contents
ELEVEN PDX MAGAZINE ISSUE NO. 1
THE USUAL 3 Letter from the Editor 3 Staff Credits Columns 5 Aural Fix Quilt Tacocat Cloud Nothings
VOLUME 4
FEATURES Cover Feature 17 Blouse
FILM Watch Me Now 22 Film Review: Godzilla Movies from the Past Instant Queue Review
new music 7 Short List 7 Album Reviews Big Freedia Parquet Courts How To Dress Well Echo And The Bunnymen
COMMUNITY Literary Arts 23 Portland poet Robert Duncan Gray June Literary Events
Neighborhood of the Month 25 St. Johns
LIVE MUSIC
Visual Arts 26 Portland artist Josh Burd
11 Musicalendar An encompassing overview of concerts in PDX for the upcoming month. But that’s not all–the Musicalendar is complete with a venue map to help get you around town.
13 Reviews The Helio Sequence Acoustic
more online at elevenpdx.com
HELLO PORTLAND! Here at ELEVEN, it is our goal to help facilitate positive change in our community, or in other words, make it awesome. We now celebrate three years (and hopefully many more) of doin' just that. Because we couldn't have done it without you, we're throwing a party on Friday, June 13 at Holocene from 6-9pm featuring a show of select art and entertainment. We will have a handful of the amazing, LOCAL visual artists that have been featured in ELEVEN, issues 1-36, as well as a musical performance by the cover feature from issue 37, Blouse. Sound good? Yes. We can't wait to hang out with you there. As always, thank you so much for your love and support, and thank you for the determined pursuit of your own goals. It takes every part of the spaceship, down to each nut and bolt, to make the whole project fly. (Oh, clichés.) Teamwork makes the dream work, and the dream of 2014 is alive in Portland. Woot! »
- Ryan Dornfeld, Editor in Chief
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EXECUTIVE STAFF EDITOR IN CHIEF Ryan Dornfeld CREATIVE DIRECTOR Dustin Mills SENIOR STAFF SENIOR WRITER Wendy Worzalla VISUAL ARTS Mercy McNab graphic DESIGN Dustin Mills Alex Combs COPY EDITING Megan Freshley COVER PHOTO Mercy McNab CONTRIBUTORS Brandy Crowe, Billy Dye, Elizabeth Elder, Eric Evans, Gabriel Granach, Veronica Greene, Rachael Haigh, Alisha Kelsey, Kelly Kovl, Scott McHale, Aaron Mills, Kela Parker, Matthew Sweeney,Charles Trowbridge photographers Justin Cate, Michael Herman, Mercy McNab, Aa Mills, Todd Walberg DISTRIBUTION / PROMO The Redcoats
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P.O. Box 16488 Portland, OR. 97292 get involved getinvolved@elevenpdx.com
GENERAL INQUIRIES info@elevenpdx.com ADVERTISING sales@elevenpdx.com online www.elevenpdx.com twitter.com/elevenpdx facebook.com/elevenmagpdx online editor Kim Lawson kim@elevenpdx.com eleven west media group, llc Ryan Dornfeld Dustin Mills SPECIAL THANKS Our local business partners who make this project possible. Our friends, families, associates, lovers, creators and haters. And of course, our city!
columns
AURAL FIX
JUNE
Each month, our expert team seeks out the newest and most exciting musicians in the world. After searching high and low, we’re proud to bring you the result of our concentrated efforts.
