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.

Here We Go!

Caustic Process

Thrashley has been busy stenciling, stamping, painting and generally going all out in preparation for our nationwide art tour that is coming up in just about 2 weeks. WOW. I suppose I could say the same though. I have been spending every free moment finishing the Start Fires LP in the basement with Alex. I came upstairs the other night and found the first floor thick in the midst of the Caustic Process. This is a map of her action, drawn to look like a mess of creation. If you look carefully you can follow the path that Thrashley takes through the drying shirts, aerosol layers, brushwork, and inspiration.

13 days and counting…

Getting Ready

All week long and up until we leave we will be working hard to get everything ready for tour. We have a few albums to record and put together, shirts to make, vinyls to stencil, roads to map, emails to respond to, you name it. Its been hectic and insane but really fucking fun and worth it. I can't wait!

One Reason Why We'll Miss Portland

NorthWest Kickoff

an interview with DMLH

So, what's crackin' G?

Okee-Dokee well, we are rolling along over here just getting the soil right. During the first two weeks of February we are hitting up a bunch of spots in and not too too far from Portland. It looks like we will have some guests up in this piece during that time as well. First of all my brother Dre is going to be here, as well as our homie Talent, aka True MC. These are the dudes I was rocking with in VT and we are going to be recording some new cuts and mashing up our sets into a non stop party. Powsner and Mady Hampton are on board to take photos and video so we can document the process, and I think one or two more heads might make it into the Habitrail.

Word. Tell me about this first part of the tour.

We are going to meet up with our homie Zeb in Olympia for a house show near the Evergreen Campus on February 6th, along with some more pdx hip hop and some groups from Oly. We are aiming to rock Eugene the very next day, but that show hasn't been finalized. If all goes to plan we will rock a benefit show at the Campbell Club, for the Campbell club, to help them deal with their court problems after the cops busted their doors in. If that is not happening we will probably record some new jams and do some video performances here on the blog, maybe live from in front of Beulah. On February 8th we will be representing for our friends Saudade, who are playing with Moodring, Tenses and Tape Deck Mountain at the Hush/Aftermath space which is above TUBE on Nw 3rd / Burnside in Portland. Saudade is working it out to come with us down to SF and we are stoked on it. Later that week on February 12th we are going to crash a metal show in at the Jabberwocky House in North Portland, with AGORA (who are currently changing their name to...) who will be rocking some hydrochronic death grind.

FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH OF FEBRUARY:
START FIRES last show in Portland until summer.
w/ DRE, True MC, NightCrawlers, Improv Logic, Orange Jam, Saudade
@ the Hush/Aftermath, NW3rd / Burnside, above Tube.
WATCH IT GROW TOUR BENEFIT: please donate $5-10

Word, G. Hit me up with a txt and I'll be there.

Sure, or you can join my email list for a schedule and invitations to private parties:

the next day is for lovers,
we will be headed to Arcata...
YARO!

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.

Thrashley's Stencils Summer 2008

When I first met Thrashley she was a young activist with a million ideas and the energy to work on them all. She was one of the first people in Portland who I really connected with on the level of direct action and creating art for the greater good. We both volunteered at an ancient indie movie theater and spent time talking about possible street art projects and bouncing ideas around. She told me about her interest in stencil making and showed me some of her stencils around town. They were simple but meaningful, images of her cultural heros, or direct political statement. 2 years went by and I noticed a few new pieces popped up on her photobucket page, notably the starving child, which has now undergone several transformations and applications.

Her hand cut lines were smooth and well defined and a greater sense of overall design seemed present in the final pieces. At this point she was combining images to create a sense of perspective, or setting, as well as using multiple layers to achieve greater detail with individual images.

In the summer of 2008 we found ourselves living together in a collective house of artists, and in that space dedicated to the creative process, her work really began to take on a whole other dimension. She has always been politically and socially active, and with that as her driving point, she went to work on creating images that would speak her mind. Images of young women and girls started popping up, with reflective personal statements.

At this time she set out to create as much work as she could with the goal of hanging the pieces in the street to enrich the local community. This project grew and became a larger effort involving many people, but it was her original action and continued effort that made it come together. You can read more about this at one34.wordpress.com.


Through these projects she has come to view her work not so much as "art" to be enjoyed, but rather a point from which to engage the community around her and express her views. This focus is driving her new work, which juxtaposes images from The Great Depression with those of The Consumer Ideal.

I recently had the good fortune to watch her through the entire process of creating a stenciled image. We captured it on video and added some music from our friend Shermstixx:



Her work continues to grow, and as we set out across the country to put it up in new places, I wonder how that story will affect the work and vice versa. She has a talent for being direct, and taking action, and the combination will only result in continued free expression. Who knows, maybe you will end up with a stencil mural in your favorite cafe!