At Lick-Wilmerding High School, students know and love Maurice Williams as a creative, compassionate soul who, as Custodial Supervisor, is seemingly omnipresent on campus. However, Williams has a secret: he is a dedicated music producer who co-manages a professional recording studio, Drummers Dream Production House.
Many days, Williams gets off work at LWHS around 10:30 p.m. and heads straight to the studio, where he will remain as late as 3 a.m. Other times, he shows up to mix and master tracks at 6 a.m. before heading to LWHS.
“Music is a movement… It’s an emotion… It brings me joy,” said Williams. “I don’t get tired from it.” The team at Drummers Dream operates out of Hyde Street Studios, a famous facility-for-lease in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood that has seen the likes of Green Day, Train and Michael Jackson.
Drummers Dream is an open-genre studio. Its previous clientele include Kanye West, the late rapper XXXTENTACION and a wide variety of local artists. In 2016, Williams received an award from All Bay Music Magazine distinguishing him as one of the top 20 music producers in the Bay Area.
Born in Oakland, California, Williams was raised on R&B and hip-hop in a deeply musical household. His great cousin was the late musician Little Richard, the 1950s rock and roll pioneer who inspired a generation of artists. With this musical upbringing, Williams started rapping over E-40 and Too Short cassette tapes at the age of seven. He was inspired by his best friend’s brother, G-Stack of the rap group The Delinquents. “Being around them and watching how they did business and concerts… It made me want to continue with music,” Williams said.
At age fifteen, Williams used the money from his first job to purchase a WK-1800 Casio keyboard. He made beats for classmates, distributing them on floppy disks and CDs for free to get his name out. Shortly after graduating high school, Williams was garnering a steady inflow of clients. He started selling his beats, moved the business out of his house and began to rent out professional recording studios with a friend.
Williams cites his late brother, whom he used to write music and rap alongside, as his primary inspiration. “He brought me to where I am today … I’m doing it for him, then for my entire family,” he said.
Last year, Williams brought his music production practice to LWHS for the first time. He was approached by Chelsie Joy Valerio ’25, then an intern at LWHS’s Center Civic Engagement, with the idea of hosting a music production session open to the community. Titled “Beat the Odds—A Creation of Self”, the workshop brought together students from all experience levels to make beats. “Being here [at LWHS] feels good because I’m able to live my dream within my music community,” Williams said. “And I still have students that stop by the desk and ask me questions around music programming.” He has also mixed and recorded tracks for cellist Eamon Riley ’22 and singer-songwriter Paris Hing ’22.
In the coming year, Williams looks forward to continuing his work with songwriters across a wide range of genres. He has also initiated a personal rebrand, releasing new projects under the producer name SomethingCrazy510.
Williams encourages students who are interested in music production to stop by the front desk and connect with him. “Just to be a big brother for you all is a joy,” he said.
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