"I shouldn't be wasting all of my time in these basement bars with this rock and roll band."

Damian at the PACKED, Triple Nickel Fourth Anniversary Party.

"You are wasting your life away at the bar. Your shows are not that cool, and the triple nickel is boring. You are afraid to do more with yourself" -Anonymous

I received these fine words in the form of an anonymous message sent through the bowels of Myspace via the TRUTH BOX application.

I laughed when i read the above message. I have come so far in this great charade of life and have people ridicule the choices I have made. I LOVE what i am doing, and as i wrote in my Article in The Independent, Nothing feels better than a packed room and knowing that I am responsible for it.

It has been about 8 months since i have received this message and as I looked upon it today, it was not with laughter or humor, but sadness. Here is a person who thinks i can do great things, but sees me wasting my time at a dive bar I call HOME.


I wish no disrespect to the people who did the job before me, but When i first took over the bookings and promotions of the Triple Nickel Tavern, it was an absolute shithole. I came in HUNGRY and ready to buckle down and work my ass off and that's what i did.

For the first year I had to beg and plead with musicians to come and play at our little venue. I was constantly on the computer, listening to and emailing bands. I went out and found the bands that i loved and admired and brought them to Colorado Springs. It was hard work, but no where near the hard work that came once i got these bands into town. The hardest part was getting the crowds...

Colorado Springs is a notorious town for having a music scene that people do not support. People do not want to leave the comfort of their homes and Xboxs to venture out into the great unknown for adventures and live music. They visit their chain restaurants and comfortable chain bars. They venture very little off the beaten path. They have very little imagination or thirst for adventure and because of this, the town suffers greatly because of it.

It may seem easy. Sit at the computer and write a few emails, post a few bulletins online. The Reality is, I had to bust my ass to attract more and more of these people and get them into our little bar that could. Sure I didn't do anything to drastic and crazy. I mostly did what other did before me in the days before Social Networking. I got out there and Flyered and networked. I went to shows. I met new people and spent countless hours talking and talking to people. I bought and consumed many, many beers. It was hard work and even some of my closest friends chose not to support me and my efforts, choosing instead to sit at home and watch countless hours of MTV Reality Television. Through it all, and against all odds, I prevailed.

Our bar just celebrated its Fourth Anniversary to a PACKED house! In a time of economic uncertainty, we had one of the most successful years in the bar's history. I can't take all of the credit of course. It was a group effort and we all pitched it. I booked the bands. The people started coming. The Bartenders took care of the patrons and guests. JJ, the owner, built a new stage. Joel (Aka Ski) set up a new sound system (that JJ bought.) and as a result, we've created the best sounding, small venue in town. Most bands tell us we are now their FAVORITE place to play in town!!! A far cry from the time i spent on my knees....

We ALL worked hard to get the bar to where it is now, and not with out my help of booking the shows, and getting the people to acknowledge what we are doing. The Nickel may not be the premier bar downtown, but we're at a point now, that even on show nights we can pack the fucking house with ease, a super rarity before I took over.

The person who wrote to me telling me that i am "...Afraid to do more with myself," Might not see how great an accomplishment that packing that place can be. I'm the backstage guy. I'm the man behind the curtain making the magic happen. Its a very unrewarding job for most, but not for me. I've sought my reward and claimed it.

I have so many more GREAT people in my life now. If not for the nickel, I wouldn't have met my last three girlfriends, and I'm sure the next unlucky girl i will have met there as well. I would not know my last two roommates, had it not been for the Nickel. I would not have found the roads i am currently navigating... I wouldn't have become this current incarnation of Damian.

Less than two weeks from now, I'll be hitting the road with one of my all time favorite bands, DRAG THE RIVER. I'll be their Merch Bitch/Roadie/Driver on this next adventure and I've never been more excited. If you had told me 2 years ago that I would be going out on the road with Drag, i would have laughed and wished dreamily at the prospect.... Now here i am about to embark on a killer trip, with some great guys. They're not only my friends, but my brothers in arms. I STILL can't believe it.....

And its all because I've "wasted [MY] life away at the bar."

I may not get paid cash for all the work I've done in this town, but The Nickel has given me more than I ever could have wished for.

I don't want people to think I am selling myself short. You don't rush a stew. You have to let it sit and simmer and cook to deliciousness. I'm taking it slow and easy and soaking in the sights, sounds and smells. Its not about the destination, its about the journey. I will sit back and enjoy this wild and crazy ride that I'm on and when the time comes, I'll head off on my next great adventure.


So to the person who wrote the above statement, I want you to know, I'm HAPPY. I'm not wasting away. I've accomplished more than i could have imagined. I appreciate that you think i can do more, and I can, and I will, but for now I'm going to keep hanging out in the Dive bar, booking "boring" shows and entertaining the small mass of loyal patrons to our bar. I am going to keep enriching this town. I am going to keep plugging away. One day, I will move on to greatness, and one day you'll tell someone, "I knew him when."

Attainable Goals.

Let me start off by saying, I adored the film, JULIE & JULIA, the 2009 film based on Blogger Julie Powell's journey through Julie Child's cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Julie set herself a goal of completing all 524 recipes from Julie Child's cook book in 365 days. The film was based on the books, Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously By Julie Powell and My Life in France By Julia Child

It was oddly inspirational to me, the hapless 28 year old male who often yearns for something creative to sink his teeth into. Only to find myself without the the time motivation, or more importantly, the organization.

