Spring 2016 - Vortex Music Magazine

VORTEX
AESOP ROCK
THANKS
SMALL MILLION
AMINÉ
ARLO INDIGO
ANDREW ENDRES COLLECTIVE
TYUS
MUSIC MAGAZINE
5 AR TI S T S T O WATCH page 8 I N S I DE P OR TL A N D ’ S D IY A L L- AGE S SC E N E page 22 R ISIN G R E CO R D L A BE L S page 14
FR E E! | I S S U E 9 | VRTX M AG .COM
A CHRONICLE OF PORTLAND’S MUSICAL VORTEX
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Vortex Music Magazine > I S S U E 9
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SOUNDCHECK
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Inside
THIS ISSUE
2016
SUMMER
10
16
10
14
12
8
new in #pdxmusic
the portland underground
five artists to watch
an introduction
13
BY ollie collins
10
10
summer playlist
label roundup
portland’s best new music
record labels to watch
show picks
summer concerts
portraits of portland music
thanks: conquering
mountains
musician’s guide
12
14
BY RYAN J. PRADO & CHRIS YOuNG
record labels 101
16
BY chris young
BY chris young
portraits of portland music
13
aesop rock: a bazooka
tooth lives in the rose city
18
BY sam gehrke
On the cover:
Get Married live
at The Leak—read
the story of Trevor
Will’s shot on page 6.
REJECTING: “NO MINORS ALLOWED”
22
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WHILE 21-AND-OVER EVENTS DOMINATE THE PORTLAND MUSIC LANDSCAPE, AN ACTIVE GROUP
OF UNDERAGERS ARE MAKING THEIR OWN UNDERGROUND, ALL-AGES SCENE HAPPEN.
BY CAMERON CROWELL
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FROM THE EDITOR
VORTEX
M U S I C
M A G A Z I N E
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Chris Young
GET MARRIED AT THE LEAK: PHOTO BY TREVOR WILL
RISING FROM THE UNDERGROUND
On any given night of the week, there’s something bubbling beneath the surface of Portland. Sometimes it’s simply a purr or maybe a murmur behind studio doors, but oftentimes it’s an all-out sonic
bombast—maybe even an all-ages assault of lo-fi, poppy, punky, youthful energy, sweat and vigor.
Sunday, July 10 was exactly this sort of night. Portland acts Naked Hour and Radler shared a
SW Portland basement with touring Californians Mom Jeans, Jr. Adelberg and Get Married to the
elation of those in attendance—yet precariously, this concert barely even came to fruition.
Teenage booker Delaney Motter had originally planned the gig for NoPo community space
Anarres Infoshop but plans there fell through. It was then “moved to a house space, and was
moved again day of when the first house space decided to back out,” Motter tells. “We scrambled all day on July 10, and I was fortunate that my
friends at The Leak were willing to host it there last minute.”
Such is the sometimes unstable nature of underground events. And
organizers of all-ages music in nontraditional spaces often struggle with
inconsistent access to the resources they need to throw shows—read
Rejecting: “No Minors Allowed” on page 22.
Yet this dedicated scramble to make things work, even at the last minute, exemplifies the driven resilience of this underground community. It
would’ve been so easy to call the show off, but Motter felt a duty to make
it happen. It’s her “way of contributing to the community that I feel so
connected to,” she explains. And for the touring acts that might’ve been without a place to perform
that night, “I just want to do anything I can to help and be a part of their experience in Portland!”
Amidst the changes our city is currently undergoing, we see that Portland’s culture is still resilient. And this issue of Vortex highlights the makers (read Artists to Watch on page 8) and enablers
(read Record Labels to Watch on page 14) of an underground that’s rising. We also call on you to
be part of The Portland Underground (page 13).
Thanks to Motter’s hustle, photographer Trevor Will’s keen eye, and the liveliness of Get Married as well as everyone rocking out at The Leak, we have a document of July 10, 2016 on the
cover of this magazine—a moment of friends and fun, resilience and collaboration. It’s the spirit
of Portland alive and well.
“The show was successful due to a community of people who really care about all-ages music,”
Motter recognizes, “and because I’m fortunate to have people who support what I do and are
willing to help me!”
Greater Portland could take a few notes from the underground.
there’s
something
bubbling
beneath the
surface of
portland
PUBLISHER
David Mosher
ART DIRECTOR
Eric Skelton
WEBMASTER
Arthur Parker
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Katey Trnka
CONTRIBUTORS
WRITERS
Ollie Collins
Cameron Crowell
Sam Gehrke
Ryan J. Prado
Mac Smiff
Jeni Wren Stottrup
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Autumn Andel
Tojo Andrianarivo
Sam Gehrke
Trevor Will
digital contributors
John Alcala, Drew Bandy,
Jennifer Boren, Miss Ellanea, Paul Garcia,
Alyssa Herrman, Andrea Janda,
Roddy Jasa, Kelly Jones, Sydnie Kobza,
Dawn Marks, Anna McClain,
Sarah Midkiff, Luke Neill, Henry Novak,
Beth Olson, Anthony Pidgeon, Ryan Rose,
Veronica Rose, Jeff Ryan, Jordan Sleeth,
Blake Sourisseau, Brendan Swogger,
Joshua Williams IV
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Vortex Music Magazine is
published quarterly by
Vortex Music Magazine, LLC
1111 SE Grand Ave. #122
Portland, OR 97214
All rights reserved.
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Chris Young, Editor-In-Chief
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ARTISTS TO WATCH
there was a time when portland was best known for the twang of its folk rock. times change and, sonically, the city has diversified. synth pop,
hip-hop and psych rock are all staples of today’s scene while modern takes on jazz and r&b are surfacing. fresh on the scene, we
believe these five rising artists are some of pdx’s hottest. hear for yourself at vrtxmag.com/pdxmusic
SMALL MILLION
GENRE
SYNTH POP
FOR FANS OF
aminé
ESSENTIAL TRACK
“BELMONT, 1923”
SYLVAN ESSO, PHANTOGRAM, PURITY RING
“Sometimes it feels like we’re scoring a film,” describes
singer-songwriter Malachi Graham, one half of the moody synth
pop duo Small Million. “To write words to match that intensity,
I almost have to close my eyes and picture the imaginary movie.”
She’s speaking of the cinematic soundscapes her partner
and producer Ryan Linder labors over, layering guitars and
synths for endless hours as he inspires and crafts deep and
emotional songs. Sonically, Linder analogizes that Small Million is: “If Anthony Gonzalez from M83 fell asleep at the wheel
while listening to Sylvan Esso.” And while their music is ripe
with modern electronic and pop references, Graham, as vocalist and lyricist, still retains shades of her Americana- and
country-tinged upbringing.
An early mix of the group’s first track, “Six Feet,” appeared on the 2014 PDX Pop Now! comp, and it was this
audible moment “where it felt like our collaboration was
starting to click,” Linder explains. The finalization of “Six
Feet” also represented “the embodiment of the kind of music we want to make together,” Graham says. “This cluster of
songs [on the debut five-track EP, Before the Fall, released
in June] came from that discovery.” Drawn to powerful female vocalists and songwriters, Graham wails over Linder’s
electronic pulses as myriad harmonies swirl on the EP—the
juxtaposition is beautifully cohesive, nostalgia-soaked and
demurely danceable. // CHRIS YOUNG
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GENRE
HIP-HOP
FOR FANS OF
ESSENTIAL TRACK
ANDREW ENDRES COLLECTIVE
ARLO INDIGO
“CAROLINE”
GOLDLINK, ANDRÉ 3000, ANDERSON .PAAK
Listening to Aminé’s bright, eclectic take on hip-hop is the
musical equivalent of gobbling a whole pack of Skittles at once.