AT
1
2nd EAGULLS
18th DAWN OF MIDI
3rd BEN OTTEWELL
19th LILY & MADELEINE
4th STAR ANNA
20th SASSPARILLA
5th JUDITH OWEN 6th BATTLEME
21st LAURA VEIRS
TWIN PEAKS BUDDY
HEATHER REID WIDOWER
RARE MONK EMPIRES
BIG SCARY
SHANNON HAYDEN CASEY NEILL & THE NORWAY RATS MCDOUGALL YESWAY
22nd EMILY WELLS
YOU ARE PLURAL 7th ANTS IN THE KITCHEN ROCK 'N' 23rd UH HUH HER SOUL REVUE 24th WORLD PARTY 8th CURRENT SWELL GABRIEL KELLEY 10th MEIKO 25th ORQUESTRA PACIFICO 11th TOMORROWS TROPICAL TULIPS GUANTANAMO BAYWATCH
12th SHAD TOPE
13th KNRK 94/7 FM PORTLAND PRESENTS PASSPORT APPROVED - LIVE 14th JOHNETTE NAPOLITANO OF CONCRETE BLONDE
1939 ENSEMBLE PT. JUNCTURE WA
26th THE STUDENT LOAN STRING BAND
ASHER FULERO BAND
28th SCARS ON 45 29th MINUS THE BEAR SLOW BIRD DUST MOTH
30th SPANISH GOLD
CLEAR PLASTIC MASKS
15th AOIFE O'DONOVAN
KRISTIN ANDREASSEN
17th JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD ISRAEL NASH
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QUILT
The psychedelic three-piece Quilt have turned more than a few heads this year. And it is easy to see why—though their new album is a little less folk and little more rock than its predecessor, their self-titled debut from 2011, Quilt have a lighter touch than many other current psych groups. There is much to admire in Quilt– their gentle, folk-rock influenced sound washes over like a warm breeze, while their lyrics allow the mind to wander. One thinks back to a couple lines from “Children of Light,” off their debut: “We'll learn to forget the past / But we'll still remember something / Oh, a waste of time / Trailing something gone / On somebody's dime.” Golden simplicity, musically and lyrically. Quilt are a bit like a down-to-earth jam-band’s version of a dream-pop band—the sunny riffs of “Saturday Bride” and “Tie Up The Tides” off the new album make for two more obscure earworms that, in a better world, ought to be at least minor hits. It’s nice to see them inching closer to commercial success. This band is more or less pure Americana, and it’s interesting to reflect that a band which so much summons up memories of classic westcoast rock in fact got started at the Boston School of Music and Arts. Quilt stopped by Mississippi Studios back in April—if you missed them, give their new album a listen sometime soon. » - Matthew Sweeney
2
TACOCAT
Mix equal parts Bikini Kill, surf-centric pre-1980 Cramps, a dash of The B52s’ lyrical tomfoolery, and a fistful of Skittles. Heat to a bubbly froth in an oversized bong and garnish with a roll of Bubble Tape, and you might land close to Tacocat, the latest in the seemingly inexhaustible supply of fun, rad bands from Seattle. Yeah, that’s a mouthful, so just remember the key words above: surf-centric fun. Tacocat’s playful music skirts the raw edge between surf, punk, and psychobilly. You know how an unusually high percentage of Shonen Knife songs are about ice cream and buffalo, but you don’t mind because it’s their thing? Tacocat sings jaunty ditties about tampons, UTIs, periods, and Waterworld, and it’s totally accessible and danceable and great—whether you have a vagina or you’re Kevin Costner or not. I mean, you can’t believe these songs—each one is catchier than the one before. By the time you’ve heard the third one in a row you’re seventeen again and driving too fast with the windows down regardless of the weather. The longest one might be two and a half minutes—maybe three. They’re that kind of band. With a palindromic name like Tacocat, you wouldn't blame them if they played completely symmetrical math rock à la Bearcubbin', but they don't. Idiosyncratic yet completely inclusive, Tacocat deserves your ears. If this music doesn't amuse you, good luck—you must be a dry, soulless husk. » - Eric Evans
columns
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CLOUD NOTHINGS
