Tour Stop: San Diego

26 May

Woke up in the morning in Provo and had the BEST hotel breakfast ever! Sausage, cereal, yogurt, waffle station, eggs, hell… they had two or three ladies in the kitchen (?!) cooking up a storm. And this is a chain hotel! Never saw that before, but i’ll take it! We had another hustle in front of us as we had to head to San Diego for our next tour stop. The KnuX teamed up with Drink City on the house party to have a launch party with the homie DJ Cobra. This event was at this huge mansion in the hills of La Jolla. 10,000 square feet, pool, view of the ocean, the whole deal. Sorority girls were being bused in. Drink sponsors all over the place. This was going to be epic in ever sense of the word and it didn’t disappoint. Nobody jumped in the pool though… bummer. Not much I can say about this, you’ll just have to look at the pics and tell me what you thought!

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Tour Stop: Provo, UT

26 May

Hit the road to Utah about 3 or 4am and little did we know the road was going to hit back… Everybody was so beat from the night before, so pretty much everybody but the driver and co-pilot crashed as soon as we hit the road. About 7am, somewhere in random Oregon, everyone awakes to this loud BANG! and then this flop, flop, flop, flop sound. The driver pulls over and everybody is wondering what’s happening. We get out of the van and notice that the tread from our left rear tire is missing, there’s a hose hanging lose from its coupling and there’s a long trail of fluid behind us. Whoa!!

No Bueno

Trying to assess the problem, we realized that we were going to have to drop the spare tire so we looked for a jack. The one that came with the van was prob the worst jack I’ve ever used/seen in my my life. It barely reached the bottom of the van. Didn’t help that by pulling onto the shoulder, the van was tilted down to the right, making it even taller for the jack. While some were working on the spare, we tried to figure out what was going on with the hose. Turns out it was the coolant line and that’s what had been draining out behind us. We didn’t have any duct tape, the universal fixer, so we had to use whatever tape we had in the van to tape the tubes together… Pretty janky fix, but what were we gonna do? We’re on the dark side of a mountain, it’s about 40 degrees, and no one is on the roads…. Luckily for us, someone stopped, gave us some antifreeze, and another driver let us use his jack to get the tire right. We thought we had nailed it….. WRONG!  We get a little further and the temperature gauge is going bananas, so we stop and analyze the situation again. There’s mad pressure building up in the coolant tank, but the antifreeze was still leaking, so it was all steam coming from out of where we taped the hoses. Long story short, we had to do this several times, at one point even asking a stranger at a house if we could use their water to fill the radiator. Went through some clamps, sat on hold forever with roadside assistance and a tow company. In the end, we made it back on the road about 3 or 4 hours later than we needed to be.

Our guy McKay in Provo is also part of a group called The Vibrant Sound. He informed us we had a huge block party waiting for us upon our arrival, so we were driving like bats out of hell. We were about 14 hours away to start, so this situation really put us at a disadvantage. By the time we make it to Provo, Vibrant Sound and others had killed it. Ready for The Knux to get down and party, but due to the conservative nature of the Provo PD, we had to move the party. Enter Xcite Satellite LLC. They opened our doors to us and The KnuX came in and brought the house down. Stndrd clothing company was also in the house. It’s a local clothing company trying to make some serious waves. Be sure to check them out. I didn’t realize how many fans/party people there were in Provo. Definitely going to have to back there and spend some time there!  Check the pics. Got a bunch of them from Tyler… Thx a bunch….

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Tour Stop: Eugene, OR

24 May

So after the Austin show, we headed home for a couple days of r+r before out show on Thursday at the University of Oregon w/ the guys from Sigma Alpha Epsilon. We passed by war town Juarez, had an amazing breakfast at some random hotel in Arizona, saw mountains being tattoo’ed left and right (lone star for Texas, random writing, name of cities). What’s the deal with defacing the mountain w/ the name of your city, or something equally random and pointless (Jerry Seinfeld voice)? We also got gas for $3.67/gal, saw the most amazing skateboard in the world, and got to learn that Weed, California does actually exist! This was just between going home from Texas and being in LA… Didn’t even leave for the trip yet, haha. Once at home we had a day and a half to get our affairs in order. The Knux went back to work fine tuning the album, some of the guys in the band got their greenery replenished… Me? I just wanted to take a shower and do a little laundry, send some e-mails and reflect on my first taste of tour life. I must say, I was quite pleased.

