January 18, 2010

Cave9, Turn Daryl Up

I was fortunate enough to be able to be involved with Cave9 in Birmingham years ago.
The shop I was apprenticing at, Aerochild Tattoos, was across the street from a new venue opening up in Birmingham, Alabama, called Cave9. I had heard about it, but didn’t know much about what was going on. I decided to go to their first show they had and see what was going on. I had seen a lot of all ages venues in Birmingham come and go, so I was interested in what this one had going on. That’s where I met someone who is still very close to me to this day, Aaron Hamilton.

Aaron was one of the founders of Cave9. Aaron wanted to create a functional space where you could have shows, do art shows, and also have a learning space where they would do workshops on topics, such as screen printing. He also wanted there to be a space where kids could get away from whatever crap they are having to deal with at home and find a place where they could be accepted, and learn something. Basically enabling them to make a difference in there lives, providing the tools. For the next few years I spent a lot of time at Cave9, from playing with bands, to weddings, to movie nights, to just hanging out. Cave9 continued to grow, and offer more and more for the community. It was much more than a venue, and it was exciting to see it happen.

By the time I had moved away from Birmingham, Cave9 was a functioning collective. There were a group of people taking care of all the elements needed to keep it running, and teaching new kids how to do the same. Kids where going to shows and learning how to run sound, book their own shows, put out their own records. It was DIY and punk rock at it finest. In my opinion, it was amazing.

Here’s a documentary about Cave9, filmed a few years ago.

Here is also a little write up Cave9 got a few years back that explains a lot of what was going on
Cave 9 rocks with independence

Unfortunately, after I moved away from Birmingham, I lost touch with a lot of people, including Aaron and the kids at Cave9. Recently, after moving back to Alabama, I’ve been able to get back in touch with a lot of people, Aaron being one them. He told me last year that Cave9 was going to have to shut down, and I couldn’t believe it. I honestly thought that place would never close, it had been a functioning learning space and venue for over 6 years.

You can read more about Cave9 closing here
Cave 9, Shuttered for Good
and here
Cave 9, RIP

A few years back, a dvd was made from live shows at Cave9.
Here’s a trailer for it

Unfortunately, a lot of debt built up from Cave9 and now needs to be paid off.
With Cave9 being closed, this is pretty difficult.
So that’s what this is about.
These dvd’s, Turn Darryl Up, (which the trailer above is from) are now for sale, with the proceeds going to help pay off that debt.

Here is where you can buy them
Turn Darryl Up

It’s a pretty sweet dvd, and the proceeds will help a ton.

One thing that can be learned from Cave9 is the idea of “You can do anything”.
DIY, Punk Rock, whatever you want to call it.
No matter what anyone says, we do have the ability to make a difference and change the world.
An amazing guy in Birmingham, Alabama did it, and so can you.

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January 8, 2010

The price we all pay…

So the holiday season is over.
Unfortunately during that time of year consumerism tends to be top in our thoughts.
It’s really quite unfortunate and sad. A constant assault happens at every angle during the holiday season. My favorite commercial I happened to see was for Wal-Mart. It showed a family playing whatever new game system is out, bonding and loving each other. And then the announcer said something to the idea of “Wal-Mart, making family time more affordable”.
REALLY!?!
So in order to form relationships, we have to spend money.
Thank you Wal-Mart for opening my eyes, I always wondered why I didn’t have a happy family, and now I know. Thank God for Sam Walton and Wal-Mart.
This made me start to wonder about how this ridiculous thought came to be.
I stumbled upon this documentary “The Corporation” and found it to be very interesting.
check it out.

I also remembered seeing Reverend Billy a while back, and it made me smile.
Here’s a clip of him on Fox News

You can learn more about Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping
by clicking here

My friend Jinxi also wrote an awesome blog about why money won’t buy you happiness.
She had some really cool things to say, so you should check it out
here

Lastly, my friend Robert Giles, whom I spoke about in my last post, went to trial a few weeks ago. He received a 15 month sentence, which was almost the maximum possible. It’s really sad, and wasn’t how we all wanted to go into the holidays. Here’s the rundown again,

Robert served his country admirably in Iraq and was discharged to take care of family. The US Army lost his discharge papers and listed him as a deserter. He returned to
base to sort out the mistake and they put him in prison anyways.
We are trying to raise money for Robert to help him while he is in there, and to help him when he gets out.

Please contribute and help Robert.

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