Alumni Magazine - Summer 2008 - (Page 35) Brandon Swafford Amateur Rapper, Professional Record Producer anchored in the top 10 throughout her Tech career. During 2006, she reigned as the best, earning the Honda Award for the top women’s tennis player in the nation. She was Tech’s first All-American in women’s tennis. The women’s tennis team winning the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament in Athens, Ga., her junior year was the greatest moment of her Tech career, she says. “It was like a home crowd in their huge stadium and it was so much fun to win it with my friends.” Members of the women’s tennis team are close and have developed a sense of trust for one another, she says. “It’s amazing to have other girls respect you and push you to be better who are also your best friends.” Miller’s new Atlanta apartment will serve as her base while she competes professionally. “I’m going to be playing smaller USTA pro circuit tournaments this summer in the United States and then, hopefully, in the U.S. Open and then some tournaments in Mexico and Australia this fall,” she says. Miller, who majored in history, technology and society, says she tried to “prioritize everything” as a student to maintain her academic standing and her tennis schedule. “I enjoy school and picked a major that I really liked, so while it’s tough to always motivate yourself to study, it wasn’t as bad as studying something I hated. As far as tennis at a Division I school, it’s almost like a job. “You have to be extremely efficient,” she says. “A normal day for me used to entail two to three hours of class, possibly a one-hour individual lesson, team practice for two and a half hours and on three days a week weights and conditioning. At night I would have to study and do homework.” Academics were a draw to Tech, Miller says, but, “the main reason was for the coach, Bryan Shelton. I have nothing but respect and trust for him. I knew if I was going to play tennis, he would get me there.” — JD I Photo: Tyler Ward, twardphotos.com n their hit YouTube music video spoof, “M-train,” Georgia Tech rappers gtg491y and gtg562h are approached by a bum, just outside their dorm, who suggests that they rethink their pursuit of engineering degrees and pick up change-of-major forms. “If you stick with what you’ve got, you’re going to end up just like me — flunking out of Tech and living on the street,” he insists. His advice: Take the M-train, or major in management. The video, which was posted to the Web site April 23 and has been viewed more than 85,000 times, has made gtg491y, aka Daniel “DBay” Baily, who will be graduating with an industrial engineering degree in August, and gtg562h, alias Brandon “Swaff” Swafford, ID 07, celebrities among the North Avenue set. The pair have received shout-outs from former Tech President Wayne Clough and Alumni Association Chair Bill Todd at various campus events, and their video was even screened at the Alumni Association’s quarterly board meeting in May. When he’s not laying down his own tracks, the 24-year-old Swafford is in the studio with other musicians. By day, he works as a record producer and mix engineer at The Rockporium, a recording studio in Canton, Ga., where he and Baily recorded the “M-train” track in two 10-hour sessions. “When producing, I’m working hand in hand with the band, calling all the shots, making the artist do takes over and over until it’s the best performance I feel I can get from them,” Swafford says. “As a mix engineer, I’m mixing all the tracks together to make them sound the best they can for the final product.” On his MySpace page, Swafford says he enjoys recording “just about any genre” but specializes in Christian and rock music. “I don’t produce songs with profanity simply because that doesn’t represent who I am,” he adds. While the popularity of the YouTube video may not have made DBay and Swaff household names, it has resulted in some double takes from passersby. “I don’t really think of it as fame, but people definitely have recognized me out in public and asked if I was the guy from the M-train video,” Swafford says. “It’s very rewarding when they say how much they’ve enjoyed it or how it helped them get through finals week. … DBay and I never expected to have the kind of response we’ve had.” Swafford has also received some offers to produce films, including one about the Georgia Tech Alumni Association’s Rappel for Roll Call event, which was held June 14. He is the first in his family to attend Tech — but he won’t be the last. “My sister, Jessica, will be starting as a freshman this summer, and yes, she’s taking the M-train,” he says. — LO >>> Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2008 35 http://twardphotos.com
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