When Monte and I first started hanging out he was listening to Bon Jovi and Ratt, a true butt rocker from Graham, Washington. Then one day he asked a friend and me if he were to start listening to New Wave would he get more girls. He soon learned the words to "People are People" and before you could say the words Depeche Mode, Monte became a "waver." Sometimes shocking the other students at our suburban high school by crazy haircuts, androgynous clothes and occasional make up, Monte became engrossed in collecting records. Just for the mere fact that Monte and I had records we were offered a job djing at a club in Tacoma., "The Pacific Breeze." We played our record collections to a group of young kids who all seemed to be trying to find their identities. as we were, with our music and our lives.

Attending university Monte and I chose to dj in our dorm room rather than do homework. For over a year, "Values Come from Variety" was the name of Monte's early morning radio show on Western's K.U.G.S. In those two hours Monte loved to take the listener on an eclectic journey. Mont La Rock soon started deejaying at a brand new club called Speedy-O-Tubbs, which he quickly turned into Bellingham's hipest joint. Monte and his buddy Sean Mercer played acid house, hip hop, old school funk and anything to get the crowd moving. The two of them thrived on educating the crowd in new styles and genres.

Monte's taste in music soon evolved, being more mature and well-rounded. The same could be said about his personality and demeanor. Monte transformed into a cerebral thinker and held an amazing ability to find unique detail in anything ( a tree, a bird song, a frequency in a some ambient track).

His style of music soon became celestial and Monte loved to take people on a trip through spoken word samples and lush soundscapes. Colleen his girlfriend, who recently became his fiancée', was there by his side and encouraged Monte in his experimental djing. Through Colleen's artistic nature and great talent as a photographer Monte found endless motivation and each of them encouraged each other in their art.

His longest running night was at the old Weathered Wall space, an evening of poetry and experimental music, appropriately called, "The Ethereal Salon." There I remember many nights sitting with Colleen as Monte would mesmerize us and the rest of the people into a soothing drift. One woman once came up to Monte and said his music is exactly the kind of Music she would like to have sex to. Perhaps not the response Monte intended, but he was so jazzed when he moved his listeners, in one way or another. Soon Monte became more intrigued with making the dance floor move again and dove headfirst into world beat percussion and left field house music.

Pearl Jam toured once with a satellite radio station and Monte was invited down to San Francisco to play at their outdoor show. While Pearl Jam was on stage Monte spun records on the radio station playing ambiance, to anyone tuning in. Eddie Vedder who was ill at the time ended the show early and unannounced to Monte flipped the switch that turned the whole PA system into EEG's live radio show, broadcasting to 100,000 strong. Reading from his journal, Monte spouted his poetry talking of the earth, the sun, and the moon.

His last triumphant night, was at the Alibi room where he was resident for a lengthy stay. Here Monte was given the freedom to play whatever his heart's content. He could trip people out with his spacey jazz or get people's toes tapping with some bossa nova groove. You could always find Monte spinning with a pint near by and a smile to give. Talk to him about his records and he'd give you a list a mile long of all his favorites. Strike up a conversation with him and he could give some great insight into a movie he just watched or a book he had been reading.

Colleen who had done some previous traveling helped persuade Monte to go and experience life outside his comfort zone. This led him to experience one of the greatest times of his life, traveling to Indonesia. He brought back so many great photos, all that had a lengthy story like only Monte could tell. Finally, Colleen and Monte traveled to Mexico where they shared a fantastic trip of exotic beaches, great food and great people. Monte wrote some e-mails that made you almost feel like you were there with them. They were in paradise.

Monte and Colleen both seemed to share a sort of Zen philosophy of life. They truly aspired to be a positive force in their families and friends lives. They are now together forever and are experiencing infinite bliss. Monte is God's DJ now and Colleen is capturing snapshots of the serene beauty that they are now living in.

it was quiet for a long time.

then, as the years went on, things got a little louder.

it was not that long before one could no longer escape the noise.

this is the time that Goddess, all-knowing as She was, saw that it was time to create a DJ.

so She fished through her closet, and found an Old Soul in the toe of Her pumps.

"this will do just fine",

said She, and put it at the front of the Queue.

it jumped its way to the newest-born, a boy named Monte, and tucked itself in tight.

a baby becomes a child, and a child becomes a man.

and all the while Goddess kept her eye on the little DJ.

Monte would walk through the woods, and his eyes would never meet the path.

for She held his hand and whispered in his ear;

"look! look over there!

i made these all for you!

; but watch them now, because there will come a time when you can no longer see them."

sometimes the flowers would turn when Monte passed, because he was quite attractive (in flower terms).

and She knelt down and whispered in his ear;

"what colors! what a beautiful smell!

there are so many lovely things for you to find in this world.

but in the end, that which you can smell cannot go with you."

these, and all things, were a wonder to him.

but Monte was a DJ, and his calling was for the black and silver discs.

in their music, he saw the reflection of all things.

lost in sound, he could not hear Her, so She whispered to Herself;

"and these, these are your tools.

with them you will make for me the most wondrous of structures.

you will play to the dawn, and you will play to the dusk.

spin them often, and spin them now."

and spun them he did, for many years.

he was a DJ, and the people listened, and they talked, or they danced.

but mostly, they sat. and sometimes they stared.

the luckiest were the ones that learned.

the nights and days passed, and whenever She could, Goddess listened too.

as the sky faded to black, She sipped a Mint Julep and thought;

"it is so good to have a DJ

all that noise is such a total bitch sometimes.

damn.

it is sooooo good to have a DJ."

but there are days when the earth must shake.

and there are days when fire must spread across the land.

and there are days when metal must fall from the skies.

and all that Goddess can do is watch and hold back a river of tears.

for it is not Her place to stoke the fire, nor to sweep the floor.

it is simply Hers to love.

beyond a brilliant white gate, she left him a note under a dark brown stone.

Monte could not help but find it, and there was nothing he could do but laugh.

because he was an Old Soul, and he had listened.