Over genre-defying tapestries of colorful synths and skittering
percussion, the Portland rapper’s malleable flow has a habit of
stretching to cartoony dimensions as he weaves tales of relationships and youthful adventure. Upbeat and bouncy, it’s the
kind of hip-hop meant to be enjoyed on a warm summer day
with a drink in your hand.
With open-minded enthusiasm, Aminé comes across as the
kid in preschool who happily mixed every color together and
finger-painted a giant smiley face on the wall—no sound or
cadence is off limits. Working with a collection of notable producers including Canadian star Kaytranada, his 2015 mixtape,
Calling Brio, turned heads with a globe-hopping style that borrowed from his parents’ Ethiopian roots and a collection of tribal
influences—making for a rare hip-hop forray into world music.
2016’s follow-up, an infectious single called “Caroline,”
built on that momentum. Co-produced by Pasqué and Aminé,
the song became an internet darling on the strength of its
playful flair, earning blog approval and crucial placements on
several popular Spotify-curated playlists. Within a month of
its release, the accompanying video has accumulated over a
million views—drawing plenty of new eyes to Portland’s bubbling hip-hop scene and giving Aminé the sudden distinction
as one of its brightest new stars. // ERIC SKELTON
GENRE
PSYCH POP
FOR FANS OF
ESSENTIAL TRACK
“YOUR WORLD”
TAME IMPALA, UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA
A laid-back urgency lays beneath the surface of Arlo Indigo’s
latest three-track EP Dreamboat. With psych undertones, it
finds a groove in feel-good, summer-ready pop, painting a
picture of breakups and listless moments of early love in its
lyrics, all set to infectious, danceable beats. “It’s your world
and I’m just livin’ in it, don’t waste your time with me,” he declares on the EP’s second cut.
First emerging as the solo project of former Noble Firs
vocalist, Jeremiah Brunnhoelzl’s initial salvo as Arlo Indigo
came in the form of his standout 2015 bedroom pop and electronic album Trends. After its release, Brunnhoelzl shifted
gears, building out a band, collaborating with producer Brock
Grenfell (of Gold Casio and Adventure Galley), and copiously
writing, amassing a catalogue of more than 30 songs. “I just
started trying to trust people again,” Brunnhoelzl explains.
“With these three songs, it was like writing with the band, still
having the skeletons, but writing with the band.”
With Dreamboat just released in June, Arlo Indigo are
already back to work on a new album. Moving forward,
Brunnhoelzl (vox, guitar, keys), alongside Carl LaRue (drums,
synths), Ramón Bieri (bass) and Aaron Stern (organ), is building on the wins of the last year, ready to get on the road and
keep recording. // JENI WREN STOTTRUP
TYUS
GENRE
R&B
FOR FANS OF
ESSENTIAL TRACK
“INSECURITIES”
BRYSON TILLER, PARTYNEXTDOOR
GENRE
JAZZ
FOR FANS OF
ESSENTIAL TRACK
“CONSCIOUSNESS”
KNEEBODY, CHRISTIAN SCOTT, BRIAN BLADE
Steeped as it is in the ethereal dark matter of spacey new wave
jazz, the compositions that comprise Andrew Endres Collective’s
debut LP Desolation hit on weighty tones. The Collective has
steadily gained notoriety and fanfare for a seemingly intuitive
disposition for relaxed tonal interplay, exchanging the raucous
solo-setup blueprint for a unified front that lends equal balance to the band’s piano-baritone/alto sax-bass-drums-guitar
sonic assault.
Consisting of band leader Andrew Endres on guitar, Dave
Valdez on alto sax, Stephanie Cooke (also of The von Trapps)
on piano, Lindsey Quint on baritone sax, Sam Hallam on bass
and James Ford on drums, the band challenges the soundscape
of modern jazz with understated elegance coming from every
instrument. On songs like the titanic “Consciousness,” a staccato piano run is gradually given legs by descending chord
progressions, eventually yielding to Endres’ inventive modal
runs, sweeping subdued fretwork over a pocket-ready rhythm.
When Endres concludes his brief spotlight, Cooke tickles the
keys in a swirling diaspora of notes that dizzy your mind but do
not deter from the original thrust of the melody. By the time a
bookend drum solo is offered by the agile Ford, the tune is already an indication of the powerful bridge the Collective builds
between the old and new worlds of jazz. // RYAN J. PRADO
They say the road to hip-hop stardom
doesn’t come through Portland, but
20-year-old singer, producer and
songwriter TYuS has found a path
less taken. “Being from Portland, a
place with a very small music scene,
made it difficult,” explains the burgeoning star. “But I keep everything
to the music and I’ve been working
since I was 13.”
Two years ago, local rap standout
Cassow was buzzing and his single
“MAjik” possessed a glassy, wailing
beat produced by an 18-year-old
TYuS. The duo went on to create a
slew of songs, but it wasn’t until they
dropped the “Bad Gyal” remix in January 2015 that I heard TYuS’ voice
and started to see him as a solo artist.
Silky, smooth and vulnerable,
TYuS fits perfectly within the contemporary scheme of hip-hop and
R&B. Though quickly compared to
Bryson Tiller, Tory Lanez and PartyNextDoor, TYuS stands out with
a unique vocal pitch, surprising
range, a certain steadiness to his
soulful voice, and dark production.
Over the last year, his music has
commanded millions of plays on
SoundCloud, and on June 1, Warner Bros. Records signed TYuS to
a deal. “The talent and long hours
of perfecting sounds was always
there,” Cassow says. “The world just
needed to catch on.” // MAC SMIFF
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PORTLAND’S BEST
NEW MUSIC
for your summer playlist!
summer is in full swing and that means backyard barbecues, campouts, road trips, or just a good reason to open the windows and crank up the volume.
let the world know you’re listening to the hottest pdx-produced cuts this season—from ages and ages to y la bamba—at vrtxmag.com/summer
OPEN AIR SACRED ART & MUSIC FESTIVAL
ages and ages
“they want more”
blossom
“black magic woman”
minden
“real sugar”
donte thomas
“oceans”
naked hour
“always on the weekend”
shy girls
“i am only a man”
the last artful, dodgr
“squadron”
glenn waco ft. neka
“assata”
blind pilot
“umpqua rushing”
fox and bones
“gravity”
fruition
“labor of love”
coco columbia
“weight on limb”
y la bamba
“ostrich”
esmé patterson
“wantin’ ain’t gettin’”
genre key
ROCK
POP ROCK
R&B
FOLKSY
BLUEGRASSY
martell webster
“irony of it all”
red fang
“flies”
gaytheist
“on my knees”
mic capes ft. vinnie dewayne
“jumper cables”
quiet life
“lost in the light”
PORTLAND summer SHOW PICKS
EYRST One-Year Celebration at The Evergreen
korgy & bass
“carlos”
HIP-HOP
METAL
Visit our curated concert calendar to find daily
Show Picks by Vortex staff at vrtxmag.com/calendar
Loch Lomond & Small Million at Mississippi Studios
Friday, September 9
Rip City’s best NBA rapper, Martell Webster,
will celebrate an EP release and his label’s first
birthday (see page 15 for more on EYRST) with
his stellar hip-hop crew. Don’t miss performances from Blossom, Calvin Valentine, ePP, Maze
Koroma, The Last Artful, Dodgr and more.
There are strings, chimes and bells on Loch Lomond’s
fifth studio record, but band leader Ritchie Young’s
also gone electric—adding synthy sounds, sampled
electronics and drum machines. LL’s Pens From Spain
is out Sept. 2 so it’ll be time to party with the band
and Small Million (read more on page 8).
Ural Thomas & the Pain at Holocene
August 26 to 28 (with Gaytheist, Mo Troper, Rabbits)
Thursday, September 29 (with Lola Buzzkill and DJ Bobby D)
It’s DIY or die when the third annual anti-fest returns to five underground clubs offering heavier
sounds from almost 40 bands at 11 shows while
making an effort to serve all ages with shows that
are free or cost just $5.