Back in 2009, Dylan Baldi decided to drop out of college and be a musician. That could be the beginning to any cautionary tale of misguided youth. But because this is a music magazine, obviously, for Baldi, it worked. Cloud Nothings began as a solo project. Baldi posted songs he wrote to MySpace (remember MySpace?!), and like every sensitive-guy-with-guitar's wet dream, a record company came across his music— on MySpace (!)—and offered him an opportunity. This is not to say Baldi is said sensitive-guy-with-guitar. If you’ve ever heard Cloud Nothings' music, you know they can play the shit out of some music. Alternating between indie and noise/ punkish rock, or sometimes landing squarely in a mashed up pile of both, Cloud Nothings embrace the hard-driving, fuzzy guitar aesthetic that births frenetic energy and tight tracks with enough of the frayed edge to keep things interesting. Attack on Memory, the group’s third album, was a culmination of even-handed song writing, instrumental balance, and pace manipulation. It doesn’t move from track to track—or even moment to
moment—so much as it zags, jerks and prods. It’s got a touch of everything that encapsulates the group: Baldi’s coarse vocals battling the guitar for supremacy, heavy drum work reminiscent of ‘90s alt-rock, and the ability to segue from muddy instrumental meltdowns to a unified chorus. Attack on Memory ended up being a very well-regarded record, and it signaled the artistic and commercial arrival of a band that had always floored the critics but was still searching for a foothold with a wider audience. On the heels of last months Here and Nowhere Else, Cloud Nothings seem to have found a pretty favorable spot of musical real estate to inhabit. the new album manages to thrash more than any of the other records, while at the same time being somehow endearing—which is not a word typically associated with this group. It’s a dirty album, but every note and staccato drum beat is so tight and so attended-to that you can’t help but think they could really do whatever they want musically. And you know what? It’s true. They play the shit out of some music. » - Charles Trowbridge
QUICK TRACKS A “GIVING INTO SEEING” Falling on the second half of Here and Nowhere Else, this track is the album’s epitome. It’s relentless. It pushes and pulls, rages and subsides. It’s a great slice of Cloud Nothings at their most primal.
B “I'M NOT PART OF ME” As the first single off the album, this track is a testament to the group’s ability to make a fairly straightforward song sound fucking reckless, which is a good thing, of course. It’s got a pounding bass line, and Baldi’s vocals are scratchy and perfect. Dive in and submerge.
www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 6
new music
ALBUM REVIEWS This Month’s best R Reissue
L Local release
Short List
Big Freedia Just Be Free Queen Diva Music
Black Bananas Electric Brick Wall Camper Van Beethoven El Camino Real Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Only Run Craft Spells Nausea First Aid Kit Stay Gold
Bounce queen Big Freedia can cause a stir, but no apologies are necessary for that tour opener with The Postal Service or her in-your-face intensity of hip-hop diva dance music. Big Freedia commands that you get over yourself. The New Orleans native just put out Just Be Free, which is a crazy mix
of electronics, tribal club beats, and primal notions. The Big Easy is evident in brassy leads and second-line parade marching rhythms—they precede the breakdowns of "use that ass!" on songs like "N.O. Bounce." There are risque samples on "Dangerous," as well as choppy piano ("Lift Dat Leg Up"), stadium crowd noise, and sirens ("Y'Tootsay")—all leading up to their ultimate release, such as in "Explode," in which truth is spoken: "Release the wiggle / release ya anger / release ya mind / release ya job / release the time / release ya trade / release the stress / release the love / forget the rest." The intro/outro theme of a "modern future" pretty much sums up a fabulous world where you can have pride and selfrespect no matter what the haters say (especially noted on fave track "Ol' Lady"). The full-on energy of Freedia's work endures. It's about fun and movement. I mean, she led a crowd to set a Guinness record for twerking. » - Brandy Crowe
Gold-Bears Dalliance Imogen Heap Sparks Jack White Lazaretto Klaxons Love Frequency The Antlers Familiars The Donkeys Ride The Black Wave Buy it
Steal it
Toss it
Parquet Courts Sunbathing Animal What's Your Rupture?/Mom+Pop
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Sunbathing Animal, Parquet Courts’ follow-up to their full-length debut, 2012’s acclaimed Light Up Gold, sees the New York-based group of Texas transplants refining their craft to the hilt. Compared with Light Up Gold, this new record is more relaxed, having perhaps shed some of the rough-andtumble nervous energy of that debut.