The film's main character talks to her mother about how setting short, simple and attainable goals is good for your life and being. In looking for the exact quote, i could not find it for the life of me, but i did come across this quote from Tony Hawk that mostly fits:

"My best advice is to set small, attainable goals for yourself. Don’t think of the big picture all the time, because you’re just going to end up being disappointed the whole way there. You’ll be so fixated on the challenges that you won’t step back and realize you’re already there."

In the last few weeks i have watched this film a few more times and each time i feel myself yearning to do something of the sort in my own life. Create my own short and attainable goals. I thought of going through the Top 250 films on IMDB.COM and writing about each and every one. I had once started the dubious project of watching every film on the list in one year, this was about 5 years ago, and made it far, but found myself burnt out on high class, amazing films that zap your brain and soul. I regressed into watching much more Hollywood filth and schlock afterwards.

Still, during my unfinished goal, I did happen to find many, many amazing films and directors that i never ever would have found without this amazing resource and goal. Its still a goal of mine to watch all 250 films, but the list is an ever changing affair and i am quite proud to have seen at least 125 of these films, if not more. I would stop and count them all... but that can wait for another day.

So I've been debating what small and attainable goals for me to reach this year and what they should be. I've come up with two, very similar, simple goals for this upcoming year.

First. I'm going to use this blog and write one blog a week every week for 2010. That's 52 blogs. 52 writings. Each one with at least 500 words. Lets face it, I'm very verbose so chances are each post will venture into the thousand-plus wordcount. I will have no set theme, just one Blog entry a week. Each one a slice of my brain. I will try to refrain from postings about my boring days and keep these posting as interesting as possible.

Secondly. I'm going to begin working with Vanessa Speckman and her wonderful zine, Lubricated Magazine (fan Lubricated on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lubricated-Zine/166831369538). After a few back and forth emails about various plans and ideas we have, we both came to the conclusion that we just need to get off our asses and start working on the blog. Just start working and stop fucking talking!

For the zine, I am setting the same goal i have set for myself here with this blog. I will write 52 pieces for her blog. One a week for one year.


I've been itching to do a zine again in these last few weeks/years/entire life, but starting a zine is an incredibly large pain in the ass with very little rewards. It is lots and lots of hours sweating and pouring yourself into a project that very people will read and even less will appreciate. I think i have found a partner in Vanessa, whom is on the same page about what we want to do. I'm lucky in this because I very much need someone to help energize me and motivate me to actually do the work and not surf the internet for another three hours.

So rather than start my own zine and fight for the same very small audience that we will both cater to, I'll combine my forces and move to help make Lubricated a new powerhouse tour de force that i know it will be.


I use to write constantly on my livejournal and Myspace pages, but I have since fallen off the wagon. I believe that setting this small attainable goals of writing two pieces a week are very, very attainable, yet push me JUST enough.

One piece for each blog is of course is the minimum. If I write 200 blogs this year, then GREAT, even better! I should note that writing 2 blogs in one week, will NOT exclude me from writing the next week., but will rather be bonus.

I will also add, that at least for my personal writings, I plan on at the very least going back and writing a few backlogged blogs for this year. So by my account, after this one is published, I owe the world 3 more for January.

I'm still not sure what to do with my writings that are sure to overlap. I work in the music industry. Many of my friends are involved with the industry in some way or another. My upcoming tour with Drag The River will warrant many blogs, but do these blogs go to the Lubricated Zine? Or stay here as my own? I think I will keep my Lubricated work mostly focused on Interviews and profiles, "Journalism" work. My personal blog will focus more on me and my adventures.

I also have lots of advice for bands and other promoters as well, not sure where that will fall when those pieces are written... Perhaps I will post them in both? I don't know how that will work in my self-written rules..

And as readers, I won't be able to do this without you. Please, send me comments, ideas, suggestions and topics to write about. I should also note that my Lubricated work will not be just about music. I want to branch out and interview other people as well. Comic artists have my eye right now, since i am a rather large fan of the online comics communities. I have many other ideas for interviews and pieces as well for Lubricated. I also have a few ideas and tricks up my sleeve that i do not plan to unveil until I can actually get them accomplished.

Before i leave you, I would also like to highly recommend Julie & Julia. Its a chick flick of sorts, but it is no love story. Instead it is the story of two women who set goals for themselves and came out changed people in the end, and for Julia Child, Change the world! Its the story of growth and gain, and while its about two women, it should be universal for anyone with an open mind, and a yearning to better yourself. It doesn't hurt that its a damned sweet and cute little film. I absolutely adored it.

Will i change the world with these projects? More than likely NOT. I have no clue what i will get out of it. When i started the bookings and promotions at the Triple Nickel, i never could have imagined how it changed my life and opened me up for all kinds of amazing opportunities. Who knows where these roads i am embarking on shall lead. Maybe no where, but i doubt that. This is a good solid, small move. I can't wait to look back in a year and see the end results.

I only hope you all are willing to come along with me on this journey.

One posting down. 51 left to go.
-Damian
1/24/10