where I met Mr. Martin. This man was and is a blessing, he was first shocked that I wanted to attend the course since I was pretty well versed, but I explained that I wanted to make this a career and need a certificate or degree.

About 3 months passed and Mr. Martin asked me if I wanted to enroll in a design competition called, Skills USA in 2005. After I enrolled in the Poster competition, I won first place in Regional, first in State and received Silver in the National Competition. If you ask me, I think it was God's doing to keep me humble.

Mr. Martin also told me about a position at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. I applied, interviewed and got the position for "Special Projects Mgr" where I would handle my own creative department... though it was just me. Working at the track was an amazing experience, not just because of the design work, but because I learned about NASCAR and went through the experience of a multi-million dollar event. Even my first day of work was exciting, I had to ride on a stock car from NASCAR (I think I went on Jeff Gordons scheme) through The Petty Experience. It was amazing. I made good friends, got loads of experience (on PC though, they aren't on MACs yet) and even competed at Skills USA two more times. One of the logos I created during my years at the Speedway you can see on wikipedia.com (pretty cool).

In 2006, I wont Gold at Nationals and was awarded a $20,000 scholarship to the Art Institutes, (see the article here) which I am now in my Sophomore year. I must say, that a young naive Angel back in 1998 wouldn't have imagined where I would be now. I must give glory to God for using me the way He has and for picking me to give the design talents to.

All in all, this is who I am today. I'm continually growing and evolving my design style to keep up with the ever-changing scene. I one day hope and pray that I can firmly establish my company, swäv | design studio (pronounced suave) and maybe even teach design courses once I get settled.

If you're a young designer, I encourage you not to give up, to work hard and learn all that you can. Don't ever get so arrogant that you think you know everything you need to. Everyday we learn something new. Trust God and put your faith in Him and He will direct your path.