Parquet Courts remain a first-rate rock band whose dry wit and caustic guitar tones will remind many of the finer moments of Pavement and The Fall. The album grows on you quickly. This band’s social misadventures have a lot of charm, particularly on “Duckin and Dodgin,” “Black and White,” and “She’s Rollin.” Lead singer Andrew Savage has fleshed out his lyrical style for this album, though the band habitually returns to the mode of songwriting used by their influences— clipped repetition of phrases and ironic sloganeering. Sunbathing Animal comes off as a sardonic surrender to life as an urban twenty-something. Alternately leisurely and frantic, with unpretentious lyrics and pareddown production, the album is a breeze (and arguably superior to Light Up Gold). It’s funny to think of it—twenty years ago, there was no shortage of bands that were likable in the same way as Parquet Courts. Now they are almost a rarity. Sunbathing Animal is a must-listen. » - Matthew Sweeny
new music
How To Dress Well What Is This Heart? Weird World
Tom Krell aka How To Dress Well comes from humble beginnings. His start came from releasing songs for free over the internet before compiling an album in 2010 and another in 2012. These first two albums were very wellreceived, gaining high marks from the likes of Pitchfork and SPIN magazine.
Echo And The Bunnymen Meteorites 429 Records/Caroline Records I’ve always known Bunnymen fans. Young and old. I’m always surprised by the certainty of their fanhood. It wasn’t until now that I am empathetic to their uncertainty in describing to me the attributes of what they really enjoy about the music, other than the unanimous testimonies to the divinity of their craft with statements like,
Now, two more years later, Krell is set to release his third production. This is a tough one to lock down. It’s really not all that bad, but his melancholy version of experimental R&B is not super easy to listen to at times. Its strange mix of romance and sadness sounds like makeout music for a game of seven minutes in heaven played in a morgue drawer. I do appreciate what he’s trying to do here. I like the fact that he’s at least making the attempt to do something different, but sometimes kids that do their own thing just don’t belong. Krell definitely has a good voice, but the overuse of effects can be distracting—and it seems like he’s overcompensating for being a bit out of his range. It’s almost like he was shooting for the stars and dinged his knee on the moon on the way up. The music features some pretty cool, chill beats, but they can get a little disorienting and spooky at times. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s just something you kinda need to be
prepared for. Maybe think some of the creepier Radiohead mixed with Boys II Men—and he does get his groove on at points. I would not call this a terrible album by any means, and it is refreshingly different. It would seem that mine is an unpopular point of view, but I just don’t think that this is what the world is looking for. Krell is a great musician, but I think he might want to consider reining it in a little next time. Sometimes change is a good thing. Sometimes less is more. By no means should this review discourage you from checking this guy out. I can see how some people could like it. I’m just not one of those people. »
“They’re fucking awesome,” or “They’re fucking awesome.” I would have been interested to read the reviews back in the '80s when they were more contemporary to see if they could elaborate a little more, or if I was left to my own devices and a bottle of my roommate’s whiskey to describe what Heaven up Here sounds like. You can imagine my relief when I finally decided to listen to the album. The opening track, which shares the same name as the album, sounded so much like not-The-Wall intros of Pink Floyd that I—no joke—checked the internet to see if David Gilmour had signed on. He didn’t. The synth in “Meteorites” has the same suspicious sense of calm you’d imagine a jockey would have after huffing some ketamine before the gate flaps open. When the album does finally bust open in the next three subsequent songs, it's with well blended vocal melodies and dangerous guitar that simmers violently like bacon grease in the synth. It is pleasant and can be
