BC's Smoke Shop! (i lost my hat again)

Hey! I had a great time rocking for everyone out at the BC smoke shop on 20th/guadalupe in austin yesterday! i will get some videos and photos up later today, but i just wanted to say thanks to everyone who was there, steve and everyone with BC who hooked me up with the spot, electric13 tattoos, Flying Falafal for the damn good authentic hummous and po-boys around the corner, Alicia and the BC girls for the beer and lighters, TC for the hot dogs, the bands: sixes and eights, turncoat and messenger from the msg crew. ALSO, thank you so much to Sarah and ____ (sorry, my memory got all foggy in the car) for the ride to the bus stop, my only question is: did I leave my hat with the white feather in your backseat? If so hit me up i will be around for a while, I would love to trade a copy of the new start fires album (my group in portland) as a reward. dmlh@startfires.com . YES! i will be in austin for another few weeks, whats happening out there? HOLLA AT ME yall-

collage insert from the start fires album

While we were recording, mixing and mastering our album in portland this past february, we took some time out to make a double sided collage poster, which we then copied and included in the hand-packaged first edition of the cd. While I was making my side I realized that I had subconsciously encorporated many representitive aspects of my life expereince. Upon its completion I held a roadmap to many parts of my soul, past, present and future all at once. Very interesting process indeed.


click to enlarge

I am in Austin right now for the South By South West music festival and just took some time out to have it scanned at the local copy shop, so I could finally share it with everyone who has yet to get a copy of the cd. Want one? hit me up: dmlh@startfires.com or just make a contribution of $15 or more at startfires.bandcamp.com, where you can name your own price for the download ($10 gets you all the tracks).

The Start Fires Debut - Dedicate Your Growth To The World

As many who have been following the progress of my lyrical process are aware, I have been ripping up stages and inspiring dance parties as one half Start Fires for the past few years in Portland, OR. For those who don't know, we speak about personal empowerment in a world that seems hopeless though the dialect of hip hop and punk rock, accompanied by music rooted in classic electro and west coast g-funk.

We finally got a really solid recording of our work and have released the first 13 songs as a collection titled "Dedicate Your Growth to the World" - it features some of our most requested songs such as "is this living?", "things tend to happen", "internment", "i am the light", "genocide tactics", and our portland basement favorite "party at my house".

The entire album is available to listen to and download at startfires.bandcamp.com, or directly through the player above.

We have also had it professionally manufactured on CD and are releasing the discs in limited editions of 100, each hand packaged and with unique features to that edition. The first 300 copies also come with a full color 11x17 double sided poster featuring new collage art from both myself and shermstixx on either side.

You can get a copy of the CD here:
-----++++actually its now sold out(3/23/10)++++-----

or by sending me and email at DMLH-at-STARTFIRES-dot-COM.

DMLH Lyrics - Bring Back The Basics

A few weeks ago I did a solo set at Hush with Inkre:mentals in memory of our dear friend Sokhak who passed on last October. It was a really special night. Red-E and E-magyn, the two guys who make up the core of inkre:mentals, put together a memorium dvd with clips of Sokhak doing live poetry as well as many of his friends discussing his inspirational presence in their lives. The DVD was sold to raise money for to purchase bikes for Cambodian children, a cause that Sokhak had wanted to achieve in his life. They are working closely with his family here in the US as well as in Cambodia to make this happen. The room was filled with Sokhaks family, friends new and old, and new faces who heard there was something cool going on. I rocked what was probably my tightest solo set since last June, possibly just because of the extremely awesome energy i felt in the whole room. I had the first set and the room went from sitting and listening to poetry to dancing in ecstatic joy. I was stoked right there, but then I had the treat of seeing Inkre:mentals rock out their set. I first met these guys at an Aftermath open mic (which was hosted and promoted by Sokhak for a good 2 years)and we all hit it off. We spent a few months getting together on mondays to freestyle and connect about art. Since then Red-E and E-magyn have been recording and practicing and their set is TYT. They incorporate costume changes and general goofiness to keep the energy light, while rapping about more serious themes like societal hypocrisy, building for peace and interpersonal issues, and their spiritual connection. These guys rip it up, with passionate presentation that had the whole crowd bouncing. Their set led into an hours long jam session that went deep into the night, with freestyles, live drumming, tap dancing and more, just freewheeling creative energy flowing between everyone who decided to stay. Overall the night was also a success, raising a good amount of money for the cause and bringing people from diverse parts of Sokhaks life together to celebrate his inspirational life.

