A Word from King Julia

Post-Partum Enlightenment (Art is a Dominatrix)

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 23:25:00 GMT

I just had my first baby, a sonic love-child called NATHANIEL. my man and i combined, combed through the knotted threads of space/time with our nimble fingers, and with our fingers, plucked & drummed & tweaked & turned until our heart-baby fleshed out. the DNA may be ours, but ART sparked the life. Art used our simple bodies to perpetuate itself. ART ("god") is the Mother for whom we are surrogates. we took reigns on the instruments, but only because Art had reigns on us. Art is a dominatrix! with all the flesh and bondage, needless to say this was pretty hot.

Art is Sex because it is sensuous, carnal, even reproductive (of the spirit of man) -- thus propagating evolved forms of the beings unto whom they were born. we made love with Art, and now i am a new mother to a 12-track organism that cries, laughs, learns, and never dies. now the kid is out on its own, in other peoples' cars, communicating for us, without us. the thing is a reflection of us, but because Art made it, and Art is Mother to us all, the thing is a reflection of you too. take care of it, and it will take care of your heart!

to release NATHANIEL is in part, abandonment. we could cultivate these tunes forever and they would only get closer to "perfection" but never become it. "perfect" is elusive, illusion, illustrated in Universal Balance which is simply Constant Chaos. true Perfection is acceptance of chaos, of imperfection -- uniting with the honest reality of this grotesque and beautiful present moment.

thus i will not apologize for Art, or how it had its way with me. i surrender to the divine secret, which i can neither grasp nor question.
like anyone i am a small organic chemical conduit for the dimension of infinite apparitions. i with my limited human brain need not force answers out of a cosmic mystery.
it is what it is.
que sera sera.
NATHANIEL.

All Kinds of Volume

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:35:00 GMT

My love Musik is the son of an Air Force Senior Master Sergeant, so he grew up all over the States and parts of Europe. During a four-month stay at a Floridian high school, he formed The Moore Cody Experience with a group of kick-ass juveniles. They bonded tight and rocked some shows together before Musik suddenly bounced, as was his nature, to Texas. Years later, while Fifth Nation was on one of our early tours, the boys reunited on a Philly sidewalk. Since then they've become my great friends. The most bearded of this crew, Joey Volume, recently began travelling from Philly to NYC every weekend to help us work on our upcoming record. Volume has become crucial to the Fifth Nation nucleus, as a dedicated roadie, mechanic, gear head, session vocalist, merch prince, extra pair of ears, extra stomper of pedals, extra booster of spirit . . . plus, he has drastically increased my gear lust. I am excited for the world to enjoy the pleasures of Joey Volume! Especially including his future line of Joey Volume custom gear: pedals, amplifiers, flight cases, and the like. This guy is legit.

"COOL COOL 2012"

Yeah man, our record is coming our on March First and we are actually excited about it. Twelve tracks of completely self-produced home-grown music from the heart of Fifth Nation in the heart of BKLYNNYCUSA. These are some really great songs, and they legitimately sound awesome through the speakers thanks to Musik's incredible production skills. He blows me away with the magic he can make in that computer, I'm telling you. I am just so grateful to look around this room and see him sitting there playing some silly game on his iPhone, tea brewing at his feet, figs and honey . . . and see our spaceship -- all of these gorgeous robots with their slender cables and blinking lights, speaking that familiar alien tongue. We become more cyborg by the minute, don't we? --------> Then the more organic machines, glowing in the glory of their analog purity -- microphones, keys, guitars, objects like speakers, bells and cymbals that turn me on at the slightest touch. At the slightest tap, send me over the edge. I am hypnotized by all this magic -- digital, analog, spirit, flesh, salt, breath, plastic. My passion grows when I indulge my imagination beyond the power all this holds in my heart alone. I imagine how much power these simple things hold for the world. If I use these tools, and Art makes it through me unscathed, if I stay out of its way, and let it slip into Earthly waves from the Great Beyond -- I hope it lands in the deep chamber of your heart and gets all bloody and warm, and remains there dancing, making warm more warm.

Speaking of warm, how about this WEATHER?! Yeah, when I was a kid, it used to snow in the winter. When I was a kid, there were no iPhones, and we had to chat on AOL Instant Messenger. When I was a kid, I made soup out of dirt and onion grass, and I made pets out of ants and bees and abandoned baby birds. When I was a kid, I had no idea about anything. The only difference now is that I know I don't know anything. I just say what sounds good.

Code of the Combat Kid

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 11:05:00 GMT

Today I wrote a song in the spirit of our current modern global revolution. It's called "Combat Kid" and it likens a musician to a soldier. Both are Brave Warriors, but the artist is nonviolent, depending on spiritual ammunition -- soulful expression and humane communcation -- as his Weapon of Choice in the ultimate battle between Good and Evil. In either case, combat boots are necessary. Here is the Fifth Nation Code of the Combat Kid, (based on the United States Military Code of Conduct):

(1) I am Human, fighting in the forces which guard Planet Earh and all inhabitants. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.
(2) I will never surrender of my own free will. I will employ my free will to cultivate Peace and Inspire Love.
(3) If I am captured, I will continue to resist with Compassion, Creativity, Humor and Patience. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape, including my captors.
(4) If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep Faith with my fellow prisoners and those who imprison me.
(5) When questioned, I will answer only in Song and Dance.
(6) I will never forget that I am Human, fighting for Freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which make all Humans Free. I will trust in Love and the United Spirit of the Universe.