Portland’s pillar of soul ain’t goin’ nowhere.
Verging on some 70 years of singing, get funky
with the legendary R&B frontman and his band
as they play a smaller room for a change alongside the sexy psych and soul of Lola Buzzkill.
Ages and Ages at Mississippi Studios
Rising Appalachia • Trevor Hall
Mike Love • Liz Vice • SaraTone
Beautiful Chorus • Freedom
Everyone Orchestra
JAZZ
Friday, August 12
Festicide III at various venues
Fatoumata Diawara • King Sunny Ade
DakhaBrakha • Raghu Dixit
Youssoupha Sidibe • Fanna Fi Allah
Bana Kuma Orchestra ft Chris Berry
Bolo Trio • Spirit Musique
Tipper • Ott & The All Seeing I
Nicola Cruz • CloZee • Dirtwire • JPOD
AtYya • Living Light • DJ Dragonfly
ALIA & Feminine Medicine • Michael Manahan
Subaqueous ft Silk Drop • HÄANA
Bhagavan Das • The Hanumen
Jaya Lakshmi & Ananda • Shantala
Gaura Vani & Visvambhar: Juggernauts
Blind Pilot at Crystal Ballroom
Saturday, September 3
Thursday, October 20
Thick with multi-part harmonies, AAA are back with
their third effort, Something To Ruin (out Aug. 19),
and the five-piece will celebrate pop perfection at
two hometown record release shows—an early allager (with Chris Pureka) and a late 21-plus affair.
Although some of the band have traded in PDX for
coastal living, we’ll still claim this as a homecoming
and record release show for And Then Like Lions
(due out Aug. 12), which is the six-piece’s third
delicately crafted album of lush indie folk.
FRIDAY 12th - MONDAY 15th
AUGUST, 2016
Tidewater, OR • Tickets & Info:
www.belovedfestival.com
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MUSICIAN’S GUIDE
the line and make a commitment to an artist,
it shows others “that there’s a belief behind a
record, that’s it’s going to do well,” Meola explains. “And that helps get other people motivated,” which can lead to press, album sales,
tours and more exposure in general.
3. Labels Manage
Expectations
Artists often assume that “they’re going to
get signed to a record label and all of a sudden they’re going to start selling thousands
of records,” explains John Shepski of 5-yearold Portland imprint Fluff & Gravy Records.
Everything is not going to change all of a sudden—in fact, it takes time (up to six months)
to release a record right. Access to resources
and newfound credibility can open doors,
but just remember that the label is not “some
sort of door that if they can open it and pass
through then they’re done working,” Sabin explains. “No, it’s the beginning of working.”
RECORD LABELS 101
what do record labels even do ? why would i need one ?
Here’s how it works: Record labels find you.
You don’t find them.
If you’re at a point in your musical career where you’re treating your artistry like a
business and you need professional help and
financial investment to grow that business,
then you may need a record label. “We’re the
risk-takers of the music industry,” explains
Portia Sabin, president of Kill Rock Stars, a label with a 25-year legacy of releasing legendary Northwest records from the likes of Elliott
Smith, Gossip and Sleater-Kinney.
WHAT’S A RECORD LABEL?
A record label is someone who has more experience than you—your label has a vision
for your future path as an artist and a plan for
how to get you there using its expertise in the
business side of the music industry. “You want
to achieve X? Let’s talk about how we do that,’”
Sabin says. “We have that plan. We have some
years under our belt of actually releasing records and we know how to do it. Record labels
can offer bands that knowledge.”
Labels not only understand how to properly release albums but also how to write bios,
book tours, get press or radio airplay, build
social media followings, plan photo and video
shoots—or they have the connections to make
these things happen. “Sure, you don’t need a
record label,” Sabin says. “But you need somebody to do all these things.”
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BY CHRIS YOUNG
1. LABELS PROVIDE
RESOURCES
If you’re an artist, you should be focusing on
your craft. That is where your time is best
spent—not shipping records or garnering
publicity.
“Labels try to take things off the artists’
plate so they can focus on the music because,
ultimately, that’s what they’re best at,” explains Aaron Meola, the new head at Tender
Loving Empire, a Portland retail boutique
and label approaching a decade in action. “If
they’re in the studio writing music and on
tour, that’s how they’re going to be the most
successful. Us being able to help out with all
of the little things and connect the dots is a
big part of our role.”
Labels have a business structure intended
to grow artists—from distribution to booking
agents to art and legal departments to marketing, social media and press teams. Labels work
behind the scenes to enable artists to do their
thing. And most importantly: “We’re a bank
in a lot of ways,” Meola says. “Artists come to
us for a loan.”
2. Labels Lend Credibility
and Make Connections
“We’re a gatekeeper of sorts,” says Good Cheer
Records’ Blake Hickman, “but once you get
through the gate, there’s like 20 other gates.”
Established labels have reputations and clout
in the industry. When they put their neck on
4. Labels Handle
Day-to-Day Business
More exposure means more interviews, tour
opps, and pressure to create new music and
videos. Once you’re in the public eye, more
will be demanded of you. But a label can deal
with the myriad monotonous tasks—like setting up radio appearances, confirming bookings, updating websites, fulfilling mail orders. “If you don’t have someone at home in
the office answering the phone while you’re
on tour, then that piece just isn’t going to get
done and the world doesn’t wait,” Sabin says.
“Opportunities come and go so quickly. You
gotta be there.”
Everything a record label does is intended
to grow your band and make you money. “At
the end of the day, this is really a business,”
Sabin sums up. Record labels aim to keep you
busy doing your art while they handle the
business minutiae.
WHEN ARE YOU READY FOR A LABEL?
When it looks like “you’re going to do this by
yourself,” Sabin says. If you are already driving yourself forward—playing shows, people
are talking about you, you’re creating new
fans—then “you’re going find that people [like
labels, managers and booking agents] want to
get on board,” she says. Once you’re at this
point, a label might approach you—likely not
the other way around.
Want to learn more about local labels, what
they do and how they do it? Kill Rock Stars,
Tender Loving Empire, Good Cheer Records
and Fluff & Gravy Records sat down with The
Future of What to discuss signing bands, distributing records and more. Hear the conversation at VRTXMAG.COM/TFOW
AN INTRODUCTION
Amidst the rising wave of yuppie condos and $14
brunch entrées, it’s important to find Portland’s
roots. It takes effort, but we don’t have to dig far.
The Portland Underground, as I call it, is an
unaffiliated, decentralized network of gatherings and movements that occur under the radar
all over our wonderful city. You won’t see these
BY ollie collins
events listed in the weeklies or splattered on
billboards, and you won’t hear about them on the radio. They are solely built on the DIO (do-it-ourselves) mentality that is our city’s mantra.
Underground events are not about the cover charge. They aren’t an excuse for promoters to drop a stack of Pabst beer koozies on scenesters.
Underground artistic experiences provide a pure medium for expression,
entertainment and connection with the community.
Events such as the Midnight Mystery Ride, Monday
even though Funday, pinball moped gangs, backyard concerts, and
our city may shows that refuse to appear in print are the life force of
look like it’s our city. This revolutionary, trailblazing spirit defines us
going astray, as Portlanders. And like revolution itself, these events
the portland are as essential to our Americana as Taco Tuesday.
But how do we find this underground? What do we
underground
Google?
Social media and the internet are good tools,
is alive and
but they aren’t the end-all, be-all of human connecwell.
tion. In order to find the underground, we must put
in more effort and do it the old-fashioned way: Talk with our neighbors.
