Sons of Mystro by Melton Mustafa, Jr

ONS OF MYSTRO S

MM: What is your stage name? UM: The group is my brother Malcolm and me. Our stage name is Sons of Mystro. MM: Who inspired you to become a musician and how long have you been performing? UM: My inspiration for becoming a musician was when my brother brought the violin home, for the first time. I was intrigued by what this instrument was and what it could do. At the age of five, I decided that I wanted to play an instrument. What really caused us to really devote ourselves to be musicians was our experience watching black violin perform for the first time. It was a moment where everything we thought was possible was debunked and we saw new heights that were able to be reached from that point I knew this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. MM: Did you learn music in school? If so, tell us about that experience? Who was your music teachers(s) and what impact did they have on you? UM: We had several teachers that imparted their wisdom to us and we are thankful we had them in our lives to teach us certain skill sets and lessons. As I reflect back on it, each experience was invaluable to shaping the perspective and career we have. Ms. Treer was the first teacher that introduced us to music. It was a wonderful experience and taught us that people can come together and make a beautiful form of art, no matter how different they are. She was nice to everyone and no one in the class acted up. She was cool enough to accept our different backgrounds and support us. I brought a Black Violin mixtape with hip hop songs that they played over. Ms. Treer listened to it with acceptance and excitement. My next teacher was Melton Mustafa, Jr., a strict instructor. Although we studied with him for a short time, he taught me that if you really want to achieve greatness, you need to be tough and have conviction for your dreams because good things do not come easy. That was the first time we experienced competition. Mr. Mustafa did not have favorites. He recognized good behavior and talent in his class. Mr. Miles was an interesting teacher with a long history and background as an instructor. He and Mr. Mustafa saved the orchestra program in my school. It felt as though Mr. Miles wore his emotions on his sleeve. He had such a cheerful temperament that we would mistake him for Santa Claus, sometimes, because he was really good to us. He saw the other things that we would do with our music to improve and play other genres. He embraced it and allowed us to be creative. For our 8th grade show, we played a song that two friends and I created as our signature song. I still play it, today, before every show. Mr. Miles taught us to be free and that exploring our musicality doesn’t have to be restricted to one genre or method to improve ourselves, musically. Mr. Byrnes was another interesting teacher because he was the gateway to classical literature. He taught me proper technique. He corrected so many things that I did wrong and helped refine my technique and that of our classmates. He was by far our toughest teacher. He yelled and was tough. That was necessary for a growing musician. So, we wouldn’t be thin-skinned when faced with challenges in our life. Because of Mr. Byrnes, my violin playing started to form an identity. Our last teacher Mr. Dorsey taught me the most as a musician. I attended Dillard High School for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale. What I learned from Mr. Dorsey was musicality and how to be a musician, not just a violinist but to be a musician. He taught me how to be a leader and take responsibility for my actions and my music. The most important thing I learned from Mr. Dorsey was to have pride in what I believe in and my music and what it stands from my perspective. MM: Why did you pick your instrument and was it your first choice? UM: At the elementary school we attended, we were allowed the freedom to choose what we wished to do whether it was music, singing, or acting, among many other artforms we had the liberty of choosing from. I picked the violin because my brother decided to play it. But I wanted to play the viola but ended up playing the violin because everyone in my class said they wanted viola as soon as I said it and our class needed more violins so I decided to play that instrument instead. MM: What is your favorite song or original composition to perform and why? UM: My favorite composition to perform isn’t exactly a song but rather an improv session we do where we create a beat on stage using a device called the ”Akai mpc live”. I really like using this device because there are so many possibilities to choose from as far as what we can do and allows us to have free reign over what we want to do without the pressure of playing to make sure our audience loves it but at the (con’t on page 36)