"Stepping On / Steady, Strong / Lock & Load / Follow The Code of the Combat Kid"
? ♥ ? ♥ ? ♥ ? ? ♥ ? ♥ ? ♥ ? ? ♥ ? ♥ ? ♥ ? ? ♥ ? ♥ ? ♥ ?
"I Got My Gear On / I Got My Six-String Shotgun / Bullets For a Better World"

Photo Credit: ©Lyndsey.Belle.Tyler. for Wretched Beauty

16 Details

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 08:00:00 GMT

A Day In The Life, In Sixteen Details: Today, Wednesday December 14th 2011 1) 8:30 a.m. alarm!! sucks me back from outer space -- much too early for holy Night Rockers who lose sleep to studio raging, but today is all about doin' it all for the kids, so up I go. 2) Musik has a particularly strong aversion to early rising, so he stays under the blankets groaning while I brew organic Costa Rican beans, hoping the thick aroma pulls his skinny ass outta bed 'cause i know my guilt trip ain't workin. 3) i paint some stripes in my hair, boil rolled oats with cinammon, stir in sunflower seeds, chopped apple and banana and graciously accept their nutrients. 4) out the door, down the block, now we're rollin' our trusty van through Bed Stuy into Williamsburg -- hit the studio, grab our shit real quick, heavy lifting -- it's a nice day and the birds are singing! we're on the clock, gotta be there before 11! 5) fly across the bridge into Manhattan, always a fine view. 6) pull up outside the high school, flip on the hazards, grab our toys, heavy lifting through the halls onto the stage of the massive assembly theater. one of the five cops at the entrance takes our I.D.s. -- that kind of school I guess -- so now we're officially registered visitors, which means we can't get away with any of those devious crimes we were planning. 7) run back outside to the van and what do i find? a bright orange parking ticket, bright as a beaming devil!! right there on the windshield --> $65. like, WTF?!? 8) back inside we hug Nora, the algebra teacher/O.G. who invited us. then a couple seniors come down after class -- Adam with his bass and Matt with his guitar, and we teach them the Fifth Nation song "Blue Gold" -- Nora asked us to come perform that number because the kids are getting hip to recycling and "Blue Gold" discusses the global corporate commiditization of drinking water. mm hmm! 9) class dismissed!! city kids pour in and find their seats while the trio of boys and I get down on an entrance jam: "Can't Stop", you know, that Red Hot Chili Peppers joint? 10) announcements! . . . boring . . . then -- 11) -- showtime!! we're here!! we're doin it for the kids!! our future!! our hope for a better world!! humbly we kill it, and graciously we accept their tremendous applause. hella elevated by this electric youth energy -- they doin the fuckin' wave out there for like the 12th time!! i play my best for them, and keep it real, gotta exponentiate that mutual inspiration. this is our future we're talking about and you gotsta dig it!! 12) the boys come up once more for "Blue Gold" and we rip up the finale, "Hey Jude", with everyone "na-na-na"-ing and clapping along like they ain't too cool for school. 13) show's over, kids file out, Musik shouts "I use glue!" into the mic, some of 'em stay to tell us that we made recycling seem cool. 14) i give Nora a back massage 'cause she deserves it. 15) we pack up, teach some students how to wrap cables and now we got us some roadies so we're heavy lifting again, out the door, in the street, to the van, trusty van! get an official letter from the principal asking the NYPD to void our ticket (let's cross our fingers for that one, alright ladies and gentlemen?). 16) in the van, flyin' high, cross to Brooklyn, studio time!! heavy lifting, share fresh salad, talkin bout fresh beats and ballads!! write a song, jam it out, Non-Stop Nation -- NO DOUBT!!

Mac Biggie

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:00:00 GMT

in memory of Steve Jobs, we hocked my spy grandfather's old gold cuff links and got a Mac Mini -- a compact robust computing genius, much like the late creator himself. 'twas a pivitol moment in Fifth Nation history -- until then we relied on a menopausal laptop and a system of aggregated interfaces which confused the hell out of both me and the computer, (but Musik seemed to know exactly what was going on) -- "we have got to get an i7 dual-core processor with 8GB ram and a 7200 rpm drive and a FocusRite Saffire Pro40 firewire interface so we can hook up our JBL JRX100s & Alesis M1Actives and bask in the LED-glory of our Samsung SyncMaster . . ." ---- "right! okay, darling, sounds great!" we've been accumulating equipment ever since we met 3/1/09 -- but without a powerful computer, we were kids with a kite and no wind. now it's like a fuckin TORNADO in this bitch! by our own powers and will we have transformed our ghetto mash-up into a zooming SPACE-SHIP -- a NONSTOP recording, engineering and producing machine with NO mention of "CPU OVERLOAD".Hallelujah! Re-Birth! Baptism in the sonic waters of our dream come true! soon, all of our music will be here for you, so that you may devour it, so that it may flood you with honeyed nutrients and revitalize your weary marrow. you may use it as you please, as is natural, as an aphrodisiac, or a mirror or a bathtub or a sky, a jungle -- an upper, a liquid elixir -- or a sedative, a heavy pill. hell, i don't know what it's going to do to you, but i swear my intentions are good.