In our Facebook Event Generation, it’s easy to forget that the best source
for where to go and what to do is the people around us. Talk to the stranger
in the park hula-hooping on a unicycle, the lady dressed as a lobster at the
bus stop, the ballerina cowboy at the bar, or simply your friends. These
sources will provide intentional invitations geared toward the type of person you are, thus directing you to fulfilling and worthwhile events.
Or even better, start your own underground event! In the Portland Underground there are no rules, no admin lists and no sponsors, so you can
start your own event today. We must take action before a parking lot is
paved over us, because if the roots are strong enough, they will grow right
through those gilded cages.
Fret not, my fellow Portlanders. Even though our city may look like it’s
going astray, the Portland Underground is alive and well. No yuppie can
ever take that away.
Ollie Collins is the founder of the theater company Monkey With a Hat On and
co-founder of the cannabis farm Fire Flower. Stay tuned for more of his thoughts on
the Portland Underground in the next issue of Vortex.
vrtxmag.com
13
Photo by Michael McInerney
PORTLAND
RECORD LABELS
TO WATCH
record labels are more than plentiful in portland. we have storied bastions
of the ’90s still dropping iconic northwest albums today alongside record
stores that supply their own resissues and artist-run operations. it’s all
a curated effort to get more ears hearing the music of portland, and we
believe these four labels continue to carry the torch for our city’s sound.
listen to their output at vrtxmag.com/labels
BANANA STAND MEDIA
GOLDEN BROWN RECORDS
YEAR FOUNDED: 2014
ROSTER: Little Star, Mo Troper (pictured), Sabonis, Mr. Bones
NEW RELEASES: Naked Hour’s debut album Always On The Weekend
(out now), Cool American’s You Can Win A Few (7/29), LPs from
Seattle-based Churn (8/12) and PDX’s Turtlenecked (8/19)
YEAR FOUNDED: 2016 ROSTER: Jo Passed, Garden Gate
NEW RELEASES: Jo Passed’s Up EP (out now),
Garden Gate’s Dark Harvest LP (8/5)
As arbiters of good taste in what remains of Portland’s all-ages
scene, Mo Troper and Blake Hickman have remained steadfast in
their goal of promoting and releasing albums by under-the-radar
artists. What began as a vehicle to release their friends’ records—
specifically Mr. Bones and Sabonis—Troper and Hickman eventually identified a niche need for the kind of power-pop and emo
punk that reigned supreme in the late ’90s and early aughts.
During the first half of 2016, the Good Cheer duo have been
attempting to shed such a narrow focus for their label’s output,
but releases as strong as Little Star’s Being Close, Troper’s own solo
debut Beloved, and the aforementioned self-titled debut EP from
Sabonis have endeared the label’s tastemaking prowess to a previously underserved area of regional artistry.
Troper’s boots-on-the-ground work ethic has yielded encouraging results thus far, as his own release on the label has generated
press from NPR, Vice, Pitchfork and Spin, among local press accolades. His and Hickman’s ability to pick up on other unassuming-yet-powerful projects like Little Star—who are very much one of
the best bands in Portland—makes for a promising beginning to the
inception years of this homegrown indie label. // RYAN J. PRADO
Vortex Music Magazine > I S S U E 9
It’s still early days for new Portland imprint Golden Brown Records. Cassette label chiefs Thom Sunderland and Matt Halverson just released their debut compilation, Perfectly Toasted, Vol.
1, in June, and it encroaches upon the far-reaching worlds of
pop, electronica, dream pop and chillwave. As something of an
imprint of Halverson’s larger Lefse Records, Golden Brown has
a solid prism through which to manage a toehold on not only
Portland listeners, but on a worldwide level.
Emphasizing exposure for emerging artists, Golden Brown
is similarly fledgling, currently being run out of Thom and
Brooke Sunderland’s Kenton neighborhood home office. The
inaugural compilation’s 11 tracks are a diverse cross section of
the label’s hopeful reach, bringing Portland artists like Casey
Burge (Minden), Sunbathe and Winds together with other upand-coming national and international artists.
Burge’s “Comin’ Fulfilled” supplants the typically funk-inspired compositions of his work with Minden, imparting Beta
Band grooves in line with the feel-good vibes associated with
much of Golden Brown’s roster. Expect great things from this
niche label very soon, but until then, grab a download or cassette of a pretty perfect summer mixtape in Perfectly Toasted,
Vol. 1. // RYAN J. PRADO
“Starting a label with an NBA player seemed like a crazy idea,”
says EYRST president Taylor Dutton. But that’s exactly the offer he
accepted when longtime friend and beatmaker Neill Von Tally introduced him to ex-Blazer and Seattle native Martell Webster and
the team (along with head engineer Justin Longerbeam) set about
establishing their cohesive, familial, forward-thinking hip-hop label.
With Von Tally masterminding the big picture—having a hand
in pretty much everything the label does—EYRST is an exploration
of the textures and temperatures of hip-hop music. For Von Tally,
basic markers of the artists on his roster are talent that can “really gas up, rap fast and get technical but who mostly choose to be
more lyrical and laid-back.” The sound? “Pre-post-modern, retro
super-futurism,” he laughs. “If all of the conceptual drawings from
the ’60s and ’70s about what the future would be like came true.”
He’s joking of course, yet that convoluted intelligentsia-speak
does describe the label’s soul-filled, R&B-tinged flavor of hiphop—an output that thus far has been creative, collaborative
and captivating thanks in no small part to the close connections
between the artists making the music. The label is more like a
group of friends—everyone is easy to work with and like-minded,
making music with purpose and intention behind it. It’s an artist
collective with a family dynamic—one where the label itself tries
to fill every role possible for its artists, from recording, producing, mixing and mastering music, to releasing and promoting it,
to making accompanying videos and multimedia experiences, to
booking shows and tours. And you can hear
the close-knit—and growing—community in
the results. “It takes a village,” Von Tally says.
“I don’t think any of us are shy about the fact
that we all need help in our lives. And we
look to each other for that kind of support.”
// CHRIS YOUNG
“starting a
label with an
nba player
seemed like
a crazy idea.”
THE STAND’S
ENERGETIC
CONTRIBUTORS
ARE TRULY
PATRONS OF
THE SCENE.
E Y R S T
YEAR FOUNDED: 2014 ROSTER: Martell Webster, Myke Bogan,
Blossom (pictured), ePP, The Last Artful, Dodgr NEW RELEASES: Martell
Webster’s free mixtape ARTT (out now) and EP Emerald District
(8/12), plus upcoming EPs from Maze Koroma and ePP, a Calvin
Valentine LP (Eugene out Sept.), The Last Artful, Dodgr and Neill Von
Tally’s LP Bone Music (late 2016), Myke Bogan’s new LP (early 2017)
vrtxmag.com
Photo by Tojo Andrianarivo
14
GOOD CHEER RECORDS
Image courtesy of Golden Brown Records
Image courtesy of Mo Troper
YEAR FOUNDED: 2007 ROSTER: Live albums from local artists recorded
in a SE Portland basement NEW RELEASES: Psychomagic (7/26),
Ural Thomas & the Pain (pictured), Alialujah Choir, more
DIY documentarians and diehard lovers of local art, the crew behind the live sessions and albums consistently christened Live From
The Banana Stand aim to capture a snippet of the independent
Northwest music scene every time they throw a clandestine house
show in their cramped but patriotically colorful basement. On
course to release 100 albums by their 10th anniversary next year,
Banana Stand Media, co-founded by pals Aaron Colter and Louie
Herr, has amazingly managed to survive for a decade, supporting a
thriving music scene by recording live audio and video, ultimately
creating a document of that moment in local music history.
