$1,000 1st Place Prize
Listen/Download original "Who Am I?"song HERE!
Listen/Download original "Days Go By" song HERE!
We put up a 1000$ first prize for this contest with hopes of both encouraging the musicians in our community, and attempting to bring more musicians into our community. We would thank anyone who has a friend or family member that might be interested to please pass this message along for us...
To enter the contest and get the link to download the accapella's + instrumentals, solo tracks, etc. please email
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with your name, email address and phone number.
Please read rules and scroll to bottom of page.
RULES:
-Deadline March 31st
-Song must integrate use of Rush's lyrics, audio, or Hendri Coetzee voice sample from either "Who Am I" or "Days Go By." Usage is at the discretion of the musician.
-The musician also has the option to use his/her own voice to sing, sample, or remake the song. Covers of the song(s) will also be accepted.
* Song and all music that derive from it released under Creative Commons XXX
Acceptable formats: AIFF, WAVE, MP3, M4A (you can also upload a performance to Youtube but please send us the audio separately).
[ For information on how to make a remix, visit: http://www.wikihow.com/Remix ]
Artwork by the great Ekaterina Kulkova (Click here for more of her Art)
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WHO AM I?
Written and performed by Rush Sturges
Produced by Greg Ellis
Hendri Coetzee Audio Sample:
"We try and justify, what we do. The fact is what we do is unusual. But why this? There are other things to understand. There are other things to do. There are easier and harder things to do. It's not about the hardest thing. I think the people who are drawn to this place... It's a calling. There's other things I can do. But, this is what I should do."
[Verse One:]
Wake up.
Face existence. Days like years. Months, minutes.
Twenty seven cycles i've been part of the changes.
My knife in the tree of life, carve a name in.
Canyons and rains, floods through the plains, blood pump in my veins, we are one in the same.
Like the waves when they break, or the earth as it shakes, the fate we create from our birth to the grave.
Make no mistake soldier.
We're all mortal.
Woven in moments, the flow move us forward.
I hold my breath, then dive to new depths.
I thrive on the edge of what life arrives next.
Sacrifice the excess, invest in my freedom.
Read these seasons , rings on a tree stump.
Freezing finger-tips, bitter like the winter’s lips.
Kiss of the wilderness, where the inner spirit live.
I navigate the infinite, passionately interested.
That kid who’s taking stabs at what the maximum of limits is.
And if you think it’s deep, I suggest you dig farther.
Find yourself a garden , plant those thoughts where the stars are.
And if those heartless sharks eat compassion of the angels.
And mangle every rainbow till the color bleeds to grey tones.
I’ll be in my same flow, cradled in the desolate.
Invested, forever, asking the same questions.
[PRE CHORUS:]
WHO AM?
A child inside a lifeline, time gone by but the time is I.
WHO ARE YOU?
A view that I will not perceive, but all that exists in you is in me.
WHO ARE WE?
The seasons engrained in the hardship. The product of darkness.
The monster that’s conscious.
US. The taste of the dust. The way of the one from our old to the young.
SING!
[CHORUS:]
WHO AM I?!?!
THE WICKED AND THE WISE INTERTWINED/
THE THIRD EYE VISION THAT RESIDE IN THE MIND/
WHO AM I!?!?!?
THE FLICKER IN THE FIRE/
THE CRY OF THE BEAST WHO DERIVED FROM THE WILD/
NOW CONFINED/
WHO AM I!?!?!?!
THE RISE OF THE TIDE/
THE SILENCE OF NIGHT THAT WILL SWALLOW THE LIGHT JUST TO THRIVE/
WHO AM I!?!?!?
I AM ALIVE/
I HAVE SURVIVED/
IN TIME I WILL DIE/
THAT IS LIFE.
[Verse Two:]
The master and commander.
Sailing for some answers to fasten me down like anchors.
Cause i've been taking chances in the violence of the wild sea.
No light house to guide me, I'm flying a blind dream.
I breathe my spirit on beats, let it define me.
And speak clarity, mountain stream on a high peak.
My life at light speed, moving through the mayhem.
Consumed in the day to day patience, they say is aging.
Afraid, cause it's painfully murderous what the verdict is.
Impermanence, returning into the earth again.
I merge with the current, KILL serpents and reign victorious.
Modern day WARRIOR, conquering the conformity.
Break it off like cornices, and smash your whole fortress in.
Absorbed by the FORCE, not a soul to tell the story lives.
And with that destiny I take a minute to adjust.
Conflicted by a vision that my mission's in flux.
But we're swimming in the RUSH, far beyond the threshold.
