Carnage.

I first became aware of Ariel Pink thanks to the world’s greatest surf photo editor Peter Taras (Transworld, Surfing, Surfer) who, I think, was/is a fan.

Pink’s music described as “lo-fi and home-recorded” proved influential to many indie musicians starting in the late 2000s and he is frequently cited as “godfather of the hypnagogic pop and chillwave movements.” He currently pockets over 1,000,000 monthly listens on Spotify and his most popular album, to date, is Haunted Graffiti.

Not really my style but very cool, nonetheless.

In any case, Pink was recently in Washington D.C. for the now-famous rally-turned-Capitol-tour and subsequently dropped by his label Mexican Summer, which features many surf-esque bands and does collaborations with surf shops.

According to the New York Post:

Label Mexican Summer made the announcement Friday amid backlash after thje “Baby” bragged about supporting Trump at Wednesday’s rally in Washington, DC that preceded the riots.

“Due to recent events, Mexican Summer and its staff have decided to end our working relationship with Ariel Rosenberg AKA Ariel Pink moving forward,” the New York-based record label tweeted Friday.

The singer had openly anticipated a backlash, even though he insisted he was sleeping when rioters stormed the Capitol.

“I attended the rally on the white house lawn and went back to hotel and took a nap. case closed,” he tweeted Thursday of his support at the rally alongside fellow indie musician John Maus, insisting he was against “violent confrontation or rioting.”

“Save yourselves friends, cancel me now and turn me in before they come for you,” he tweeted of his backlash Thursday — also saying, “Vote for Trump.”

Would you be sad getting cancelled after sleeping through the most exciting part of what you got cancelled for?

I know sentences aren’t supposed to end with a preposition but “for which you got cancelled” reads weird and stilted.

Well, first they came for the godfather of the hypnagogic pop and chillwave movements, and I did not speak out because I was more of a club-lead beats with arpeggios, riffs, and vocal line fades kinda bro.

Etc.

Topsy turvy.

Of all the places with a chapter of Proud Boys, Hawaii is maybe the most surprising but it has been a surprising week, all told. The group, described by Southern Poverty Law Center as “western chauvinists” who spread an “anti-white guilt agenda,” burst onto the national scene during the summer of unrest and made international news when President Donald J. Trump ordered them to “stand back and stand by” in his first debate with then candidate Joseph R. Biden.

Hawaii, famous for Kill Haole Day, does not seem a chill place for Proud Boys to prosper but everything is extremely topsy-turvy and, days ago, the Hawaii Proud Boy chapter founder was arrested for unlawfully entering the U.S. Capitol building in Washington D.C. last week when he touched down at Honolulu International Airport.

According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Nicholas Ochs appeared via telephone today before the judge and replied “I think so, your honor” when asked if he understood the charge against him.

He is not allowed to leave Oahu until he is flown back to D.C. to stand trial.

A deep dive down Ochs’ Twitter account (not suspended at time of writing) makes it seem like he does not surf though there is a video of him urinating into an active lava fissure.

Close enough.

In an earlier interview with CNN he said, “We didn’t have to break in (to the Capitol), I just walked in and filmed. There were thousands of people in there — they had no control of the situation. I didn’t get stopped or questioned.”

The charge he faces is a misdemeanor.

I suppose what confuses me most is why, in Hawaii, the group is not called Da Proud Boys.

It would make me more comfortable.

It would also make me more comfortable if they served Spam Musubi at their meetings.