Blog | Reflective Intelligence (R.I.)

August 28th, 2014

Life on Tour Vol. 1

So now, after 6 months of rehabbing my surgically repaired knee ligament I’m back performing again! You know what, let me back up…

I never really traveled much as a kid. Well, let me rephrase that, our family never really went on vacations. I did move a lot after my parents divorced but they were all different places in Texas. I never envisioned then, that the music I fell in love with there, would become the vehicle in which I was able to travel places I’d never been. Ok maybe that’s too far back…

I and my fellow Destructikonz (DKONZ) brethren had been promoting our EP and album locally building a buzz with catchy songs, a live band, and a helluva live show. We were ready for the next stage of promotions which was taking the show on the road!! So where do we go and how do we get there you may ask…well we did too. As a group we arrived at the conclusion that we’d look at the US map as three equal segments and we’d decide which one we hit first.

It wasn’t a hard choice to pick the West Coast first. Aside from the relative familiarity in comparison to our other choices, we had to consider a variety of factors; travel costs, work schedules (yeah, I work a regular job too), family schedules, and commitment it just made the most sense. Oh and by the way this is eight people (including the band) that we had these variables coexisting simultaneously, shit wasn’t easy lol. Anyway, we reached out to our friend Max Bundles who had been booking some notable artists both locally and out of town. After our initial meeting we decided we’d hit 2-3 cities each weekend depending on the scheduling. Subsequent meetings got the details hammered out and we were comfortable with the cities, states, and the dates. It was time, time to grasp the opportunities to prove ourselves outside of our city.

A combination of analytics and advice from Max had us prepared to perform in 9 cities in a little over a month, or 2-3 shows each weekend. This was in addition to local shows we were on or throwing as well. It wasn’t going to be a walk in the park but we were confident in our work. Not on no cocky shit, we had just been doing a shit load of shows, working our asses off, fine tuning our live performances, creating dope merchandise, and getting paid to do it. Our first stop was Portland, Oregon.

Leaving on a Friday, an hour and a half after work, I was pressed for time, along with Wyz fighting traffic to get to my house. As soon as he got to my spot we were off to Sacramento International Airport. On the flight we met the coach for the Portland Timbers, (MLS), who had been in Sacramento scouting talent, cool cat. After we landed we needed to get our rental car and the head right to sound check. We arrived at the venue, The Morrison Hotel Bar, MOHO. It was a restaurant/bar during the day and hosted shows in the evening. As I walked in and was immediately drawn to the head of an antelope bolted on a large, square wooden pillar. I followed the seamlessly never ending antlers to another pillar where new antlers began…these belonged to a moose. Having lived in Texas I wasn’t shocked as much as I felt like I was really wasn’t in Sacramento anymore. A combination of high ceilings and big windows gave the spot a spacious feel. From work, straight to our flight and just finishing sound check, we were starved. We sat at the bar when the promoter, Kable Roc looked at us as and asked in a rhetorical fashion, “Destructikonz?!” We started talking about shows he did in Sac and the friends we had in common. He made sure we were fed (food was amazing by the way) and were never thirsty throughout the night. After shooting the shit for awhile we gave him our music and headed to check in at our hotel to get ready for the show in a couple of hours.

When we got back the venue was filling up and artists were beginning to perform. Kable made sure we had everything we needed and that we were comfortable, he even paid us before we ever took the stage. We took in the local talent and set up our merchandise. Now it was our turn to rock. We opened with an intro beat from our folks the Drum Addictz, I kicked a freestyle over it and the crowd was into it. We went into our single, Is This Thing On and it was well received. I could tell they weren’t used to our sound and were drawn to it. People were dancing, the emcees were hinging on our words and they were into the music…it was humbling. We got through the rest of our set and got nothing but love from the Portland natives. We talked with a number of people as we sold some shirts and hats and clicked with them immediately. They invited us to a local bar not to far from there and we headed over.

Everybody was super cool. We played ping pong, had some drinks, freestyled, shared artist experiences, and just vibed. After that it was back to the hotel, pun intended. We reflected on the night, talked about what worked and what and where we could do better. We then started planning out the next day; we were going to have some free time before heading to Olympia, WA for our next show. Now let me just make this clear…I’m a sneakerhead and there was no way I was going to be in Oregon and not hit Beaverton where the Nike headquarters is. Wyz is a shoe freak as well so we were on the same page off top! We got up early and Google mapped the Nike HQ.

The drive was beautiful; lush tall trees lining the freeway, sun reflecting off bodies of water, the rays of sun peaking through the clouds that sat atop the rocky hills. We had a dope mix of music playing as I was recording the scenery and we took turns kicking rhymes. More than anything, the bond of brotherhood was being forged which was bigger than any payment or reward. We made sure we had tea with lemon and cough drops to preserve our voice for back to back shows. We arrived in Beaverton at the Nike HQ which was visible only because of the iconic sign with the orange backdrop with white lettering. There was a long road and a resemblance of a huge building tucked behind countless trees. We apprehensively rolled up, camera rolling in full documentary mode. The closer we got, the more we began to get the impression that it was not open on the weekend. We were greeted at the guard station by a very assertive rent a cop. He started off by, “Turn that camera off! You can’t film here!” Well ok…I kinda get it, but damn! He continued to let us know that this was not a tourist attraction and we couldn’t go on campus and would have to request a tour during normal business hours. WTF…that sucked for real! I wanted to see the first Jordan shoe framed and all of the things I had made up in my head, haha…so much for that.

