Scaling Spirituality
Featured Talk
Scaling Spirituality: From Ego Systems To Ecosystems
Filmed November 22nd, 2020 at Glow Forth: Virtual Burning Man Party
A talk by Gary.
Gary Lachance
Spiritual Advisor · Filmmaker · Party Revolutionary · Open-Source Advocate
“Partying is forgetting who you are while remembering what you are.” — The Party Manifesto, Tom & Gary, 2010
About Gary Lachance
Hello. My name is Gary.
I’m a tireless advocate of Open-Source and Decentralization. I also enjoy Enriching The Unfathomable Reservoirs Of The Absurd.
Gary Lachance is the co-founder and Spiritual Advisor of Tom and Gary’s Decentralized Dance Party (DDP), the architect of Capital-P Party Philosophy, a filmmaker since age 15 and a tireless advocate of Open-Source and Decentralization. He is based in Vancouver, BC.
The Gary: The man on the mic
At the DDP, The Gary is the man on the microphone and master of ceremonies — keeping every boombox in range, the energy high, and the crowd together from start to finish.
“The man on the mic wields 99% of the power to control the crowd and MUST ALWAYS BE ALERT and able to communicate with the crowd at a moment's notice.” — The Official DDP Field Manual · Introduction
The Capital-P Party Philosophy
Partying by elevating consciousness, rather than destroying it. Liberating people from their inhibitions via the Party itself — not drugs or alcohol. Capital-P Partying is, in Gary’s framing, truly the opposite of violence: a uniquely powerful means of “Waging Peace.”
Openness
Open-Source everything: the tech, the playbook, the film. No gatekeepers, no copyright, no Central stage.
Inclusion
All ages, backgrounds and styles. Everyone within the Party becomes an essential and equal performer. The Most Inclusive Party Possible.
Decommodification
Free, public, people-powered. Gary has long eschewed corporate sponsorship in favor of crowdfunding and community.
“An Acceptance Movement, not a Resistance!” — Logline, A Battle Plan For World Peace
Bringing People Together and Setting Them Free.
That’s the unwavering mandate. Gary and the DDP have turned down partnerships with a long list of snack-food and soda giants rather than make the Party a promotional vehicle — crowdfunding instead.
$26,000 raised on Kickstarter, 533 backers, April 2013.
The Seven Commandments Of Successful Partying
- Clothing: “nothing is cool except having fun and feeling good and sharing that with others.”
- Props: “Anything you can hoist, bounce off, or roll on. And share them all night long.”
- Music: “Booty Bass, Eurodance, Party Metal, Jock Jams and Choice Hard Rock. The songs people know and love.”
- Dancing: “The one secret to dancing is just bend your knees, one leg at a time. Try it. Right now.”
- Behavior: “Overcoming this conditioning is a formidable challenge. Partying can get us there.”
- Location / Atmosphere: “Dark locations lower everyone’s inhibitions and are ideal, although sunglasses can be a viable alternative.”
- Alcohol: “…if the Party is really good, the atmosphere alone will inspire people to lose their inhibitions and freak out and drive the energy to ridiculous heights”
DDP FIELD MANUAL: A Battle Plan For World Peace
Forthcoming · Christmas 2026
Gary’s unreleased magnum opus. Equal parts Party manifesto, open-source history lesson and spiritual treatise, written in what he calls “spurts of inspiration and mania.” He considers its philosophy chapters the best writing he’s ever done.
- Chapter 1: Who Are Tom And Gary And What Is This Thing?
- Chapter 2: The Guiding Ethos: Decentralization
- Chapter 3: The Guiding Imperative: Inclusivity
- Chapter 4: Drugs And Alcohol And Love And Identity
Excerpts
Partying is: “forgetting who you are while remembering what you are”. It is the complete loss of the social conditioning that makes adult life monotonous and depressing and has the power to be a transformational spiritual experience. — Ch. 1 · Who Are Tom And Gary And What Is This Thing?
