For the first time blessing the stage, MC LIFE translated his powerful testimony of gangs and anger into some hard-hitting music that kicked off the night. Joined on stage by G-LOC, the two shared their stories of how Jesus changed their lives. From G-LOC’s “66 Reasons” to MC Life’s “I Promise You”, the 2 MC’s rocked THE PLATFORM for the first of many shows to come.

“When I Say Jesus You Say Light Life”! KING D started his performance with one of the many reasons why he is one of the local favorites. His crowd participation and catchy hooks brings back that classic Hip Hop feel good vibe. Performing his hits, King D had the entire place dancing…and bouncing when he dropped a remix of the old school jam “Bounce, Rock, Skate”. If you’re looking for that old school hip hop vibe make sure to catch the MC who reps that Kingdom Dynasty, King D.

I think every man, woman, and child was “popping their collar and leaning to the side” after this next performance. THE SAINT brought his west coast sound and hyped every body up out of their seats. Tha Saint put together a nice set that he called his past, present, and future, taking the crowd through hits from his past and up coming albums. He definitely ended his set with a bang, debuting his new single “The Holy Ghost Walk” which I promise you, we’ll be seeing a lot more of. Yeeeee!!!

WOW! That’s how I can start describing the last performance of the night. XMAN Minsitries (Krosswordz, PS2, Xclusive) SHUT IT DOWN! Over the past year Krosswordz has emerged as a PLATFORM favorite and his position has only made him allow Jesus to flow through him more and more. Not only has he stepped up as an artist but now he is joined with the equally hot MC’s PS2 & Xclusive. The three had the place jumping as soon as their beat hit, and if that wasn’t enough, they were joined on stage by CAUGHT UP’s Stephanie Lozano-Quintanar, who shined bright in their collaboration “Letters to God”. But what everyone was waiting for was that fog horn, hand clapping, whistling synth, smash hit “Turn It Up”. The crowd went crazy as soon as they announced this song and I promise you, we’ll be hearing this jam for a while. GET LIVE! –Esteban

Thank you to our 2013 Winter/Spring Platform Sponsors – Roll Over Beethoven’s, Patricia Scott for PartyLite, DB Music, LIVG Ministries, Grace Awakening Ministries, Kyndra Martinez for Ambiance Hair Studio, and Forbes Graphx.

Alex Sanchez – “Keep God the Center”
“Keyed In” by Kyle Foster

Alexander Sanchez, a soft-spoken eighteen year old boy with a surprisingly big voice and an even bigger heart, has recently been capturing the attention on the HD Platform stage and other venues across the High Desert. Sanchez has been active in leading worship and performing in multiple churches in the community including High Desert Church, The Branch Christian Church, Sunrise Church, First Assembly of God in Victorville, and more.

His musical journey began at the age of 3 years old. His first instrument was drums, taking after his father and his older brother. “It’s in my family, it’s always been there. It’s something that is a part of me.” Alex recalls music being a considerable part of his childhood and continually looking to his family and drawing inspiration to pursue music and worship.

Throughout his life music has remained his constant passion and true love. “It felt at home. It felt right.” From a child following the footsteps of musicians ahead of him, to an individual artists writing, producing, and marketing his own EP entitled “Alexander”, Sanchez has grown as both a musician and a minister for the kingdom. “[I want to] encourage the church to worship.”

“[I want] to spread the gospel and show the light of God.” The whole goal of the EP and of his music in general is to glorify God and encourage a broken community. Whether taking the stage on his own or accompanied by a band made up of his friends, it is made very clear just how committed Alex is to conveying the love of Jesus Christ.

Alex Sanchez is a great example of success through hard work, practice, and exemplifies what a Christian musician is like and the struggles they overcome. “You’re going to go through a lot of rough patches…and you’re going to want to quit…but you have got to remember this is really your goal…and this is for God. He performs both on his own or with a band all around the desert, hoping to spread a message of eternal love and salvation.

His goals are to continue to play around the desert and touch lives with his music. His sights are also set on hopefully releasing a full-length album in the near future. In regards to those following in his path and looking up to his success, he offers this encouragement; “There’s a lot to learn. You always keep learning and you always have room to grow. Always take advice from the wise and keep God the center.”

