i know this is going to sound crazy and im not trying to take any recognition. but i was the first person to ever talk to Travis Barker about Tech N9ne. it was at the K.O.D. Tour at the House of Blues in L.A. Im from santa cruz and the night before i was at the Santa Cruz show and drank way too much caribou lou before the show and couldn’t remember not one second from the show. so i woke up the next morning and was like fuck it, im driving to L.A all day to see the show later that night. Luckily, i have a bunch of friends down south, and i was able to organize a group of about 6 friends to go see the show with me. so we get to the show, and we are sitting at the second floor up top. up top was crazy, because at one point, Travis O Guin was up there along with Techs family, Kutt and a few other strange music crew. I think even Suge Knight was around somewhere. Well about 30 min in the show right after stevie stone, glasses came on and i was standing up top with my friends and i notice this guy with a tank top and tattoos up and down his side to his neck was standing next to me, like literally 2 feet next to me. i look at him once and look away, and think to my self, that guy kinda looked familiar, i look again and i am like, fuck, i think thats travis barker 2 feet away from me. i look to my friend, and his eyes are huge, and he’s looking at me like, dude, thats Travis Barker! so im just like fuck it, this might be my only chance to meet the guy. basically, i asked him if we was excited to see Tech perform and why he was there..he said that he had never really heard of Tech he told me. he was actually there to see glasses i think cause some friends told him about him. so i talked to him for about 35 min and basically gave him a complete run down about Tech N9ne’s life and career. He was shocked on how someone could be such a die hard fan and how a fan could be so confident about an artist and there talents. of course, about 10-15 min in, people start noticing that Travis Barker is right there, and people want pictures and Autographs and girls and everywhere at this point. it was crazy, cause he was only with one friend there, no entourage, nothing, just chillin tryin to be low key. so after like 35-40 min went by, some of glasses malones peeps came by and asked travis if he wanted to go back stage and meet the artists, and he said yes. before he left, i told him that when tech’s show starts, that he needs to watch it from a crowds point of view. he asked me if i should come back up to where i was at to watch it, i told him it doesn’t matter, but you just have too see tech perform from a crowd perspective, basically not backstage. i told him the only way to describe a tech show in my eyes was like a Hip Hop Rock N Roll Opera. its just that crazy. he said thank you so much for everything and said it was nice to meet you. what is your name? i said, my name is Tarek. he said, Tarek, im Travis, have a good night…..i know this is crazy, but its nice to see that Tech and Travis are working together, i kinda like to think that i may have a little part in this, but who am i kidding, im just a crazy fan that happened to be in the right place at the right time.