💉 Flew Shot 2020, Issue 1 - What to expect from this blog and Movement19 this Summer.

It has been some time since I've taken the time to create and contribute to the decentralized web. I actually fell back into the habit of utilizing mainstream platforms again, namely Facebook, after some life events caused me to shift focus from a longtime podcasting career to a full-time day job. I've done some writing too, but it was all professional work for one of the largest alternative media outlets on social media, Anonymous News, with 11 million followers on just one platform (I'll begin sharing those articles more regularly here soon).

Just before news of the impending global health crisis really broke, I was in the midst of writing an article about all that had transpired since my last time podcasting and blogging, then things developed rather quickly. And before I could wrap up a lengthy bit of writing and begin to plan the next relaunch of Hangin' with WHO, in conjunction with a return to DJing at underground events, I found my family participating in self isolation under stay-at-home orders from the state of Florida, where we had relocated just months prior.

Back in December of 2019, I had put together a team of exceptionally talented and well seasoned artists and promoters from the New York City Rave and Burner scenes. We pooled our resources and worked hard to produce our debut event at a nightclub in midtown Manhattan where we hoped to begin a series of nightlife events dedicated to showcasing the finest in underground cultures and supporting and promoting alternative lifestyles. We dubbed the event SUBMIT.

The first event proved successful albeit on a very rainy night. And although we hadn't generated anywhere near enough from ticket sales to cover expenses, we looked forward to continuing the endeavor. In February, just after Love Burn, we launched SUBMIT in South Florida and were in talks to launch at an incredible cavernous underground music and art venue in Baltimore, Maryland in collaboration with some of the area's premier talent and promoters.

Needless to say, concern for the well being of our team as well, as our friends and fans, has caused us to place our plans for any large scale public events on hold indefinitely. Instead, we are moving forward with what would have been the second phase of SUBMIT, which is to produce serial podcasts and launch a record label as well as a line of branded merchandise. And, as I have always promised, we will continue to find the most ecologically sound methods and materials.

As of now, we are in preliminary talks, bouncing ideas around. In the coming weeks I will be returning to the airwaves regularly on @ghro Green House Radio Online, courtesy of the awesome folk over at @canna-curate. At first, I'll be launching the 2020 season of Hangin' with WHO with special guests White Walking Feather @wwf, Dayna Martin, Dookie Brown Flow and original Members of The MOVE, to name a few.

While mainstream social media continues to be a viable option for advertising and garnering fans and followers, it is also becoming increasingly difficult to thwart censorship. Emotions run high and civil discourse turns to childishness rather quickly. These are both issues which decentralized platforms built on block chains such as Steemit seemed to address when they were introduced just a few short years ago. @johnvibes turned me on early on and at first I thought to abandon all mainstream platforms and become a block chain and crypto evangelist.

In the first two years I utilized the decentralized web, I managed to maintain several weekly podcasts and blog almost daily. That activity earned my family some extra change to help build our first tiny house. Then, almost a year ago, after an arduous couple of years dealing with mental health issues, several deaths in the family and working hard to keep our children housed among a myriad of other unforeseen circumstances, my wife and I did not imagine we would be the victims of a robbery at home.

We were not home when it happened. We have a pretty good idea who did it. Someone was even arrested. Our most valuable material possession was stolen, the Solar Tiny Sound, an off-grid mobile DJ set up we had built and were using to do our podcasts, streams and live showcases. It was also our family's centerpiece. It provided us and our friends hours upon hours of quality time and memories.

The Solar Tiny Sound 2.0 is not quite ready as the current economic downturn has had some effect on our income stream. We are close. We're first going to convert a trailer into a sustainable high-tech off-grid mobile camp. Hangin' with WHO will be launching in the coming weeks and we will once again generate in income stream through content creation. Shortly, I will reactivate my Patreon for those who do not wish to learn new platforms. I will continue to write for Anonymous and I'll post any appropriate articles and podcasts on my NYCR blog regarding electronic dance music and culture.

I will be encouraging all of the artists I work with to start utilizing the decentralized web as another outlet for their creativity and as a way to earn some money creating from home during these difficult times. And I will be helping underground DJs to see how the decentralized web can be a way to play copyrighted music for fun without the worry of having your audio cut off by record industry giants. I will also continue to show other likeminded activists and outspoken radicals as well as controversial researchers and academics how the decentralized web can provide a breath of fresh air from the erosion of free speech on the internet.