Alex Sanchez on Facebook

Since it was our first show of the season we wanted to start things off with something new. So after letting in the loooonnng line of people through the doors of the Life Center, jumping on the stage for the first time, THE ADVENTURE IN DECEMBER kicked off 2013 with a bang! Awesome music, well written lyrics, and a great sound are just some of the things that make up this new Indie/Rock band that you will definitely be hearing more from this year. From the sound check alone we were not only excited for the night’s performance but for future of this group.

From the first strum of the guitars we remembered why we love COLOSSAL PANIC, because THEY ROCK. Heavy guitars, an awesome violin, a little scream over the chorus, and we were all entertained by our long time friends. Colossal Panic can easily make the transition from rocking guitar leads to worship, with each song carrying their sound and style without missing a beat.

Days later and I still have the chorus to “Here I Am” stuck in my head! That’s just part of the reason why DAYSEYE are one of our favorites here at the Platform. Their catchy hooks and hard-hitting songs will keep you hooked from beginning to end, we can’t wait to see what’s next for this group.

I don’t believe that you can watch JAGG and not be entertained (and when the lead singer is jumping on your back during their set it’s hard not to be drawn to these rockers). Adding Garrett Botts (Chad & Garrett) on lead vocals gave this Rock n Roll band a little more umph to their already great performance. Right from the intro and floor guitar solo you were rocking along with these guys, keeping you’re your eye on lead guitarist Zach, as he shreds the guitar while rocking out on the stage like a true rock star.

YIELDED headlining the first show of 2013? We wouldn’t have it any other way. This band has such a heart to worship God that as soon as they hit the stage you can see them easily open up their hearts and let the sounds worship come out. When you watch Yielded you see a group of musicians who complete forget that there is a packed house of people listening to them and you see a worshipers who love to play for God. Yielded continues to lead every listener into worship and that’s why we love them.

So what do we think of our first show of the year? We think that it was a great example of what is ahead for the High Desert Christian Music Scene. -Esteban

The 2012 Feed the Bears tour has reached its close. After an exciting few months of taking over high desert stages and reaching out to the community, it’s time for the HD Platform and the artists to recharge and get ready to kick off the New Year with a bang. This tour has brought together both the artists and the community and the HD Platform looks forward to continuing to do so in January of 2013.

This tour united approximately 16 artists from all over the area, and even some outside of this desert. These talented musicians have all formed bonds of support for each other. The artists even get a chance to create friendships, partnerships, and learn from each other. The artists also get in touch with members of the community they never were able to reach before by playing on stages across the desert.

The artists are not the only ones benefiting from a tour like this. This tour has filled stages and venues in Hesperia, Apple Valley, Victorville, and Barstow. Each of these communities were able to witness the talent of the artists, but also get a peek into their worshipful hearts and lives. Each show on the tour contained a worship set and an encouraging word from Esteban Vargas, showcasing the love of Christ and our love for Him. Ultimately, the Feed The Bears tour did nothing but good things for the communities and for the artists. No other tour has brought worship, love, and positivity to the High Desert community like Feed the Bears tour has.

The final show was a compilation of amazing artists, mostly performing worship sets with amazing audience participation. With Chad and Garrett on the mic, Esteban in the front of the stage, and all of artists bunched together behind them, we all began to worship. As artists, as individuals, but more importantly, as a family of believers. United, we were a group of sons and daughters of the King, giving thanks to God for the amazing journey this tour has been.

The Feed the Bears has come to its conclusion, but the positive impact it has had on the community is the start of something beautiful. The HD Platform will be back in action in the New Year because like most good things, there are no endings, there are only new beginning.

November 17, 2012, the Feed The Bears crew took over the River of Life church in Hesperia for what turned out to be one of the greatest shows on this tour thus far. Despite last minute changes and scrambling to find out who would be on stage next, the artists all left their hearts on the stage… and I’m pretty sure Bboy Nesto left his on the floor during a break-dance interlude.

Krosswordz took the stage first performing two original hip hop tracks, followed by Tha Saint, gracing the Feed The Bears platform for the last time during the tour. ProzperaD and Imajj performed a “holy hip hop” twist on a mainstream song, drawing in an impressive amount of crowd participation.

