First things first, I want to congratulate my brother Madchild for his win at King of The Dot! His competitor Dirt Bag Dan was no joke, respect due. It was a great night and one that made all Battleaxe Warriors proud. Now rewind to Sudbury. The Townehouse Tavern was rocking, low ceiling with painted black stucco=chaos. This one dude was crowdsurfing and I thought he was going to shred his grill up. Orillia was next. Shout out to QPid and Jay for showing us a great time. And to all the boaters out there , you guys are awesome. Brantford holla. Enthusiastic crowd, when school gets back in it should be a packed room. We ventured on to Toronto and I caught up with my good friend Karen Bliss. Checked out a great band called The Danger Bees and then got ready for our upcoming show at The Rockpile. I loved the venue and the staff were good to us. Respect to all the mc’s who were in attendance, big up! Shout out to So Sick. Two days after we rocked the show was the battle, and well, victory was on our side! The last two days of the tour were spent in Wasaga and Blue Mountain. Monster Energy was kind enough to have us rock their VIP Party and it was one of the best shows of the tour. Thank you to Nelson and Libby and the whole crew. Last gig, next day at Wakestock! Amazing event. Great lineup. Talib Kweli, Tokyo Police Club, Monster Truck, Machine Gun Kelly and us.Then off to our boy Marcus’ cabin for some of Monsoons moms homemade burgers and bbq venison loin. Fun way to finish a month. Appreciate all who came to the shows and showed support, each day we grow stronger. Thank you and goodnight!

-Prevail

Last time I wrote an entry we were still in Alberta. We playeds at Chef Fransisco’s and had a great time, thanks to our man Corey out there for taking care. Then off to Saskatoon where Tim and the crew from Jax had us hooked up with a full room nad a bananas sound system. Brandon was next up and we rocked it. The night before I watched 54-40 at the same venue, which is called The 40, and it was dope to see those guys ripping it up, always liked those cats. And thanks to Heidi for everything. Then the long haul to T-Bay at Crocks. Formerly known as The Office, we handled our business that night. A lot of energy turned the room into an instant classic. Shout out to Hien and both the Franks. Tonight we are in Sudbury and finish off the rest of the tour in Ontario. Thankfully most of Canada is connected by one stretch of road, albeit a long stretch, the drive has times of natural wonder that really make you appreciate the gifts of our country. Onward Battleaxe Warrior, Onward!

Prevail a.k.a. The Predator

Last time I did an entry we were en route to Edmonton. We played at The Starlite Room, the very first venue in the 780 we gigged back in the day. This time we played in the hidden middle room and it might as well have been a zoo! Hectic in a good way. Two days off and we rolled into Slave Lake. Let me say, on behalf of Swollen, our hearts go out to the community. I think a good party was in need and the people responded with vigour! Jimmy’s Sports Bar was rocking ( and the food next door at Tao was amazing ) , big up our boy Dom!!! Jasper here we come. The Horseshoe Club was set to go coo-coo. Loads of energy and good vibes. As always, CityReal, who is on tour with us, killed it. We smashed our set and then chilled out for a bit with the peeps from the show. On our way to Sylvan, we blew a tire out and have been on post. Today we are back on the road and the tour pushes on. One more show in the wonderful province of Alberta and we are SK bound. Let’s go!!! Peace Love and Hairgrease.

Prevail

As I sit in my hotel room in Okotoks, where we destroyed In Cahoots last night, I reflect on the fact that only a week and a half ago Madchild and I were in Norway rocking a festival in Voss. A few days before that and we were in Greece chilling with our brothers Professional Sinnerz. And a few days before that we were in Zurich, rocking a huge outdoor festival, hanging out with our family, Evidence and Saigon. Then we blasted back to Vancouver, did laundry, packed and jumped back on the road, starting in Winnipeg, we ripped up a great wakeboard event called Adrenaline Adventures. Then off to Calgary to kill it at Lounge Burger for one of the Stampede events. My point to all this, I want to thank all of you for your continued support, we are really building again and it has always been a family affair. Swollen is playing from Alberta to Ontario in the next few weeks so if you see us heading your way, come check us out. Have a good rest of the week all.

Prevail

Since the new Swollen album Daggermouth dropped last month we have been busy as all get out. Touring around Beautiful British Columbia and Alberta the shows have all been off the chain! They feel like old school gigs we used to do back in the day, pure mayhem and unbelievable energy. The feedback from Daggermouth has been extremely positive and we are very grateful to all of you who have picked up the record, feels good! We opened for TechN9NE the other night and it was fresh! Big up Tech and Krizz Kaliko! As Swollen is picking up momentum, we already have another release slotted for July. The second installation of Monsters In The Closet is nasty. We culminated a great selection of unreleased material and a few gems that deserve a brighter spotlight. We are on the road until the 28th of this month, for cities on the roster check our myspace page. Be well and enjoy the week ahead!

