I am David 'Shadow' Velasquez

I'm an american expat living in Belgium.
I have three kids and a dog.
I sculpt in copper, bronze, paper maché.
I have a serious fire fetish as I enjoy spinning fire poi and staff.
I play guitar, bass, keyboards(although not so great on the ivories)
-and sing
I've been writing songs and poetry for as long as I can remember.
I've played in a number of bands since 1977.
As the former lead singer of 80's band Necropolis Of Love I've recorded three singles and the album the Hope.... to which I'm told we had a dance hit in Uruguay at some point in the 1980's.
Other bands and recording projects include the Saucers, the Allies and Subsubkultur.

When I was a kid I ranaway from home to be on the streets of Berkeley, California during the last riots of the Vietnam War.
After having helped to "liberate" People's Park I was schooled in social philosophies by radical students and street revolutionaries; by itinerent Vietnam vets, street preachers, musicians, madmen and mystics.
I've spent part of my youth as an activist/organiser with the Yippies an anarchist organisation and later as a community activist in southern California. Later I decided my best foot forward was on the cultural front heeding the observation of Herbert Marcuse in his 'An Essay on Liberation' how "one good song is worth a thousand speeches" by throwing myself headlong into the burgeoning punk scene... yet never wandering too far from the political scene
Though I live far from home....I keep close tabs on political events as they unfold in the US and do my best (at a great distance) to be part of the political debate.

My own blog is http://theorphicchronicles.blogspot.com/
My former band site at Myspace .... http://www.myspace.com/necropolisoflove1
My own band and recording projects... http://www.myspace.com/dave39shadow39velasquez