lately i've been obsessed with the electromagnetic heart -- it is so powerful that it radiates a giant sphere of electromagnetism around your body. i like to imagine everyone as floating orbs, pulsating independently, until they meet and the invisible powers of their hearts combine to create an epically more powerful energetic force. like "Station", the grotesque alien monster in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. alas, the heart gets its information from the brain, and we all know what a fucked up place that is. so that's where "intention" comes in -- the calm focus i apply to my mind so that instead of sending haunted rivers of poison to my heart, my brain sends rivers of love which radiate electromagnetically around me. i like to imagine a world where everyone uses intention to turn their own little selves into a spinning galaxy of love. it's so possible! i solemnly dedicate myself to this belief system until life batters me into a cynic.

when that day comes, consider me dead and done for. i refuse to let misery rob me of idealism.
i believe in humans!!!!!!!!
i fucking love humans, as sinister as we are . . .
and that is exactly why Fifth Nation sits in this room day in and day out, plucking on our little wooden instruments, plugging away on our various robots, working to give you a gift, our version of God. Music. Love. Chaos. Peace. Infinity. Life -- it's bigger than our bodies

We Play Shows

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:10:00 GMT

10/18/11, CMJ @ Brooklyn Bowl: **lights, curtains, action!** FIFTH NATION, START YOUR ENGINES!! VROOM, BLAST, slam fuZZ, grittttttyyyyyy raw zoom la-la BOOM!! beating heart in unison with my lover kickin' n slappin' skins stage right. beating heart in unison with our NYC diehards, out in full color, and -- what's this? loyal CT crew!! how i love thee and thy super-down ways!!! also, hundreds of unknowns, filling this lovely room, all people blossoming in this blooming, fragrant hour. FN UNITE! in between songs I hear the victorious slamming of pins -- "STRIKE!" -- "what's up bowlers?!" everyone's singing along, everyone is radiant and free. way we ought to be.

10/22/11, East Williamsburg: no underground Brooklyn art party goes well without titties, and for a moment I was thinking this party could be a drag. thankfully, a Dia de los Muertos chica bares herself and now i'm ready to ROCK! Huff This just harvested a mind-bending set (Alison had butterfly wings on, and at the end there, when she was singing that strongest note, with her mouth so wide, she was not fluttering like butterflies do -- she was flying full-speed like a fierce Pterodactyl). alright this room is PACKED -- our California-fantasy-rock-n-roll-tour comrades Pint Shot Riot are here from England! I found WALDO! that brownie is starting to kick in . . . I got my guitar, alright let's do this!! mic check one-two WHATS UP BROOKLYYYNNN!!!! suddenly, this entire room is throbbing with dancers and now I understand.

10/23/11, Greenwich Village, Manhattan: Musik keeps getting stuck in the fake cobwebs -- his drumsticks, his hair, his shirt -- and the beautiful girl keeps yelling that he's stuck so he might as well just never leave and just keep playing there forever! there's a dozen people here and everyone's watching the television(s).

10/26/11, Meebo/CollegeHumor Private Party, Manhattan: more fraudulent spiderwebs, but this time they're stretched across the ceiling of an enormous Gramercy lounge-bar. sexy ad nerds are in full costume, pouring in, party time! Fifth Nation party band: GO! G.I. Joe is doing the twist with Miss America, and I found WALDO again. rapped with unicorns, Jesus and M&Ms over olives and spanakopita. VAN IS TOWED = buzz-kill, until today's pleasant journey to that impound lot on the pier -- I strolled through the rain with a carnation bouquet, up West Side Highway *the 9A*, digging the love I felt from missing Musik, then I laid out all that cash so I could get my van back. I remembered that money is just money and it's not life.