maximally enjoyed with headphones. The guitar on the first four songs is nothing short of clever, and if cranked at all would certainly put your coccyx at risk. Just when the album grabs you and you have that smile that you’re experiencing something special, the album goes flat and gets boringly repetitive. Abandoning the climaxing arc of the album, for all I know, is intentional—as evidenced by lack of creativity in their lyrics on “Burn It Down” and “Explosions,” as those words are repeated over and over and over until you realize that hum in the background that made your chair feel like a cloud of sunshine is now so unstimulating your self-esteem feels a little insulted. Disappointing, but I’m sure my disappointment in the conclusion is amplified by my enjoyment of the first four songs. »
- Aaron Mills
More reviews online at www.elevenpdx.com
- Billy Dye
www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 8
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Ed & the Red Reds | The Desert Kind | Hip Hatchet Alameda | Balto | Bevelers The Minus 5 | Roy Loney & The Long Shots Timber Timbre | Tasseomancy Illmaculate | Bearcubbin' | Natasha Kmeto Mount Eerie | Tom Blood Joe Purdy | Brian Wright Black Prairie Josh Rouse | Doug Paisley Brainstorm | Social Studies | Hands In Mrs Queer Dance Party | DJ Beyonda Chad Vangaalen | Cousins | Big Haunt Laura Gibson Joseph | Penny & Sparrow | Samsel & The Skirt Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires | Tango Alpha Tango An Evening with Juno What?! Brothers Comatose | The Lowest Pair Mystic Braves | Corners | Tropical Popsicle Veruca Salt | The Echo Friendly Matrimony | Run River North | There Is No Mountain An Evening with Gabriel Kahane The Delines | Fernando The Von Trapps | Three For Silver Hook & Anchor | Cataldo | Brian Howard Rags & Ribbons | Bearcubbin' | Rare Monk The Knocks | ASTR | Exroyale Just Lions | Animal Eyes | Bear & Moose
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Star Anna | Heather Reid | Widower Judith Owen Battleme | Rare Monk | Empires Ants In The Kitchen Rock 'N' Soul Revue Current Swell | Those Willows Meiko Tomorrows Tulips | Guantanamo Baywatch Shad | Tope Johnette Napolitano (of Concrete Blonde) Aoife O'Donovan | Kristin Andreassen Jessica Lea Mayfield | Israel Nash Dawn Of Midi | Big Scary Lily Madeleine | Shannon Hayden Sassparilla | Casey Neill & The Norway Rats Laura Veirs | Yesway Emily Wells | You Are Plural Uh Huh Her World Party | Gabriel Kelly Orquestra Pacifico Tropical | 1939 Ensemble The Student Loan String Band | Asher Fulero Band Minus The Bear | Slow Bird | Dust Moth Spanish Gold | Clear Plastic Masks
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Kongos | The Ecstatics Jamie Cullum Swan Sovereign | Swansea | Dean Gaylabration Official Pride Dance Party OMSI Science Pub: Chemoprevention Kirtan Wallah Tour: Chanting w/ Krishna Das
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Comedy Open Mic (every Sunday) Eye Candy VJ’s (every Monday) Open Mic (every Monday 8pm) Hideous Racket w/DJ Flight Risk Wild & Scenic Big Mo | Rey Totem | The Resistance Wooden SLeepers | The All Togethers Hont | Machine Vaudeville Etiquette | Autopilot is for Lovers Brakemouth | Ripley Snell | Seance Crasher Mbrascatu | Eric John Kaiser Consumer | Noah Peterson | Waffle Taco Songwriter Showcase Lil Ass Boombox Festival Luminous Things | Fog Father
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SHOW REVIEW: THE HELIO SEQUENCE ACOUSTIC
