After slacking and not writing an entry last month, I am back to report that the summer is heating up in all ways possible as the rain seems to have finally stopped here in Calgary, and all the major projects/events are in full swing.

The Anahata release has been sent off to the distributor for reproduction and hopefully we are looking at the beginning of August for sales to begin. As well, my dj mix / compilation on Zenon Records is 99% done and will hopefully be on sale at the same time.  Both projects have been a huge learning experience... people who work in the music industry full-time have my respect.

On the personal front, Irena and I are madly preparing for the first of two weddings we are having. This first one is to take place at sundown on the summer solstice in five days time. We have rented a private and remote campground and will be having a celebration afterwards with some great music and lots of amazing friends. Our second wedding, the more formal of the two, will be held on July 26th in the mountains also and will be the tux and gown affair with family and friends. Having two weddings seemed like the only way we could fit everything we wanted into our wedding experience, plus we get to double up on all the fun. I am not nervous yet but I know it will hit me like a ton of bricks on both wedding days...  I can't wait to see Irena all done up and looking stunning!!!

To start off our newly wed life together we have also decided to go travel for 12 months and see the world. We will be leaving Calgary and heading to the Eclipse Festival in Quebec (Aug 1 - 4) to play a show, then off to Ibiza for three days to celebrate a close friends birthday, then next we travel to Portugal to perform at the legendary Boom Festival (Aug 11 - 17). Norris and I are fully pumped to be performing at Eclipse and Boom... we have heard nothing but great things about both gatherings. Then the rough plan for Irena and I is to stick around in Europe until the end of November, then head to India for December, then Thailand for January, then Australia from February until the end of April. At this point we may stay longer in Australia or we may be coming back to Canada and touring the Yukon and Alaska from May until the end of July.

There are literally 100's of things we need to get done before we can leave Canada and the days are flying by.

I can say one thing for certain: I am going to have the biggest grim on my face once we are on that plane heading off on our huge adventure.

Seriously, as of today the weather here in Calgary has actually turned warm, snow is not falling and things are going to be getting green in a hurry. We have had way too much crappy weather this spring and although I am usually not one to be affected by such things, I admit that this year I am jumping out of my skin for summer to arrive... IT"S NEARLY FREAKING MAY for crying out loud!!

I know that part of the reason that I am so grumpy about the weather is that I had the chance to soak up some great sun in L.A. as well as enjoy the fully green grass and leafy trees in Vancouver while on Tour with Shadow Fx a few weeks back. James and I played four cities together, and I have to say that it was a real pleasure getting to know him. His set seemed to get better every time I heard it with different tracks or elements standing out each time which made every show unique. The tour as a whole was a success, and I think now after having Sensient and Shadow Fx here in N. America both over the last short while, the Zenon sound is spreading and people are really digging the unique groove that comes from this Australian label.

I am HUGELY honored to be involved with the crew, and as time passes the dj mix / compilation release SEA OF VAPOURS is taking shape more and more each week. The final track list has been selected and the tracks are now being mastered. The cd Art is being done by none other than Mr. Wes Straub himself and the preview looks super slick and bang on the mark. The release date is looking to be July 1st which is still in time to hit the summer festival season... dj's are going to be killing these tracks all summer if they have any good sense!!

Back to the tour, I wanted to say a HUGE thanks to my crew for coming together to make the Calgary show one of, if not THE best show I have put on with Area709. Everyone played killer sets, and those that came and danced ROCKED that venue and kept the energy on maximum the whole night. The visuals were clean, mature and very slick, and the sound was the best we've every achieved in that venue... thanks to Jay, Norris and Wes' tweaking the speaker configuration for an hour. It has been quite some time since I have seen such a happy, reactive and connected dance floor. Any notion that Calgary's underground psy community is fading was firmly banished that night. Irena, Norris, Wes, Rusty, Jay, Shaun, Cory, and Bruce, thank you for all your efforts and for being such a positive team and great friends. As this was our last event for a long while to come, I could not have asked for a better way to say goodbye to 8 years of throwing shows here in Calgary.

And now I am looking forward to a few more huge events and adventures coming up: a wedding, three HUGE gigs and a whole year of traveling around the world. One of those gigs happens to be Norris and I playing a 3.5 hour set at BOOM Festival in Portugal. I will post more details once I have them, but I wanted to mention now that I am also the Boom Ambassador to Canada and as such have tickets to sell on their behalf, so anyone looking for tickets can contact me at: darvin@area709.com.

Now I am off to get me some sunshine.