Gypsy Jellyfish

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:40:00 GMT

i bet that bizarre chrysallis beneath my old door has broken apart to release its butterfly. but i wouldn't know because i've long since moved.
in fact, we moved yesterday, and we'll move again tomorrow. we are gypsies again, jellyfish, following the sun across the pond. the great earth is our home and we will rest in caves, bathe in rain, traditions transparent as window pane.

although, traditions often exist for good reason, and i'd say roofs and beds are A-OK. but, Fifth Nation has sacrificed house for home -- home is where the heart is, and our heart is music, more important than even a roof and bed! it is the most magnificent feeling, because i am living FREE, for love, and I am in love. with music, and Musik!
and the love for you, dear reader, dear listener, dear friend, is half why we keep making music in the face of adversity.
so please, deeply enjoy this soulful music, feel the love stitched in it just for you, let it pervade your cellular system, allow it to wash your marrow and floss your teeth. feel it drip down your spine and settle in your toes, and lift you to that elevated place. doesn't it feel quite healthy?
with or without roof. come rain, come wind and dust, we still have music and LOVE!
i don't mean to over-romanticize or exaggerate our situation -- we're not bummin' it quite as much as say, Robert Mappelthorpe and Patti Smith did back in the day, contracting TB and starving, reciting scrappy poems for loose change and acid tabs. no, no -- absolutely not. in fact, we are surviving quite well. we have our own recording studio in Williamsburg now, in which we are creating so many incredible new tunes and developing our production skills, we are performing at the dopest of venues including Brooklyn Bowl, where we will be rockin' the stage for CMJ on 10/18/7 pm. Our second film with Edwin Escobar, "Fight A War", was released and received several hundred views in the first 24 hours, "I'm In Love" is now being spun on radio stations across the globe, from CT and NY to the islands of HI. we will soon have new t-shirts thanks to your vote on our Next T-Shirt Design, and a new very first Fifth Nation-produced record is coming soon. we are fueled by these simple markers of progress, but truly, patience is key.
with patience, you never feel the need to give up.

so, can i like, crash on your couch?

The Little Engine That Could

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:50:00 GMT

all was pleasant and breezy until . . .

BOOM BOOM GO GO ZAP ZING MAN DOWN RETREEEEAATTT!!!

these are the sounds you probably heard if you were in our music video, FIGHT A WAR, which we released at dawn Monday morning. many friends and fans showed up to McCarren Park in Brooklyn last month to throw water balloons around in an outrageous battle scene that was sparked by Musik stealing my last piece of sushi. the ever-incredible Edwin Escobar captured the madness on film -- watch FIGHT A WAR, now on our homepage and/or YouTube! love it, live it, SHARE IT!

yes, sharing is caring. the only reason Fifth Nation is starting to gain some real traction is because sharing exists. we share our art with you, you share a moment with us, you share your attention and support, then you share your enthusiasm for our shared experience with your friends, family, co-workers, teachers, students, secret lovers, pen-pals . . . and together we create an exponential network slathered in juicy love. slurp.

no seriously, it's delicious. we had a video release party last Friday in Avon, Connecticut, where we have generated a rabid fanbase, and I could taste the excitement, that salty electricity, sweet/tart like heart-blood. people were screaming, and crying, and chanting -- they created that! we came with our passion, they came with theirs, and together we shared an epic moment! all caught on tape by Edwin Escobar, of course, who will soon be releasing a video that captured the entire night, including behind-the-scenes footage and after-the-show interviews of fans! we couldn't have done that show without the Big Bar Radio crew and Esco, who collectively gave us this amazing gift:

also Kyle, Maggie and everyone at the Hessian Lion, and our rapidly-growing CT fanbase. we share, they share, and what you get after that can be infinitely huge.

that's what we're going for -- hugeness. this is new for me. for most of my life i had the veil that most people have over their eyes, mind, and spirit. i limited myself because i was afraid and insecure -- which is exactly what i wrote into Wide Awake -- "beautiful people are made to feel afraid and insecure and lonely". key word "made." bullshit in the media, bullshit in school, bullshit bullshit bullshit everywhere. bullshit is not the kind of acute awareness of suffering that allows for a panoramic view that will lead to enlightenment -- instead, the negative attitude of all this constant bullshit perpetuates global suffering. makes you feel empty, useless and complacent, right? get over it. i can clearly see that humans are at a turning point in our evolutionary development, because more people than ever before are gaining wisdom and maturity that rips them from that comfortable/uncomfortable/numb zone of fear/laziness/apathy. our generation is super dope because we have to be entrepreneurs, we have to educate ourselves, and our everyday tools allow us to connect with almost every single piece of information on the planet, and practically every person. humans nowadays have a more global perspective, which, if you let it, can easily beget maturity, wisdom and compassion. so everything in the universe is a reflection of the nature of the universe -- things grow, chaotically, and eventually die. if one human life form clearly does that, so must our species as a whole. we are a relatively young species in the grand scheme of this planet's biology, and i think we're finally showing signs of adulthood -- i constantly see people fighting for justice, peace, unity and love in so many ways, with art, with law, with labor, with science and engineering, and simple every day random-acts-of-kindness . . . it's endless. i believe in humans and i believe in love, and i will never stop fighting for it in my own way. that's what i was getting to with this paragraph -- i finally discovered the source of my power, my bravery that will take me far past the limit i set for myself when i was an angsty teen fawning over pretty boys and ignoring my guitar. i'm the little engine that could. i think i can i think i can!

i KNOW I CAN!

believe and it will be.

because --
i think, therefore i am.
also, i think i am, therefore, i am what i think i am.