Big Black Cloud | Half Goon | Palo Verde Sex Crime | Cyclops | The Revel Set | Therapists Arctic Flowers | Criminal Code | Bellicose Minds MAY 10 | THE HISTORIC OLD CHURCH Hang The Old Year | Barrows Chasma | Contempt | Satanic Mechanic Scalped | Sperm | Crime Zone | Inversion The Minders | Eyelids | Spookies Vision | Cobalt Cranes | Love Cop Spectral Tombs Fine Pets | Monster Treasure | Chanterelles Crutches | Frustration | Wretched of the Earth Kissing Party | Shadowhouse | Lunch Bleest Chest | Thunders | Hats Off
knock back 13 the 2315 ne alberta THE SECRET SOCIETY 14 116 NE RUSSELL 1 5 6 7 8 11 12 14 19 20 26 27 28
The Wild Reeds | The Blackberry Bushes Travis Ehrenstrom Band | Urban Wildlife Coldwater | Alexa Wiley | Never Strangers The Caleb Klauder Country Band | Copper & Coal Ethos Music Center Showcase Branches | The Show Ponies | Blind Willies Lincoln's Beard | Vandella | Rob Srtroup Jacob Miller & The Bridge City Crooners Henry Curl | Purse Candy | Amy Lavere Haymaker | Monica Nelson & The Highgates The Doubleclicks | Molly Lewis | Shane Torres Pete Krebs & His Portland Playboys The Jenny Finn Orchestra
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ranscending the beauty and utter brilliance of The Historic Old Church, Portland’s own favorite, The Helio Sequence graced a small and white eagle very lucky audience with their 836 n russell first ever acoustic and unplugged Singer Songwriter Showcase (Mondays) The Rocky Krieger Band | Ken Hanson Band arrangement. This enchanting Three for Silver | Egg Plant | Fever array of melody was a last minute Wadhams & Huston charitable decision by the band Mission Spotlight | The Stubborn Lovers to support a local nonprofit, The Mufassa | The Crash Engine | Iron Works Old Man Canyon | Ryan VanDordrecht Children’s Book Bank, which Ancient Eden | Sell the Farm | Cosmic Rose collects and repairs used children’s The Hill Dogs books and gives them completely Naomi LaViolette | Tiffany Carlson Cedar Teeth free of charge to families in need. Mark Schimick Band | Jackstraw Evidently, this wonderful company Hart & Hare | Coastlands | Weather Exposed is also a friendly neighbor to the White Eagle Blues Jam The Coffis Brothers Helio Sequence’s Studio, never Marca Luna | Lavoy | Steph Infection once complaining about any of Ojos Feos the noise emanating from the Chris Baron & Friends Reverb Brothers walls. Naturally, then, after The The Weather Machine | Blanco | Willow House Children’s Book Bank showed interest in putting on a fundraising slabtown 1033 nw 16th concert held in the intimate Night Nurse | Chest Pain | Disenthrone splendor of this luxurious building, Fruit of the Legion of Loom | Brooding Herd Icarus the Owl | Chin Up Rocky | We The Wild and approached the band with Alex G | Special Explosion | Lee Corey Oswald the request to perform, The Helio Rocker Chixx Choir Sequence saw it as a challenge
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11 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com
and bravely accepted without hesitation. As the two intelligent and quick-witted individuals they are, Brandon and Ben decided that the delicate antique stained glass windows were potentially a bit too fragile for a traditional set. This series of fortunate events led me to be in attendance to one fantastic performance by the band. Reminiscent to the 1988 Cowboy Junkies Trinity Session at The Holy Trinity Church, The Helio Sequence was ripe with precision, leaving their audience of roughly 150 speechless with the avant-garde magic of completely morphing the tracks that we thought we knew. Anticipation scorched the attendees, gaining with each melody. Due to this extremely tight deadline, happenstance governed the nature of the setlist—this demi-collection of songs had been chosen in just two days, after sorting through their entire catalog attempting to unplug them. The chosen combination was
