Atlanta Music category interest

ATLANTA – Atlanta native Brandon Ball said his love of art, music and education was instilled in his blood at a young age.

Growing up on the south side of Atlanta, Ball, whose DJ name is Ball Tec, said listening to music, mixing and arts kept him inspired. Ball said his parents had a huge record collection and every Saturday morning while cleaning around the house, he would put on records.

The legendary DJ Jazzy Jeff is his favorite DJ.

“The way he can blend and go through any genre of music is impeccable. In Atlanta, there’s a lot of really, really good DJ’s here that inspired me. DJ Jaycee is really good. I’m inspired by all DJ’s that play good music.”

In 2013, the popular DJ, entrepreneur and adjunct college professor combined his passion for music, art, and education to help create ARTiculate ATL, which is a unique art show, art exhibition and art party experience that promotes visual artists in and around Atlanta.

ARTiculate ATL was a concept that he created with his business partner and friend Courtney Ware Lett. Ball said his passion for music helped lead to the creation of ARTiculate ATL.

Ball recalled having house parties with his college friends and roommates and learning how to mix between two songs and two iPods.

After graduating college, he used money he saved from working different jobs and purchased his first mixer. He worked as a house DJ for a couple of years and built his confidence up before he started doing gigs on a consistent basis.

He credits his favorite artists Goodie Mob, Outkast and the Dungeon Family that inspired him “to think on a different level.”

Ball used to work in different corporate jobs over the years and felt like something was missing. He said it wasn’t “fulfilling” and he wanted to do something that he was truly passionate about.

“My business partner and I were doing parties here in Atlanta, and we were very intentional to not make it seem like a club,” Ball said. “We wanted to make it feel like a house party.”

Several years ago, Ball met George Galbreath during a paint and sip event. Galbreath was a teacher at Westlake High School. Ball spoke to Galbreath and his wife about some of his ideas and asked if he was interested in working together. When Galbreath said “yes,” Ball continued to put in work to make his dreams a reality.

During the beginning stages of creating ARTiculate ATL, Ball said he knew some people perceived the art culture as “pretentious” and he wanted to change that perspective by making ARTiculate welcoming to everyone.

ARTiculate ATL hosts multiple events at art galleries in and around Atlanta and showcases visual artists to help educate others about the art business. Ball also collaborates with other DJs at ARTiculate events.

To Ball, art means, “expressing yourself, being bold and passionate. Art is a part of life to me. I’ve always been inspired by education, art and music. I’ve always did well in school and I loved school.”

Ball said his mother was a Clayton County educator for 30 years, his uncle was a school superintendent in south Georgia, my grandmother was an educator. One of his aunts was an educator at Banneker High School in College Park when Atlanta hip-hop icon Ludacris was a student.

As an adjunct professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Ball currently teaches a course called “Management and Leadership” which is an art and design program.

“I’m teaching photographers, designers, illustrators, etc. It’s almost like an MBA for creatives,” he said. “We do touch on curative and inventive experiences, but not necessarily teaching them how to paint. At MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art), I teach a course called “Cultural Relevance” about how culture influences creating a product or a service.”

Ball offered advice to anyone chasing after their dreams.

“One of the things I would recommend is to try to design the life you want,” Ball said. “Believe in yourself even when other people don’t.”