Our much-needed decompression week was intense– one amazing day after another! The fog cleared to make way for some summer HEAT… another sign we’re in sync with the universe 
Here’s a breakdown of the week’s highlights:
OUTSIDE LANDS
This was a day of many firsts: my first festival at Golden Gate Park, NR’s first time checking out a show there together, and my first concert with m.0 and my brother.
We went to catch Nas and Damian Marley, who were absolutely incredible. I’ve been to hip hop shows, but this was something else. A sick live band, fun DJ (Green Lantern), and two amazing lyricists dropping socially conscious rhymes… their styles meshed so well together, and you could feel their genuine friendship through the performance.
If you don’t have their “Distant Relatives” album yet, you NEED it! The production on it is brilliant– using mostly live instruments, percussion and backing vocals– refreshing in a time of sterile, generic loops and samples. The lyrics are passionate and inspiring, and the album’s proceeds will help build schools in Africa. You can get it on iTunes or Amazon.
STEEL PULSE
Holy crap! This was not only my first show at the legendary Fillmore, but my first live reggae show! Thanks to m.0 introducing me to the awesomeness of his Caribbean culture, I’ve fallen in love with the rhythms, melodies, and politically-charged lyrics of reggae music.
This was definitely the most on-point band I’ve ever seen! I’ve never seen anyone put so much into a performance. Outstanding musicians who knew how to hype up the crowd…and the vibe was amazing– everyone was singing all the words. Steel Pulse has been around since ’75… makes me wonder where NR will be after 35 years!
HEAT WAVE!
The sun came out in full effect this week, making beach time mandatory. I got a bunch of awesome bike rides in, and we kicked it at Ocean Beach to enjoy the unusually warm breeze. Nothing felt more Cali than watching the surfers do their thing and catching the sunset over the ocean…
What an incredible week… an amazing city to share our amazing friendship in!
After months of filming and enough editing sessions to make our eyeballs fall out, “Nerds With Attitude” made it to the outside world last week!
It was the most challenging production we’ve taken on, which made it so rewarding. With each project, there’s a new set of skills learned, new ideas triggered, and even more excitement about the future.
We’re finally taking a moment to catch our breath, filling our brains with lots of blissful San Francisco stimuli. On the radar this week: live music, yummy food, bike rides, and mapping out our next projects.
Life’s been on a crazy upswing these past few months, and it keeps getting better. Our friendship’s tighter than ever, and our headspace couldn’t be clearer… all is well in NR Land!
Written, produced, and directed by Nerd Revolt.
Shot and edited by Nerd Revolt.
Makeup by the iLL.F.O.
Lyrics: the iLL.F.O. (Verses) and m.0 (Chorus)
Verse 1
(the iLL.F.O.)
Day and night, we hold it down in the studio
Why?
Because we’re nerds and that’s our duty, yo
Don’t bust your nut, honey– like a Cheerio
Your MIDI took a dump, and it smells real poopy…
Oh, Snap!
I got the iLL knob behavior
Gotta press “Store” ’cause even Jesus won’t save yo’
Patch
Now I pick the type of saturation
Like yo’ drawers after masturbation
‘Cause you got so hot for my configurations
Your Random’s PG-Rated
Mine’s X
Like Novation Station
Verse 2
(the iLL.F.O.)
Drop the fat bass
Oh yeah, you know I wants ta
That’s when I pull out my little Minimonsta
And all I need in life is my sweet Baby Virus
If you had a synth job, you know you’d want to hire us
And my other synth, she’s one that’s hella dope
She’s the one that’s known as the SkriLLascope
We’re Nerd Revolt, and we tune out the haters
We’d rather be messing with all our knobs and faders
Verse 3
(the iLL.F.O.)
This is no ordinary platitude
For our gear we have mad gratitude
We drop it straight up– just like latitude
‘Cause we’re nerds with attitude
(m.0)
Ooohh…
(the iLL.F.O.)
Not with Auto-Tune–
I said nerds with attitude
Chorus
(m.0)
We don’t need no Auto-Tune
‘Cause we’re nerds
‘Cause we’re nerds with attitude
Ooooh
I’m a nerd
You are too
‘Cause we’re nerds with attitude
Ooooh
Insomnia (Live at Decibel Festival ’09) by Nerd Revolt
Here’s a live recording from Innerflight Music’s Red-Eye Afterhours, Decibel Festival 2009. “Insomnia” kicked off our set with its thick textures and hypnotic hooks– starting the night off right. Unlike our more heady set at Photosynthesis Festival, this one was geared towards the hyped-up afterhours crowd… it was our last Seattle show before the move, so we were ready to drop it hard!
With the Electric Tea Garden packed to full capacity, this was the song that started our journey. It was dark, hot, and sweaty– a perfect time for the NRprize to lift off.
I just got back from a glorious four-day trip to Yosemite National Park! Full moon, waterfalls, hikes in the valley, biking through meadows… I had an incredible time, and I’m still so euphoric from it.