quite eclectic. Some of the songs were from their earliest work, including “Fallen Winter," from their second album Young Effectuals, released in 2001. Brandon mentioned between songs how it was a fulfilling task to re-stylize their tracks in such a different format, and it seemed well-suited because the two of them have grown so much since they began back in 1999. They called it Helio history being made, as opposed to the usual 10,000 db of sub-bass and sonic swirl, I liked the imagery! “Can’t Say No" from the band's 2008 album Keep Your Eyes Ahead was another listening treat; I’d never imagined it being capable of an acoustic vibe. I personally have used this track many times to help keep me motivated and push me up hills in marathon training, and now I have a completely new perspective. After just a few short days practicing the hour-long set, remarkably the compilation seemed astonishingly polished, and certainly the audience agreed. These two geniuses performed beautifully together, easily anticipating each other’s movements and rhythm as they have done so many times before. Imagine just how much skill is necessary to play both guitar and harmonica in conjunction with Brandon’s complex vocals, then mixing it up with shakers and new beats with Ben’s priceless percussion. Watching them in unison seamlessly integrating their artistry is just phenomenal. It was a top shelf affair. Personally I still marvel at the fact I was fortunate enough to witness this glorious event. One of the many highlights of the night was hearing a preview of a completely new unreleased song they have been working on in their NW Portland area studio. We will all be looking forward to the
features JUNE SLABTOWN
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Nuggets Night (15+ bands) Donovan Wolfington | Pope FEA Frightwig | It's OK! | LKN | Cockeye Truth Under Attack | Reach for the Sky | City-States Arcane Machine | Erik Anarchy | Brandon Sills Shannon & The Clams Bass Line Bums | Faithless Saints
alhambra theatre 4118 se hawthorne
Photo by Barbara Forrer
soon-to-be-released record, which is sure to be an instant classic. It was an amazing song, one that definitely excuses spending 1200 bucks on some new car speakers! Speaking of The Helio Sequence studio, a not-so-widely-known fact in the talent repertoire of these gentlemen is their spot on producing skills. Having recorded themselves for over 15 years now, I am sure they have every trick in the book up their sleeves! Brandon has even been known to record multiple voice takes in historic hardwood apartment closets just to get that perfect sound. Check out the tune “No Regrets,” also from Keep Your Eyes Ahead, for that listening treat—I never would have guessed that every voice on that track was Brandon's. Recently deciding to open the studio to other local bands for some kick ass album creation is yet another way The Helio Sequence is helping Portland become a greater city! I see a need for a local compilation studio masterpiece mix! In fact, rumor has it one of my other personal favorites (Tiger House) could be up next! Towards the end of the show, Brandon and Ben invited a special guest to the stage, Samantha Kushnick. This beautiful and incredibly talented cellist accompanied the band flawlessly.
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Bane | Turnstile | Take Offense | Young Turks Luciano | IKronik Diego's Umbrella Sage Francis | B. Dolan | Sleep Moving Units Emby Alexander | Bath Party | Hemmingway Garcia Birthday Band | Lewi Longmire Wussy | Buckle Rash Tarrus Riley & Morgan Heritage | Dean Fraser Pharoahe Monch | 9th Wonder | Rapsody Black Milk | Nat Turner Band
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MOLOKO
Taste the nightlife of Mississippi. Over 40 house infused liquors. Specialty absinth cocktails. Open until 2am every day. N PORTLAND 3967 N Mississippi (97227) 503.288.6272 molokopdx.com
