London

Hi everyone!

London was a really interesting place. I wasn't prepared for how expensive the city was. Even a taxi ride would cost up to 20 pounds and sometimes more! It was still very fun to be in London because I met up with Samantha and Kristen who are on their Europe trip as well and we went to a few really fun shows and some amazing attractions. The best show for me was at a really small venue called Corsica Studios. This place had amazing bass, was really small, and featured a handful of artists that were very exciting to see. My favorite of the night was Silkie. It was a producer named Mala's birthday so he played a special birthday set as well. This is Silkie in the middle and Mala:

The next night we went back to Fabric and saw a bunch of cool DJs, one particularly famous one named Goldie. He was pretty good and has been around for years. Fabric was really a tiring evening, and we didn't get back until really late but was totally worth it. The next night we went to this interesting bar / nightclub called The Legion. Here is where I finally got to see one of my favorite producers right now named Joker. He was really good to see live, but I wish the sound system had been a little better. This is Joker in purple. On his right is El-B one of the original UK garage producers.

We spent a lot of time going around London enjoying the sights and visiting all sorts of different tourist attractions. We visited Big Ben and Parliament, the Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, London Tower, Green park, and others. It was fun hanging out with Sam and Kristen.

We also went on the London Eye which was really cool. You could see the whole city of London and the beautiful sunset that (we caught it at the best time possible). This is a picture of London from the top of The Eye:

This is a picture of me with Parliament and Big Ben taken on The Eye:

London was really nice. A little too crowded and busy for my taste, but it was definitely a great place to have visited. The hotel Sam and Kristen stayed in was really strict and not very hospitable so that was kind of a downer. But all the hostels I have stayed in so far have been pretty good. The only thing that I haven't enjoyed is really old men snorers and really young chatty girls keeping me up, but thats just part of the experience. I am in Berlin right now getting ready to leave to Italy really soon. I'm TOO excited for Italy! I miss everyone tons! Hope all is well in Cali..

Love,

Alan

England

I have really been enjoying England since arrival. There is so much to do here and so many people to meet. I have been staying at the YHA in Bristol, which is a very busy place. They seem to sell out all the time and have huge groups of students coming and going all the time. I think I am the only one that has stayed for more than 1 week. Bristol is a really nice city because it is relatively small, full of great music, and very beautiful. All the houses here have spanish tile and when you are on a hike or someplace looking down at the city it is very pretty. England is full of small cities surrounded my lush green countryside. My first week I met many people and mostly stayed in Bristol trying to get into the swing of things. I went to the Bristol University and saw an exhibit featuring a local graffiti artist known as "Banksy". Some of his art is up on my YouTube. I though his style was very interesting and creative. I have become a regular at a local bar and cafe called Mackenzies, which has the best food i've found yet. I went to London for one night and visited a world famous nightclub called Fabric. Fabric was a lot of fun there was 3 rooms of music and one of my favorite current artists from the UK "Silkie". This was definitely a highlight so far. The weekend after Fabric I was mostly just hanging out walking around and visiting new places around Bristol including some local records shops. I met a group of local DJs at a bar called the Tube which was really exciting because I have heard of a few of these DJs all the way from CA and it was cool to just get to hang out with some accomplished musicians. I am going back to the Tube on Wednesday the 22nd to see a few more DJs that are on tour right now. I have been trying all different types of ciders, which is what the English drink instead of beer. It is brewed with apples and pears in the same way you would brew a beer and is delicious. My favorite so far is a local brew called the "Old Bristolian" and is nearly 8.5% so you can only drink one or 2 but are very good. I have been going to different places meeting new people but some have been slightly strange. Some guy came up to me at a bar and licked the whole side of my face. He said his friend dared him to lick my sideburns. This was really strange and uncool and I think he was just looking for a fight. Some words were exchanged but nothing happened and they got kicked out of the bar. Very weird. Some people have had some very weird reactions to the beard. Anyways, I couldn't stay at the YHA on last Wednesday so I walked up the street to another hostel called Full Moon Backpackers Hostel. This hostel was much smaller but had a friendlier vibe. I only stayed one night and the next day met up with a group of kids that I met online that live in Bristol and we took a charted bus to Glade Festival. Glade was absolutely insane. I didn't think I could handle it and wondered "What did I get myself into?" on Thursday night because it was raining really hard and was cold and seemed like it wasn't going to be very fun. I lasted through the night and the next day was really excited to hear some good music and meet some new people. I met so many people over the weekend it was overwhelming. I've always been kind of bad at names so I have been making a point to get better while I am on my trip. Even the friends I was with were surprised at how easy is was for me to talk to anyone there and how much people would come up and talk to me. It was very fun and I had a bunch of good conversations with a lot of people, mostly the English. Thursday was the hardest rain we experienced throughout the weekend but it still rained here or there. I bought some wellie boots which were crucial to stay dry and out of all the mud. I was so dirty by the end of it, all I wanted was to take a shower. There was 10 different stages playing music, and all sorts of smaller tents and private set ups playing music for nearly 20 hours a day.

Friday I saw a bunch of DJs and musicians including:

DJ Ben & Lex
Ollie 303
Mystery
Lukie B
A Skillz
The filthy dukes
The egg
DJ Zinc
Alkemy
Ironside
Stivs
Femi Kuti
DMZ - Coki, Mala, Loefah, & Sgt. Pokes
Pinch
Mutant Clan
Dave Clarke

Saturday I saw:

Beardyman
Jazzsteppa
Hudson Mohawke
16 Bit
Milanese
Squarepusher
Carl Craig

Jazzsteppa then Hudson Mohawke and then 16bit was an amazing line-up definitely a huge highlight.

Sunday was the best line up. I never left the same tent except to catch a few artists I needed to see. The Overkill tent line up was:

downshifter
MarkOmen
Reso
Channel One Soundsystem
Mumdance
Raffertie
Starkey
Rusko w/ Rod Azlan
Tayo
Drop the Lime
Benga

Wow, I couldnt believe that line-up all in the same tent. 11 hours of awesomeness. I also saw that day:

Stereo:Type
Noisia
Andy C
Underworld

Overall amazing event and I had a great time. I didn't sleep very much during the weekend. But I did make this video: (I am so awkward on camera its hilarious)





I love my family. You are my strength and my backbone. I cannot thank you enough for being so supportive of this trip. You are all very important to me there are not words to describe my undying love for you. I miss you all so much but am excited to be here and have been having a really good time so far. I have just been relaxing since the festival and I am going to a few shows later this week. I am so excited to be going to Italy and then Spain! More to come...

Love,

Alan

Welcome

dont worry im not going to be stripping.......



hahha


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