First published – May 12 2011.
I can remember sitting in the back of a prison van, handcuffed and still wearing the blue „Im an innocent kid give me another chance‟ court suit I‟d worn to my trial.
It must have been a quite day for transporting A.C.T prisoners to the N.S.W prison system because my co-offender Pete and I were the only lads on the truck.
Anyway yeah I can remember two moments as we left Canberra in that truck.
One moment was the drive through Manuka a suburb in Canberra.
I‟d been in the local remand centre for a few months so I hadn‟t seen civilization for a bit.
After receiving a 5 year sentence the streets and cafes I knew had a tragically ironic feel to them as we rolled past.
I was seeing places I knew well, places that reminded me of freedom but at the same time I knew I wouldn‟t be back in town to taste that freedom for years.
The second moment I remember was just up the road as we left Berra for good.
We stopped at a set of traffic lights and a car pulled up beside us.
It turned out the driver of the car was a guy Id had a run in with in Civic (Canberra City) on a night out.
Last time Id seen this guy was maybe a year earlier.
Me and the team were out clubbing one night, riding high on the success we were seeing from our various enterprises, basically just causing ruckus out in the clubs and a bit of shit went down.
I can‟t remember why but we left Kenny who was one of our boys with some girls up in one club and we headed to another club for a drink.
The driver of this car next to me and the mates he had with him that night had tried to put the heavy on Kenny.
Luckily a couple of the girls got out of the club and gave us the heads up because if they missed the chance poor ol Ken would have been up for some damage.
So we arrived on mass and I gave the driver of this car a hiding he wont forget, after all Kenny‟s like a little brother to me.
So here I now was in this transport truck a year later getting a raw dose of how much my life had changed.
A year ago I was on the town flashing cash and chasing skirt.
A year ago I was the winner and the driver of this car next to us was the loser.
Today he was the winner and my sorry ass was definitely the loser.
To cut a long long story short I served my time and from day one I was counting down the days until I would be back southside flipping ganja again.
I counted down for 2 and a half years and the plan never changed, well until the parole board got involved that is.
Two weeks out from my return home and I had to face the parole board at Long Bay Prison.
I wasn‟t worried though.
Sure I‟d had some infringements during my time inside but nothing major and I‟d jumped through all the hoops set for me during the second half of my sentence.
I completed the anger management course and the anti violence course.
I got a work/greencard thing and I upped and moved from the comfort of my one out cell in Goulburn X-Wing to move to Long Bay for the fourteen week return to society as a good god damn citizen course that they requested I do.
I figured I was a shoe in for parole and would be around Woden within the fortnight.
Well the parole board through and put a spanner in the works, they gave me parole and along with that came a blanket ban from the A.C.T.
Noel Towell, long time crime reporter for the Canberra Times once told me that according to his sources it‟s been the only ban of its kind.
After the downward spiral in my luck over the last few years before I was sent away I guess I should have seen it coming. Ha ha.
Down but not beaten I played the game and moved in to a house in Wollongong as my parole address and got a house in Canberra on the sly that I used as a base there.
So I briefly returned to Berra for six months of partying until I walked in on a drug raid at a friend‟s house one morning and of course that let the cat of the bag with the AFP and the parole board as they both realised I had been back in town.
After a close call only some stellar work from demon Canberra solicitor Tim Sharman got me a last chance at freedom.
This time round it wouldn‟t include a house in the dirty south or a return to the days of moving skunk.
To keep myself financially secure after my eventual release from prison I had left a so called Mate in charge of my ganja enterprise while I was locked up and so when I returned home that kept me in the money for a bit but after being caught in the A.C.T
against the conditions of my parole the heat on the Canberra ban was turned up to the point that I was being heavily watched by the powers that be.
To add another nail in to the coffin my so called mate took full advantage of the ban situation going underground after stabbing me in the back and taking the business I built while I was stuck interstate.
Karma dealt with him in the long run but that‟s another story.
So I retreated to Wollongong with my beautiful little lady Stacey and started a family, built KP Records and generally switched up my focus, my attitude and my lifestyle.
I may have made the odd stealth visit home on special occasions but I pretty much copped the ban on the chin and stayed out of Berra until late 2007.
Id been hassling every one of my parole officers to let me hit my local area for a gig but none had been keen on the idea so far.
I was offered a support slot at the now defunct Venue in Erindale for a Triple J
sponsored show and the new parole officer I had just scored swung it so I could have a short pass on the ban to do my set.