Loving America more everyday... Free Agent Management represent! @FreeAgentMgmt

Also while we were home, The Knux did a live performance for Beta Records who produce Beta TV, so be looking out for that in the near future. Beta TV is basically like MTV in the old days without the VJs… Yup, the just play videos (gasp!). They are a fairly new company, but have a great studio space and mad old school music equipment. Aside from being fans of music and technically skilled, they are also music historians. If you ever get a chance to get over there and are a audiophile, you’ll absolutely love it. Shouts to Christian and Georg for the hospitality and the 36″ pizza, lol

I could get used to this!

So after eating a few normal meals and getting some work done, we set off for Eugene, Oregon. Now here’s the thing about this particular tour stop. We had a great guy hit us up, Chris Gowdy. He’s from SoCal and is in love with The KnuX… Both things I appreciate. The guy was so geeked about having a show, I thought he was going to have a heart attack every time I talked to him on the phone. I liked his hustle from the beginning. He’s in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at U of O, and committed his brothers to help spread the word about the party and generally blow it up. We were supposed to do it at a campus hall and make it an official SAE event and work in their philanthropy angle by donating money to the Boys and Girls club of Eugene. The university wound up putting a stop to that because some other group with no respect for their fellow student organizations ruined it for everybody by having drinks at a designated dry event there. so we are about a week or so away from the show and we get the news that we have to come up with another venue. I was flipping out to say the least until I talked to Chris. Always ready with a solution, he proposed that we move it to a house he had lined up, then maybe an afterparty downtown or something (I seriously love this kid, he’s got it all planned out!).

The afterparty got thrown out the window after the downtown venue said they had another event booked. No matter, we weren’t too keen on doing anything at venues for this tour anyways. We would just rage at the house. On the way up there, first of all I realized how cold northern California and above was at this time of year. I had my jacket packed away in my bag inside the trailer, so I just had to suck it up. No matter, I’m from the Midwest so a little cold weather has never deterred me from anything! I also decided to bring along my travel buddy, Ralph. He’s a domo… And he LOVES to party….

This guy never stops!

Trying to keep up with Ralph is exhausting! Another guy to watch out for on this tour… This was the first show that we actually had a couple of hours to relax before the show. I took a couple of the guys over to the house, which luckily was 4 blocks from our hotel, just in case anybody had to walk home intoxicated, haha (Do NOT drink and drive!). The setup was very similar to the one in Austin and was a nice sized house. Meeting Chris for the first time, I totally saw the personality I heard on the phone, haha. He was amped and ready to rock. He roped in The Dancing Rooster music blog to promote the party. Check out their site for great music selections. What party is a party without the booze? My next job was to find cheap drinks. For all the beer we consumed at this point, it was 99% Keystone Light… They have taken the reins as the cheapest mainstream beer. Cheaper than Busch, cheaper that noveau hipster brand PBR (yup, check the prices!). The hipsters have ruined PBR’s claim on the title. Too many of them drink it now so they have to make it more expensive to match its glamour, lol. Anybody got a connect w/ Keystone Light? Or happen to know smooth Keith Stone? They should be sponsoring Pt. 2 of the house party tour in the fall.

With that squared away it was time to now head over to the show and make it rain. Our opener, Chippy Nonstop w/ her dj Zak Matic were ready to show those frat boys how to party for real. From what I hear, SAE at U of O is pretty huge, and they damn near told all of Eugene to show up. They had their own private security! That’s when you know the party is about to be out of control. The guestlist was bananas and the house was bursting at the seams. People inside, on the front porch, backyard…. It was everything you want a house party to be, except this one was obviously better because of the quality of talent in front of, and behind the microphone (Yes Oregon, you have hot girls going to your school :) You know who you are). Chippy was jumping off of speakers and getting the crowd really riled up, then The KnuX came in and literally kicked down the door. Everyone was throwing up the O’s for Oregon and doing their chants like it was a Ducks football/basketball game.

