1OTM + CRS

Well ladies and gentle friends,

My 1st Of The Month album is finally out. All 12 singles & videos in one collection. It comes as a CD/DVD or a CD/Blu-Ray pack, and you can get it here: No Threshold Records Store.

I’ve also released my 3rd mixtape, entitled “Cheap Rock Surprise.” It’s got some pretty crazy shit on it. It is available for free download, here: No Threshold Records Mixtapes.

I don’t upload this .com site often, so be sure to follow me on Facebook and/or Twitter for daily interactions.

Franchises

I’ve traveled our fair country quite a lot now. I’ve been all over America. I think at last count I’ve been to 39 or 41 of the states. Something like that. Something I’ve definitely noticed and felt the presence of as I’ve traveled are franchises.

Franchise food, franchise supermarkets, super-stores (Target, Wal-Mart).

Having franchises all over the country in literally every city has actually succeeded in making me feel like I am NOT in a different place. Like I am NOT actually traveling, like I’m still at home. Because home is the line where wherever they are, and wherever we live intersect. And that is everywhere (for most of us). Not all of us can afford to live off the grid, in an awesome mountain cabin. So we live where we live; either where we were born or where we grew up. And the franchises live with us, around us, everywhere. So we get used to them. We love them.

And why wouldn’t we? I know, that no matter where I go, Jack In The Box will always taste (more or less) the same. Sure, there’s SOME room for user error, but not much. Is this a bad thing? Depends on how you look at it. In a way, it’s kind of GOOD that I know what kind of food KFC is going to have when I’m in some random city in Tennessee that I’ve never heard of. It’s great. I can say to myself, “shit, I want some chicken. No problem. I’ll go to KFC.”

But at the same time, it beats down adventurism, trying new things. Instead of eating local food, run by local people, I’m supporting these huge corporations. But that’s just how our society is set up. It’s more affordable (usually), it’s easier, why wouldn’t you.

It’s pretty genius in more ways than one, and perhaps I will one day make myself into a product that people can grow up with, and I can make THEM feel like home no matter where they go and they enjoy my product. Except I will try to keep it down on the trans fats for you guys and user Organic beats and whatever it is I’ll be franchising out. And I’ll only let cool people run ii franchises.

Sometimes I like to just step out of my body and go into your head, into your dreams, and dance inside your brain.

Cool Show, Bro

Hey, thanks to everyone that came to the SunGod Summer Sunfest show as well as my Kress performance on September 18th. It was cool. Probably some video will surface soon.

Stay tuned for more news and updates as always, and check the “1st of the month” tab to keep track of the project and all the videos you can watch. Boo-ya.

sungod summer sunfest

Yep. I’ll be performing. September 18th, mark it down on your calendars.

KTLA 5

Interviewed me today. Check it out:

http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/ab75f7df-e0f7-4363-9185-b4710f85fb45/News/KTLA-New-report-rates-California-drivers-Cher-Calvin-reports

no distance between artist and fan

We live in a time where there really is no distance or separation between an artist and a fan. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. The only ones that have a buffer now are TOP 40 artists and “major” artists signed to “major” labels. Who then are secluded in their own minds and the bubble built for them by their circle.

But most people know now that if there’s an independent artist they like, they can hit them up on Twitter, Facebook, or a number of other mediums. Even some more well-known artists and “celebrities” check their @ replies and get back to fans.

Personally, I started doing this back in the days of MySpace’s prime. I did my best to respond to every single message I got. It’s tough sometimes, but I think its nice to give back to the people that support you.

The old paradigm is dead!

#BAM new tour video.

getting prepped for #JAZZFEST so we are all ready to go. here’s some footage from our time on the road this last fall!

go watch the full series here:

http://realivanives.wordpress.com/tour-vlog/

or just click “tour vlog” link above you.

new orleans

One of the only major cities in America I haven’t been to yet in my touring and travels. Looking forward to experiencing it. Come see my show if you live out there.

supernaturals

When I was a kid in elementary school, I remember there was this one kid who thought he was supernatural. This little red-head Irish kid named Patrick. We had kind of a frenemy thing going on; one week we were buds and the next week we hated each other.

He kept this “Supernatural Journal” where he would write random notes about how he is a supernatural mutant and the oppression he has to deal with on a day-to-day basis. I mean, it’s not easy being an elementary school and a supernatural outcast, right? He claimed that his bones were made of steel and he could feel no pain. And that he could also jump 20 feet in the air if he wanted to.

During one of our enemy phases, I remember he accused me of stealing his Supernatural Journal. Why would I do such a thing? I really didn’t give a fuck, and I thought it was really stupid. All day I had to hear him complain to other people how someone stole his journal; always glaring at me right after he’d say it.

Finally after school he “found” the journal hidden in my desk. Or so he claimed. Because I didn’t steal it; he just wanted some cause to fight against – a true form of oppression that he could break free from. He started yelling at me near the jungle gym about how I stole his book and he found it! What’s even better is that he tried to forge my handwriting and wrote “I HATE SUPERNATURALS” in his notebook and signed it with my name afterwards. Right. Like I would steal his fucking little book and write that. Like I actually cared.

A few kids gathered around the jungle gym as he told everyone about this journal and showed them “my” contribution to his notebook, and he said that I was “racist against supernaturals” and that I hated him because he was a mutant supernatural. And some of the kids had this look on their face like they actually believed him.

After trying to reason with him and tell him that he was crazy and that I didn’t give a flying shitbucket about his stupid notebook, and that I didn’t care either way for or against supernaturals because no such thing existed, I got tired of his shit. He created this little world of drama and tried to drag me into it, and I was fed up. I threw down the journal and slammed him into the jungle gym.

He fell down crying and ran away. Not so supernatural now, is he.

its

cuz they dont really listen, to the things that i’m spittin, they concerned with my hair and my jeans if they fittin.