I Look East When I Wake Up

West When I Rest

No photos this time. I’m at rest, halfway through a mid-week weekend: Wednesday and Thursday are my days “off” this week. Tuesday night was the MLB All Star Game at T-Mobile Park, capping almost a week of baseball- and city- related content creation as part of the newly-formed Mariners Creative Council. The highlight: rocking the magical Derby Champ chain, which was a moment so momentous that I minted it and sent it to myself.

The week prior, all my focus was on dropping the Taglagas EP and preparing for the album release party. It’s been years since I’ve rocked a set with a live band and I forgot how much more demanding rehearsal is when it’s not just yourself and highly capable DJ. Lucky for all of us in the room that night, Abjo’s Good Foot band is incomparably, effortlessly good.

After some early glitches on that hot-ass stage, I felt like me again. Parts of the night felt more reunion than show, which is no complaint—I was genuinely moved to see the collection of faces looking back at me. I admit that I was overwhelmed, especially early on. Fumbled some bars, couldn’t hear myself in the monitors, cut a few songs off the setlist. More bullshit could’ve happened but it wouldn’t have mattered. I woke up the next day off 4 hours of sleep ready to write a whole EP (I didn’t, but I could’ve).

Catching up with Chairman Bam over trees and coffee like we used to, we realized that the last time he had been in Seattle was four years ago, the summer before The Plague. Up until then, he’d be up at least 2-5 times a year; people thought he moved here. The young bull Travis Thompson pulled up and finally got to connect with Bam, now as peers in this game. The three of us threw back a shot of Jameson—my first in months—and traded rap stories and name-checked our mutuals.

I’ve missed these spaces, but not as much as the people who show up to bring them to life. There have been times recently when I’ve wondered if I would even hit the stage again. Even as the show crept up, I wrestled with the idea of doing more shows before the fourth EP (Taglamig!) is done and out, ultimately deciding Yes, Let’s Fucking Go. It’s time to fill these spaces up again.