-King Julia

Chrysalis Mezuzah

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:25:00 GMT

damn, yo!

i tried to be good, i tried to write a weekly blog, and it was rollin' nice for a while but man it's been a FULL MONTH! my apologies to those select beauties who dig these simple words. I've been wrapped up in life. here, i'll attempt to summarize:

first thing that comes to mind, we shot our second video with Edwin Escobar, for our upcoming single "Fight A War", an ironic follow-up to "I'm In Love" (I'm always balancing extremes to find the calm center, but the more common discovery is consistent chaos). but of course, to make sure that Fifth Nation never neglects our position to manifest positive reality, we made a happy-ever-after-ending for the violent "Fight A War" battle flick. you'll see!! it will be released late September.

we've been playing endless gigs, like for instance last weekend we played for the FAB Fridays Brooklyn street fair, truly one of the strangest locations we've ever played (Six Flags might even be a runner-up) -- in front of a gas station on the corner of a busy intersection, with barely any foot traffic. it was like, "here?? you want us to play here?? . . . alright, fuck it." so we set up everything, rocked our little hearts out, and much to our pleasure and surprise gathered an amazing amazed crowd.

Sade and her little brother Junior showing us how it's really done -- Fulton Ave. Brooklyn 9/9/11

then we packed up everything, and shot straight up to rural CT where we rocked the same set for a completely different, but just as enthusiastic, audience. two shows in one night, now we're talkin'! the next day we rocked a super set in a barn for some of our favorite fans, the Big Bar Radio crew -- check out their underground radio station streaming amazing and diverse CT-based music ALL THE TIME! we were flying high from the rush of that gig until an old drunk fell and sliced his skull, prompting a halt to the party and a 911 call. major buzz-kill, reality-check type shit but i've gotten myself into this habit of taking ugly moments as opportunities to exercise my ability to find gratitude. in that situation, it was for things like hospitals and police, and just as we saw the flashing lights of cop cars and ambulance pull into the wooded drive of this barn, midnight struck, it was 9/11, and i felt an even greater surge of gratitude for the brave soldiers of these life-saving institutions. mad love and respect to the good cops.

we have a chrysalis mezuzah. for those of you non-Jews a mezuzah is a parchment inscribed with Hebrew verses in decorative case affixed to the entrance of the home, and for those of you non-butterflies, a chrysalis is a cocoon and a symbol of awesomely beautiful magic metamorphosis. ours is so special, it's expertly crafted from mud and sticks and we watched in awe as the little caterpillar carried it up the side of our front door and attached it to the wall. to us, it's divine inspiration and a reminder that ours is a time of great spiritual transition. damn i'm really sounding like a hippie . . .

what else . . . ooh! we have been working on Futurian goddess Wednesday Atoms' "The Very Small, Very Strange Mailbox" project, composing the score based on five beloved songs by such great artists as Queen, Radiohead, Beatles, Mary J Blige and Amy Winehouse. we have been expanding our wings in the digital direction with this project, working with midi material which is much like throwing a party for robots and deciding the conversation. it's mad dorky and fun, sometimes hilarious, but the best part is combining digital with analog music, fully fleshing out the nature of our modern reality. EMBRACE THE ROBOT! robots can do amazing things for humans, if you don't believe me watch "WALL-E". of course, as with everything, modern technology also gives us the opportunity to extend our evils, so it's really just a matter of choosing responsibly. can I use a robot to destroy the planet? yes I certainly can. will I? i certainly think not.

unless I get BORED being all loving, promoting PEACE and unity all the time -- I'll take my tendency to create balance to a violent extreme, yin-yang that shit, and create a Fifth Nation chapter that's us in ALL BLACK, screaming about the benefits of HATRED and CORRUPTION!

nah.
love.
-KJ

That's Almost a Mohawk

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:15:00 GMT

America is COUNTRY, and there's nothing like driving through the endless rural infinity that is the USA! Meadows, barns, silos, churches . . . we've driven so many American roads in our two years as highway warriors, and they all culminate to such a COUNTRY country. We love it.

This past Saturday we drove up the Empire State through many such roads, and it was quite breath-taking. We were on our way from Connecticut, where we had rocked a show the night before, to perform at a graduation party in northern New York, and that's about the only detail we had. As we got closer, we began to see many Mohawk Indian-related businesses, but it hadn't yet dawned on us that we had entered Akwesasne Territory. Only when we arrived at the house and spoke to the people there did we fully realize that we were not only on a Native American Reservation, but that of the Mohawk Indians -- and this, dear Citizen, was a shocking revelation. "Fifth Nation" refers to the Mohawk Tribe as they are called in the Iroquois Confederacy, an association of Northeastern tribes that dates back to the early 1600s. We had been invited to perform by the tribe of our namesake.

