When you first hear Carmel Ceravolo A.K.A. Earbutter talk about how he came up in the music world, it’s common to suspect that he’s embellished the story. You don’t have to spend much time in his world, however, to figure out that he’s exactly the larger-than-life personality he portrays.
A DJ, producer, multi-instrumentalist and filmmaker, Ceravolo is a self-made entertainment entrepreneur whose roots in the hip-hop and electronic music spheres have afforded him opportunities to work with the likes of DJ Klever, Gucci Man, Zardonic and KRS-1. Shifting his focus from his music career to his numerous ventures kept him from riding the EDM wave during the movement’s explosion from 2010-2012, but he’s started over and built the Earbutter project up from scratch – and his new releases are already making massive waves.
Considering where he came from, his recent career trajectory comes as no surprise. A gifted child prodigy who advanced two years ahead of his peers in math and science classes, he spent most of his adolescence around older kids who led him to fall in love with the music scene at an early age.
Having already shown promise as a guitarist and drummer, Ceravolo took on B-boying and emceeing by high school. He ended up learning how to play records in order to prove to a local DJ that he could beat him in a battle with only a year of practice – and famously delivered on his claim.
In the years that followed, he quickly rose through the ranks of the hip-hop scene, mentored by the likes of two-time US Disco Mix Club champion DJ Klever as well as DJ Immortal and DJ Lord. Around the same time, he discovered a passion for electronic music when a friend showed him the Sub Zero mixtape curated by L.A. drum and bass record label R.A.W. in 1998.
After becoming involved with L.A. jungle/drum and bass record label N2O around ‘03 – which released music from the likes of Capital J, Control Machete, and 6blocc – Ceravolo became the official DJ for competitions put on by BBoy World, playing sounds from more of the funk and soul end of the musical spectrum. At several such events he found himself DJing, emceeing and B-boying at various times throughout the night, garnering attention from promoters the world over.
His hip-hop career accelerated proportionately to his electronic music career. Shortly after embarking on his first European tour with Milwaukee drum and bass artist Gein in ‘07, he started getting booked strictly to rap at events in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, England and Oslo. By ‘09, he even found himself releasing music through R.A.W. – the very imprint that got him started on electronic music in the first place – and had collaborated with the likes of Mayhem and 12th Planet.
At this point, you might be asking yourself why you haven’t seen Ceravolo on any festival lineups. As it would happen, his business as a filmmaker picked up from 2010-2013 and led him to spend less time on the road. Electronic music’s mainstream breakthrough occurred in the same time period, but unfortunately his inactivity made major booking companies overlook him during what turned out to be a major window of opportunity for DJs around the world.
Not one to let setbacks of any size discourage him, Ceravolo set out to prove that he could do it all over again just as easily.
After honing his skills in the studio in the interim, he made his debut release as Earbutter in late 2014: a breaks-tinged dubstep collaboration with UltraGore producer We Bang titled “All Up In That.” He followed it up with “Hustlas and Customers,” a trap banger for which he also utilized his skills behind the lens to film an action-packed POV-style music video. R.A.W. mainstay 6blocc even delivered a remix of the track which helped to establish Earbutter as household name among electronic music enthusiasts.
From 2015 on, things have only looked up for Earbutter. In the wake of his earth-shattering trap remix of rapper Kevin Gates’ “La Familia,” he’s upped the ante with a Kill Miami joint effort titled “Front On Us“ featuring Raekwon, Lunar C and hip-hop legend KRS-1 – as well as the thunderous “War” with verses by Spragga Benz, which got remixed by Earbutter’s longtime friend and bass music virtuoso Zardonic. His upcoming tracks will also add Trick Daddy, Sammy Beare, Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan and Molly Lux to his list of collaborators, and his song with the latter artist is slated for release through TI’s record label, Grand Hustle.
Now that the youngest generation of electronic music fans are outgrowing the main stage in droves, the time is ideal for an act as multidimensional as Earbutter to arrive on the live circuit. Unlike the overpaid button pushers that have made EDM an easy target in the media, he can scratch, beat juggle and do other turntable tricks on vinyl. If the occasion calls for it, he can even craft innovative routines using toys like the Limited Edition Gold S9 mixer sent to him by Pioneer, which features a built-in sampler and cue buttons.
EDM isn’t dead by any means, but its fans are calling for a changing of the guard. Carmel Ceravolo A.K.A. Earbutter’s skills, street cred and charisma qualify him to take on such a challenge, and he’s only just getting started.