It was a good first legal return home and probably the drunkest I‟ve been on stage.
I normally hold back from hitting the drink to hard until after my set but that time I let loose.
Fuelled by the drink I couldn‟t help myself and I took some shots at the AFP and the so called mate that dogged me.
The crowd enjoyed it and it was good to come home and get some shit off my chest.
Finally the Canberra ban expired after two and half years but by the time it finished up Stace and I had started a family.
One daughter before the ban ended and one shortly after.
We had a new family, KP Records was still in the building phase and I was now staying on the straight and narrow so cash was really tight.
I focused on my music, learnt as much as I could about the music industry and studied business and marketing.
So the ban was over and I was back in town every month or two to do shows, film the odd video and handle KP business.
I also signed two South Canberra MC‟s and ran a hip hop course for kids through a school that helps disadvantaged youth round Canberra.
Shit even though I was out of town I was still representing for Canberra.
A couple of years ago things started to pick up and KP really began to grow.
Stacey and I tried to move back home after I dropped my first commercial release and did my first national tour but Canberra is an expensive city to live in so we ended up renting a rural house about an hour or so out of Canberra.
Along with the peace and quite to focus on the label the money we saved made it a lot easier to push some funds in to the KP.
I spent two years in the country and with help from friends and affiliates I built KP in to what it is today and put it on the path it‟s headed in for tomorrow.
By 2011 everything began to fall in to place and just over a week ago the Family and I landed back in the dirty South.
I spent the first couple of days setting up the new office studio and that‟s coming up nicely so far.
Next move is the 2m x 2m vocal booth.
The third day after I got back was the day I signed a major distribution deal with Wideawake Death Row LLC.
I think signing that contract will turn out to be a major moment in history for KP
Records as we evolve and move in to the future so it was good to sign the deal on home soil.
I couldn‟t ask for a better welcome home present. Ha ha.
Aside from that Ive been catching up with the crew and working on some upcoming projects we have in store.
I also ran in to my old friends the AFP the other day Don‟t worry Im not getting up to no good. Ha Ha.
It wasn‟t anything like the epic meetings Im used to from days gone by.
We hit the clubs the other night for a mates birthday and while we were between clubs I had wandered outside with a beer in hand.
Two patrolling AFP officers asked me to bin the drink and as you do when your drunk I had to take that last sip before throwing it out.
Well a sip becomes a scull and the boys in blue got me with a fine.
As I said it wasn‟t like the meetings we used to have back in the day.
Instead it was actually a bit of a laugh because I haven‟t run in to the AFP for a long time, actually this is the first time Ive seen them since I became a law abiding citizen.
(Besides the fine ha ha).
After writing me a ticket the officers asked if I was the Dave Parsons that published information about the Federal Police online.
Half drunk and I couldn‟t help but have a laugh, “yep that‟s me mate, everything I publish is factual”. Ha ha.
I think they were just amused at the whole situation as I was because they were having a bit of a chuckle.
They asked if I would be publishing any information regarding the night‟s events and in particular details about my fine for drinking in a public place.
Of course I said I would have to write a little something about returning to Canberra after 8 years or so and I said I‟d include a mention of my re-acquaintance with the AFP.
Luckily while I was being fined one of the boys managed to snap a couple of pics to run with the blog.
Love ya work boys.
Actually since I know the AFP will be checking this post I might as well take the opportunity to tell you guys that you won‟t have anymore drama out of me.
Yeah sure we have a new jail but I‟m not keen to see the inside of it.
I‟d prefer a green room to a green shirt any day. Ha ha.
Yep I‟m a different man to the arrogant little bastard you put away.
If there is one thing I‟ve proven over the last five years it‟s that I represent for my home town and that‟s what I‟m here to do.
A lot of people leave Berra to look for music industry opportunities in the bigger cities but I‟ve gone the opposite way and decided to get the opportunities and bring them back here.
Im back in town to continue building KP Records, this time from a Canberra base like it should have been from day one.
Im here to share some of the knowledge and some of the opportunities I have and I‟m here to live my life and raise my family in the area I grew up in.
So yeah I‟m back around these days.
To my Friends, my family and the local KP heads.
To the haters that never wanted to see me back home and to the Canberra scene.
I‟ve got one thing to say to you all.
It feels good to be back in the muthaphunkin dirty south.
KPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!