The family was warm yet reserved, perhaps even suspicious (the chief cracked a joke about Musik's hair -- "that's almost a mohawk.") We immediately befriended the two smallest creatures at the party -- little Ryan and Ariah, who reminded me greatly of me and my own sister. They welcomed us with a fruit dinner and quickly became our helpers, storytellers, followers, and advisers. After the fireworks it started to pour rain, and sweet Ryan ran straight to our banner to save it from soaked doom! We ended our set early to avoid death by electric shock, and retired under the main tent for a much more intimate acoustic performance -- dazzled Ariah sat a foot from my face, beaming with curious joy as I sang. The family listened graciously, and their approval confirmed the legitimacy of our title. The real Fifth Nation.

It was truly a momentous occasion, an inspiration, and the weight of it didn't hit me until after we left and drove Southward to find a campground. We awoke on a riverbed and I scribbled poetry to focus my perception of the event. It remains incalculable but I feel a deep importance in what we accomplished -- our 800 mile journey to our name's origin, and more importantly, the origin of America's humans.

Waking up on the St. Regis River

BOOM back to the city, back to the grind, get in gear, get in the fast lane, speed, bang, hiss, song-writing, booking shows, rocking shows, interviews, photo shoots, internet shit, blogs, e-mails, keeping up, fixing broken gear (gotta replace a blown speaker, gotta replace our shitty old PA), making videos*, being brave, getting smacked down, rising to the challenge, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

*BE IN OUR VIDEO!* If you are in the NYC area on Sunday August 21st, come to Williamsburg's McCarren Park at noon and partake in an epic water balloon battle. The song is "Fight A War", an anthem dedicated to the universal struggle for life and love.

Always stories, sometimes in words, most times in song,
Always adventures, such is life,
Be good,
-King Julia

How's thar Wind Blowin' On Ye Waters?

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 11:05:00 GMT

Ahoy Mateys!

It could quite well please me to describe to you how THRILLING it was to embark on a spontaneous and successful mini-tour to Philadelphia and Washington DC this week, or describe the overwhelming support we've received for our very first video "I'M IN LOVE", including the GLOWING audience at our SMOKING HOT video release show in NYC! BUT, this week, I'd like to turn the attention to you, dear Citizen. You're in the spotlight now, baby.

So how's everything going?
Getting some good work done?
Making friends?
Feeling brave?

I just wanted to check in because I feel like, you know, I'm always telling you about what's going on with Fifth Nation, but I am always curious about you! Your adventures, your pleasure, your pain, the quality and richness of your life, where you go, who you love, who you miss. We are so diverse, and the experience and perspective of every individual is unique and valuable. These words themselves (and the reason I write a blog at all, or write a song, or dance or rock the fuck out) is to prove that my life has value. I have learned this, drawing inspiration from humans throughout history who have lived passionately, proving their worth bravely in the brick face of Limit or in the pressing void of Limitlessness.

YOUR passion is a treasure, your breath is a gift and your expression is yours.
Let it out and feel how much it frees you.
Share it and realize how many people agree.

Much love and respect to you,
-King Julia

Video Killed The What Now?

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 07:50:00 GMT

Hey there fine Citizen! How ya doin?

So I was thinking: video is the way of the future. Ever since personal televisions began to enter the home in the 1950s, video has rapidly become the easiest and most direct way for humans to consume information. Fifth Nation has neglected to take advantage of this tremendous tool, and therefore, if you search "Fifth Nation" on YouTube, all you'll find is a bunch of crap. Sorry! But, like my dad always said, "Don't Be Sorry, Just Be Different". So here we go, stepping bravely into the world of film -- and like all things reflecting the nature of the universe, we're gonna start with a BANG!

Our first official video, for our new hit single "I'm In Love", will make its world premiere this Saturday July 30th at 11 pm. If you are in the New York City area you will be able to celebrate with us, watch the video and party as we rock a soul-bursting set onstage at Fontana's Bar in Manhattan (no cover! RSVP on our Facebook Event Page). With our new fantastic partner-in-art ("artner?") Edwin Escobar, we will be creating an endless stream of beautiful films for our Citizens!

As the real summer heat kicks in, a great way we've found to cool off is by rocking outdoor sets at house parties in front of flaming barbecues -- wait -- no, that's actually a great way to sweat bullets. Fear Not Fifth Nation! We are no stranger to the ways of hotness, and we would happily bask in the glory of a midsummer night's sweat for the sake of music. And we will continue to do so in the tri-state area -- if you would like to hire us to rock a set at YOUR house, simply get in touch with us. We would love to arrange something badass with you!

So, one symptom of being a two-piece band is that occasionally people ask "Where's the rest of your band?" or "Just two?!" or "Y'all need a bass player" (the latter most commonly asked by bass players). We are dedicated to the duo-core of our band, but we are certainly not opposed to featuring musicians or jammin' out with dope players! In fact, we had an outrageously fun time jamming with Days of Wild, an incredible NYC-based funk band, last Saturday in Mt. Vernon, NY. The drummer/band-leader Papa Guyo is un-humanly funky, like literally I think he might have beamed in from the Planet of Funk. His players are ridiculously talented, especially the legendary singer/guitarist Singh BirdSong (you can see Papa in that video killin' it on drums). It was truly an honor to share a stage with them. Please treat yourselves to these amazing artists who bring absolute funky love and bring it HARD!

