In Belgium 2005 Journal Part Four

4.3.05
I'm sitting on the back deck of Eddie Amador's apartment in Amsterdam. Its more like a suite. Its located just down the street from the heart of Amsterdam. Mr. Amador played in Prague last night and will be home later this evening. The pad is ill. Its two levels, the first level is a living room, dining room, kitchen, master bedroom. The second level is guest bedroom, studio (with a balcony), and a bathroom with a toilet that works like an American one, a sauna, and a huge bathtub/shower that doubles as a Jacuzzi. I'm living the life bitch. Let me take you back before I go any further.
(Hold on a second....)

Ok, I'm back I had to grab an ice cold, tall boy, Heineken. MMMMMMM! It actually is drinkable in Holland.
Where was I? Oh yeah, going back...

A few more things from Belgium to discuss. I played at Clues again. I played Friday from 4:00 pm till 10:00 pm. Nice little set. It was amazing though cause I played everything. Marvin Belton, Marvin Gaye, Nirvana, Zero 7, Digable Planets, Curtis Mayfield etc... Then I played house and techno. I hung around till the end and after the bar was closed I joined Chris Clues, Bart, and Timternet for some after party, 5 in the morning drinks and weed smoking. I talked a lot with Chris. His mother passed away last year and now his Father is very sick. (Keep in mind that this discussion started after the weed wore off and the alcohol set in. Booze is a downer. It just goes that way.) He told me he was so confused about life. He loved it, but didn't understand it. I said "Join the club my friend." He told me he had been raised Catholic but had denounced the religion. "My man!", I'm thinking. I asked, "Why?" He said that at his mother's funeral the preacher went on about how there were a lot of nonbelievers there. That they only came to church when it was necessary. That they used God and the Church when need be. That they were sinners and unless they found God and "Our Lord and Savior" Jesus Christ they would spend eternity in the depths of Hell. He said it wasn't the dogma that bothered him, he was raised Catholic he knew all about that, it was that this "preacher was going to use my mother's death to recruit people for his fucking church!" He said he could not believe in a God that sent people to Hell for eternity. He could not believe in one God, his God, when thousands of Gods existed. I agreed.
I am going to release a 12" record entitled "The Chris Klooz ep" dedicated to Chris. No matter what is happening in his life he always brightens up other people's lives. I believe all Gods and religions love people like Chris, he truly makes the earth a better place.

Next is Saturday night in Brussels at Milk Club. In my religion this place would be Hell. Just kidding. It was tough guys in tight shirts who could care less about music. The booking guy bothered me so many times I finally said "In a half hour I'm going up the the bar, getting my fucking money and going home. After that you get whatever shlep you want to play whatever you wanna here. Until then you booked me and I'll do what I want." I'm so tough! If you can't beat em' join em'. (I also tied my shirt in a knot at the bottom so it would be extra tight and refused to put my arms down all the way.)

Before the gig I went to a record shop in Brussels that was owned by a sweet little French speaking girl that was a friend of Bart's. As soon as I walked in I was handed this beer made from fruit. Interesting and very girly. Then I was to try a beer made with vodka in it. All this in the record shop. Beer and Belgians go hand in hand. After that we went to a real Belgian diner. I had stoop. Its like mashed potatoes with carrots and stuff mixed up. Very traditional food. And very tasty as well. After that we walked all around Brussels. Holy fucking shit! There were buildings from the 14th century! Beautiful.
Then Milk Club Blah Blah Blah...

All in all Belgium was amazing. I really loved the people and culture. I have no regrets...
On Wednesday we drove to Amsterdam. Its about a hour and forty five minutes. We stopped at the Rush Hour shop so I could sell them a bunch of records and CDs and walk out with an extra 100 euro. Yippie! Next we went to the red light district. The smell of marijuana and sex was in the air. Weed at every corner and rows of naked prostitutes in windows taunting carefree tourists. Ahh Amsterdam. To be young again... I decided not to relive my past and keep my mind drug and alcohol free and my penis in my pants.
Amador was busy running around and was unable to meet up with me until 6:00 pm. Which he did. We took a tram to his place. We had a couple drinks. He fell asleep and I watched "Life". That movie with Eddie Murphy and that other black guy. The next day he had to do some running around so I went into the studio. A couple hours later he returned and I had all the parts for a new track done. He called a vocalist, she came by, we wrote some lyrics, she sang it, he left for Prague. I went back into the studio. He will be home tonight and we'll finish the track. That is how I like it. In the mean time I completed a remix of a track Bart did. He and a Columbian guy by the name of Core. Their version is good, I liked it. So I said "How about you let me do a remix and I'll release it on FPR." "Word", they said. Done deal...
So today I finished the remix and worked on the vocal track a bit. Then I walked down to the main area of Amsterdam, then I wrote this. That's all for now. When I get back I'll call everyone up, we'll get some Belgian beer and I'll answer any questions. (just kidding) I love you all. Till next time...
Peace and love.

next up is Belgian Journals 2006