PORTFOLIO & REPERTOIR

Every season, right around this time I revisit some words I wrote 5 years ago.  It is a song that continues to have redefined meaning in my life because of the reflection it causes in my heart.  While on the road I have continued to re-connect with this song as Holiday season approaches, because of it reminding me what matters most in life: When those bells, Ring and you see, You are here, Here with me, Hold my hand,  Don’t let go,  Even when it’s cold And we’re alone, Wherever you go,  I’ll be there, No matter time,  Whatever Year, Look at the sky See my face, Look at the ground Feel my grace, Time for a change Break those chains,    Find that dream, You and Me, Times running out  Find what you want Find you who love, Hold on tight,   Pray that prayer    Sleep that night,       Keep that faith Bring t...

There You Are. One of my favorite scenes from Austin Powers was the part when he's walking through a casino greeting people whom he's never met. He looks to one man (or woman, can't remember which) and says, “Oh there you are...” They look extremely puzzled and reply, “Do I know you?” and in turn he fires back, “No...but that's where you are, you're there!” I die laughing every time! Truth be told, I've tried it on a couple occasions to humor myself, and am dying to try it on stage! Aside from the way the slapstick comedy entertains me, those words have resonated with me through the years, “That's where you are, you're there.” Too often, our minds, our hearts, and our thoughts, are not in the same location we physically occupy. I am the first one guilty as charged. However, I truly believe that we can be at our absolute best when: Where we are (on the inside) truly matches up with, where we are (on the outside). This is n...

So the journey came to end this evening. After much preparation, they sent us on the road before the young people of this world.  As warriors of the heart, we departed and many schools and several months later, I finished speaking at my last community event.  This final engagement took place in Weymouth, Massachusetts. It was another beautiful day. Some divine force had postponed the onset of winter and gave us just a few more days of perfect fall in New England.  The students reflected this brim of hope.  Earlier that day, I watched them (one by one) touched, impacted, inspired, and excited.  I watched them walk with shoulders farther back, as they carried this new sense of purpose, awakening, beginning.  The message was simple: Kindness and Compassion, as seen through the eyes of 17 year old Rachel Scott . The week hailed 4 very different schools for me as a presenter. I bounced from the low income notoriously tough neighborhoods of Randolph, to...

     Its my fourth plane in 1 and a 1/2 days.  My clothes are still damp from the last sprint to catch the 1pm flight from London-Heathrow to Norway.  As I disrupt the lull of the settled passengers with my stubbled face, curly medusa hair, heavy breathing, 6ft presence; I imagine the thoughts behind their feeble attempts at feigning a blank gaze, "Oh God please dont let the monster sit next to me".      I wouldn't make the trip for just anybody.  In fact there are few people for whom I would travel half way around the world-- simply to be present at their wedding.  The trip is not cheap and its toll on my body comes at a heavy price.  I started at 9am in Orange County, caught the 12 noon from LAX TO JFK in New York, counted the minutes as the flight delayed some 2 hours to leave at midnight and land at 12:35pm in Heathrow.  From there, I needed to be on a 1pm plane and I still had to print my boarding pass....

I am in utter disbelief at what transpired this past weekend.  Whose work is this? What divine force weaves such encrypted patterns forcing us to accept the most horrific and devastating of circumstances, frozen inside the same teardrop that holds the most jovial and hopeful emotions. I went to Austin, Texas to a place ironically titled, "The Crossings", to celebrate the wedding of a very close family friend.  Not only was the trip to celebrate the new love in his life, but it was symbolically, a converging, a crossing of his past, present, and their future.  A retreat, where the oldest of friends re-encountered eachother - as men.  Where his family celebrated the triumph of their eldest son.  A place where California met with New York, met with Texas.  Where hip hop, met country, met love songs. It was in fact, a crossing... more so than any of us would have ever wished.  In that day and a half, we laughed, sang, danced, and cried.  We were f...

Once upon a time there was a place deep in the woods, buried in the mountains, adjacent to a lake. Once a year a group of artisans would plan for a 3 day retreat to this place and invite their closest companions and peers. They called the journey they embarked on together, TERRA NOVA. They would come, they would make, and they would believe. One year, a young poet was invited by a member of their community to share in this experience. He was very dedicated to his craft and felt a tinge of excitement simply from thinking about being alone with his work and away from the thunderous demands of everyday life. His world, like many, was wrought with responsibility, deadlines, interruptions, un-forseen setbacks, heartache, loss, change, pressure, and sorrow. The deepest lines on his faced relaxed at the very mention of the woods, the lake, and the mountains. He could feel the led inside his pencil heat up in preparation. However, the young poet was also hesistant. He was paranoid ...

I really didn't want to post this, because press is press and I appreciate the coverage, but this editorial was so well written and so scathing of the writer's points, that I had to show it a little love...enjoy Here is the original article written and published in the OCweekly: http://www.ocweekly.com/2009-01-29/music/sound-guy Here is one of my fan's response to that article posted on the ocweekly site..haha...whoever you are, thanks and good lookin out! Lets review the person doing the review? Maybe Chang, a non-native himself is anxious to bolster some type of communal peer support by by blindly defending the region in which he currently resides, evoking some "kudos" and "hoorays" to defend the O.C. Its somewhat ironic that an editorial concerned with the artists one sided view of a particular subject matter seems to present a rather one sided view of the artist falling victim to the same execution he critiques. Chang is not to be blamed however, bec...

I would love to tell you that the life of this musician is packed solid with exciting engagements such as: hedonistic parties, beautiful half naked women, mind altering drugs, soul expanding jam sessions, paparazzi style followings and genre changing live shows. While many of those aspects (nevermind which ones) are present on a number of ocassions, the daily grind of this young man is consumed by the back breaking love of labor behind the rise. It is a hustle not many can conceive of. I am Apoetnomadali and I am aspiring to be one of the greatest songwriters, performers, hip hop artists, entertainers in the 21st century. Mind you, my time to continue this quest that began when I picked up my first drumsticks in third grade, is heartbreakingly limited. However, do not confuse such a mention as a plea for sympathy. I have chosen this. Many times in life we are not given choices. My financial obligations at this point are not my choice, but my duty. My ambition and how I meet suc...

Was last nights show at the Roxy Theatre on Sunset Blvd, in Hollywood exceptionally particular from any of the other hundreds of shows we've had or venues we've rocked? Aside from the first time that I saw the words, " Apoetnomadali " on a large marquee, not particularly. Sadly enough, not only were my intentions to do something provocative, different, and captivating for the audience who came to see Apoetnomadali , the same, but my expectations of the professionalism and integrity of the venue and its staff (from booking,to sound, to lighting) also remained idealistic. Big Mistake, once again. Lets begin by the number of things that were covered in the days leading up to the show: Will you have 2 Cordless Mics for us? "Yes" (truth: No!) Will the stage be big enough for our dancers? "Yes" (truth: No!) Will we be able to sound check? And what time? "Yes...7:30" (truth: No!) Will the lighting guy pay attention to our lighting script? "...