DJ Got Benny (@GotBenny) taking a break from the madness

After the performance, we got to party for a little bit and then something happened that hadn’t taken place yet at any other show, but also broke the seal for every performance afterwards…. The cops showed up. Now this typically happens when your party gets wildly out of control and couches start flying off the balcony, but this hadn’t happened to us yet and we had been wondering why. Houston and Austin were in residential parts of town as well and were pretty rowdy, but no police. Keep this in mind as you read the later posts, they only get more and more out of control. Luckily the cops showed up as we were loading our equipment into the trailer so people were on their way out of the house already, the music was off, and we were almost out the door. Not only did this city run smooth, but everybody had a blast squeezed up next to each other and surprisingly enough…. in a house full of bro’s, no one started that meathead, frat boy beef. Much appreciated Oregon. Your frat boys are the illest!

Tomorrow we had to head to Utah, yet another back breaking 14 hour hustle. But Mother Nature had some strange plans for us come morning time, but that’s coming up in the Provo, UT post. So in the meantime enjoy these pictures from the Oregon show. Shouts to Jason Weiss for the professional pics! Hire him for your next event if you’re in Eugene!!

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Video Teaser Houston/Austin Tour Stops

23 May

Here’s a video that Dead World Films whipped up as a video teaser for The Knux first couple of tour stops. Enjoy and look for more updates, pictures, and video to come!

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Day 3: Austin (Part 2)

18 May

Fresh from hanging with my Austin dj family… It was time to hit the road for the show. We get over there and an act or two had already gone on, so we just set up, vibed and cashed a couple brews. There was a little bit of a crowd, but nothing like what was to come.

Warming up

After these guys got done, it was time for Chippy Nonstop and DJ Zak-Matic to hit the stage and really get the crowd hype. It’s crazy because you think that you come in and just watch the show as the tour manager, but while people are performing, i’m out getting beer, walking to Domino’s and getting pizza, coordinating the drop off and set times with the band… It’s really a lot to take in at once. For those of you who don’t know, being a tour manager is wayyyyy more than being a baby sitter. I’m learning so much in this trial by fire. But you know what comes w/ the fire? Melting away the imperfections… I’m going from iron to steel… from 14 to 24k gold. And the pressure? Coal into diamonds baby… Keep this coming, cause i’m ready!

This is their front door

@chippy_nonstop working the crowd

I was so proud of Chippy… She’s going to be a beast in the game, I can tell you that right now. Her energy is second to none. Here’s us basking in her glory w/ my friend Buffy from Austin. She’s saving the world everyday and helped get the Fair Trade Film Festival in Austin off the ground. Definitely eye opening, so if you’re around the Austin area, check it out!

Buffy, Chippy, and me!

The KnuX took the stage and by now the party was hype! So hype that the temperature inside the house must have rocketed to about 115 degrees or so… Everyone was dripping sweat. So what do you do when you’re an out of control drummer and you feel like you’re getting too hot (or just feeling like it most likely)? You take your shirt off. Our drummer, Derrick is a wild man. Sings with headphones on that aren’t plugged in, educates us about North Korea and Kim Jong Il, and he LOVES to take his shirt off, haha… God bless him.

Derrick aka Animal

The KnuX puttin in work!

I'm telling you... The KnuX are just as much rock and roll as they are hip hop... So get hip!

Hanging on every word from Krispy

@chippy_nonstop tried to teach this guy about daggering... Guess that hasn't caught on yet in Texas, hahaha

Shouts to my man Waldo for being such a gracious host. We'll be back to Austin!

As I ride out… I’m gonna leave you with the gallery of all the pics I took from this trip. Catch you in the next city!!!