These are the realities that we are dedicated to manifest:

1) a crib in Dumbo, Brooklyn (we fell in love with it, and secretly, we gypsy-types long for our own home)

2) going to St. Bart's French Island with the incredible Funk Master Papa Guyo in February

3) at least two more official Escobar Films by the end of 2011

4) at least two more records by the end of 2012

5) at least two million worldwide fans to share love with by the end of 2013.

Yes, we have big-ass visions, but what else is LIFE for than to be given MEANING?

We love you, and we will continue to express our love and gratitude in the form of some seriously sexy rock music, FOREVER!

Peace y'all

-King Julia

Kitchen Mission

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 22:35:00 GMT

Ah, the kitchen! Birthplace of deliciousness, center for creative expression, Mecca for hungry humans eager to be blessed by a holy hamburger. Who knew it could also be a recording studio? This month, the Dumbo apartment we have been staying in has unexpectedly become just that -- a place for us to lay down some sweet fresh tracks for all of our beautiful Citizens to consume. To us, "spaghetti" is no longer a boiled wheat product -- it is the rats' nest of instrument cables covering the floor of the kitchen. To some this may appear disastrous, but to Fifth Nation, it is a delectable first course.

Yes, even setting up our equipment feeds our spirit! Opening software, preparing tracks, opening boxes, unwrapping cables, plugging them into all of our mighty machines, attaching microphones and finding their perfect placement, checking levels, tweaking knobs -- in the kitchen, like chefs preparing ingredients.

Then the main course: playing MUSIC! This is the most satisfying part of the meal. This is what gives us the sustenance to survive, to thrive, so that our spirit is big and healthy enough to break pieces off for YOU!

The best part is, we've been filming the whole process so that soon, on YouTube, you will be able to view these intimate performances. What we've been doing in Dumbo has been acoustic -- simply me with my electric guitar and Musik with his djembe (a beautiful African drum) -- but we will also shoot us recording in other locations with his full drum set. We are so excited to bring our material to the internet in a way that we never have before, and truly embrace the way of the future and the way that most of the world listens to music nowadays -- through video!

With the help of official baller/filmmaker Esco and the eccentric genius Roger Greenawalt, will be consistently creating professional music videos for produced versions of our songs. Together with our home recordings, you will be able to experience the full spectrum of what we are and what we represent.

So stay tuned, dear Citizens, because we have baskets full of home-grown fresh produce coming your way!

Peace and Massive Delicious Love,
-King Julia

Dude, Where's My Keys?

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 21:43:59 GMT

Musik and I have been feeling quite strange -- our teeth have grown and gotten sharp, we're all of a sudden allergic to garlic, and we've been feeding on the BLOOD of unsuspecting tourists! Alright so we haven't gone totally vampire, but close -- our bedtime is with the sunrise. A common night consists of rocking a show, after which we must hustle merch and meet everyone we can, then break down our equipment and load it into the van which we then drive "home" which is wherever we're sleeping at the moment. If we're not performing, we're planning, rehearsing or recording late into the night, which we can now do freely thanks to Mickey Smyth! Last night he hooked us up with a rehearsal studio in Williamsburg and as soon as we got the keys we went straight to work, brought in all of our recording gear so we could start laying down tracks. So far we have some pretty hot drums for "Gold Rush"! We can't wait to start really churning out music for you, a constant and steady stream of love-filled Fifth Nation tunes for our Beautiful Citizens! It's wonderful to work with a producer with a musical brain and spirit of vast knowledge and experience, but we've long dreamed of being able to record our own music. Over the past year we've been learning about studio-recording and collecting and a home studio, piece by piece. Mics, pre-amps, mixers, software -- super sexy nerd stuff that I love! Setting it all up last night and getting it to work and actually sound good felt miraculous! Of course, the chaotic waveform nature of universe did not allow total calm and pleasure -- we definitely got locked out at 2:30 am and had to make phone calls and walk for miles to track down keys. Even though we were lucky that our friends were around and down to help us, and that everything worked out, I still made Musik feel bad for locking our keys inside. Come on, Musik! :) Okay, I love you. Tomorrow, to celebrate Independence Day, we will be shooting a video with the mighty Edwin Escobar for our newest song "I'm In Love"! We are so excited to work with a director who, on top of being so fantastically talented and skilled, believes in real art, love, and spiritual elevation. We'll be shooting under the grand architecture of Dumbo Brooklyn, in the parks of SoHo, and at rooftop parties with friends and fireworks. Our friends from Big Bar Radio are coming down from CT to help us make this video mad explosive! Now it's time for us to eat fruit and go to the music store. I need guitar picks because mine always turn into little circles when I shred too hard. Peace & Love dear Citizens, -King Julia

Laying it on Thick

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 21:50:00 GMT

Hmmm where shall I begin my musings . . .