In order to fill in some extra time, Floyd (from Holy Kiss) accompanied by Paul and Josh (from Yielded) performed two praise songs with a funky, blues twist. After two mind-blowing solos from Paul and soulful vocals from Floyd, it’s easy to say this performance was a showstopper and a face-melter all in one. Naturally, the only person who could follow such an amazing performance was Bboy Nesto. After three of his songs, he and a very talented audience member did a break dance interlude, proving the point that a show with such awesome variety could only be that of the Feed The Bears tour.

Next was Caught Up, bringing energy to the stage and to the crowd. With a total of five songs, including a whole new take on Revelation Song, they left the audience buzzing… not to mention leaving one of their songs stuck in my own head ever since. Headlining and closing the event was Yielded. And let me tell you, I could write about them all day. Paul, again, stole the show with his incredible guitar skills and genuine lyrics. After an audience demanded encore of two songs, Esteban closed the night with a heartfelt message of redemption from the past and hope for the future in Christ. The night ended on an emotional high as the entire audience engaged in a Spirit-filled time of worship. Seeing an entire crowd so genuine in their worship and their emotion is such a rare and beautiful thing. With lightened hearts and entertained ears, people are already looking forward to the next Feed The Bears show, excited for what they will hear and even more excited for how they will see God move.

The Feed The Bears tour, presented by The HD Platform, is in full swing. Different locations are being filled to the brim with eager audience members, excited by the amazing music and uplifting truth they receive from this tour. This tour has now filled the stages of The Life Center in Hesperia, One of Life’s Perks coffeehouse in Apple Valley, The Branch Christian Center in Hesperia, and is on to Forerunner Christian Fellowship in Barstow.

Saturday, October 20th, Feed The Bears took over One of Life’s Perks coffeehouse in Apple Valley. With the tables and chairs all full, the evening began with the infamous Chad & Garrett, with a worship set, moving onto Alex Sanchez, whose set contained his first live performance of an original song (and a killer drum trio for an instrumental). King D, followed by IGorilla, had the crowd excited and moving with upbeat hip hop. Following these acts were Dayseye, a Christian alternative rock band from Barstow, and another rock band (with the perfect rockstar hair) known as Jagg. Yielded closed the performance portion, followed by an encouraging message from Esteban Vargas and worship from Holy Kiss.

The following Saturday, November 3rd, the artists and a big group of their fans, set up shop in the Branch Christian Center in Hesperia. The beginning praise and worship set came from The Redeemed Collection. Following them was Jagg, with both an original and rockin’ cover. Then Tha Saint took over the stage and right after him came Krosswordz, both two original Christian hip hop artists. Holy Kiss performed next with clever harmonies and a surprising and exciting guitar solo in their set. Bboy Nesto gave another infectious performance after hearing from Holy Kiss. The ever-so-lovable Chad & Garrett, accompanied by Kevin Lindsey, came next and charmed the audience with their personalities and their raw vocals. Caught Up ended the performance portion and another great word from Esteban closed out the night.

Each show has contained an opening set of praise and worship, multiple bands filling up the performance portion, and then closed with a message and another set of praise and worship. The tour is designed to not only bring artists together on stage, but to bring people, despite their personal circumstances, together in life. These shows, and the tour overall, are special events that really showcase the power of music and the power of the Lord, and what more could one ask for in their community?

The Feed The Bears tour will be taking over Forerunner Christian Fellowship in Barstow this upcoming Saturday, November 10, 2012.

The “Feed The Bears” tour is in full swing and off to an amazing start. Kicking off this incredible event, bodies filled the Life Center on Saturday, October 20th, to experience beautiful worship and amazing music. The building was full to the max with artists and attendees representing all different genres, churches, communities, and walks of life, gathered in one building sharing a passion for music and for the love of Jesus Christ.

The Redeemed Collection, representing three different churches, started the night with a time of praise and worship. Following them was the hip hop stylings of Imajj and ProzperaD, getting bodies in motion with encouraging lyrics and infectious beats. Next was the raw talent and emotional vulnerability of an original song from Alex Sanchez accompanied by Ryan Hawkinson and Christian Gilbert.

