Post Tour Reflection

Right off the bat, I'd like to thank everyone that has made everything possible this year for me to quit my job and become a full time musician at age 31, I wanna thank all the friends/family and DB fans that have made everything possible for me to do this, sincerely, thank you so much.

The year is coming to an end soon, and now looking back it has been a crazy year. I wanna thank Brandon, Dee Dee, Scott at Zoo music for all the love and support, and from Shawn Reed over at Night People Records to my old friends Tessa and Conor at Fixture Records for supporting me through those dark years of struggle and dead end jobs. Dreams ARE forever. Even if you can't believe in it, please know that you should not doubt yourself in the things you are passionate about in life, whatever it may be.

2011 has been full of fucked up changes (for better or worst): from natural disasters, riots, civil unrest, and revolutions across the globe, its hard not to think of 2012 and all negative thoughts leading towards a hypothetical doomsday scenario but its essential and important to be positive and work for/towards something you believe in. I know I sound like some corny ass soccer mom preacher man oldies station talk show bullshit, but I seriously wanted to off myself when I was washing dishes, doing construction, working for a makeshift craigslist moving company hauling fridges and stoves and shit breaking my back fucking up my knee, and countless other shit ass stupid jobs that makes you want to claw your face off over the past 15 years. Even on tour running into racists and people telling me that I look like Jackie Chan, or being insulted by some people in the crowd being alone on a stage with them throwing things at me, making "ching chong ni how ma china man" sounds, I withstood everything and did my thing.

Perhaps all of this can be traced back to how my father raised me, and the fucked up dark realist values he instilled in me that prepared me for the life of an immigrant and all the fucked up shit life is about. "Life is suffering" he would say, "it is natural for people to cheat you, to hurt you, and to ridicule you. But it is precisely because of this that you must remain thankful to all the good things life has to offer you. When people are nice to you and aid you in your hardship, it is not because they owe it to you, and that is why you must always remain thankful to those who come to your aid in dire times. Cherish your friends. Friends are your family when your a stranger in a new town." (BTW this is all translated from Mandarin to English for your convenience)

Fuck, I should really call my dad right now.

...

So to the dearest of old friends, new friends, family, and fans of DB who is reading this right now, I give you my greatest thanks from my heart.

To those that hate me, you can't bring me down because you have no idea how much hatred and insults I've endured growing up as an outsider.

You can't break me or my spirit.


You have to really go the extra mile to be a shitty person in order to inflict some damage onto me.


Don't fuck with me. I'll fuck your shit up.



Sincerely,

Alex Zhang Hungtai

Nov 11, 2011. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.