I was hoping to post video from the show, but i have yet to get the footage, so for now i will post the newest version of Bring Back The Basics, which i premiered at this show and really was feeling the response from the crowd. Check it out:



Lyrics:

bring back the basics
food and water
shelter that's proper
health so we prosper

give back a day spent
what can you offer?
skill sets we trade
barter wealth from the larder

my money's worth less than it was
when i first spent it on dubs
before i put songs on your ipod
and rented out clubs
now the treasury's rescuing banks from all the lent out funds
so when the economy really tanks they'll have more room for their guns
its got me wondering why i would want to get more of their paper money stacks
face it buddy, we chase the bunny for the false safety of running in packs
i'm looking for a place to create things, whos coming? who wants to relax?
cooking up plates where the taste sings true love and the body reacts!
you know - a decent spot to watch the prophecy blast
cracking and offering pabst
macking on apocalypse ass
after all its probably the last time we'll get to party and laugh
after the fall its going to be a lot more of the yard work and trash
no one picks up at the curb, you can't afford to waste the scraps
so fill the compost and turn it, help some food replace the grass!
after the blast we'll be learning all the lessons we left in the past
actually i hope concerned individuals will get together and act!

bring back the basics
food and water
shelter that's proper
health so we prosper

give back a day spent
what can you offer?
skill sets we trade
barter wealth from the larder
(2x)

is it time versus money? well, my money is on time
as an actual resource that i can use to get mine
i'll spend it stacking more resources, we use what we find
in the trash and free boxes, re-using all kinds
of scrap wood, hardware, fresh foods and yard care
i'm mad good at scoping when i'm rolling in a car share
i'm a fool for good fabrics in day-glos and rainbows
to make clothes that match all the light that my brain glows
nurturing my heart, i'm watered when i hydrate
to bloom into the part that i play as a primate
so why wait to find out if we're too late to climb out
of the hole they've been digging since they sold us a living?
i'll take time out to chase my fate and wind down
to play the role being written in my notebook descriptions
of a future laid out with a co-creative vision
where a few of us will get together to keep living
shape rhythms and words, paint images of worth
and feed each other with a feast that was collected from the earth!

bring back the basics
food and water
shelter that's proper
health so we prosper

give back a day spent
what can you offer?
skill sets we trade
barter wealth from the larder

DMLH - Got My Taxes Done

Okay, so I did my taxes. Looks like I am not really getting much back. Which is good because it fosters independence from institutional monies. The goal here is to remember to have fun in the Great Depression, stay positive and use the creative energy to generate something greater than money. Right? I just keep reminding myself that its okay to be broke as fuck. Actually i keep getting reminders, when my friends in Portland and around the country respond and help me to build and keep working. Its all about mutual support. We all have our part to play.

Anyway I did my taxes with a certain online prep tool (and by hand of course, to double check) and it brings me back two years, when my good friend and owner of the dopest movie theater in Portland came to me with a proposal: write a song about taxes to win ten grand in an online video contest. He had just won another chunk of money from another random corporation, so I thought it was a pretty good idea. I sat down and wrote some funny lyrics, and we spent a day shooting scenes around Portland with a bunch of crazy cars a friend of ours had at the time. It turned out to be a pretty good video, really one of the better quality entries, but we did not win. I think it was rigged. Anyway now instead of 10 gs we have a silly video that has probably gotten some 3000 views. This is probably the ONLY time you will ever catch me shilling for corporate scum, and though embarrassed by that I still think its a funny little story and worth looking back on. Big ups to Kendall for rockin the boardslide.


Oh yeah, if any independent businesses need a dope jingle, holla @ me.

DMLH - Jam Session Freestyle at Cantino Castle

We were invited over for a potluck and eventually made our way down into the basement.

YARO!