And sometimes, to hold on, you just gotta let go.
My narrative is EBB AND FLOW.
The vessel in my FLESH and BONES.
An epicenter where the messenger control the metronome.
Values, balance, harnessing your talents.
Throw it all down and accept any challenge.
My chapel stay the mountains, till i'm hanging at the gallows.
And my soul afterglow, through the valley of the shadows.
[PRE CHORUS:]
WHO AM?
A child inside a lifeline, time gone by but the time is I.
WHO ARE YOU?
A view that I will not perceive, but all that exists in you is in me.
WHO ARE WE?
The seasons engrained in the hardship. The product of darkness.
The monster that’s conscious.
US. The taste of the dust. The way of the ONE from our old to the YOUNG.
SING!
[CHORUS:]
WHO AM I?!?!
THE WICKED AND THE WISE INTERTWINED/
THE THIRD EYE VISION THAT RESIDE IN THE MIND/
WHO AM I!?!?!?
THE FLICKER IN THE FIRE/
THE CRY OF THE BEAST WHO DERIVED FROM THE WILD/
NOW CONFINED/
WHO AM I!?!?!?!
THE RISE OF THE TIDE/
THE SILENCE OF NIGHT THAT WILL SWALLOW THE LIGHT JUST TO THRIVE/
WHO AM I!?!?!?
I AM ALIVE/
I HAVE SURVIVED/
IN TIME I WILL DIE/
THAT IS LIFE.
Hendri Coetzee Audio Sample:
"There's a reason that death and rebirth are so close to each other in spirituality. And i'm not saying I enjoy knowing i'm going to die, or I could die. I don't. It's a process. It starts a process of reassessing your life. And it makes it really hard not to live as best you can. When you know, that you might not live forever."
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Hendri Coetzee Audio Sample Courtesy: Hendri Coetzee Trust
Provided by Ben Stookesberry from the kayak film "Kadoma"
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Lyrics to “Days Go By”
Written by Rush Sturges
Composed by Rudy Slizewski
Produced by Steve Berlin
Performed by TapWater:
There’s no time like the present.
That's why i'm taking in, each breath, like it's the last I might inhale forever.
Putting it in perspective like a panoramic, captured on camera. My birds eye view, over the planet, expanding.
Sinking, Atlantis, but it's actually happening.
Moving rapidly like the eyes of humanity fast asleep.
But aint no way i'll stay complacent.
We need to break the chains of this financial system that viscously enslaves us.
I want to take it back like Cave Men, ancient, basic, no seven day creation, faithless.
Exploration.
In this wilderness of consequence.
Deliver honestness, common sense, not dominance.
The problem seems endorsed by the dreams of our culture.
Bleed the resources into glorified fortunes.
The rivers into reservoirs, my forests into floor boards, absorb everything, I need MORE! MORE! MORE!
Now breathe.
(exhale)
CHORUS:
I see days go by.
Watching the sun-rise again.
Like a road that has no end.
Or an old familiar friend.
I set the journey as my destination.
We'll stay connected like constellations.
Soon I will be home.
For now I am gone.
[Verse Two:]
Let me travel to where this started.
Like stardust evolving into a garden.
Blossoming, like the dream that we harvest inside the monster. Stay alive constant, time watcher, All of this I am a part of.
Lost inside the chaotic carnival of the conscious.
Like autumn leaves that fall, then dissolve into winter.
The seasons personify, what it's like to be living.
Given the present circumstances, i'll take my chances with death. Testing her every caress, makes it less stressful to accept. AH YES!
A breath of fresh air.
Out into the clear sky.
Frontier of mind.
Good times, outside the confined.
The city life, turning it's citizens into victims, in this existence, you get one chance, to push the distance.
Positioned for the path of least resistance, like rivers.
We all carve these canyon walls into the system to fit in.
But in my heart i'll never give in.
All I got is ambition.
An addiction to break the limits build a vision to finish and then BREATHE.
(exhale)
[CHORUS:]
I see days go by/
Watching the sun rise again/
Like a road that has no end/
Or an old familiar friend/
I set the journey as my destination/
We'll stay connected like constellations/
Soon I will be gone.
For now i'm HOME.
Home now i'm home
Now i'm home (X4)
Soon I will be gone (X3)
For now I am home.
(CLOSING)
Another year gone by.
Another sunset.
Another sunrise.
NO. I'm not done yet.
I can't rest until I finish the quest.
And even then, i'll be asking the question, like what's next?
