John “Blake” Donner 1980-2005

Blake was not who I had intended on singing for Parallax. Branden Kennedy, Rick Brimhall and I had been jamming for a few weeks, and we had gotten a song or two. We had an offer to open a show for Onekingdown and Diecast if we got a band rolling. I remember calling Blake to get a hold of his friend Jeremy, but Blake wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. Little did I know that he would write some of the best lyrics I had ever read, nor did I think we would spend five of the best years of my life playing music together. When we started the band, Blake was organizing the Provo Food Not Bombs every Sunday. Blake was like the PR person for the band. When we made a flyer with George Bush getting fucked by John Kerry, and then put a picture of Gordon B. Hinckley over the genitals, Blake was the one who got harassed and punched by local straightedge Mormons.

Our goal together was to start a scene separate from all the fashion and tough-guy bullshit; we achieved it. Blake stressed lyrical substance more than anything; his biggest influence was a writer named Guy Debord, one of the French situationists. The book that influenced Blake the most, I think, was Society of the Spectacle.

His favorite shows were house shows, the type of shows were there was a discussion going on after a song was explained; there was no band- and-audience separation. He always said that punk rock is not a spectator sport. Through our shows and his lyrics, I think a lot of kids’ eyes were opened.

“And although DIY hardcore is small, it exists. The tools that are commonly used to measure success don’t work with DIY ethic … and when you try and measure success with those tools, you will feel like a failure. But that is one thing that I love about the DIY: If done right, it transcends the mainstream … having one person relate to what I am trying to express is enough … and oftentimes on this tour, many people related.”-Blake Donner

Blake will be missed. We will make punk a threat again!

Blake’s final interview: www.wordsasweapons.com/parallax.htm
Blake’s livejournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/rioters
Parallax’s debut full-length will be released Oct. 8th on Counter Intelligence records:
www.counterhq.com

Temple Shadows
A million dollars. A thousand steeples. Monuments to denial. Organized isolation. Homogenized communication. No venue for dialog. Language has been rewritten. This dialog is one way. The opposite of reciprocation. Non-believers are made to be non-existent. Disallowed in dialog. These saints reject the everyday. Mindlessly march. Defying the definite. I will burn the words that dominate dialog. I want reciprocation beyond boundaries. Is there communication beyond abstraction? I may be faithless. But I am no mindless marcher. Subject to kings and rulers. I am not the lesser. This cast mold architecture. Reflects the value of symmetry. Congruent culture. Uniformity of thought. Identical appearance. One vision mono-culture. Dwelling in the shadows of temples. Guarded from the uncertain. Zion’s children are dying to escape. This culture has failed. There are no words for dissent. There are no words to challenge. Another funeral another failure to deny. White washed. Another problem to hide another silenced suicide. History has been rewritten. I have been written out – presupposed. A non-believer, non-existent. Disallowed in dialog. I will burn the words that dominate dialog. I want reciprocation beyond boundaries. Is there communication beyond abstraction? I may be faithless. But I am no mindless marcher. Subject to kings and rulers. I am not the lesser.