The musical diversity continued with hip hop from iGorilla and some R&B by The Saint, all declaring the glory of God in many different ways. The next band to perform was Jagg, a modern rock trio whose set was full of great solos, driving bass lines, and an amazing drummer who probably almost broke the drum set… and not to mention, the perfect head-banging hair. Next was the infamous Chad & Garrett who charmed the audience with friendly personalities and incredible harmonies.

A collab track from Richard Becerra and Daniel York (The Redeemed Collection), Paul Martinez (Yielded), King D, and Bboy Nesto closed the performance portion of the event on a high note. With amazing lyrics from King D and Bboy Nesto, a driving rhythm, and overall musical excellence, the crowd was energized, excited, and above all else, encouraged.

Esteban Vargas, the mastermind of the tour and The HD Platform, then proceeded to speak to the audience. Sharing an amazing message of rebellion to redemption, many hearts were softened and ultimately given to the Lord that night. With another amazing time of worship by Holy Kiss, hands were raised, hearts were turned, and ultimately the spirit of Lord was undeniable.

As mentioned, these unbelievable events, as much fun and as entertaining as they are, are not about the show, the artists, or even the Platform itself. The sole purpose of these events is to reach the community and change our world for Jesus Christ. These events are about letting everyone know what God means to each of us. These events are designed to tear down the walls of this desert and usher as many people into the kingdom as possible…and listening to amazing music in the meantime sure doesn’t hurt.

Kylie Foster

“Loving God, Loving Others, and Loving Music” by Kylie Foster

The biggest struggle for young musicians is finding an audience. Using your music to profess an unpopular faith makes that even more difficult. Young, Christian artists could potentially change the face of music in years to come, but first they need a place to share their faith, their passion, and their music. It is beneficial to the artists, the church community, and even the local community to create a platform where music and faith go hand in hand.

Esteban Vargas, the founder and mastermind of The HD Platform, once struggled with finding open doors in his own experiences with music and wanted to provide these musicians with the doors and opportunities that he struggled to find himself. “We want to give Christian artists and bands an opportunity to share their music, share their talents, share their gifts and just put them on a place where they can be seen and heard.” (Vargas, Esteban. Interview on 9/17/2012)

“I experienced the struggles of an up and coming indie (independent) artist. I experienced everything an indie artist goes through to get their music out there so I knew what it was like to have that struggle, to have a dream and a goal, and not having any opportunity to meet those dreams and goals…So I felt the same for the Christian artists.”

After setting up fund raising concerts in his church, Vargas was driven by rekindled passion for music and struggling artists. He began contacting local bands and artists and inviting them to play at the church. Later, he began setting up shows with the same few artists at coffee shops, churches, and the Victorville Event Center. After much success, The HD Platform got into its own building (The Life Center). In this building, now functioning as a church, they started doing local showcases once a month to expose local artists to the church community and local community.

Beginning with approximately 4 or 5 artists on call to do shows in various locations, The HD Platform now, less than a year later, has over 20 bands and artists from the high desert that are being showcased to the community. Vargas even receives a continuous stream of e-mails and messages from artists that want to be a part of The HD Platform.

The HD Platform has plans to continue to fill up venues with positive music and people to enjoy it. They continue to keep up a website and a blog. (thehdplatform.com) The current project of the Platform is their “Feed The Bears” tour. This tour travels around the desert for 7 weeks, showcasing about 15 local artists, beginning Saturday, October 20, at the Life Center. Vargas will be continuing local shows with artists from the community in the next year and plans to kick off another successful year for the Platform in January.

“A lot of times we get stuck only playing in our churches because those are the only opportunities we have, so I want to create events so they (artists) have more opportunities than just in front of their church so they can minister to other people as well too.” Vargas encourages musicians to branch out of their churches and pursue an audience through The HD Platform as well as all around their community. Despite the struggles, he encourages the current artists as well as the up-and-coming artists to continue to chase after their passion as well as their faith and be willing and ready to share it with whoever will listen. “If you have a desire, if you have goal, go after it, no matter how big it is and no matter what people say…go after it with everything you have.” Vargas encourages artists to continually pursue their dreams because success and learning is found in just that, in the pursuit.

