Today we’d like to introduce you to Charlie Perez.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Charlie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Born and raised in inner city Houston. We had a challenging upbringing. Parents split up early and were back and forth. We moved around a lot, so lots of switching schools and attending different community outreach programs for like free lunch during the summer or help with Christmas toys etc…
But ‘finally’ while attending Marshall middle school just north of downtown Houston, an art teacher suggested I apply for HSPVA (Mr. Bossely) and with his help ( helped me every step of the way and he literally drove me to auditions) I was admitted to the Visual Arts department at HSPVA. I felt like that was my big break so to speak. I metaphorically hit the lottery. I was excited but also a little terrified of this ‘new world’ and of all the hard work I knew I had to do to stay enrolled. Also until that point, I only had one white friend (and he was ghetto lol). And since my dad was kinda racist, we didn’t have any black friends, so we were kinda in a bubble. Anyway, it’s a little embarrassing but PVA’ opened my world in more ways than just artistically! A couple of years in, my story goes south, bad! Problems at home led me to move out at the beginning of my junior year. I was determined to make it and since I was already hustling part time gigs after school. I was working as a busboy at the Bluewater Grill on Richmond @ Greenbriar and as a waiter at Mykonos Greek Island. I stayed with friends and saved up. And eventually, with cash in hand, a legit peach fuzz mustache, I lied about my age and rented an apartment on Richmand Avenue.
It was on! And once word got out I had my own apartment, it was like Grand Central Station. Soon some of the shadiest friends of friends from the neighborhood were hanging around. Some renting floor/couch space from time to time. One guy left without paying his share of the bills, but left his bass guitar behind. I pawned it and lo and behold it was stolen. The cops came to my apartment looking for me and there just happened to be a few silly but illegal things laying around and I was busted. What started off as a magical mystery tour climb up the bean stock ended with me kicked out of school, three months in county and five years on probation.
I had a hardest time on probation and at one point, failed to update some requisite, was faced with doing more jail time. Feeling frustrated and wrongly accused I just split!! I left the state during my probation period, became a fugitive, traveled from coast to coast for a year and upon returning to Houston I got arrested at a traffic stop and did 11 months.
While in jail, I used my talents to get by. I drew portraits copied from ‘Polaroids of’ inmates families in exchange for commissary ‘(snacks/soap/razors/art supplies etc). And making the most of it, enrolled in classes and I received my GED in TDC! But one night during chow (dinner) I heard Miles Davis’s ‘Kind of Blue’ on a Brandy episode. And that was it. I was inspired and determined to play music for a living when I got out of jail. And that’s what I did.
I thrusted myself upon the music scene, practiced and learned as much as I could about the business. Meanwhile, paying the bills taking shifts and restaurants around the circuit. Eventually, after getting it together.
I started leading my own band called The Trade and at a place called Avant-Garden on Westheimer, we had a Monday night jam session that became very popular. With this experience and the success of my first gig, I began working more and more as a bandleader. Using my connections from the HSPVA art community and the pool of restaurants managers, bartenders and owners, I was able to get a lot more work than your average musician.
Also working in different cultural styles including Cuban salsa, Brazilian samba and Jazz, gave me more reach to an even wider variety of the cities diverse population.
Eventually, I was able to stop working in restaurants and do the music full-time. As a drummer and booking agent with my co. The Trade Entertainment.
Now, we are doing more than ever. I joined forces with my beautiful ‘belly dancer wife’ Tamara from Belladonna Dance who also was gigging as much as I was! We book several venues with different music or dance performances around town with no signs of slowing down! For example we 1099’d 70 people for 2018 taxes. So I’m proud to say we are doing our part making Houston ‘The real music capital of Texas
Has it been a smooth road?
Well, it’s been rough, but definitely rewarding!
My wife had a college degree and encouraged me to do the same. Insisting our relationship would never work if I wasn’t ‘educated’ at least to the level she was. So I did it, busted my butt to test into college. Getting a GED in prison doesn’t really prepare you for college algebra lol!
After I received my degree from U of H, I even became certified to teach, only to be rejected because of my record. Nothing was working the way we planned.
And it was hard spending all that time and money trying to prove myself to her and to society only to be rejected. So I was kinda forced to stay the course and to be self-employed.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into The Trade Entertainment story. Tell us more about the business.
The Trade Entertainment is an all-around events/booking company. I personally play 8 times a week as a percussionist but we also manage about 20 other weekly bookings from jazz bands to DJ’s and dancers. We handle large events every weekend, providing entertainment for weddings, galas, festivals and corporate events like OTC.
We specialize in it all but especially ethnic entertainment as we cater to the cultural diversity of Houston. Offering everything from traditional Arabic wedding packages or Arabian Nights themed galas to NOLA theme parties with, zydeco or 2nd line jazz bands.
I am most proud of the fact we grew this company from the ground up on word of mouth. Just recently launching an official website about four years ago. We also didn’t have any recorded music to present to clients so they hired us mostly through referrals.
What sets us apart from the rest of the entertainment companies is that we are the artists booking ourselves and actually doing the performing!! We aren’t from another city moving in on a gold rush so to speak. And I feel like we ‘personally’ have skin in the game since we have been here developing and nurturing the scene for 20 years.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I see it blowing up! We are just getting started! The city is rapidly growing and new opportunities are opening up all the time.
I don’t for-see any big shifts in the industry other than the inevitable increase of competition. But we are training new talent and diversifying ourselves and associates to be ready to meet the challenge.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thetradeentertainment.com
- Phone: 832-867-7256
- Email: charlie@thetradeentertainment.com
- Instagram: #thetradeentertainment
- Facebook: @thetradeentertainment
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