Introducing Camp dBM
Jul/17/09 | Camp dBM / Get
Found
We've been keeping the good word under wraps for the past month or so, to see how our concepts would solidify into actual plans. But now, with exactly 50 days until the Burn, we're confident enough to announce some news: Destination Burning Man will be representing on the playa this year with a camp made up of all your friends here at www.destinationburningman.com, offering a cozy dBM dome for music, dance parties, soirees and fuzzy lounging!
This here website -- hosting the dBM blog, musical mixes distributed via podcasts, videos from the playa, burn reports and interpretations, links to the Burning Man universe, photo collections and Burner profiles -- began on April the first, 2007, to document the voyage of "three broke dudes with a dream and a desire to burn" to Burning Man 2007. Originally envisioned as a way to raise funds for our visions, it soon morphed, along with our evolving plans, in to a record of Boogie Universal's Pyramid Project. Our crew grew to something like 40 people, and we committed to the creation of an esplanade theme camp, with many logistics and hours upon hours of labor involved. A goodly portion of that story can be found here, here, here, here and here.
The principals behind Destination Burning Man -- DJ Playaduster/moontroll and DJ Edubious -- took 2008 off from the Burn (not necessarily by choice -- it is a long and unpleasant story) -- but have held tickets for Burning Man 2009 since the first day they went on sale last winter. They knew that their co-conspirators Hekter McElliott and Ramona Mayhem would likewise be traveling to Black Rock City too, creating their own parallel plans that would allow the four to join forces on the playa and raise some holy ruckus together.
With open minds and hearts, and the experiences of creating an epic burn together in 2007, moontroll and the Most Dubious E began whispering visions of a smaller, more intimate camp to be erected back towards the fringes of the city with an elevated state of comfort, a vigorous sense of adventure and soulful seeking and a mission to bring the dBM groove -- a deep groove that encompasses more diverse musical ideas than is typically found in the loudest sound camps -- to the people.
It was a natural fit then when DJ Grapenuts, a leading creative and musical force from the Boogie Universal camp, stepped forward with similar ideals for his 4th Burn -- comfort, music, dance parties, freedom, adventure, independence, pushing boundaries. And with the inclusion of G'nutz came....the RV (more on that later).
An initial summit at the Samish Island Zendo brought forth a rush of ideas for camp construction, amenities, playa art installations and hijinks, along with rough sketches visualizing the dBM dome. It was agreed that creating a simple environment in which the DJs Playaduster, Edubious and Grapenuts could plug in laptops, fire up a sound system and mix music for friends, new and old, was essential. Spinning sets from their overflowing vaults of grooves -- funk, salsa, reggae, raga, dub, breaks, soul, downtempo, cumbia, glitch, ambient, etc. -- became the organizing principle behind the mission.
It was likewise agreed that the dream camp included other friends that they either knew or hoped would be in BRC too -- Camp dBM would not emulate Club Exclusivo but instead be open to fellow merry-makers and rabble-rousers, dreamers, musicians, circus performers, healers, artists and seekers. Each of the original three have passed on the whisper on to a few friends that they could envision spending a very intense and edgy week with in the desert, with positive results at the end of the double-rainbow.
Torsten (playa name not registered) of San Francisco, with seven burns under his belt, knew what kind of experience he sought and thus eagerly jumped at the opportunity to merge with Camp dBM. His last burn was in 2007; while moontroll, G'nutz and Edubious were erecting the Boogie Pyramid at 9 o'clock and Esplanade, Torsten was working like a monkey on the epic Crude Awakening installation on Open Playa. Needless to say, he too was looking to gear down in 2009 and experiment with a smaller, tightly-knit camp existing on the fringes. It was also suggested to Torsten that he might know of some fellow Bay Area Burners, carefully selected, that might add good ju-ju to Camp dBM.
There are rumors that Grapenuts has found two more friends enthusiastic to join the camp -- including a childhood chum and rumored Burning Man virgin -- and there is secretive campaigning going on for another brother in Taos, New Mexico, underemployed and newly single, to commit to the amorphous tribe, a tribe that is slowly but perfectly converging intentions, mapping out possibilities, and counting down the weeks and days until the Man burns...
Over the next 50 days, Camp dBM intends to chronicle with some regularity the evolution of their journey to Black Rock City. First step: this dBM blog will begin to introduce each camp member, starting with a spicy dose of Doobsauce. Check back frequently and get yo'self ready to rumble!
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