By Chris Rockwell
Our Russian KD Girl has captured the attention of Maxim Magazine as a finalist for the “Hometown Hotties” competition. And after our recent fashion shoot with King Duce photographer, Beiron Andersson, I have a feeling that’s just the beginning for her…
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By Chris Rockwell
Maxim has called her a hometown hottie. We call her our latest King Duce Girl, imported from Belarus, Russia… Read More »
By Chris Rockwell
Chris Sabatino and I met in junior high and ran with Duce during high school,
I’ll always remember this one time when we were up in Yreka, CA for a basketball tournament; staying at this hippie chick’s house who made crazy ass food like beet chocolate cake and soy pancakes. She was Whack-City!
Eventually, Chris and I got the boot for sneaking out to a party one night with the locals…
“Sab” has been a good friend and a huge King Duce supporter from the beginning.
I was stoked when he told me he was getting a King Duce tattoo.
Matthew David and I met up with him Friday afternoon down at the Madtatter Tattoo Parlor with the Madtatter himself, Frank Ellis for a killer session.
He put on a psychedelic show while we hung out and filmed the ride.
Sab – Much respect for reppin’ the King Duce logo for life!
Duce Up!!
By Chris Rockwell
The needle punctured the skin, sending me on a wild trip back to the beginning.
I was five years old when my brother Dan was born on a hot summer day on July 27th, (Coincidently, my younger brother Nick was also born on July 27th, just three years earlier.) I remember waking up from a nap on the living room floor at our home to the sound of our dad telling us that we had a new baby brother.
And from that moment on we were inseparable…
So, when Dan called the other night to tell me he was getting a tattoo of the King Duce logo, I was speechless. My mind was instantly flooded with memories; like the time we went to our first Iron Maiden concert; all three brothers were in the mosh pit, Dan of course was going the wrong way, and got knocked the fuck out.
Our days playing college football, Dan coming to my Fresno State games as a 15 year old kid brother, and partying with my teammates after our victories. And me, years later standing at the gates at HIS college football games, listening to the roar of the crowd and remembering the feelings of “going into battle”.
Our rock band sessions; Dan, on the drums, Nick and me on guitars jamming late into the night…
Every step of the way, in the best and worst of times growing up, Dan’s been by my side, unconditionally. Dan said it best, “This tattoo symbolizes our bond and everything we’ve been through together.”
The next day Beiron and I picked up Dan and headed down to Reno’s renowned Stingray Tattoo shop and met the tattoo artist “Junior”. As Beiron was setting up his lights and situating his camera gear, Dan and I looked at each other fired up, knowing that this was going to be another memorable experience.
Junior studied the logo one more time, aligned his tools and readied for his performance. Without hesitation, he confidently went to work with the needle, as if he had done the King Duce tattoo many times before.
But, just as he got started, two college girls walked in with a plate of homemade cookies and presented him with hugs and giggles, excitedly talking to him about their next tattoo. As they walked out Junior looked up at us with a sly grin and said, “Where’s the milk?” We all busted out laughing.
After saying our goodbyes to Beiron and the Stingray Tattoo shop, Dan and I headed to the Sierra Nevada’s to meet up with our family to spend the weekend camping;
No words can begin to express how amazing this ride has been together…
I love you little bro.
Duce Up!!
By Chris Morrow
Want to throw one more shout out to Dan G- congratulations on your success in the IPIO platform. I wish you continued success my friend.
I also want to thank Freddy again at 11 Good Energy- cant wait to see you my friend and check out the facility- how exciting for you and your company to be going public- what a blessing.
Steed thank you again for sharing this journey with me.
Doyle you rock man- thank you for helping us document our journey. I want to invite you now to join us next year again.
Mike thank you so much my friend for including me again this year- I love you brother!
Mike Lacy- thank you for coming out to support us at the finish line- loved seeing your smiling face when we pulled into Austin- love you brother.
Mike & I are going to our friends funeral on Friday so please say some prayers for Dino’s family & friends- what a loss.
Thank you all for supporting us on our mission to help spread the word for PLA. We are going to replace plastics made from oil resins with plastics made from plants. Stay tuned- our greeningman platform is going to be launching soon. You will be able to purchase some amazing products from solar bags to eco friendly canteens to solar chargers for all your electronic gadgets. Will be loading up video clips over the next few days so check in an and check out the action.
Bullrun 2009 was AWESOME…………………
By Chris Rockwell
I’m often asked, “What is King Duce?”
For me, personally, King Duce is my canvas that allows me to create music, fashion, film and collaborate with other artists who inspire me to explore and celebrate their work. I’ve never been interested in mastering one art form or defining art into suffocating categories. I just like the process of expressing what I feel, see and hear, in whatever creative form it takes. And often times it’s a mixture of art forms wrapped into a single piece. And that’s why King Duce is a constantly changing collage made up of all the art forms that I explored growing up: music, painting, writing, athletics, film and photography.
This artistic collage approach is probably rooted in my first love of music, which is made up of invisible, yet colorful and fluid waves that come from an infinite vastness that I can’t even begin to understand or define. All I know is that when I’m moved to tears by music, and the people expressing it, I know I’ve connected to something beyond my comprehension. It begs the question, “Why does art need to be defined?” To me, the “Answer” is in how it makes us “Feel”. And, to me, that’s what art should be for everyone, regardless of what people want to call it.
My first collaboration was actually with my wife Becky. Before we started King Duce, she introduced me to fashion and dance as important art forms back when we were dating in high school. Like many people, I ignorantly viewed fashion as a superficial thing. I now admit that I was totally wrong. And as I opened my mind up and listened, I began to earn a deep respect for fashion as an amazing art form that allowed people to express themselves, similar to that of a painting or a song. Becky has always created her own outfits using a blend of second hand stores, sewing, and discovering trippy cool accessories from anywhere off the beaten path. Then, depending on her mood, she would intuitively assemble these pieces into an outfit that would be uniquely her own. Thank God I eventually recognized this because my country boy fashion sensibility growing up was a predictable template of Levi’s, concert t-shirts, high tops and, yes, a mullet. There, I admitted it. Now let’s move on and never speak of the mullet again!
Often times, true inspiration comes in the simple moments interacting with another person and being open to look outside ourselves and appreciating their individual expression. For example, watching my wife teach art to mentally challenged kids and seeing them light up because they created something beautiful is art in its purest form. That’s as awe inspiring to me as the music of Beethoven; the paintings of Van Gogh; or the writings of Shakespeare.
King Duce was created to give all of us the platform to create and express our own unique voice. And that’s what art and life is really about. In this light speed world of outside pressures, we spend much of our time worrying about what we are not, rather than embracing and celebrating what and who we are. Art is about fluid motion and feel. And so is a person’s life. We all have our own unique gifts. So take the time to get to know what inspires you. And with a little determination and belief in yourself you will create anything you dream. It’s already inside of you.
Duce Up!!