Every show is a chance for opportunity, which is why no matter where we play, who's there, what time or day it is, we lay it on THICK. We've met probably ten thousand people during our two years as a band, and whether we're playing to toothless hecklers in the backwoods of North Carolina, faded gypsy clowns of New Orleans, or haughty hipsters of Brooklyn, we've learned to treat every stage as a place for uninhibited expression of our love! This is our mission, and the source of our many blessings.

Here's one! We've been given an extraordinary gift by a beautiful, talented artist friend, and we'll be staying in her Dumbo apartment this month! We're back in NYC, living, rehearsing and recording here again :) We are beside ourselves with gratitude and can't wait to pursue the bounty of this gift! We will continue to play shows in New York and around the Northeast -- New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusettes (we just played out first Boston show!) and Connecticut (which itself has an enormous booming music scene!)

Yeah, let me tell you a bit about the Connecticut music scene -- there is so much good music coming out of that place, man! Check out this underground radio station, Big Bar Radio that plays CT-based music 24/7, or as they say, "ALL THE TIME!" These cats are wild, free, dirty and raw, and they have the same philosophy as the rest of us in this modern-day love movement -- that we are all connected. Word. We rocked a Big Bar show last week (we're their honorary CT band), and were blown away by the support strength of their community and the quality of music and art that swims among it. As always, laying it on thick helped that night -- we impressed filmmaker Edwin Escobar enough for him to offer a video, which we will be creating in the coming weeks. We also checked a sneak peek of our video for TV IS DEAD by Genevieve Adams, and it is hilarious! Keep an eye out for it because it will hit the world wide web very soon :)

Well y'all that's all I got for you this time.
Keep on rockin' in the free world,

Peace and Love to The Citizens,
-King Julia

PS I'm crafting a crown for myself so I can officially be king. An old window screen + purple cordorois + needle + thread + white feather boa = ULTIMATE POWER!

Whirlwind Week

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 22:40:00 GMT

Hello Citizens of the Nation!

King Julia here, writing to you from the deep forests of New York. My favorite life involves rocking as many shows as possible, which is why this week was so badass. We started it off with a bang by playing three shows on Monday: one at the legendary Kenny's Castaways, then down the block at Village Lantern (a Greenwich Village lounge that we rock weekly). Then we crossed the East River to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and unexpectedly played yet another set at Zebulon! For the third time in five hours, we spread our souls out thick on the people. To express my passion in several locations in such rapid succession was dreamy. The next day we were back at the Village Lantern, then rocked an amazing show on Thursday at Ella Lounge in the Lower East Side, then last night in Avon, CT -- all the days were fucking rad but Monday was my jam -- three shows back-to-back? How can I make every day so epic?!

The truth is, we are far too busy running business to play that many shows every day -- Musik's booking agency (Music Machine Booking) is blowing up, and he receives dozens of requests for tour booking every day. We are also working on booking our own tour to California and back this fall, developing new material and recording it with producers Joe Davi and Roger Greenawalt, developing our videography skills so we can finally have a dope video for you guys, developing new exciting merchandise (what do you think of Fifth Nation temporary tattoos?) -- the list is forever!

We also sometimes do non-music related things to boost our savings -- for instance, I transcribed my father's tapes this week (he's a journalist for Esquire Magazine) -- he recently interviewed American snipers who had been stationed in Iraq. I typed furiously as I was getting my hair done -- a whole other story! I am a model for a demonstration at Cristiano Cora salon, and my amazing friend Jeanise colored my hair so precisely that it took 14 hours!! I get it cut by Cristiano himself on Monday, and I'm so happy and grateful to be the canvas for such incredible artists.

We never run out of things to work on, and sometimes the work is grueling and tedious, but it's all in the name of LOVE and MUSIC so we remain happy and dedicated. It also helps that the fruits of the labor are infinite -- from the smallest smile on a stranger's lips or a one-dollar tip, to a room full of jumpin' and hollerin' fanatic Citizens. Even the burdens become blessings -- like the case of last night, when we drove the wrong direction on the 84 for a full hour after our gig in Avon, CT, and we didn't get home until the mystic fog of the morning -- it was worth it because of the show, and the generous humans who made our experience so special! Everywhere we go, generosity, kindness, eager openness.

I got pissed off again, reading the New York Times yesterday. Why is it full of nothing but the most awful fucking horrors of Planet Earth? And then I remembered what Musik said to me: if things are right and good, you don't even notice, life is just flowing peacefully undisturbed. Disturbance is what's newsworthy -- murders, lies, poverty, sickness. It makes me even more determined to be aware of how much good there is in the world! Even if the paper never prints "Today, Oklahoma Woman's Arms Full, Man Opens Door", I can make that my daily news -- the kind of behaviors that I choose to focus on and perpetuate.

So I leave you with this, my daily news headline: "Girl Drinks Water, Thanks Her Faucet."

PEACE AND LOVE MY BEAUTIFUL CITIZENS!!!
-KING JULIA
FIFTH NATION!