SDK History Pt. 11

Hey everybody! Today I was going to take a break from writing the weekly stories because it is honestly very difficult to go on this personal roller coaster of emotions each week. BUT, I didn't ever expect so many people to enjoy reading these and so many messages from people telling me how much they appreciate these posts. So I will write this story today and then I will be taking a break for who knows how long.

Back in 2003 when we all hung out at the Brookswood skate park everyday, I used to tell stories about the future and what my plans were for the group of us. It was my dream to have a tour bus and travel across the country. When I first brought up this idea everyone just laughed at me because none of us had any musical talent or any other reason to be on a tour in the first place LOL. Sometimes dreams can take many years to become a reality and also sometimes dreams just fade away to nothing but a memory. I always dream big and even if it seems impossible I am willing to sacrifice everything chasing my dreams. From 2003 - 2012 I never stopped trying and never stopped believing in the dream of touring the country with my brothers. Stompdown is my family, all I wanted was for everyone to be happy and moderately successful. But most importantly I wanted each day to be like a day at the skate park. In 2012 this highly unrealistic dream finally became a reality and we bought a tour bus! It was actually an old motor home we got and wrapped it in our logos.

Now I know some people might be wondering why we would buy a bus when we’re just a group of vandals, what will we tour for? Thankfully for us the merger with Ephin years earlier brought rappers into the family and with musicians came more fame than we ever thought possible. Some of you might recognize the names Snak The Ripper, Caspian, Merkules, Evil Ebenezer & Prada West. It was because of them that we were now able to book shows in cities all across Canada. Of course much more went into the tour behind the scenes. Thankfully Vision (Ryan Wiese) took care of all the thankless jobs and Rick the bus driver saved our lives by donating his time to drive this bus full of hooligans. The best part about this tour was Craver, Naks and myself got to go even though we really had very little to do during the shows. I always believed this day would happen but nothing can explain that feeling I got when we drove to Vancouver for the first show. None of us had been in a vehicle this size and it freaked us out. I can only describe it as travelling down the highway in your living room.

The show in Vancouver was on a boat and just as we were leaving the dock a fan got caught stealing booze from the bar and was kicked off the boat. He didn't go quietly and put up a fight with the entire security team until he was finally choked unconscious. All of this is on YouTube in the video series titled "SDK DOC" Unfortunately for us this kid was so mad about being kicked off the boat that he decided to take it out on our tour bus while we were out for the night. When the night was over and we returned to the bus we found the windshield smashed in many places, both mirrors ripped off and a bunch of boot marks around the whole bus.

For some reason the kid was still hanging around the area and needless to say the entire team attacked him before he was saved by police.

The tour was over on just the first night! I was devastated but we didn't give up, we rented vans for the first part of the tour on Vancouver Island. We couldn't get a proper windshield replacement in time and we had no choice but to head out on the full tour with a mangled bus. Some days we drove for an entire day with the sun blinding us because of all the fractures in the windshield. It was hell. The initial excitement about the tour was quickly replaced by nervousness and doubt. What had we gotten ourselves into? 40 more days of this?! The first few days of the tour all we did was party but that quickly became a problem because we had to be on the bus early every morning, usually for a 10 hour drive. We were completely out of control and never slept or ate properly. The big bus felt smaller and smaller each day but eventually we got the hang of tour life. For the whole tour I sat in the same seat on the bus, it was just behind the passenger captain chair and I had my own window. I would open the window all the way and put both my legs out and just watch the world pass me by. I had made it! The dream was now a reality and the skate park days seemed like a 100 years ago. I would sit in that chair for endless hours with a smirk on my face. I never slept once on the bus, I had too much thinking to do. I would think about that summer in 2003 when it started to get colder and the dark winter set in. There was something so emotional and depressing about sitting at the skate park alone as the sun went down. Those nights it felt like my dream was dying, or even worse, it was only a dream. On tour everyday was a new city and everyday a new asshole causing problems. If you do watch the SDK DOC series on youtube you will see a small glimpse into the chaos. One of my favorite memories from the bad times on tour was people starting fights, most times there was nothing to do but fight back to save ourselves. I am not a guy that likes to get in fights but there is something special about getting into a brawl with my whole team. Never did I think Craver, Vision and myself would be back to back in a fistfight. Haha it was a wild time but sitting at an all night restaurant with matching black eyes brought me back to the old park days when we fought for nothing and there was no tour.

As the tour continued we slowly began to irritate each other and by the last day in Montreal I was not doing well. Completely worn out, beat up and homesick I was a ticking time bomb. As soon as the last show was over I headed back to hotel. On the walk back to the hotel some guy picked a fight with Merkules. It was over quick, They circled each other and both threw a punch at the same time. Merkules got a split lip but this guy got rocked and fell backwards, hitting his head on the curb. His friends picked him up and we went back to our hotels. On my walk home this guy somehow tracks me down and decides to attack me. To be continued.... Well I thought I could fit all this into one story and take a break but it looks like there will be a part 12 next week after all. Thank you for reading.

 

-Q