SXSW

I'm gonna keep it short and simple. A lot of good bands and a lot of free beer! Dan played a block party show by UT and I threw up some stencils at the Shepard Fairey bandana show.

Flagstaff, AZ: Finding Peace in the Canyon and Getting Joosed at a House Party

On Friday, we took a day trip out to the Grand Canyon to collect our thoughts and enjoy the beautiful desert. We hiked about a mile and a half in to a spot called "Ooh-Aah Point" on the Kaibab Trail. The name speaks for itself as the point takes you about 40 feet away from the canyon wall, giving you an almost 360 degree view of the canyon.
It was incredible and no picture we took did the canyon justice. I hope anyone who reads this gets the opportunity to see this place sometime in their life because it will blow you away.




The next day, Dan had the opportunity to play at a house party by the NAU. Everyone was getting "JOOSED" leading to an insane high energy dance party that went on until the early morning.
College Parties. Wow.

Flagstaff, AZ: Haunted Hotel Show and After Party in the Humphrey Bogart Suite

When we first started booking this tour, we really had no intention of getting paid for any of our gigs. In fact, we were mostly looking to perform and make shirts for benefits. So it came as a surprise to me when I received an email from the booking agent at the Monte V asking me how many beds we needed and whose name to write on the check.
WHAT?!?! Money?! BEDS?!
Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.....
So we invited our friends The Canyon Animals (made up of kite93, jack the mc,and dj samplistic), Parable Paul, and Unfiltered to play the show along with DMLH and Andreas for a Coast to Coast Hip Hop Showcase!

Everyone rocked well on the mylar backed stage and we got the videos to prove it:
Unfiltered:


Parable Paul:


Kite93:


Jack the MC:


Canyon Animals:


Andreas:


DMLH:



After the show, we cracked open the bubbly in the Humphrey Bogart Suite, and had a toast with all our old and new friends in Arizona that joined us for one of the craziest nights we've had on tour!
Free hotel rooms and paid gigs?! I still can't believe it!







Unfiltered before the champagne.......
...Unfiltered after the champagne....

Flagstaff, AZ: Marcia and Dre Find Friendship over Karaoke

I'm sure Marcia and Dre will be the first to admit that they haven't always seen eye to eye on this trip. They both come from very different places and have very different ways of looking at the world, which at many times had led to frustrating arguments between all of us. They had never met before we left for this trip, but I feel like by the time we made it Flagstaff they had really started to form a unique friendship.


Don't just stand there....




This whole trip Marcia had wanted to go out to karaoke since she had only been once in her life. You wouldn't have thought that though by her amazing confidence and personality on the karaoke stage!
We decided to surprise her with a birthday cake to make up for the fact that she spent her 21st birthday on a farm and in a car on the way to San Francisco. In the video below, she goes up to sing "Gloria" with Kyler while we get the cake ready. After the song, the whole bar sings happy birthday to the "Queen of Karaoke"!


And the award for Drunkest Person to Eat Shit goes to.....




*Note* I wrote this blog post when I was waaaaaaaaasted.

Tempe, AZ: Party at the Canyon Animal House

We finally made it to Phoenix with a few hours to kill before arriving at the Canyon Animal house in Tempe. In noticing all the stencils around the house, I took to testing some of my stencil on old boards in the backyard to make sure that Homeland Security hadn't ruined anything.




Andreas and DMLH opened the show, followed by some really great performances by Unfiltered, Parable Paul, Hearing Aids, Canyon Animals, and Adverse.












The next day, DMLH and Andreas spent all day recording a track with Adverse and The Canyon Animals for The Canyon Animals' new album. The chorus is all about "watching it grow" and should be available for the public to listen to in the next few months. It's incredible!

Riverside and the City of Angels, CA

We drove from San Francisco straight down to Riverside, CA for a show at the Pharaohs Den cultural art space. This place is rad.
Run by a bunch of positive hip hop heads, they have a fully functioning recording studio with a wide range of instruments, a huge performance space with a stage and a decent sound system, as well as visual art from a number of artists hanging on the walls. This show was a little sparse in terms of attendance, but that didnt stop any of the acts from giving their all. We saw great sets from Okerason, Dropjaw, MC Homeless, and Cadillac Ron. Everyone had really distinct styles, and we got a wide sense of all the different work being created under the banner of indie hip hop. After the show we stuck around for a bit to talk and chill, but ultimately left to find some rest with our friend Jordan in Murrietta, before heading into LA the next day.

While in LA we went out for an overpriced meal on Venice Beach, then made our way to a house show at our friend Melissa's house on Longwood (is that west hollywood?) where we got to see Abe Vigoda and a bunch of dope punk bands tear it up all night. The next day we toured Hollywood Boulevard while they were setting up for the Academy Awards and Caustic left a present for the local stripper boutiques. At night we went out to the VoicesVoices tour kickoff show at The Smell, an all ages, community run venue that is getting big props for being the developing ground for the indie noise pop that is taking over youth culture right now. VoicesVoices was joined by some 12 other improv musicians (including Bobb Bruno, minus the rabbit suit) for a collective jam that was pretty damn transcendent.

We left the show and got on the 5 for a straight shot toward San Diego. Adventure!

Tour Kickoff Party at the Hush - Friday, Feb 13th

We kicked off our tour at our favorite show spot in Portland, The Hush, a chill spot that is community run and all ages. We were also celebrating the release of the Start Fires album "Dedicate Your Growth To The World", which was available in a limited edition hand-packaged version, with a double sided full-color poster insert collaged by DMLH and Shermstixx. We displayed Caustic's art around the room, including painted vinyls, her TV installation piece, and her 3X5 fencing stenciled with a bust of Emma Goldman on stage.