Like many unpaid passion projects, The Stand’s energetic contributors are truly patrons of the scene, throwing free, intimate
concerts, recording and releasing high-quality live products, and
offering them at a pay-what-you-want rate for the world to consume—and any meager profits are split between bands, audio engineers and The Stand. Whether releasing hotly anticipated live
sets from rising bands or memoirs from now-defunct acts, Banana
Stand Media may possess Portland’s greatest underground archive
of our present-day live music scene.
More recently, the team has exited the basement to record live sets
at local venues like Bunk Bar, Holocene and the
Doug Fir as well as throw regular public concerts
at other traditional venues. But when it comes
down it, The Stand is fueled by an ardent love of
music. “We love making stuff,” Colter says. “We’re
so lucky to have incredible people with us. We
want to do bigger and better things. Where that
takes us remains to be seen.” // CHRIS YOUNG
15
T
“
THANKS
HE MOUNTAINS DON’T GIVE A
FUCK!” blurts out Noah Jay-Bonn,
cutting off the meandering titular explanation his fiancée and bandmate Jimi
Hendrix was giving for their band’s second record. No Mercy in the Mountain,
self-released and celebrated at Mississippi
Studios on July 2, is the more poetic title,
but Jay-Bonn was actually just relaying a
German’s poorly extrapolated and oversimplified interpretation of the significance behind the name of
Thanks’ new album.
But then Hendrix cuts back in: “Yeah, that’s kinda dead on,
but not what I said,” she laughs. After spending four weeks touring Germany and Austria just prior to releasing
No Mercy in the Mountain, the six-piece synthy,
dark soul and rock and roll outfit have had plenty
of time to ponder the message of their new record.
In actuality, the band have spent years writing
and performing the songs that appear on their
sophomore effort, perfecting them before going into the studio with producer Jeff Bond. Between extended recording and mixing sessions, a
steady schedule of local gigs, several trips to Europe, and pressing their first-ever vinyl at local
plant Cascade Record Pressing, it’s taken Thanks
two years to release this record. And when all of
the pieces are finally ready, Hendrix wonders,
“Am I still going to like it by the time it actually comes out?”
The answer: a resounding yes.
Thanks’ first record was just that. They’ve learned a lot about
themselves since their 2014 debut Blood Sounds. “Like any form
of art, the first thing you put out, you’re probably going to hate a
little bit. I wouldn’t say I hate it, but I wouldn’t mind not hearing
it for a while,” Hendrix laughs.
The band of six have grown together as a group too. “I think
we’ve all become more comfortable,” Jay-Bonn says. With Hendrix providing vocals, Jay-Bonn on keys, Andrew Hanna on guitar, Lilly Maher playing cello and singing, and the
rhythm section held down by Garrett Brown
on bass and Drew Sprouse on drums, “One
of the main tenets in our band is that there
are no bad ideas,” Jay-Bonn explains. “Everybody will try anything. We really don’t
want to limit ourselves. If everybody’s
creative in the process, then that’s
what’s exciting for us.”
They’ve also learned a lot about
recording. “We had a really clear
idea of what we wanted our studio sound to be. We could finally articulate that,” Hendrix says.
No Mercy in the Mountain is the
manifestation: “This is how we
should sound!” Hendrix gushes.
“It matches how we feel inside.”
From the first notes, the
album surges with intensity. There’s a fierce, palpable
energy—a consuming and captivating darkness hovers over the
songs while Hendrix’s lyrics only add to the ominous emotionality of the music. This shadowy fervor is par for the course for
Thanks and it comes from a very personal place within Hendrix.
For almost a decade, Hendrix has suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome, and for many years, she didn’t know what was
happening to her while the disease would leave her completely
debilitated after totally normal activities like riding a bike or going for a walk. And while the introspective nature of the illness
sometimes meant she “literally couldn’t do anything but lay there
and think,” it also inspired her writing. “It’s a wonderfully creative place to be but it’s a really awful place,” Hendrix explains.
“I’m grateful that I got some good lyrical fodder out of it, but I
wouldn’t wish it upon anyone.”
“I did a lot of thinking and writing about the
frustration of battling with something that was
basically your responsibility to win,” she says.
Processing these intense moments meant finding
equilibrium. “There is a balance that you have to
strike between being angry and being complacent.” That’s “the dark and light,” as she refers to it,
represented on the record—the displays of sheer
strength and aggressive badassery coupled with
intimate vignettes of weakness. “Writing music
was 100 percent therapeutic—like taking the power out of the actual [moment] and saying fuck you
to it on paper.”
Creating and singing with the band “has honestly been the best therapy,” both mentally and physically, Hendrix
says. It’s where she’s been able to recognize her vulnerabilities and
empower herself to overcome, emerging—and sounding—tough
as shit. And the reemergence is a triumphant one. The album’s
closing song, “The Only Prayer,” talks “about not being brought
down by what is going on but instead building myself up from all
the bad, climbing out of it,” she explains.
The process is “super cathartic. And really emotional,” Hendrix
says. “I don’t have a fucking therapist—I gotta get it out somewhere!” she laughs. She hopes others find fortitude in the music. “I
always found solace in listening to other people’s
lyrics. People identify with them so I like the
idea that someone’s going to hear it and make
their own meaning—and feel better about
whatever garbage is happening in their life.”
The record represents a dichotomy:
“The push and pull between the dark
and light,” Hendrix explains, and “how
we are completely insignificant in the
greater scheme of things—to nature,
to the mountains.”
“There’s no mercy in the mountain and you’re small and fragile and
insignificant,” Jay-Bonn adds. “You
have to find your own strength; you
have to rise up yourself.”
“The mountains don’t give
a fuck about you, and that’s a
good thing,” Hendrix surmises.
“You have to figure it out on
your own.”
“
We are
completely
insignificant in
the greater
scheme of
things—to
nature, to the
mountains.
Photo by George Barberis
conquering
MOUNTAINs
BY CHRIS YOUNG
16
Vortex Music Magazine > I S S U E 9
No Mercy in the Mountain album art by
Ashley Sophia Clark
Despite the massive volume of material processed by thousands of listeners through music,
movies and video games (can somebody say
Tony Hawk?), Aesop Rock is experiencing a lot
of firsts relatively late in his career. On June 13,
he made his first-ever network TV appearance
on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, shining
a much-deserved light on a talent that’s been
simmering below the surface for almost two
decades. His latest album, The Impossible Kid,
which was released by Rhymesayers Entertainment on April 29, has charted higher than any
previous effort and is a crowning achievement
in his self-produced projects, maintaining his ridiculously dense wordplay notoriously riddled
with metaphors, word games and acrobatic rhyme schemes.
Another first for Bavitz is
the Pacific Northwest. A former resident of New York,
and more recently San Francisco, Aesop Rock now calls
Portland home. He made the
move preceding work on The
Impossible Kid and continues
to work on various projects
in the area. I recently had the
chance to sit down with him
to talk about his creative
process, getting older, his
cat, and his new home in
the City of Roses.
A BAZOOKA
TOOTH LIVES IN
the rose city
AESOP ROCK’S JOURNEY To PORTLAND
WORDS & PHOTOS BY SAM GEHRKE
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ARTHUR HICKMAN
A
T 40 YEARS OLD, Ian Bavitz,
aka Aesop Rock, is proving that
age is just a number as he inches
closer to becoming a household
name without ever departing from
his underground roots. Bavitz
has been chipping away at a
comfortable cave for himself in the indie rap
scene for 20-plus years, releasing seven albums
and four EPs since 1997, along with a handful
of oddball collaborative efforts, teaming up
with artists such as Tobacco, Kimya
Dawson and The Mountain Goats’
John Darnielle. In 2007, he was
commissioned to make a conceptual
45-minute instrumental track for
Nike’s iPod-integrated running
system, and in 2014, Polygraph’s
Matt Daniels crowned the man
nicknamed Bazooka Tooth
(also the title of his fourth
record) with “The Largest
Vocabulary in Hip-Hop,”
towering over the competition
with a total of 7,392 unique
words used. In a brief analysis
of his findings, Daniels wrote, “his
datapoint is so far to the right
that he should be off the chart.”