Plan B was in full affect as we started to think about the Nike stores that HAD to be in town. After being humble about that fact that we were from Sac on tour and the whole nine, the guard actually let us know where the Nike stores were in town and nearby Eugene, OR. It was a concession prize but we proceeded to the Nike store in Eugene. It was definitely bigger than any other Nike store I’d been to, but it was still a Nike store. I copped some ill AF1s and the ’96 Deion Sanders while I was there. There was no sales tax in OR which was so foreign and welcomed coming from Cali. The only challenge now was finding room in my luggage because I wasn’t paying for any more $25 additional baggage fees lol!!
So after our shoe escapade we were off to Olympia, WA. I slept a majority of the way after killing some gummy worms and Cheetos (tour food for real) and woke up as we were coming into town. We checked into our room which was like 5 minutes away from the venue, The Track House…that was super dope!! We showered, ironed, and got ready for sound check.

When we got there the soundman hadn’t arrived yet and we were looking at each other wondering if we had the right spot because it appeared to be a somewhat residential neighborhood tucked away from neighboring streets of businesses. The engineer arrived shortly thereafter confirming we were at the right place; a converted two story house that was now a venue. I have to say it was pretty kick ass. The narrow walkways and steep stairway were adorned with a base black paint covered in glow in the dark designs and words. There were things hanging from the ceilings, random dolls and trinkets that almost gave it the feel of a haunted house. The people were awesome; welcoming, accommodating, very informative, and refreshingly hospitable. After sound checking we went back to the room to change, have a couple of drinks and head back up to the spot.

When we got back to the venue, there were people mingling and meandering about. The most popular place seemed to be the bar that was converted from a kitchen. It had a decretive cloth arrangement hanging from the ceiling, pinned at all four corners so that it drooped in the middle. It was littered with small lights that resembled those you’d see on a Christmas tree and it really created a relaxed mood. There was couch in there with other vintage seats and a very sociable bar tender with huge blue eyes, a corset, and fishnets. The owner/promoter made sure we were taken care of. She was a big advocate for independent touring artists and was enamored with the fact that we came there from Sac to rock. It was really refreshing to get the red carpet treatment and feel like our sacrifice was appreciated.
It was a very loose format and we were told bands would be coming in and out all night. It was so different from the culture back in Sac and I welcomed it with open arms. There were some kick ass bands that played and we were front and center. Between acts we socialized with artists on the front porch until it was our turn. In short we killed it!! The crowd participation was outstanding and made us rock even harder!! We were approached immediately after by people wanting to purchase the album and merchandise. The support was amazing. I had forgotten that Washington legalized marijuana until a guy that wanted to purchase a t-shirt approached me with a pile of weed in his hand asking if I’d take it as payment for a shirt. Well, I took it and distributed it to various people on the porch free of charge. I couldn’t take that shit with me on the plane and to tell you the truth it was not Cali weed. We are spoiled California.

After we rocked, we chopped it up with everyone inside the spot then outside we were approached by the homie Double B who was real cool as soon as we had gotten there. He knew our homie Task1ne and had done shows with him and we were going to be on a venue in SoCal the next month. He handed us our payment for the show and proceeded to tell us that all the artists that performed that night wanted to donate there take to us. Uh….come again?! What?! I have never even heard of anything like that, let alone know how to react to it. I immediately reverted to my mom’s teachings…”Naw, we can’t accept that.” He insisted and we graciously accepted. We thanked every artist that displayed that showing of generosity and they were like, “You guys came all the way out here, you deserve it.” I’m telling you…that was the coolest shit I’ve ever experienced as an artist from other artists. I’m used to egos, entitlement, shade, and fake support. To get genuine support and sacrifice from other artists was crazy. We looked at each other like, “Is this for real?!”

After the show we headed back to the hotel. We had fallen asleep when all of a sudden Wyz is shaking me whispering loudly, “Nigga get up, look at this shit!!” I struggled to get my bearings; half sleep and got up out of bed. He took me to the window where I was greeted by the loud screams of a woman saying something about rape and as the curtains were drawn I see a naked man running across the balcony. I took in the show, shook my head and took my ass back to sleep.

We woke up, packed up and headed back to the Portland airport. The drive there was equally as breathtaking as the drive to Beaverton but we were ready to be back with our families and sleeping in our own beds. We checked in the rental car and headed for the terminal. We felt very appreciative and accomplished on the flight back. We reached the goals we had set for ourselves for the first wave of the tour; represent ourselves and city with pride, gain contacts, and stay humble and hungry.

All and all the experience was amazing…great people, great cities, and great memories. It fueled the fire for the next wave of the tour and gave us something to look forward to. Huge shout out to Portland, OR and Olympia, WA for all the love and accommodations. Thank you Max Bundles for being on top of everything from booking to communicating with promoters. Mad love to Sacramento for all the positive vibes via IG, FB, and Twitter…we felt it and harnessed it to put on great shows. We love ya’ll…till the next one!!!

June 23rd, 2014

As most of you know I am 1/3 of the super group Destructikonz, an engineer, sports and sneaker fanatic and lover of music. My blog will represent all that I am involved with, intrigued by and follow, with an occasional rant here and there but that will most likely be about sports. Thank you for following my journey.

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0 “RI’s Coming” First track dropped off the RI’s Coming Mixtape