Hi there and welcome back to the first ever Fridays With Lazerbeak. Things have been pretty quiet online here at Doomtree for the past few weeks as we’ve all been tending to very personal issues and relationships offline. To quickly summarize: P.O.S wrote a message on this site yesterday that you can read in full HERE explaining the pain and hurt he’s caused many people in his intimate relationships. Moving forward, Stef is stepping away from music for awhile to focus on getting help and to make himself available to those he’s hurt.

Speaking for myself and the rest of the crew, we’ve been having a lot of heavy conversations offline. This news has been deeply personal, both in regards to our own crew, as well as several artists in the music scene that we’ve closely associated with over the years. We’ve been working through it as a family and having the tough talks–as a crew and as members of this community. For me personally, the work offline has meant talking with many of the individuals who have come forward, making sure they are seen and heard, and trying to help connect people with resources if they’re interested. It’s also meant finding a crisis counselor and a therapist for the crew in order to not only process our emotions in all this, but, most importantly, make sure we are doing everything we can to not cause further pain. I’ll be the first to admit that we are very out of our depth here. We’re relying on professionals to guide us and counsel us in the best ways to support those affected and make the slow and patient change that hopefully leads to a better future.

So. What does all this mean for the future of Doomtree?

Honest answer? This is deeper than a rap crew or a record label or any attempt to protect a brand or legacy. The overarching lens I’ve been trying to view every single moment through over the last three weeks comes in the form of two questions: What will help stop the spread of more pain and trauma? And what will help lay the foundation for healing and peace? Those are my greatest concerns at the moment. This work is ongoing and something that I take with the utmost respect and seriousness. There’s much more to be said and much more to be done, and this is just the beginning of addressing these issues within our own circle and the wider Minnesota music scene. It doesn’t stop with a blog post.

What I do know is that all the things that Doomtree has stood for over the last 20 years still greatly matter to me. We stand for inclusivity and diversity and misfits and weirdos and striving to be better human beings. Failing and trying again and going through it and making it work and failing some more. Creativity and community and friendship and family and supreme love and respect for others. That’s what No Kings and All Hands have meant to me over the years, and they still mean that to me to this day. Those ideals have shaped the way I live my life, and this moment in time does not take away from the fact that I still believe all that shit. We started this thing fresh out of high school with zero clue about pretty much everything. I didn’t think we’d last two years let alone 20. We’ve grown up and grown old together. I’ve known these people for over half of my life, and no matter what happens after this I’m taking those basic principles with me til the end.

So with that, I’d like to offer up to you a new song that I’ve been working on. It’s the first track from my next meditative album Penelope. It’s called “Treetops” and we’re dropping it early because I honestly don’t think there’s ever been a better time for all of us to take five minutes out of our lives and just chilllllllllllll. This is me personally sending you light beams of love and strength through the form of music. My sincere hope is that it brings a moment of calm and peace to your life.

LAZERBEAK – “Treetops”

Alright. Let’s get into some housekeeping.

We temporarily paused the Doomtree Patreon for the month of July as we were offline, but we’ll be starting it back up again beginning on August 1st. You’re free to cancel at any time via a simple click on the Patreon page, but if any of what I’ve said in this post has resonated, you can learn more about supporting the work we’re doing right HERE. Whether you’ve supported us in the past, or will be supporting us as we step into the future, I can’t begin to tell you how much we appreciate it.

Paper Tiger and J.Gundersen have made a truly awesome Cloquet album and it is still very much coming out. We’ve pushed back the release date to July 31st to give everything some space as we continue the daily process of creating more healing. All physical pre-orders should be shipping out early to mid August so long as things stay on track with COVID manufacturing delays. We thank you for your patience, and more than anything, I’d like to give a big shout to both Papes and James for being so willing to push things back in order to focus on the important work at hand over the last month. Here’s a brand new single from the project to get you excited for release day. It’s called “New Drugs” and it’s by far my favorite Cloquet song ever.

CLOQUET – “New Drugs”

We’ve also pushed back the debut album from Dope Walker to next Friday, July 24th. In the meantime, you can hear our latest single “Made to Disappear” below featuring the epic vocals of William Elliott Whitmore.

DOPE WALKER – “Made to Disappear”

OK, I think that’s plenty to take in for the time being. Thank you for reading this. Thank you for everything. I hope you find some time this week to show yourself a little love and give yourself a little grace as well. I’m sending you encouragement and hope from my laptop to yours, and I’ll see you back here next week for a regularly scheduled round of Tuesdays With Lazerbeak. Take care of yourself.

LOVE.