Aes’ creative output has been
nothing short of astounding.
You’ve previously lived
and worked in Boston,
New York and San
Francisco—all cities
with pretty impressive art and music communities.
How has Portland
differed?
I must admit I
don’t really insert
myself into this
city as much as I
perhaps should. It
is beautiful and has
served as a great place to
find some peace while I work
away—but ultimately I am in
a phase where work and saving money are my priorities.
It’s been great for that. My
Aesop Rock
at the Wonder
Ballroom on
May 7, 2016
18
Vortex Music Magazine > I S S U E 9
“
That’s probably
the biggest
challenge:
attempting to
age gracefully
in a field that
champions
youth.
creative process has been fairly similar for many years, and my studio is shitty enough to be
moved and re-setup with relative ease. I have
been back on my skateboard a ton since being
here too, which has felt great. Ultimately, any
environment is what you make of it.
I’ve lived in Oregon my whole life, and as a photographer, I am infatuated with the idea of moving to one of the cities you’ve lived in, simply
because of their reputations as creative meccas.
What’s it like coming from those places to a less
creatively established city like Portland?
I mean, Portland feels pretty creative to me, but
I know what you mean. People go to those places to be surrounded by that vibe. People come
to places like this to get away from it. I have
identified with both of those things—the
need to be up in the mix, and the need to get
the hell out of the mix. I can see wavering
between those two feelings forever, and just
jumping ship when I need a change.
Based on the first singles from your latest
record, I’ve noticed that the tracks
seem to be quite a bit more autobiographical than any of your
previous work, and considerably less abstract. “Rings,” the
first single, is about your love
for drawing and painting,
while “Blood Sandwich”
centers around your relationship with your brothers. Why the shift to
more literal, reflective
self-exploration?
That’s the kind of
thing I don’t notice I’m doing until people tell me. I
see it though, and
can only chalk it
up to getting older.
I think turning 40 has
been in the back of my head
for awhile, and it seemed like
as good a time as any to reflect.
I’ve needed to adapt my writing
from the social life of an early
20-something making the most
of a bubbling rap scene, to just
growing into other things. You
Photo by Ben Colen
vrtxmag.com
19
hit these moments where you
realize you feel like you’re past
what you did yesterday and need to
find something new. That’s probably
the biggest challenge in all of this:
attempting to age gracefully in a field
that champions youth.
You recently did a collaborative EP with
Homeboy Sandman called Lice. There’s a
track on there (“So Strange Here”) that really struck a chord with me, and kind of
choked me up. It was very sweet, for lack of
a better word. There’s more positivity, in the
least sentimental way possible, permeating
your music these days. Do you see yourself
as a happier person in contrast to 10 or 15
years ago?
Ha. No. I feel like I’m always just barely keeping
my head above water. The concept of arriving
at a place where all of this is easy is just foreign
to me. I’ve never felt a moment of coasting. But
maybe that’s it in itself. You try to get to a place
where you make peace with the fact that you’ll
never be truly at peace. Yikes.
You’re known for the dense content matter
of your music, and it’s oftentimes a pretty
intimidating mix of intricate, varied vocabulary and heavy metaphors. What do you like
to read in your free time?
Most of my reading is news and science articles. I’m not really a novel guy, which is something I’ve gotten shit about forever. I’ll
read National Geographic, or
bounce around news
articles on Reddit, or
look at The New York
Times. Lately at the end
of the day, I just take in
everything I can about
what happened that day in
the presidential race, which
is fascinating and depressing.
I guess I’m more into current
events than ever before.
I’ve always loved that you collaborate
with amazing visual artists for your album art. The Impossible Kid features
designs by Alex Pardee, and you’ve frequently worked with Jeremy Fish on vari-
ous projects. What value do you put
on an album’s cover art?
I always take the album-making process
as an excuse to collaborate with a visual
artist I am a fan of. I feel like during the
making of the songs, imagery floats around
in my head. At some point I try to match that
imagery to the right person and find someone
who can really elevate the entire project. I don’t
want just an album cover; I want the artist to be
as invested as I am and create a world to accompany the music. The idea of spending years on
a project to then slap a two-second cover on it
is not something that makes sense to me—I see
it as a chance to further the entire mission. I’ve
been insanely lucky to work with the people I’ve
worked with.
Cats seem to be a very prominent theme on
your albums as of late. You have a track called
“Kirby” on The Impossible Kid that’s an ode to
your kitty. What’s up with you and cats?
Kirby was just my little dude this time around.
It feels nice to take care of something. I’m a
humongous animal fan—to be honest, I always
think that if things hadn’t gone as they did, I
might have attempted to do some work with
animals in some capacity. I still think about
it. It feels good to take care of something and
keep it alive.
What’s next for you?
I have a few other projects on the table. I’ve
been mixing the score I created for an
upcoming movie called
Bushwick,
which will
come out
later in
the year.
An
EP
I
produced
for Blueprint is
out now. And I also have a bunch of
demos made towards
a new project that’s probably too early to announce. But
basically work. I might move back
east. I might move to another planet.
I dunno we’ll see.
“
YOU TRY TO
GET TO A PLACE
WHERE YOU MAKE PEACE
WITH THE FACT THAT
YOU’LL NEVER TRULY
BE AT PEACE.
YIKES.
See more photos from Aesop Rock’s last
Portland appearance at vrtxmag.com/aesop
20
Vortex Music Magazine > I S S U E 9
21
rejectinG:
WORDS BY CAMERON CROWELL
PHOTOS BY AUTUMN ANDEL
AND SAM GEHRKE
“NO MINORS
ALLOWED”
WHILE 21-AND-OVER EVENTS DOMINATE THE PORTLAND
MUSIC LANDSCAPE, AN ACTIVE GROUP OF UNDERAGERS ARE MAKING
THEIR OWN UNDERGROUND, ALL-AGES SCENE HAPPEN.
I
Salt Lake City feminist punks Big Baby
at a pop-up house show on June 29:
Photo by Autumn Andel
22
WALK UP TO A TWO-STORY BUILDING ON NE
BROADWAY ON A COOL MAY EVENING where
a group of people are huddled around an unmarked
door—one that, without the tall blond man collecting
donations, would most likely be assumed inaccessible, an
emergency exit or an out-of-sight area for retail employees to smoke on break. The donation collector is Eddie
Charlton, 30, guitarist and vocalist of Portland shoegazepop band Lubec and the newest member of the Semi-OK
Collective zine’s editorial staff. The donations are partly for
the performing musicians and partly for the fourth issue of Semi-OK, a
project started by Claire Gunville, 20, and Teal Bluestone, 21, in the summer of 2015 to document their fellow artist friends involved in the DIY
Portland music community.
The event itself is upstairs in the nontraditional venue space Claire’s
Studio, which, as the name implies, is where Gunville creates her artwork.
Inside, there are paintings and photos hanging on the walls and a projector
screening old episodes of The Powerpuff Girls. I’m sweating from the heat
of dozens of bodies gathered to see local bands Boreen, Naked Hour (Bluestone’s project where she sings and plays bass) and Snow Roller. No alcohol
is sold and the median age of attendees looks to be around 21.
By now, it’s been acknowledged that there’s a severe lack of spaces in Portland dedicated to all-ages music, with venues like Laughing Horse Books,
Slabtown and Backspace shutting down in the past couple of years due in
part to rising rents and/or strict liquor control laws (depending on who you
ask). At long last, this has become an issue that cannot be ignored, even
by older generations of Portlanders in the city’s music community. In May,
23
Friends of Noise—an all-ages advocacy nonprofit run by an adult board of directors as well
as a committee of Portland-area youth with
hopes to ultimately start a new venue—held its
launch party. With the group’s emergence, the
challenge of hosting all-ages shows became a
publicized discussion thread as Friends of Noise
received coverage from many of the city’s local
media outlets.