The “Decentralized” in “Decentralized Dance Party” denotes the obvious fact that the DDP has no Central audio source and no Central location. But “Decentralized” also references the less conspicuous fact that the DDP is as much about Decentralization as it is Partying. — Ch. 2 · The Guiding Ethos: Decentralization
Unlike “proprietary” (Closed-Source) Parties, everyone can view the source code (this Field Manual) and propose refinements and upgrades. — Ch. 2 · The Guiding Ethos: Decentralization
“In True Partying, All Become Equal” — Ch. 3 · The Guiding Imperative: Inclusivity
Our resolute assertion that “Music Is The Universal Human Language, Dancing Is The Universal Human Movement, And Partying Is The Universal Human Identity” remains resolutely asserted. — Ch. 3 · The Guiding Imperative: Inclusivity
Capital-P-Partying is a unique creative discipline in that it is immersive and immediate and requires zero formal training. The only prerequisite is that you simply let go and allow the music and atmosphere to strip away all fear-imposed Identity. — Ch. 4 · Drugs And Alcohol And Love And Identity
While Creators seek themselves, Consumers seek external guidance. — Ch. 4 · Drugs And Alcohol And Love And Identity
…the DDP has proven beyond a doubt that with the proper guiding principles and strategic coordination it’s now possible to deliver Identity and facilitate “the opposite of violence” on a massive scale. — Ch. 4 · Drugs And Alcohol And Love And Identity
Together, we will Crush the Despotic Party Paradigms Of Yore And launch a new era of Free And Democratic Open-Source Partying Partying that anyone can create, participate in or build upon Anytime, anywhere, everywhere! — Ch. 1 · Who Are Tom And Gary And What Is This Thing?
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How to Decentralize a Dance Party
One FM transmitter in a backpack. Hundreds of boomboxes carried by thousands of people. No Central audio source, no Central location. The idea came in 2006, when two iPods died and Tom and Gary tuned their boomboxes to the same station.
Try it yourself: tune the dial to the Party frequency.
Writing & Talks
Since 2011, Gary has argued that the Open-Source architecture and ethos underlying blockchain technology holds the key to peacefully rendering Centralized power structures obsolete. Some of his writing:
“Open-Source Everything makes truth, rather than violence, the currency of power.” — Robert David Steele
A Battle Plan For World Peace!
Medium · Dec 30, 2020
“Buying Dogecoin was the modern equivalent of buying War Bonds.” The plan: sell $1,000,000 of “Peace Bonds” to Wage Peace on a global scale.
Radical Decentralization: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Speech · Transcript (PDF)
A speech by Gary.
“For the purposes of today, we define decentralization as the decentralization of power.”
“The Doge teaches us that silliness is next to godliness, that the true frequency of the universe is humor and play, and that love can conquer all.”
Can Partying Bring World Peace?
Medium · Nov 5, 2020
The DDP’s 11-year evolution from a small Party on Vancouver’s Third Beach to a movement that aspires to unite all humanity. “This was not a joke.”
Million Doge Disco
2022
A Doge NFT gaming experiment: we gave away 1 Million Doge in an augmented-reality game. DogeDisco.com.
Book Gary: podcasts, keynotes and Party activations
Gary talks Capital-P Partying, Decentralization and Open-Source, and tells the story of the Decentralized Dance Party: 100 massive mobile Parties in 40+ cities, including an estimated 20,000 people at the 2010 Olympics DDP.
Get a taste with his Scaling Spirituality talk.
- Book Gary on your podcast
- Book Gary to speak at or activate your conference, festival or event
Use the booking buttons on this page to reveal Gary’s email.
By the Numbers
- 100 massive mobile Parties
- 40+ cities across the globe
- 3,000+ hours of footage
- ~20,000 people at the 2010 Olympics DDP (est.)
- 500+ boomboxes owned (as of 2011)
Selected Works & Glorious Absurdities
Tom and Gary’s Decentralized Dance Party
2009 → now
Co-founder and Spiritual Advisor. A roaming, Open-Source Party Movement on a mission to unite the world in celebration and win the Nobel Peace Prize for Partying. First Party: a Vancouver beach, August 2009. During the pandemic, reinvented as weekly “mixed-reality” Global Parties.