I remember my first visit to Yosemite, back in 2002. It was during my first solo trip to San Francisco– a deeply life-changing experience. Being so acclimated to the concrete jungle of NYC, I’d never been anywhere like it. Hell, I’d never even seen a real mountain before– much less been surrounded by them.
Yosemite made me fall in love with the outdoors. I remember thinking how amazing it would be to live somewhere I could experience city life along with nature– with no compromises on either end. I dreamed of living in San Francisco, so I could have just about everything I love about NYC and the West Coast all in one place!
After exploring the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest, the iLL.F.O. is setting out on her California outdoor adventures…
This is just the beginning! 
Photos by Drew Phan.
We just got back from our first road trip as Cali residents! It was also our first road trip that didn’t involve driving a moving truck for 800 miles or playing a 4 am set in the middle of the woods… so this über-relaxing journey to LA was long overdue.
Aside from large doses of sunshine and shopping, our trip centered around ASCAP’s 25th annual Film and Television Awards in Beverly Hills. Held at the Beverly Hilton (which is also home to the Golden Globe Awards), this event honors composers of the top box office film music and the most performed television music of 2009.
Having co-written the theme song for NCIS, the #1 scripted TV show for much of 2009, m.0 was presented with an ASCAP award. It was inspiring to be in a room full of amazing composers– the people workin’ it behind the scenes. Definitely something to aspire towards!
Of course, we got in a bunch of quality NR time too… finally catching our breath and reflecting on how incredible the year has been.
With our studio tans transforming into California tans, these two nerds are doing up the summer in style!
Back in high school, I thought getting my hair done at a salon was very un-punk rock. I used to shred it, bleach it, and dye it myself. Constantly.
After years of having black, blonde, and red hair (in various combinations), I decided it was time for a change. I chopped off my scraggly hair, and went to an amazing colorist to get the blue streaks I’ve always wanted.
Here I am getting ready for our photo shoot. Have I mentioned how OBSESSED I’ve gotten with makeup? This lifelong tomboy has finally found her inner glamour girl, and we’re making up for lost time. Now I’m dreaming of building my makeup collection the way I used to dream of building my studio. BRING IT.
I LOOOOOOOOVE the blue streaks so much! Hey, I’m getting huge doses of Cali sunshine these days… time to shake off that depressing Seattle grunge
the iLL.F.O. is here, bitches!
The 2010 Fillmore Jazz Festival was a blast! Almost 100,000 people packed the streets for it, making it the largest free Jazz festival on the West Coast.
Great musicians, warm sunshine, and positive vibes all around… it was a perfect way to spend the 4th of July
The music featured in this video is from the Lisa Engelken Band, who rocked it!
PS: A couple letters got cropped in the intro, but they show up in full screen.
I’m NYC-born, not raised.
This simple fact has given me a lifelong complex about where I’m “from”.
I grew up in a quiet little town in New Jersey, and spent more of my childhood there than in New York. Yet I completely hated everyone there and didn’t identify with the sheltered, small-minded culture of the suburbs. Along with being a shy, eccentric kid, I was the only Vietnamese person in my 1000-person school. Talk about alienation.
I grew up with a very close attachment to NYC– going to Broadway shows and world-class museums, seeing the Philharmonic, catching bands at legendary venues. Especially when I was a teenager, the city represented all the freedom and self-expression that I was denied in Small Town America.
Besides those who were born and raised in NYC, I’ve met a few other types of people: those born in NYC but never lived there; those who were NOT born in NYC but lived there; and those born and raised in New York State (like Long Island or Upstate), but never lived in the city. And from the ones I’ve met, none of them have a problem claiming they’re from NYC.
So what was my problem with doing that too? Was it the stigma of growing up in the Jersey ‘burbs? Was it the insanely territorial nature of New Yorkers, whose criteria for being a “true” New Yorker disqualified people like me?
Whatever it was, I’m over it now.
Through my friendship with m.0, I’ve reconnected with my past and grown confident in who I am. I no longer question if I fit into someone else’s definition of who I am and am not.
Last month, we went to NYC together for the first time. That’s when it all really solidified for me. This is the city I’ve had a deep connection to since birth. It’s shaped me, inspired me, taught me, and challenged me. Without the amazing and painful experiences I’ve had there, I wouldn’t be who I am today, and dejaded wouldn’t exist.
Coming back there with my best friend, doppelgänger, and creative co-conspirator was life-changing. NYC is where I fell in love with dance music, but eventually the scene dried up my inspiration. It was where I’ve had some of my darkest moments, when my lifelong fantasies of being a writer, musician, and filmmaker seemed so hopeless.
Now, I’m not only living my dreams– I’m flying past them. In doing everything I’ve always felt called to do, I’m getting back to my roots. In no longer denying myself of that, I can truly embrace who I am.
And because of that, I now say with confidence…
I’m from New York City, baby.
m.0 and I just got back from an absolutely incredible trip to LA! It was our first Cali road trip together, and we did it up proper. Got in some swank Beverly Hills action, lovely beach time, and (of course) amazing conversations about NR’s past, present, and future.
Feeling insanely recharged and ready to jump back into the thick of things. 2010 just keeps getting more and more unreal!
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