However, for groups like Semi-OK and those
under 21 in Portland, finding places to host and
enjoy live music has been an ongoing struggle,
often fought by implementing creative solutions
and being opportunistic with available spaces.
In addition to more consistent all-ages venues
(like Anarres Infoshop and Black Water Bar),
organizers have utilized spaces that are less
often considered traditional venues, like the
recent queer musicians
mini-fest at Sweetpea
Baking Company, the
Foster-Powell
skate
shop SMART Collective, Mother Foucault’s
Bookshop, or the
countless house venues that continuously
emerge and dissolve.
While calling attention to all-ages access
to music in Portland
is dearly needed, it seems disingenuous to cen- skill she developed as a teenager in bands and
ter the conversation around Friends of Noise, a with the local nonprofit Music in the Schools.
“I started planning shows when I was about
group that aims to put on four events in total
during its inaugural year. This effort is help- 15. My parents are both professional musicians
ful, but not quite an accurate representation of and they opened up their house in Beaverton [to
the current all-ages landscape—and not nearly host shows], so they were very supportive of my
enough to make a significant impact. As I finish want to do music,” Bluestone recalls. “Teenagers
need to have shows and spaces to
this article, I will have just turned
get away from the bullshit they’re
21 after living and attending
dealing with. I would cry if I only
shows in Portland since I moved
FOR THOSE
had one show per season. What
to this city for college nearly two
UNDER 21 IN
would I do with my life?”
years ago. In those years, I’ve met
PORTLAND,
I meet with Semi-OK’s editomany young bookers and tireless
FINDING PLACES
rial staff, Gunville, Bluestone and
advocates of all-ages music who
TO HOST AND
Charlton, a few weeks after their
have been working to put on
issue release party, which by all
shows while largely being excludENJOY LIVE
accounts was a resounding suced from the public conversation.
MUSIC HAS BEEN
cess—so much so that the group
I was first introduced to the
AN ONGOING
are currently seeking nonprofit
Semi-OK Collective in the spring
STRUGGLE.
status to enable more frequent
of 2015 after attending a show at
events in larger, more established
the basement space My Friend
Ben Scott’s House, home to Portland post-hard- spaces. The three seem to share a strong sense
core band Sioux Falls. This was a few months of optimism. Admittedly, it seems one needs to
before Claire Gunville and Teal Bluestone came have at least some degree of hope to function in
out with the first issue of their zine, which they the DIY world.
“We had a great setup [for our last show].
have since followed with three additional issues,
accompanying mixtapes, and several local mu- A ton of people want to be putting on shows
sic showcases. While Gunville typically handles but don’t have access to that stuff, and I think
the design portion of the zine, Bluestone plays a we should be trying to help them in more of
large part in booking the artists and musicians a friendly way,” Gunville says. “I think a lot of
who perform at the Semi-OK-curated shows, a what Semi-OK is about is knowing that it’s okay
It’s a familiar
feeling, to be
young and feel as
though adults deem
you helpless,
inexperienced
or less serious.
24
Vortex Music Magazine > I S S U E 9
“
ALL-AGES
MUSIC
GUIDE
Although access to all-ages events may be tough to come by at times,
there are still plenty of tireless advocates working to bolster the scene in
our city. Find out more about these active, local supporters and
others in our Business and Venue Directory:
vrtxmag.com/directory
CONCERT VENUES
THE ANALOG CAFE, BLACK WATER BAR,
CLINTON STREET THEATER, CRYSTAL BALLROOM,
HAWTHORNE THEATRE, MISSISSIPPI PIZZA,
ROSELAND THEATER, SKYPE LIVE STUDIO,
STAR THEATER, WONDER BALLROOM
NONTRADITIONAL VENUES
ANARRES INFOSHOP, DISJECTA, MOTHER FOUCAULT’S BOOKSHOP,
MUSIC MILLENNIUM, THE ROSEWOOD INITIATIVE, S1,
SMART COLLECTIVE, VELO CULT
ADVOCATES + SHOW THROWERS
BANANA STAND MEDIA (SECRET SHOWS),
CREATIVE MUSIC GUILD (NONPROFIT), DUG (EVENT SERIES),
FIX MY HEAD (ZINE), FRIENDS OF NOISE (NONPROFIT),
GOOD CHEER RECORDS (LABEL), PORTLAND NOTES (WEBSITE),
PROWUS (NONPROFIT), OREGON MUSIC HALL OF FAME (NONPROFIT),
SEMI-OK COLLECTIVE (ZINE), SUALT QUEER MUSICIANS (EVENT SERIES),
TRUST NO ONE ENTERTAINMENT (PROMOTER),
WITCH HAUS PDX (ZINE)
EVENTS + FESTS
FESTICIDE, GIRL FEST NW, PDX POP NOW!, WHITE EAGLE MONTHLY
YOUTH SERIES, YOUTH MUSIC PROJECT OPEN MIC
EDUCATIONAL OPPS FOR YOUTH
AMERICAN MUSIC PROGRAM, ETHOS, MUSIC IN THE SCHOOLS,
MY VOICE MUSIC, NORTHWEST MUSIC EXPERIENCE,
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL CAMP FOR GIRLS, SCHOOL OF ROCK,
YOUNG AUDIENCES OF OREGON & SW WASHINGTON,
YOUTH MUSIC PROJECT
RESOURCES
PC-PDX.COM, PDX SEMI-OK SHOWS (FACEBOOK GROUP),
PORTLAND MERCURY’S ALL-AGES ACTION! COLUMN,
VRTXMAG.COM/ALLAGES
vrtxmag.com
Photo by Miss Ellanea
Portland synth poppers HURTR
at a NE Portland house show on
June 29: Photo by Autumn Andel
to be amateur. Because we’re all semi-okay at what we do, but we are all
stumbling together.”
In the winter of 2015, Semi-OK began as the Facebook group PDX
Semi-OK Shows created by Sioux Falls. Consisting of like-minded
friends in bands, it was a tool to easily share information about upcoming shows. Now, the community is expanding (the Facebook group is approaching 500 members) and things are quickly changing as some bands
see greater coverage in national media outlets. Yet in Portland, the issue
of space (or lack thereof) remains basically the same.
Performance spaces are inconsistent in the all-ages DIY community.
Such is the nature of nontraditional venues, as formerly bustling spots
are shut down either by noise complaints or rising rents and development. Da Floretta Lamv, 22, is in the musical project Dreams and used
to run the house show and art space Planet Castle, which at its peak was
home to 11 artists who hosted weekend shows with local musicians and
monthly touring acts. Planet Castle, like many other Portland houses,
can no longer host shows as the landlord demolished the home last year.
“I’m sort of coming to terms that spaces will flourish and then they
will be destroyed by capitalism,” Lamv says.
“I think it is a complex problem and that there are a probably a lot of
ways to enable an all-ages community,” Charlton says. “It is important
to be better at connecting people with resources, to people who are already working within the community. It would
not only help solve the problem, but it would
also perhaps make existing communities [and
events] more visible to people [outside of a stuI’M SORT OF
dent booker’s friend group]. I say find the kid
COMING TO
in high school who’s already booking shows and
TERMS THAT
just offer them your resources.”
SPACES WILL
This thought really stuck with me and called
FLOURISH AND
to mind Delaney Motter, 18, a University of
Oregon freshman who graduated high school
THEN THEY
a year early, but not before taking on a senior
WILL BE
project centered on booking all-ages shows in
DESTROYED BY
Portland. Motter started at the late Slabtown unCAPITALISM.
der the mentorship of owner Doug Rogers. Af- Da Floretta Lamv
ter the venue’s sudden closure in October 2014,
she continued on her own, hosting two benefit
shows for SE Foster skate shop and sometimes venue SMART Collective.