HORSE the band: Earth Tour
2008 / 2010
Filmed, edited and directed a 10.5-hour Rock Odyssey chronicling the band’s DIY 45-countries-in-90-days world tour. Released as a 7-DVD set, then given away free (with a 120-page photobook) in 2011.
Batmanning
Planking era · Fact
Gary invented Batmanning during the Planking craze: you hang upside down from your feet. “I also invented Batmanning.” — Gary, in his own words.
The Official DDP Field Manual
Forthcoming
A Battle Plan For World Peace, or A Comprehensive Treatise On Capital-P-Partying And Radical Decentralization. Gary’s unreleased magnum opus.
Million Doge Disco
2022
A Doge NFT gaming experiment: we gave away 1 Million Doge in an augmented-reality game. DogeDisco.com — such disco. Very peace.
Films
Since age 15
Documentarian, editor and director. Behind thousands of hours of footage of the DDP and HORSE the band. Co-director and co-producer of A Battle Plan For World Peace.
The Four Stages of Stage Four
- Deliver the DDP to every country on Earth — The Global Party Pandemic, AKA The Grand Unification Tour.
- Cap it off with The ’Stan Tour.
- Host a Simultaneous Global Dance Party, transmitted to everyone in the world at once.
- Be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for Partying. Twice in a row.
— The Official DDP Field Manual. This was not a joke.
A Battle Plan For World Peace
A rallying cry unlike any heard before. A strategy so revolutionary it just might work. The story of the DDP’s evolution from a small Canadian soirée to a global movement bent on uniting humanity — co-directed and co-produced by Gary.
- 3,000+: hours of footage gathered over 11+ years
- Copyright-free: 100% Open-Source — to be released copyright-free, broadcastable worldwide with zero restrictions
- ~120 min: projected runtime · HD documentary
Status: Editing. No release date yet — we’re evaluating production and financial partners.
Coming Soon: Gary Lachance
A series drawn from 3,000 hours of archived footage.
Coming 2027 to X, Instagram & YouTube
As Seen Through Boomboxes
“It’s impossible to have a bad time in a banana suit.” — Gary, to WIRED, Jan 2013 (WIRED)
“It’s the best part of a wedding reception transformed into an occupation movement that takes over an entire town.” — Prof. Michael MacDonald, U of Alberta, in Maclean’s, Feb 2012 (Maclean’s)
“It’s a totally organic, people-powered undertaking.” — Gary, to Maclean’s, Feb 2012 (Maclean’s)
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Gary Lachance?
Gary Lachance is the co-founder and Spiritual Advisor of Tom and Gary’s Decentralized Dance Party (DDP), the architect of Capital-P Party Philosophy, a filmmaker since age 15 and a tireless advocate of Open-Source and Decentralization. He is based in Vancouver, BC.
What is the Decentralized Dance Party?
Tom and Gary’s Decentralized Dance Party is a roaming, Open-Source Party Movement that began on a Vancouver beach in August 2009. One FM transmitter in a backpack broadcasts to hundreds of boomboxes carried by thousands of people: no Central audio source, no Central location.
What is Capital-P Partying?
Capital-P Partying is partying by elevating consciousness, rather than destroying it: liberating people from their inhibitions via the Party itself, not drugs or alcohol. As the Party Manifesto puts it, partying is “forgetting who you are while remembering what you are.”
What is the DDP Field Manual?
The Official DDP Field Manual (A Battle Plan For World Peace, or A Comprehensive Treatise On Capital-P-Partying And Radical Decentralization) is Gary’s forthcoming book, planned for Christmas 2026. Short verbatim excerpts are published on this site.
What is A Battle Plan For World Peace?
A Battle Plan For World Peace is the documentary about the DDP’s evolution from a small Canadian soirée to a global movement, co-directed and co-produced by Gary. It draws on 3,000+ hours of footage, will be released copyright-free, and is currently in editing.
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