Prevail

Thank you to everyone who has checked out the new Swollen Members album Dagger Mouth!!! It has been met with great reception and some of our old school listeners are even saying favourite album of all time. We know we couldn’t have been able to create without your support so we thank you. The day Dagger Mouth dropped we were lucky enough to open for Ice Cube! C’mon that one is going down in the history books.
Tonight we have a gig here in Vancouver at a club called The Motel. Should be a barn burner. Swollen has been messing with those ustream live sessions too! If you go to www.swollenmembers.com and hit the Swollen TV icon, it will take you to the live room if we are on. Doing one tonight at 5:30 pst, after soundcheck. Dagger Mouth hit #1 on Itunes Canada for Hip Hop on opening day and my boy told me yesterday that HMV only had one copy left! So thank you all once again, we have shows all weekend, update on Monday!

GO CANUCKS!!!!

About to re watch Dark Knight for the 20th time. Great flick for getting inspiration to write. We blast off tomorrow for a show in Prince George, long drive ahead but all for a good cause. An all ages gig, first one in a while. It’s good to play for the youngsters, keep the message flowing through the generations. Just a reminder too, our tour starts on the 16th of this month! Check the Swollen myspace page for a full update. We are almost done DaggerMouth, but in the meantime Madchilds solo EP is called DopeSick and mine is called SpaseFase, check I Tunes for a copy. The weather has taken a turn for the worse and I think we might have a couple days left of sunshine and bbq and then it’s upon us, the familiar face of Autumn. Ces’t la vie! Have a good weekend, may it be fruitful.

Prevail

Since shooting the video for Razorblades a few weeks ago, things have been crazy. The video by the way is going to look ill! The team was awesome! Big ups to Michel and the crew for the sick choreography!!! Then I moved right into getting ready for shooting the sizzle reel for a tv show concept. Felt good though to be so active, positive momentum sometimes needs to be ignited by those around you as well as from within. This week Mad focuses on finishing his solo album and then we gig on Saturday in Prince George. Back to wrapping up DaggerMouth the following week and then boom, we hit the road for a Western Canadian Tour with CityReal. Mad also had a song featured yesterday on www.hiphopdx.com, it went front page! Shout out to the Swollen Army and all Battleaxe Warriors. Check our myspace for a list of tour dates, yes yes y’all!

Prevail a.k.a. Cannonball Crush

p.s.- check this great psa written and produced by my friend Karen Bliss. It’s about racism.

YouTube — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScL6QNVDnTY

I have been starting my mornings lately with a coffee and a crossword and I like it. I bought a crossword book a couple weekends ago on my way up to visit my Grandparents and I have been killing it ever since. Good thought processing for the rhymes. I think I can probably step it up to the next level of difficulty though, eventually working my way up to the famed New York Times edition, one of the world’s most reputed word puzzles. First things first though. The tour is almost booked and we are in the process of putting together the next round for the U.S. run and further adventures across our fair country, followed hopefully by another trip to Australia. We have a show this Friday in Penticton at Element, if you’re in the area check it! Only about two or more three more songs to record for DaggerMouth and we can hand it in. It will be finished before the tour starts and then Monsters In The Closet 2 and of course Mad’s solo EP out soon too called Dope Sick. I shoot a video this Saturday for Razorblades ft Malia May, from the SpaseFase EP. Hit up I Tunes or Amazon to cop it if you don’t have it yet. We are shooting in black & white and it’s going to look sicko kicko! Half way through the week and it has flown by so far. One of the last production meetings tonight before I shoot my sizzle reel next month. More on that soon, I will keep you posted, I promise. Until Friday my friends, peace!!!

Prevail

I hope you all had a good weekend! I did. The weather in Vancouver was supposed to be rainy but it held out and that meant BBQ. Recorded on Saturday for DaggerMouth, I can’t wait for this one to drop! Last night made slow roasted beef ribs, oven first then onto the Webber from 1970 something, my best garage sale find of the season. A few hours later, we were having dinner for 9 and there was still food left over. I love Summertime. Just tightening up some last minute things with our upcoming tour and then we release the dates. Big up my boy Forrest, the Alberta Swollen Army Lieutenant! Big things are on the horizon my friends. The machine is once again whirring back to life and the design this time around is bigger and better than before. Once again good looking on the feedback for SpaseFase, I’m stoked to hear people are digging it! Okay, get through the Monday and we can coast through the week, the worst is almost over. Be well all.

Prevail a.k.a. Cannonball Crush