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Review of Rush's last EP from Laurel Brauns
"... Sturges has spent much of his life exploring all corners of the planet as a filmmaker and boater, and it seems he might have been collecting sounds and songs in addition to footage along the way. At times, the words plow forward at 90 miles an hour, without time to stop for acoustic flourishes: instead psychological excavations and cinematic quests take the drivers seat. At other times, this is a Rhythm of the Saints-esque soundscape set to literate raps, bringing the listener inside the heart and mind of a sometimes crazed, but always intriguing white guy reaching for enlightenment and self-actualization..."
Click HERE for more of Rush's Music! on Soundcloud
Click HERE for Rush on MySpace
Music can make or break an edit, finding a good song to power a segment is never easy… Over the years I have found many of my favourite tracks come from action sports movies and online edits, hearing the song again reminds me of the epic segment its from! Beautiful cinematography/editing and great music coming together with a bad ass athlete, maybe a little bit of slow mo? epic...
Here is an 8tracks playlist of my favourite songs from some of the sick new releases this year and years past - comment and post your favorite tunes from soundtracks, or even the edit that brought you to the song!
I love all these songs and I love all these movies, I bought as much of both as I could off of iTunes, when you really enjoy a track I recommend buying it or showing the artist some love by liking their facebook page. Action sports films are commonly being sold for $10 bucks on iTunes these days, buy em up, support the producers and show them you want to see more!
check out some more music here:
- BM
Clicking the song title will take you to an iTunes page where you can purchase the song, clicking on the Artist name will take you to either their Facebook, web, or myspace page (show love!) clicking on the movie (below) link will either take you to an iTunes page where you can buy that movie, or the production company's facebook page, OR to the edit where the song is used... got it, good
Movies
| All I Can - Sherpas Cinemas |
| Life Cycles |
| Art of flight - Brain Farm Cinema |
| Poor Boyz- Revolver |
| Dream Result - River Roots |
| The Way I See It - MSP |
| Fuck It - Forum |
| All I Can - Sherpas Cinemas |
| Poor Boyz- Revolver |
| Frontier - River Roots |
| Level 1 - Eye Trip |
| Forum - Fuck it - Young Bloods |
| True Life - Mack Dawg |
| Grand Prix Highlights / MSP Attack of La Nina |
| 3 Minute Gaps - Clay Porter |
| Castles in the Sky |
| That’s it That’s All |
| ROTY Highlights Video |
| Every Day is a Saturday |
| Castles in the Sky |
| BFTV Episode Pacific Northwest Episode |
| Contour - Promo Video |
| All I Can - Sherpas Cinemas |
| Quicksilver - Moments |
| All I Can - Sherpas Cinemas |
| Life Cycles |
| That’s it That’s All |
| Poor Boyz- Revolver |
| Tanner Hall - Like a Lion - Inspired Media |
| Frontier - River Roots |
| True Life - Mack Dawg |
PC: For those that haven't heard of World Class Academy tell us a bit about it?
CR: World Class is a private high school for whitewater kayakers. If you are a junior paddler interested in seeing the world and paddling the best whitewater out there…. this is it. It’s the ultimate life adventure. First and foremost we are a school with high standards for our academics. We are privately accredited through the Northwest Accreditation Commission and we are completely in control of our curriculum. We offer two semesters per year and students can choose to come for a full year or just a semester. Each semester we travel to a different destination. Students, teachers, and coaches, live, train, travel and learn together.
PC: As a former student give us a quick glimpse of what the WCA experience is like from that perspective...
CR: It’s been a crazy journey from student, to teacher, board member and now director…. I have really been able to see the program from all angles. I was fortunate enough to attend World Class my senior year, the first year of the schools existence. We traveled to New Zealand and Ecuador that year and had a really tight crew of students and teachers. It opened my eyes up to the next level of kayaking. Growing up as a young paddler in Oregon, I was the only kayaker in my high school and constantly searched for people to paddle with. I remember the first person from the school I met was Rush. He rolled up from California and we drove out to Montana together, where the school was based in those days. I remember talking about where kayaking was going with him and he had all these crazy ideas for filming kayaking. He busted out a rough VHS copy of Young Guns Productions “The Next Generation”, his first full length film and I remember thinking……”damn this is it… this is where kayaking is going”. It was an amazing feeling to be part of this, part of the progression, surrounded by all of these talented people who searched for the same things I did. World Class is all about the community and the team. It is hard to describe to people how close this community is…. many of the friendships that are formed are lifelong.
PC: Committing to travelling in distant counties in close quarters with a small group of people you don't know could be an intimidating proposition to a potential student... what are the most common questions you receive and what is a typical response?
