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Opportunity LOL's Spotlight Interview: Maestro Harrell
Like many fans, I learned about Maestro Harrell through his portrayal of Randy Wagstaff - one of the corner boys in season four of HBO's "The Wire." However, that alone does not define Maestro's body of work. This impressive young man is a music producer and singer - he even created the music for this commercial starring Rihanna. Furthermore, Maestro started acting at a very early age - evidence that child stars can lead fruitful, successful, and happy lives. In terms of recent work, have you checked out ABC's "Suburgatory"? The show is currently in season one and has a full season order, with Maestro Harrell playing Malik. Ready to learn more? Enjoy the interview! What was your life like to be a performer at such an early age, from singing and dancing to having a large roll in "Guys Like Us" at age 7? What fueled you? Maestro Harrell: "My parents named me Maestro because they knew they wanted me to be in entertainment. Acting, Singing, etc. When I did guys like us I was literally going to school in Chicago Monday through Thursday, flying out to LA Friday, doing the table read Saturday and filming Sunday afternoon. That night I would be back on a plane to Chicago and in school Monday morning. It was a crazy schedule but I've always loved what I do and I always had the support of my mom and dad to keep me going." How intense has the learning process been in figuring out how to remix/produce music? From watching your Open Labs interview there was a lot of technical stuff that was way over my head. Maestro Harrell: "I've been producing now going on 4 years. I have been taking piano lessons since the age of 4 and have always loved making up my own songs on the piano which naturally led to me producing. When I'm not on a set music is my life!!! I've been fortunate enough to have been able to sit in the studio and watch some of the best of every genre produce records. I actually was signed and living in Atlanta with Jermaine Dupri and was able to watch him produce the entire confession album as well as the emancipation of mimi album. I've also been able to watch David Guetta work (Who later told me he was a huge fan of mine because he loved the wire lol). I have learned a lot from different producers and a mentor of mine is actually No ID. So I've been really lucky to have been able to work and be taught by so many people. My soundcloud page (soundcloud.com/maestroharrell) is always being updated with my new original tracks and remixes. I do dubstep, electro house, house and progressive stuff. But its cool to have seen so many people work because you pick up different things from every producer. Each genre has its tricks." What do you think you gained from working with Jermaine Dupri? Maestro Harrell: "Working with Jermaine I actually learned much more than he was actually trying to teach me lol. He gave me and incredible opportunity. I got an MTV sweet 16 and got my first record deal out of the situation. Though we had completely different visions for me as an artist, I made extremely valuable connections that have helped me in the music industry even today." You have a pretty sick IMDB - Ali, Barbershop, The Wire, ER, and now Suburgatory. How often are roles offered to you versus going out and auditioning? Maestro Harrell: "All the roles other than ER and Meet the Browns I have auditioned for. Its nice to have things offered to you and it becomes more and more common the more padded your resume is. So hopefully sometime soon I'll never have to audition again lol." I've been loving Suburgatory since it hit Hulu. October saw a full season order - congrats! Can we expect Malik to stay on and perhaps gain more screen time? Maestro Harrell: "Yeah the role actually was only supposed to be "Hello" in the pilot lol. But thanks to the Executive Producer Emily it continued to grow and grow each episode. Malik disappears for the holiday episodes (Christmas and Thanksgiving) but after the holidays he comes back strong. Keep watching his story line gets bigger and bigger so I've very excited especially granted we go into another season!" I'm a massive fan of The Wire, and thought your portrayal as Randy Wagstaff was fantastic. Could you talk about this experience? How did you get the role and how was shooting? Maestro Harrell: "I actually auditioned for the Wire in Chicago and originally auditioned for the role of Naymond lol. It was an incredible experience. I lived in Baltimore for about 8 months filming the show and I learned a ton in the process. Ed Burns and David Simon had great wisdom to impart and due to that show I feel I'm a better actor. I'm happy that they told the story of whats actually happening in Baltimore. I hate that our society can turn a blind eye to whats going on in certain neighborhoods in Maryland and throughout the US." Many of the Opportunity LOL readers are art and toy collectors. Do you collect anything? If so, any chance we could see a shot of it? Maestro Harrell: "I actually collect music equipment especially vintage synths. I have a Juno 60, Juno 106, JV2080 Sound module and a ton of other toys like technic turntables, a virus ti keyboard, open labs neko, korg r3 etc. I also have a ton of mac computers. Love apple. I have 3 macbook pros and a mac pro."
This year Tim Doyle released a four part print series on characters from The Wire, with Randy being in "My Name is My Name." Have you seen any of the art created as an homage to The Wire? Maestro Harrell: "Wow checked out the link you sent this is awesome!! I wonder how I could get a hard copy of this??" Who are your inspirations in the acting world and who inspires your music? Maestro Harrell: "Inspiration in the acting world is Philip Seymour Hoffman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith, Don Cheadle, and Johnny Depp. In music Dr. Luke, Avicii, Deadmau5, Wolfgang Gartner, Skrillex, Stevie Wonder, David Guetta, Swedish House Mafia and Sly and the Family Stone." You seem to be pretty active on the internet - what are the coolest things to come out of being social online? Maestro Harrell: "Just being able to talk to my fans and get to know people who I never would have met without social networking sites. As well as being able to get my music out there as well as keep people updated on what I'm working on." Are you a comedy fan? Who are your favorite comedians and do you listen to comedy podcasts? Maestro Harrell: "Love comedy. Most of what I watch on television is comedy! Modern family, Curb your enthusiasm, Seinfeld, Bored to Death, Its always sunny in philadelphia, the league etc. Favorite comedians are Jerry Seinfeld, Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, and Zach Galifianakis (I probably got his name all wrong) lol." What advice do you have for aspiring young actors? Maestro Harrell: "I would tell them to never give up. Times will get slow as an actor and there will be those days in which you might think you should've chosen another profession, but the longer to stay in it the greater your odds get. Don't ever give up no matter what happens because you could be one audition away.. and you'll never know." What can Opportunity LOL readers look forward to from Maestro Harrell in 2012? Maestro Harrell: "In 2012 you will hear much more from me as a producer hopefully season 2 of Suburgatory and hopefully there will be another film under my belt. I just want people to be able to enjoy each of my talents and hopefully I gain more fans in the years to come." Thank you so much! Follow Maestro on his Website | Facebook | Twitter | SoundCloud | YouTube
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