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Day 3: Austin (Part 1)

15 May

Today started off great… Not really a long trip from Houston to Austin, so we got to sleep in a bit. Seeing as how we already did a little promo for the Austin show on the way to Houston, we didn’t have a ton to do. Got to the hotel and took a load off, watched a little basketball. Lakers v Mavericks I believe… thank god the Lakers lost. I hate the Lakers and Laker fans… I’m from Cleveland, OH so my team will always and forever be the Cavs… Forever my favorite. Laker fans in LA are always trying to get me to convert, but i’m not really feeling that. They are either bandwagon fans (nobody is really from LA), or just diehards that are mad obnoxious. But I digress….

After South By Southwest, I pretty much fell in love with Austin. I was really happy to be getting back here because I have some great friends there, including my Free Agent Mangement brother, Abe The Assassin. We split up into a couple of teams and hit campus armed with some flyers and just generally spread the word about the show that night as well as talked up the shows The KnuX has coming up @ Stubbs w/ Weezer. I always love a good 2 for 1, haha. What I didn’t love was the damn line at Starbucks. Diego just had to have a frappuccino and it was some sort of special that day. We waited for almost 40 damn minutes! What’s the opportunity cost on that? All the flyers gone and sweating, I grabbed our sound guy Dan and the band leader, Zabba and headed over to the House Of Guys to see what we were working with. Talk about animal house!! The house was pretty huge, something like 5 bedrooms, and damn was it bombed out! From what I hear, these guys are always having people play in their house. They are just in it for the love, so they open their home to mad musicians… That’s a beautiful thing. If you’re ever in Austin, check over at 1907 Rio Grande and see what shows they have coming up. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

Living room at the House of Guys, leading into the dining room where the stage was

The rest of the guys came by, picked us up and we headed to the legendary Stubbs BBQ. The KnuX have played Stubbs a few times, so I knew they really got down on the party side and I had heard so much about the food, so I was ready to put it to the test. As we’re about to order, we hear this thumping bass coming from outside and realized that Rusko was playing there the same night… Chippy Nonstop said she was cool w/ the homie’s people so she was gonna try to go to the show since it was so early. I love Rusko, but being on tour is exhausting enough w/ out going to a dubstep show BEFORE your own show, lol. I saw Rusko a cpl years ago at B-Side Liquor Lounge in Cleveland… Didn’t even know who he was, but I was hired to shoot some photos for the club. I was thoroughly impressed and ‘Anyway’ by Duck Sauce had just come out and was my fave, so when he played it, I happened to be in the booth and he let me sing it, hahahaha… Never singing again. Grabbed a Lone Star (being in Texas, I feel compelled to drink their beer) and the pulled pork sandwich. The young, west coast guys in the band were amazed at the plain white bread/barbeque sauce combination. Then doubly so when they tried it (love opening eyes)!

Rusko getting ready to burn Stubbs down

Pulled pork sandwich w/ fries and some amazing mac and cheese at Stubbs

Once finished at Stubbs we had a little time to relax, but I hit the streets looking for Abe at his BBQ and Beats party at Molotov on the rooftop. During SXSW, I got to dj with him and a gang of great Austin djs, so we caught up with DJ Dick Nickson and his grilled, cream cheese filled jalapenos wrapped in bacon and drank some Margaronas (Some ppl call it a Coronarita… i think that’s dumb). A Margarona is a frozen margarita in a glass with a coronita stuck in it. So as u drink the margarita, the beer keeps flowing out. I got so hammered on these during SXSW… Just had a couple to take the edge off that that day tho ;) .

Jalapenos stuffed w/ cream cheese wrapped in bacon. Wow!

Margarona... @AbeTheAssassin..... and his hair

Part two coming up tomorrow… I’m pretty beat. That one has all the party pics from the show though, so prepare to get hype!

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Austin Interview w/ The Yay Or Nay.com

11 May

This is trickling back to us… The KnuX did an interview for our friend Jen Shoemaker at The Yay Or Nay and here it is….. Read the full interview over here on the YON website, here.

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