Caustic's TV installation piece

We were joined by several friends performing that night, including garage blues from Orange Jam, and pdx hip hop from Nightcrawlers and Gepetto, with DJ zone keeping the beats live all night.


the first half of the show

Andreas brought a half hour of dope jams that were entirely new to the Portland audience. His topics range between spiritual relationship with the world to getting crunk with fly party people. He really impressed, bringing high energy delivery with crowd-pleasing demeanor. Check out the shirt he collaborated with Caustic on in the beginning of the video!



Andreas live at the Hush

Finally Start Fires took the stage for their last show in Portland for a few months. We tore through a 45 minute set with the energy of a punk band, dancing like disco acid freaks and laughing the whole time.



Start Fires!

We had a great time, sold some albums, and said farewell to our friends to pack up and get ready to head out the next morning! Thanks to everyone who came out to send us off, all the artists who performed, Everyone at the Hush for creating the space for us and everyone who helped us bring all our crazay speakers and art down there so we could get it together in time.

Hello Olympia, Farewell Zebulon

This past friday we made our journey to Olympia with a crew of six to check it all out and rock a party for our friend Zeb (VT crew) who is going to live in the wilderness of Montana for a while. Olympia is a sweet town. I have always heard good things about it, but had yet to make the 2 hour drive North to find out for myself. After figuring out where the house was (actually in Tumwater, which is SouthWest of the city center) we headed into town to find some food. The exit we took spit us out at at the base of the capital building, which is a fairly impressive way to enter a city even if it seems to represent the elite power structure. It makes me wonder what the country would feel like if we built freeform abstract sculptures to represent our progress. Anyway we parked along the park and walked down to fifth or sixth st. While scoping coffeeshops and bars we found a flyer wall, and I took some notes on who had the dopest looking flyers. First place went to a spot called Le Voyeur, which looked like it could have been someone's house show based on the flyer.

After some more walking we decided to eat in a funky looking place with blacklights and flowers painted on the windows...turns out this was Le Voyeur. The food was way nice, big portions and dank sauces, with every plate vegan and omnivore adjustable. We ate our fill and I checked out the stage area - low blue lights, no actual stage and some grungy booths on the side - exactly what Start Fires likes. Thrashley left a gift for everyone who doesn't finish their plate and we headed back to the house for the party. Zeb is a sick drummer and we got a chance to see him jam out with some of his homies - I got some video, check out the drum hanging from the ceiling.

It was a small party but we got a chance to rock with Dre which hasnt happened in over a year, so we got a good practice night in. Dre was killing it on the mic.

We stayed and partied with Zeb into the night, then headed back to Portland in the early morning. It was great to get out and do our thing in another town, and to get an idea of what its going to be like for the next 3 months.

One Reason Why We'll Miss Portland

Oh DMLH, how you have grown.

Im sure you've already gathered that the main theme of this tour is not only self growth for those involved, but us learning to grow together. Everyone who is apart of this tour has a different goal, yet we are all helping one another to achieve them.

As long as I have known Dan, and many years before that, he has always been involved with helping developing artists realize their full potential. He was one of the founders and main organizers of the Nine37 art collective and Five Town Massive in Bristol, Vermont. For the last ten years this festival opened up new doors to artists of all different mediums and styles as well as involving this small town with its growing Arts community.
you can find out more info here:

www.myspace.com/fivetownmassive
http://nine37.blogspot.com/

I can honestly say if it weren't for DMLH's constant support and inspiration for the last 3 years, I may not be on this tour. I never considered myself an artist and found the stencils I made to just be my way of opening peoples eyes to the problems our world is facing, never thinking they would go anywhere past Portland sidewalks.
Since working with him, my stencils have been apart of reclaiming projects, craft fairs, benefits, and now a national art tour.
In response to DMLH's post showcasing the stencils I have worked on for the past 6 months, I would like to showcase DMLH's growth as a performer in the years since I have been blessed to be called his friend.
And also to show everyone how much fucking fun you will have if you make it out to see him play.


This is DMLH performing on First Friday at 2013, an old store in portland that was dedicated to selling all locally made crafts, clothes, and music. He dedicated alot of time to helping get this store get off the ground and First Fridays were a chance for anyone to come out and perform or showcase their art.



Two years ago, DMLH's good friend Alex Connor aka Shermstixx moved to Portland and together they formed Start Fires, a futurebeat empowerment hip hop duo that have been rocking house shows and venues consistently since 2006.

Even when the police shut down a house show they were about to play, it didn't stop them.



And when Shermstixx had to get a tooth removed and couldn't play a Start Fires set, DMLH still went on, playing a solid 45 minute set alone even though he was recovering from a cold and losing his voice.



Start Fires was Interviewed by Portland Noise during a show at Chaos Cafe, talking about their history and how the Portland community has responded to their music.

Watch Start Fires on Portland Noise


Not only has DMLH's energy at shows become more and more engaging, but so has his stage presence. His crazy colored shirts, glasses, vests, and hats are not commonly seen in hip hop, making him stand out even more and helping him open up to a larger audience. Here is a show he played with Start Fires at The Hush, an awesome all ages venue that also serves as a living space with monthly community meetings he has been attending off and on for over a year.



So here we are now in the present, and I can't wait to see where DMLH goes with this tour. I am fortunate enough to be with him every step of the way, knowing that( Like my stencils and I) he is doing this not only for himself, but as a response to the world around him, hoping to find solution to the problems, and having as much fun as he can along the way.