Friday, November 11, 2011

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.

33 comments:

  1. BRO asian pride. i mean, how could ya not be proud? dirty beaches is a critical reflection on a lot of imperialist hardships we've all faced, but i'm glad ur doing it without becoming a gangsta rapper or something ridiculously anti-intellectual. keep ROCK N ROLL MOD SQUAD keep ur collar up n fists up. namaste. buddha was a punker

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  2. Who said I'm not proud? also I don't think gangster rap is anti-intellectual. Theres a lot of deep shit in it. but nonetheless, thanks for the support, I do appreciate it.

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  3. "...it doesn't bother a person so much if they really like the work that they've done. It's when you don't like what you've done and other people don't like it, that's when it's a double whammy, you know, then it's real bad. But when you're happy yourself with what you've done it's hard to get hurt so much." David Lynch

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  4. Post tour blues ?
    We love DB ! a great 'hi' from Dijon !
    Sebastien / chantal / cédric.

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  5. Hey sending love from toronto....what a crrazy year you have had and pretty sweet to follow your travels on the blog. Really enjoyed the photos. Hope your are doing fine. xox j

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  6. Alex, I just wanted to say that you're my hero and you have had an incredibly large positive impact on my life. That might seem odd coming from a 16 year old white kid from Beverly Hills, but it's the truth. I've been playing the guitar for about 10 years now and I just wanted to say that I find your music the most unique that I have ever heard. I really hope that you come back to LA because I need to meet you and thank you personally. With utter gratitude - James.

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  7. modern many:
    david lynch is really an amazing man. The one advice he gave me got me thru a lot of insecurities and self doubt. great man.

    yuki: BYAN BYAN DAZE

    seb/chantal/cedric:
    frank and i love you guys. we have to come back to dijon to hang out. can we crash at your place? bisous

    jennifer: thanks jen
    miss the thai soup you would make for max, he's really lucky to be able to eat your cooking all the time. xo

    james:
    your words mean a lot to me too man. It feels great to connect with people, and ignore bullshit social standards people create. The internet is great because artists can directly correspond with the people who listen to them. I'll be in LA on tour next year for sure. come say hi james

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  8. Translated this into Russian here http://vk.com/wall-31892100_7. We're with you, man.

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  9. iwwa: thanks man. I can't wait to tour in Russia. my friends from Tonstartssbandht had a great time there, we're thinking of doing a tour there together.

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  10. No problem.
    Chantal has a big flat where artists comes and go :)
    We will be happy to see you again in Dijon, really ! It was too short last time.
    Bisous and see you SOON :)

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  11. cadm:
    hopefully next time I'll be able to afford to bring my drummer, can't wait to play all the new songs for you guys. send my love to chantal and the crew in dijon. xo

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  12. nothing beats manically listening to a newly discovered artist and then coming across their personal page/seeing that they're wonderful as a person too. ..hope a tour brings you to TO soon, mate. DB forever.

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  14. Anybody can sympathise with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathise with a friend's success.
    Oscar Wilde

    Keep up with the good work!

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  15. m: for sure, gonna try and hit up more canadian cities on the tours next year. xo

    thiago:
    new shit COMING SOON 2012~ stay tuned

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  16. I can relate with what james said, you're a modern hero, you are making all this wonderful music, and what you achieved as an artist and as a man is a true inspiration for life, I wish/dream someday I'll be someone like you are. I am so glad to have seen you live (in Nantes I was the kid with the strange hair who couldn't find his words. I am really glad to have meet you, it was a dream coming true) I don't know how to express precisely what your music represent for me, but every day when I can I listen to dirty beaches, and i'm ok. Thank you for doing what you are doing, it has a deep meaning for me. Bon retour au Canada, bonne continuation Hugo

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  17. Hugo:

    it was nice meeting you too man, thanks for the flattering words and I sincerely appreciate that. The best advice I got from other people helping me while I was struggling thru the dark years were to never give up. Time is irrelevant to writers and artists, so why should it apply to music? I think people should get over trying to "make it" before they are 30. Every person have their own route in life, some take longer than others. But it should not be limited by a number.
    Dreams are forever Hugo.

    best,
    alex

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  18. long live corny shit. Romantize your life and your death will be the same. Be a cold dick and your life will be the same, long before you die, cold. You have a warm hearth, come to Istanbul with your drummer.

    my password to post was disses

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  19. Wow dude, well said. "Don't fuck with me. I'll fuck your shit up." Amazing. Love your work

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  20. dearmotherandbrother:

    Istanbul looks amazing. we're trying to make sure we can cover the costs to go play there, so we don't lose money on the travel costs. Reality and dreams don't always work together. Hopefully it will happen.

    shinya:

    thanks dude,

    there will be more releases COMING SOON 2012

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  21. i've always been a fan of your music, but i'm even more of a fan of being a great human to other humans. thanks so much for being the whole shebang. also, your cover of the stooges is just beautiful. i should gave grabbed that 7'' while it was around! happy holidays, and i can't wait to hear what you make next.

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  22. hamptonio:
    happy holidays mang~
    yeah can't wait for the new releases to come out next year, there will be a few 7"s, splits, EP, LP, film score, the usual DB releases.

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  23. You are an inspiration. Thank you. Looking forward to the new releases next year. Hope to see in Ireland sometime in the future, near or far.

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  24. This is inspiring. Keep it going. Your music is a one of a kind. And has had a huge impact on me. Kudos on the gq photos!

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  25. I have much to say in response to this, but i will sum it up with: thanks for always throwing the posi vibes out there, you are appreciated and loved by many over here.

    also i came here to tell you that i just saw you MODELLING in GQ... YOU LOOK SLICK AND AMAZING. come to toronto for my christmas party, wear a tux, bring the mrs.

    xoxox

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  26. anon: I would LOVE to visit Ireland, I've never been there before. Hopefully in the future if I can get more funding from gov't on an arts program or visa. cheers man.

    aaron: thanks man, I'm gonna send that GQ issue to my ma. she's gonna flip out when she sees it.

    danielle: Can't wait to hang with you guys in toronto. I'm moving back to MTL this winter after xmas to record the next LP, so there will be more visits for sure. Lets set up a show with simone and Elliots new band EL V GORE, I fucking love them. My favorite band in toronto right now. And lets get max and anthony to play too. we should throw a party or something in TO.
    xo

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  27. Hi Alex, do you recommend someplace to start in Vancouver musically? i will arrive Dec 1st.

    thanks!

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  28. thiago:

    when I first moved here 2 years ago I could only get shows playing house shows and other people's shed/back yard. Its quite difficult here. But you can try contacting my friend Jarrett in this band called "Korean Gut", and Adrian in "Apollo Ghosts", both really nice guys, and they can probably point you in the right direction. you can google their bands on the internet.

    hope this helps

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  29. how exciting! yes absolutely lets do it. see you soon!

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