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FRIDAY DECEMBER 19 LIVING LEGENDS SATURDAY DECEMBER 20 BILLY FAILING TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 30-31 THE NEW MASTERSOUNDS FRIDAY & SATURDAY JANUARY 2-3 DUAL VENUE TROUBLE NO MORE ALLMAN BROTHERS TRIBUTE FRIDAY & SATURDAY JANUARY 9-10 YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND FRIDAY & SATURDAY JANUARY 16-17 LOTUS SUNDAY JANUARY 18 RAANAN HERSHBERG THURSDAY & FRIDAY JANUARY 22-23 KITCHEN DWELLERS SATURDAY JANUARY 24 TRIPP ST. SUNDAY JANUARY 25 STS9 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 6 PROBCAUSE SATURDAY FEBRUARY 7 BIG RICHARD & DELLA MAE THURSDAY FEBRUARY 12 GHOSTFACE KILLAH FRIDAY FEBRUARY 13 TAIKI NULIGHT TUESDAY FEBRUARY 17 FOX STEVENSON SATURDAY FEBRUARY 21 SWIMMING PAUL be soaked into my ego. ... It’s forced me to kind of be more of a humble person.” Since he moved to Denver from the Bay Area fi ve years ago, he’s put his all into his music as well as Friendly Collective, his re- cording studio and brand that uplifts local acts. “Friendly Collective is creating this cool foundational net for good art,” he says. “It’s re- ally been taking off. I’m pouring my fi nancial mind into that and letting my art not have to be dictated at all by fi nances as much as I can. This is something that I can put my efforts into and see not necessarily a quick return of investment, but a clear return of investment. ... That was kind of a revelation I had this year that allowed me to make music for me, not for numbers or streaming or anything like that. Those numbers are just icing on the cake.” The collective acquired a new space this past summer, and has been offering it up for recording residencies and Q&A sessions that it publishes on social media. The studio stands out from others with its earthy tones and moss wall art, while another bright room hosts a gallery with local art, a lounge area and a photoshoot space. Before he came to Denver, ego had been making music for about fi ve years, but it was here that he felt his career begin to take off. “I’ve had many ups and downs in my music career,” he says. “This is the fi rst time where I actually have motion. ... It’s the right amount of artistic vibe out here while still being livable and be- ing able to have balance in your life. That’s the overall thing: I came here for more balance.” As he returns to his indie roots on If It Never Ends, ego is also examining how to weave his present and future. Lately, he’s been reading a book on metaphysics titled Reality Transurfi ng by Vadim Zeland, and while he calls it “very woo-woo,” he’s locked into what Zeland calls the “pendulum effect.” “There’s this effect that happens when you create more negativity in your life, where you act on more negative feelings, even if you’re doing good things,” he explains. “Essentially, positivity doesn’t happen like a pendulum; it happens in waves – so it will subside, and then another one will come, and the goal is to be able to ride it. Like, I’ve been through dif- ferent points of my life where things get bad, and then as soon as I kind of piece together a solution here, something else will go bad there, and [the cycle] starts again. So the goal for me in those moments is to recenter and tell myself, ‘This is just a part of my path. This is what’s supposed to happen.’” Confronting life’s trials only makes the good parts shine brighter. “It does fl ip nega- tivity,” he explains, “because at its core, there’s nothing negative without positive.” And with that acceptance comes a whole new vista of opportunities. The visual album ends with a reminder: “With every end of the world, there is a new world that follows.” If It Never Ends: The Visual Album Premiere, 7 p.m. Friday, December 5, Department of Creative Pursuits, 2150 Market Street; tickets are available on Eventbrite. Ego n friends plays Bluebird Theater, 3317 East Colfax Avenue, with Keenan TreVon, E.Me. and AC Yung, 8 p.m. Saturday, November 29; tickets are available at bluebirdtheater.net. Music continued from page 19
