Driscollee’s Organic Blackberries

It’s hilarious that Marshawn Lynch is sponsored by Skittles. Most athletes want the ego of being sponsored with cars or shoes, but he chose Skittles because they are fun, and he likes them. I wanted to do the same. Originally, I reached out to Sprout’s for Turkish dried apricots because they are like nature’s lifesavers, but Sprout’s didn’t respond on Instagram. Resentfully I didn’t shop at Sprouts for a little bit and I remember I went to Safeway. I got Driscoll’s Blackberries and I hadn’t had a blackberry in a while. I bit into it and I was like “Holy Shit” this is better than candy! I messaged them on Instagram and asked, “how can a musician get sponsored specifically by your blackberries?” They asked if I had any songs about Blackberries so I said I would write a black metal song about blackberries. They said they were excited about it! I thought it would be funny because black metal is notoriously anti-commercial, yet nothing is safe from being commercialized so you might as well have fun with it. Black Metal is also notorious for their long-winded storytelling and raw videos shot with friends.

It actually took me a month in between to actually even try to write the song. I was doing door to door sales and having some really shitty relationship problems. When I left that ordeal, I started dating someone else and applied for a new job at life insurance sales the next week. To get licensed for life insurance I had to study for the test, and there was so much information about death it bummed me out and was really boring. So I invited the new girl to come over (damn she was hot in retrospect) and she had brought some produce she got from the farm stands near my house. She said she didn’t really like blackberries that much, not a good sign, but she’s was hot and cool so I looked past it. We were up in my music room and I started writing the death-metal/deathcore riffs to the songs. Then we took a little “break”. It was a pretty good day thanks to Driscoll’s.

When she left I finished the song and I just closed my eyes and screamed the rough lyrics that I thought would be funny over it. I found that when I write, I’m too verbose and analytical. This love for Driscoll’s to pursue music is compulsive, possessive, yet natural and organic to me. If you’re a blackberry be a blackberry.

I’d been meditating a lot at this point because I had more free time. I started thinking about what made me feel successful besides just making money. It was how I was making money. I was way happier teaching the guitar for money than doing door to door telecomm or solar panel sales. I was way happier making a song than making a profit. It was an interesting time where I was just following the good vibrations. Any idea I had I just went for it.

I sent Driscoll’s the song and they loved it. I just imagine a bunch of berry employees listening to this crazy metal song with “Fuck” screamed in it! They said they’d never heard anything like it and were very impressed and I wanted to send me something as a gift. They sent me a Driscoll’s: pop socket, laptop case, custom socks, hat, lyric book, handwritten card, and five 2$ off coupons for Driscoll’s berries. Miraculously they had an iPhone 7 plus case which is the phone I had, and they didn’t even know which phone I had! It was just surreal. My friends thought it was hilarious, even my metal buddies were saying it was fucking heavy.

I rode the wave on that for a little bit and started writing more songs. I was on the mantra where “everything is good”. If I wanted a good life, I would have to think that things were good instead of bad. So, I started listening to positive affirmations while I slept and walked in the morning. I thought it would be funny if I were to scream positive things because I scream negative things in my head all the time. I made a short video about the song “Affirm this”. This also changed my perception of social media particularly Instagram because it actually created a unique experience in my life; I also met that girl from messaging on Instagram- maybe theirs a pattern.

It was a fun time in my life because ussually when I have an idea I’d developed this habit of keeping it to myself because I “play the odds” a terrible thing for an artist or entrepenuer to do. So it was a time of just going for things. Tasting different opportunities and dating different people. Personally I think its the way I should be. I believe that intuition proceeds rationality. In the case of this even, I sporatically felt like I would reach out to Driscoll’s yet when I tell the story there’s a clear story and I’m the main character and the narrator. I’d say at this time I was taking a break from trying to narrate and analyze my life while things are still occuring and also just put out seeds to see what hits. It made me realize that I’d be suprised who likes my music as my friends thought it was awesome as well as Driscoll’s. Its important to have this kind of humility to me, where I don’t decide the odds, other people do. Other people are the ones who are going to like it or not like, share it or not share it; I just have to give them and myself a chance.

Cameron and Ashley thought the video I made was really funny. I’d known Cameron for a couple years and he’s like my brother. Ashley was my bandmate for a projet we were doing together and my closest friend. We wanted to make another video so we thought it would be funny to do the Driscoll’s video. Ironically that day I also got a long text from the girl I was seeing, saying blah blah, your wonderful, but... blah blah blah,, I texted “ yeah I figured, I had fun” and I felt free to just love everyone and be happy in myself with my friends being silly eating blackberries. We made the video in one day with iPhone and a webcam. Afterward we were all so grateful and static with how much fun we had and all felt like we had transcended the mundane of our old selves and got out of our comfort zones. The Instagram reactions were incredible so far and everyone has thought it was hilarious and awesome! I’m really glad that this wild idea has generated so much love, happiness, freedom, laughter, community, and friendship. I’m glad the video was organic, barebones, no frills just sweet and metal.

Today November 17th, I haven’t talked to Ashley in a while and Cameron is living his best life in Hawaii and we still talk about me moving to Hawaii. I’m hoping one of my ideas generates enough money each month so I’d be able to move their too. A lot has changed since that day, like my friends, work hours, spiritual practice. For spiritual practice now I’ve been going out into the park and playing the guitar for about 30 minutes to clear my head and doing a morning pages meditation where I write down all the bullshit that builds up in my head while I sleep. I chant my mantra throughout the day and when I go to sleep but I needed something a little more active right now. One thing stays the same. I love Driscoll’s Organic Blackberries. So I hope you stream or purchase the album so I can get more blackberries.