The HD Platform is a success in many different ways. Artists all around the desert are being inspired and showcased. The church communities are coming together to support young Christians. The local community is being influenced in a positive way. Ultimately, organizations like The HD Platform, through their drive and compassion, are creating servants of the kingdom that are driven to love God, love others, and to love music.

Up next, one of our favorites, AUDREY TEAL. As we have always said, Audrey Teal is an awesome worship leader who easily leads everyone into songs of praise with her guitar, kick drum, and great vocals. Wether she is singing familiar worship songs or her very own originals Audrey’s sound encourages everyone to join in as she sings songs to our Savior. Ending her set with “Mighty to Save” showed us why we can’t wait to see her again.

So how do you close out a year of shows and concerts…with CHAD & GARRETT. These two never let us down. Their set is filled with everything from jokes, awesome covers, great harmonies, and awesome worship. Starting their set with Steve Miller’s “Fly Like An Eagle” (and NO, that’s not a Seal original) was an indication that they were about to give us a memorable performance. Even after an entire year of hearing Foster the People “Pumped up Kicks” blast through every radio station in the country Chad & Garrett gave it new life by mixing it in with Tears for Fears “Mad World” and then closing the night (and year) with “How Great Thou Art”. This classic hymn was a perfect choice to end the 2012 Platform shows. As Chad & Garrett worshiped to this church favorite I looked over the crowd and realized how much these lyrics explain our heart towards our God. With lifted hands the entire place expressed our love towards our Heavenly Father bringing some people to tears. Over this past year we have had a couple of performances that completely pulled us away from a “performance” and have taken us deep into worship, this was one of those moments. There is no better way to close out the year but by singing to our God, thanking Him for blessing us with amazing bands and artist. We have had an amazing time putting together these shows and we look forward to doing again in 2013. Thank you everyone for all of your support.-Esteban

NEXT ON THE STAGE! KING D! For us classic hip hop heads KING D stays true to boom bap beats fresh out the crates, catchy hooks, and crowd participating chants that had everyone hoping he had a couple more tracks left in his set. Joined on the stage by SKYWALKER1nine the two MC’s went back and forth on “Talk to the Sky” taking us back to the good ol days of Hip Hop duos rocking the stage. KING D is definitely an artist the entire HIGH DESERT needs to be on the look out for, showing us all why we are Kings and Priest.

From the very beginning of the show it was obvious that BARSTOW CA was in the building! And it all had to do with the next two performers. First up out of Barstow was THA SAINT. Tha Saint brought us some west coast rap that would rattle your trunk while bumping “Born and Bred a Sinner“. Tha Saint’s word play, fast delivery, and catchy choruses made it easy to rock your head back and forth to this TATE PUBLISHING recording artist. With songs that shared his life changing experiences with God, The Saint shows why he has gone from “The Darkness to Light“.

Second out of BARSTOW CA is IGORILLA! IGorilla wasted no time taking the audience into the presence of God by starting things off with worship. From his beats to his delivery IGorilla takes you back to his Texas roots with a catchy southern sound that had the whole crowd bouncin. This Pastor out of Barstow used the stage like a pulpit and delivered a message through his music that shook the whole building. Encouraging everyone to pick up their cross, by the end of his set we were all singing “Heavy Heavy“.

Closing out the show (and a great way to end the evening), the husband and wife duo, PROZPERAD & IMAJJ! There was no hesitating when it came to gathering the crowd to join them up front as Imajj started things off right with her hit “Rock Star“. And if that wasn’t enough to get you going they had the entire place jumping up and down, pumping their fist, shouting during their performance of “I Want You“. These two artist have no problem sharing the stage and going back to back with the their tracks keeping us all up beat with a mix of rap, pop, and r&b. Closing things out was the N.O. born and raised ProzperaD who rattled the doors off the hinges with tracks like “Jesus” but delivered a strong story line in his song “Come to Church“. Even though we didn’t have every element of Hip Hop present this show would of made any shell toe addidas wearing, boombox carrying, bboy ship hop fan proud.  -Esteban

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