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.

San Francisco, CA

We had a beautiful drive through the Redwood Highway 101 to bring us to San Francisco, giving us a view of some badass trees as well as a chance to leave a friendly mark on an abandoned building on the side of the road.

A few hours later we crossed the bridge.

San Francsico is such a great time, every time. We were celebrated Marcia's birthday on Monday, and Ethan Clarke's on Wednesday. In between we scoped the local scene, checked out the museum and cooked meals with our friends. With no official shows to play, we spent the last days with our portland homies celebrating the joy of our friendship. For both thrashley and I this meant leaving our best friends, who at the right time in their life would have just stayed on tour, but at this point had to head home. From here on out our caravan of seven turned into a jeep full of four. Onward to LA!

Orleans, CA

We left Eugene in the late morning after breakfast and map viewing at this coffeeshop across from Redundant Cartridge on 13th near U of O. I wish I could remember the name, because they had great italian coffee.

We had a good six hours of driving ahead of us, through southeren oregon on the 5 and then northeren cali on the Klamath River highway, CA-96. This river winds through the Siskiyou Mountains and following it starts to feel like guided meditation after an hour or so. The terrain is rocky with more trees and vegetation as you get closer to the river. We finally arrived to visit our friends Karis and Justin who intern at the Rolling River Nursery, a family-run permaculture farm. These folks are for-real modern homesteaders who live and work with the land, utilizing all resources and working toward being entirely off-grid. Their hot water is heated by a wood stove, the outdoor toilets are composting, and the animals and plants are all selected to work together in abundant synergy. We made pizza with fresh goat cheese, goat meat (on one for the meat eaters) and veggies from the garden. After dinner we did a living-room performance of new Start Fires material including the classic standby "Genocide Tactics"

7 of us slept on the floor of a one-room cabin, and woke up to tour the land before heading to san francisco. Alex got to feed a goat, we walked to the rivers edge and snacked on fresh-picked citrus along the way. We also took a few branches from a felled eucalyptus tree to freshen the air in the green machine.

It was inspiring to see this family living well off the land and making it work financially. They work for themselves and create their level of comfort and enjoyment through the effort. Their dedication to living low-impact and sustainably is activley paying off by reducing their living cost, keeping them healthy and productive, while giving back to the world through the sale of organic tree and plant starts. We left feeling renewed and set off on the journey through the peaks of the Siskiyous to head south on the Redwood Highway 101.

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.

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.