By Chris Rockwell

We rolled out to San Francisco on Saturday to hit the Monster Supercross at AT&T Park. Beck and I picked up web boy genius Matthew David and met up with our childhood friend Brett Hamilton, a former World Champion Motocross bad ass. As we pulled into the overflowing parking lot it felt just like a classic rock concert. The weather was great and everyone was partying – blasting everything from Keak Da Sneak to Lynyrd Skynyrd. We roamed around checking out the scene and handed out King Duce stickers. Everyone was cool as hell, offering up drinks, food and smokin good times. It reminded me a lot of the wild parties up in Sand Mountain on our quad riding trips. We were just missing the bon fire and illegal fireworks!

The other thing that stood out as we entered the parking lot was the number of trucks!  They probably outnumbered cars, four to one.  I bet the number of trucks in San Francisco doubled that day.  And these weren’t mid-sized gas savers.  These were full size Chevy, Fords and Dodge’s lifted into the sky and tricked out with chrome, oversized tires and sound systems that deafened the two stroke roars of the bikes warming up across the street.   It’s actually the first time I felt welcomed in the bay area rolling my Chevy ranch truck.  I’m used to getting disapproving looks from city dwellers that don’t get the truck thing.  It’s all good.  But the way I live, work and play, I couldn’t be without my truck.

I spent some time talking with a 18 year old from Marin who had just broken his back and collarbone on New Year’s day.  He was toting an arm sling and an over-sized T-shirt concealing his full upper body shell brace.  But his spirits were high and he was ready to get back on the bike and play football this year for his senior season.  He was inspiring.  And to top it off he slapped a bunch of King Duce stickers all over the front and back of his body brace and took off his shirt and repped the shell with the KD stickers!

As we entered the race pits we were taken back by the thousands of people!  The party changed into a well choreographed production of big sponsors and pro athletes.  The Monster Girls were there to greet amped up dudes with a smile and a picture, which they instantly emailed to their buddies back home in order to win the coveted “cool guy of the day” award.   The girls were hanging near the pro riders hoping for a glance or maybe back stage passes.  Everyone was excited about the race.  We finally made it to our seats inside of AT&T Park and the place was packed.  Brett scored us front row tickets at the perfect location to see everything in 3D.  The lights went down and the race ignited with explosions and insane riders fighting for the top spot.

As we made our way back to the parking lot after the race we were entertained with one final encore of “Drunk Chicks Gone Wild”.  Classic story line – girlfriend gets wasted all day and experiences what experts refer to as, “post party melt down”.  This girl was trying to fist fight her boyfriend while her two friends unconvincingly tried to stop her.  I think it came down to the fact that she caught him looking at another girl (there were probably 30,000 girls at the race).  So technically, she’s right.  I sent Matthew David into the front lines with the Flip video camera to capture the evidence.  If we have enough footage we will blog it.  And so the day ended like it had began, a wild party that entertained from start to finish.
Duce Up!!

By Chris Rockwell

I’ve wanted to showcase a DJ for a while. But I was waiting to discover a group of artists that made up a complete music scene worth talking about. Like usual, I unexpectedly stumbled upon it one night. I was in North Hollywood hanging out at Jim Mahfood’s place. We were lounging, checking out his latest art work and listening to his vinyl collection of old school hip hop. As I was leaving, Jim gave me a CD to listen to for my trip back up to northern California.

I dropped it in and rolled down Sunset Strip not knowing what to expect. What I heard was this trippy mash up of rock, old school hip hop and scratching that blended into a sound that caught my attention. It turned out to be his brother DJ Mahf of St. Louis. So, I started to explore this scene and discovered that St. Louis hip hop has its own special blend of people and influences that translates into a unique interpretation of music and lifestyle. There is some sick talent coming out of this town and I want to introduce the King Duce family to some of the names that make up the latest hip hop scene in St. Louis.

DJ Mahf is easy to like. He’s got this cool, positive personality that makes him the guy everyone wants to chill with on stage and off. But he is respected by the artistic community for his progressive interpretations and complete commitment to the art form. His bold approach has awarded him “Best Hip Hop DJ”. And his group, “Earthworms” was locally crowned “Best Hip Hop Artist/Group”. They are releasing a new album and DVD, “Midnight at the Capricorn”. And if that wasn’t enough on his plate, DJ Mahf is also working on a full length album and summer tour with breakthrough artist “Steddy P”. So step outside your city walls and explore this scene and let me know what you think. St. Louis has provided me with some new friends and influences. And that’s what it’s all about.

Duce up!!

By Chris Rockwell

Since I can remember, I’ve experienced the world through a lens of extreme feelings, colors and sounds. Some people call it passion. Most experts call it manic. (My wife Beck, who works in the field of psychology, says I’m definitely both.) This band and album strikes deep chords with me in a very personal way. When “Alice in Chains” hit the scene I instantly connected with their sound, look and attitude. They were country boys from the Pacific Northwest playing this dark heavy groove oriented rock with lyrics that described feelings that I understood. At times I felt like this album was speaking to me. Read More »

By Chris Rockwell

I was up very early this morning with my head spinning on new ideas for King Duce that came to me in a dark dream.  After a few cups of coffee and a plate full of heavy music, I was brought back to life and ready to travel back down the rabbit hole. I figured I would share these bands with you in a series of articles to reignite your adrenaline for the New Year.

Black Sabbath War Pigs (Paris Live 1970)

We all laughed at Ozzy’s “Leave it To Beaver” father character in the MTV reality show sensation, “The Osbournes”.  Unfortunately, that low point for Ozzy clouds his amazing breakthrough work with Black Sabbath and why he and his fellow working class mates from Birmingham, England are known by their disciples as the founding fathers of metal music.  I hope to set Ozzy’s image straight with this live video from 1970.  Black Sabbath was formed in 1968, as the “Summer of Love” was fading into the Pacific Ocean with the death of Hendrix, Morrison and Joplin.  They hit the seventies with a heavy blues sound and attitude that would influence young heavy rock bands for the next forty years and beyond. Read More »

By Chris Rockwell

Unless you were born with a fat trust fund sitting in the bank, 2009 was cause for humility. This economic recession hit a lot of us extremely hard. We all know someone who has lost a house, job or both. One thing is for sure, 2009 was not ordinary or forgettable. And it’s made me reflect on the beginning…
I started King Duce in my darkest hour, betting every penny we had and set course for the great unknown, pouring our blood, sweat and tears into this dream. Read More »

By Chris Rockwell

If you’ve ever watched the classic movie “Hoffa”, a film based on the story of legendary union figure Jimmy Hoffa and portrayed masterfully by Oscar winning actor Jack Nicholson, you might get a sense of the personality of Coach Jim Sweeney. He was a fiery, sometimes controversial, college football coach who led with his heart and possessed a charismatic drive that awoke a sleepy little town in California and turned it into a nationally ranked college football program (1980-96). Read More »