Now, despite having moved to Eugene for college, Motter has continued
her booking and advocacy for local, all-ages music by coming back home
to Portland and booking shows nearly every weekend.
Upon meeting Motter, I immediately notice her hands marked with
two giant magic marker Xs, a telltale indicator of an under-21 concertgoer. Motter books shows while going to college full-time and working
part-time, and when I ask her how she’s managed this, she
looks at me like a relative asking what her major is at
Thanksgiving (which, for good measure, is journalism).
“I like to be busy, so it’s really good for me. When
I started school in Eugene last
fall, it was weird for me not to
be booking shows so frequently. I got into a weird depression
and it wasn’t good,” Motter says.
“Then after winter break, my family and
I recognized that it was really important for
me to be able to come back home regularly, so
since January I’ve been up here every weekend
booking and going to shows.”
Motter’s passion for all-ages advocacy takes a slightly
different form than others in the Portland music community. Hers is a unique, uncompromising idealism
that can be seen as empowering or abrasive depending
25
“
I’M PRETTY OPENLY ANTI-21-PLUS,
BECAUSE PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE DENIED
ACCESS TO ART.
- Delaney Motter
on where you’re viewing it from. While most and Motter is forthright with her discontent.
people in all-ages discussions are willing to ac“The Oregonian article sort of made it out to
knowledge the value of having all-ages spaces, be that Friends of Noise is here to save all ages,
not many seem to outwardly oppose any show but that’s not true. We’re here, we’re alive, we’re
that is 21 and over.
struggling,” Motter says. “I’d hardly even heard of [Friends of Noise]
“I’m pretty openly anti-21IF WE WANT
before the articles came out. They
plus, because people should not
MUSIC LOVERS OF
haven’t been working with us.”
be denied access to art,” Motter
says. “I say that fully knowing
While I believe Friends of
ALL AGES TO BE
that people aren’t going to lisNoise
is well intentioned and likeALLOWED ACCESS,
ten and totally change and stop
ly
a
net
positive force for all-ages
A SHIFT IN
playing 21-plus shows. I say that
music, Motter is not alone in her
PRIORITIES MUST
to start a conversation, and to
frustration—and this frustration
HAPPEN.
make sure people are at least
is totally valid. Friends of Noise
thinking about all-ages music
had feature-length articles in
more seriously.”
both of Portland’s alternative weeklies as well as
This passionate sentiment has me smiling. Portland Monthly and The Oregonian. SimulIt’s a familiar feeling, to be young and feel as taneously, groups like Semi-OK, Motter
though adults deem you helpless, inexperi- and many others are putting on all-agenced or less serious. I’m left thinking that es shows every week that go almost
more people with strong stances like Mot- entirely unrecognized by local meter should be heard and recognized because dia. The attention that Friends of
21-plus shows have become the norm, and Noise received is likely thanks to
the venues that host these shows are not com- its older board of directors’ conpromising unless a band like Thee Oh Sees or nections to those in local media—a
Quasi seek to play an early set in addition to bitter irony for an issue that mostly
their normal late-night show. We get to talking affects younger people. I challenge loabout the recent coverage of Friends of Noise cal media institutions like Willamette
Week, Portland Mercury, KBOO and XRAY.fm
to show more interest in the issue and lead by
example by prioritizing all ages when hosting
and promoting shows.
One of the frequent arguments made against
all-ages events is that they are not profitable
because many venues rely heavily on bar sales.
This seems especially true when talking about
local music; however, this does not paint a full
picture. Gresham-born hip-hop collective Trust
No One Entertainment (TNO) hosts recurring,
all-ages, hip-hop showcases at the Hawthorne
Theatre that are not only entirely local bills, but
also feature mostly under-21 rappers. These
events have drawn hundreds of young Portlanders to the mid-sized southeast venue.
Naked Hour featuring Semi-OK Collective’s Teal Bluestone on vocals and
bass (right) rocking the basement space
My Friend Ben Scott’s House on June 9:
Photo by Sam Gehrke
26
27
The behind-the-scenes work and planning difficult, he shakes his head, as if the thought 21-plus at a bar. Perhaps this compromise is a
necessary step forward. Then again, I think back
rests largely on DeAndre Woods, 22, a former hasn’t crossed his mind.
rapper turned show booker and manager of TNO
“It’s an all-ages goldmine out here. People to talking with Semi-OK and Motter, whose pasartist DeRay Robinson (better known by his stage want to work with us because when they do ev- sions are contagious, asking myself if these things
name D3). Woods has a warm smile and a youth- erybody gets paid,” Woods says. And as he plans are at odds. In a certain capacity, yes, DIY is rootful, charismatic demeanor, which is reflected in his future schedule of shows, the Hawthorne ed in an opposition to capitalism, while 21-plus
the shows that TNO puts together and his em- Theatre is looking forward to continuing their shows exist because of the capitalist interest of bar
phasis on promoting positivity for young people relationship. “As an all-ages club, it is great to sales. But, I remember what Charlton said about
in his community.
work with someone who is young, eager and this issue having more than one answer.
There are many young people trying to
“A lot of older guys aren’t positive about the brings exciting all-ages shows into the club,”
make, showcase and talk about their
all-ages situation, because they’re alart in so many different and creative
ready stuck in their ways and you can’t
ways, and I don’t see that changing.
really change that—you can just lead
A LOT OF OLDER GUYS AREN’T POSITIVE ABOUT THE
If we want music lovers of all ages to
by example,” Woods says. “Hosting
ALL-AGES SITUATION, BECAUSE THEY’RE ALREADY
be allowed access, a shift in priorities
all-ages and benefit shows isn’t about
STUCK IN THEIR WAYS AND YOU CAN’T REALLY CHANGE
must happen. The conversation canwho does it first; it’s about who does it
THAT—YOU CAN JUST LEAD BY EXAMPLE.
not end after one article or one show.
right, because in reality it’s just going
- DeAndre Woods
These young organizers need to be
to benefit everybody in the communicontinually supported by those who
ty. I’m still going to promote all these
younger cats, and ideally once they turn 21, they says Mike Thrasher Presents marketing manag- are older, with more experience and resources—
an effort Friends of Noise appears to be making.
er Sarah Kinney.
will know the value of having all-ages shows.”
“Everybody who wants to come out to a When we book a show, we must make inclusivTNO’s community outreach has gone beyond hosting all-ages hip-hop showcases—this show should be able to,” Woods declares. “I’m ity a priority so that everyone can participate in
past April, Woods hosted his second show at not going to ever change the all-ages aspect be- local music. And yes, booking all-ages is more
the Hawthorne Theatre in collaboration with DJ cause you want to drink and not be stuck in the difficult, and it won’t stop being a struggle to do
so. But all of these musicians, bookers and adO.G. One (the Blazers’ official DJ) and local hip- back. That’s what the after-party is for.”
hop legend Cool Nutz to collect resources for
It seems like this model is similar to Portland’s vocates have and will continue to persevere, tothe Portland Rescue Mission. When I ask him Good Cheer Records. The label often hosts two al- gether, while hopefully extending the invitation
if booking all-ages shows has made things more bum release shows: the first all-ages and the second for more young people to come along.
“
Cameron Crowell is a founder of the zine Witch Haus PDX and music contributor to Portland Mercur y—and he just turned 21.
WHEN WE BOOK
A SHOW, WE MUST
MAKE INCLUSIVITY
A PRIORITY.
Portland punk from Drunken Palms at
a NE Portland house show on June 29:
Photo by Autumn Andel
28
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