CR: A lot of students come in with nervous excitement…. Suddenly you are thrown into this group of people that you are expected to do everything with. Sometimes this environment creates some stress. Kayaking really diffuses this and always brings the group back together. Being able to be flexible and work within a team is perhaps one of the greatest skills you come away with at World Class. Student’s sometimes are concerned about how difficult the whitewater will be….. “How good do you have to be” a lot of students ask. To be part of World Class, you are not expected to be a class V boater or a champion at freestyle. What’s more important is where the student is at in his/her kayak progression. Are they willing to train hard? What are their goals? In the setting of World Class students improve their kayaking extremely quickly. To be part of World Class you need to possess a minimum of class III whitewater skills.
PC: Service programs are always included in the academy curriculum, what is it that you hope the students will get out of this component of the program?
CR: The service-learning component of the World Class is one of the most important aspects of the school. The idea is to recognize what unique skills we possess as a group and how we can use these skills to help those around us. Our last service-learning project in Costa Rica came from the lack of access locals in the Sarapiqui have to kayaking. We put on a whitewater festival with food, music, kayak demos, whitewater clinics, stand-up boards, and rafting. It was a huge success. People who had lived their whole lives next to the river finally got an opportunity to participate in the sport. Past projects have ranged from riparian restoration in Ecuador to river clean up projects in Chile… each experience is uniquely focused on the area in which we travel. We call it a service learning project… and not just community service, because we recognize as a school, how important these experiences are for the students and the depth it takes to process these interactions. Often these service-learning projects end up being the highlight of the trip. It is part of our goal of making our students become not just good kayakers, but global citizens.
PC: I remember back in the day being jealous because I was stuck at home during the school year while Rush, Marlow and a bunch of you guys were able to be kayaking year round because you were with World Class. I couldn't go because of the price tag, a barrier to entry shared by many kids out there... I know there are kids who do manage to overcome that problem with hard work / fundraising, is there some encouragement / advice that you can give to those young rippers who are going to need to do some serious fundraising to attend a semester ?
CR: One of our constant goals is to be able to offer scholarships for those students that need financial help to attend the school. It is one of the things I struggle with constantly… this idea that we are a “rich kid” school. It is true that World Class is a very expensive program… just by the nature of things. With help from our sponsors like NRS and TRIBE we are able to offer general scholarships to students who qualify. If you think the school is too expensive, I encourage you to contact us about scholarship opportunities. We also provide a fundraising packet that is full of ideas on how students can take the initiative and do some fundraising on their own. One student named CJ from Boise, raised almost his entire tuition through personal fundraising. Our other big goal is to attract more international students. This year alone we will have had students from Canada, UK, and Bali.
PC: High calibre paddlers have come through World Class (Rush Sturges, Tyler Bradt, the Garcias, Lane Jacobs, Todd Wells, etc), this program clearly nourishes whitewater talent yet the focus remains on the academics / experiences / culture / character building ... What do you think it is about the experiences gained during time at the academy that help affect the students character ?
CR: I think it goes back to the culture that we create and nurture through the program. The program creates life-long friends across the globe. This has certainly been the case for me. I just had a big new-years gathering with my core group of friends… all classmates of mine from World Class. These friends are not just limited to students from World Class, but with the global paddling community in general. I never would have met Ben, or you for that matter, if I had not attended the school and been opened up to those other paddling communities. After a while you forget that these people didn’t attend the school…. the paddling community is just tight like that. The school is really just a vessel for introducing young paddlers to communities around the globe and helps form those bonds.
PC: Ben Marr is meeting up with WCA on the Salween in February, what else is on the horizon next semester at World Class?
CR: Ben Marr is going to be coming to China with us as our guest instructor. We are super stoked to have him…. Going to be epic. Part of World Class is opening up our students to the best paddlers out there. Ben is going to be bringing a whole new energy to the program. We are hoping to have a guest instructor each semester. China is going to be a very unique destination for us. This is the third time World Class has been to China and the experience is a powerful one. We will be running a 10-day trip on the Yangtze before heading to the Mekong and the Salween. The school will return and head to the West Coast of the U.S.A. for spring run-off… and some of the most epic whitewater on the planet. Next year we will be going to B.C. Canada/Nepal in the Fall and Chile/ West Coast U.S.A. in the spring….. another heavy hitting year. We are also looking to expand our summer programs and begin to offer international trips.
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Thanks Capo, look forward to seeing some footage from the semester in China.
For more information on World Class Academy check their website HERE.
Semester Wrap up video from the students at WCA:
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