hawthorne theatre 1507 se 39th
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Common Kings | Sammy J | Steady Riot! Michael Ian Black | Shane Torres Outline in Color | Miss Fortune | The Animal in Me | Elenora Unearth | Texas in July | Cruel Hand | Proven Murs | AiMayday Spirit Animal | The Hoons | Land of the Living Mewithoutyou | Dark Rooms King Buzzo | Steve Turner Without a Crown | Marla Singer | Citizen Patrol | Stab in the Dark Kindom Under Fire | Agnozia | Dead Last Place
VALENTINES
232 SW ANKENY
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Kaylee Rob | Alan Park & The 19th Floor 1 Appendixes | Cuddle Formation | Emily Reo 3
ALADDIN THEATER 3017 SE MILWAUKIE
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Victor Wooten Eels | Chelsea Wolfe Justin Hayward | Mike Dawes The Milk Carton Kids | Tom Brosseau Marc Cohn Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin | The Guilty Ones Uhh Yeah Dude Gauthier, Gilkyson, Miles - 3 Women & The Truth Rodney Crowell | Will Kimbrough Bob Schneider & Hayes Carll
EAST END
203 SE GRAND
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Honest John Plain | The Soda Pop Kids 20 No Tomorrow Boys | No Good Lovers
www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 12
features JUNE THE GOODFOOT
22 2845 SE STARK
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Polyrhythmics Rippin' Chicken | Klodz Sirkut DJ Anjali & The Incredible Kid The Congress Just People Jellyfish Brigade
owl social club 23 white 1305 se 8th theater 24 star 13 nw 6th 4 11 12 13 14 19
Detroit Cobras | Jujol | Panther Power A Wilhelm Scream | Direct Hit | Burn The Stage Wyatt Lowe & The Ottomatics |Buffaloes Rocky Votolato | Lotte Kestner | Kevin Long Jolie Holland | Jess Williamson The Supervillians 24-25 Doug Stanhope 26 King Khan & The Shrines 29 Peter Murphy
Photo by Barbara Forrer
THE FIRKIN TAVERN Located on the west side of Ladd’s, the Firkin Tavern features an astounding selection of craft beers to enjoy inside or on our patio. Art enthusiasts will enjoy a variety of local artwork on display and sold comission-free! SE LADD'S 1937 SE 11th Ave (97214) 503.206.7552 | thefirkintavern.com
street saloon 25 ash 225 sw ash 8 10 13 15 18 19 20 21 22 26 27 29
Born Cosmic | Panshot Pandion | Dimidium | The Hunt Haunted Spaceship | Purr Gato | Analog Mistress Blue Ember | Harps | Ask You In Gray The Gypsters | Beardless Harry | Noise Toys LiquidLight | Pine Othrys | Dirtnap | 30 Pound Test | Dead Last Place Blixa Fest (8 bands) Lojia | Lore Uprise Temple Hotel | Bent Knee | Dream Parade Cannabidroids | Brut | Masta X-Kid Moontalk | Nutcracker
26 ROTTURE/BRANX 315 SE 3rd
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Sutekh Hexen | Common Eider | King Eider SNFU & The Meatmen | My New Vice | Mr. Plow Sworn Enemy | American Me | Chainbound Havok | Wretched | Weresquatch | Warkrank Pelican | Tombs | Dust Moth The Business | The Attack | Chartbusters Ash Borer | Hell Ephemeros | L'Acephale Truncate | Andrew Boie | Jak | Tracy Why The Thermals | Summer Cannibals | The Ghost Ease
LOUNGE 27 TONIC 3100 NE SANDY 6 8 10 12 13 14 19 20 21 26 27 29
Chris Newman | The Protons | Toy Aesthetic Perfection | Panic Lift | Surgyn Eyes Set to Kill | Exotype Gordon Avenue | Jon Davidson | Eric Martin American Wrecking Company | Godenied Worthy | Acid Farm | jprez | YT | Exodub | PRSN DE/VISION Pulla Muscle | Nathan Detroit | Freaky Outty Ritual Healing | Anonymia | Blood Magic Hammer Down | Unlawful Order Guitar Gods Tour Skeleathal | Rude | Derogatory | Nekro Drunkz
13 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com
I would love to see the assortment of special guests invited to bolster and promote this wonderful music, should this become a regular event. Please bring her back if it does! One last fun tidbit of my experience was hearing the roar of the crowd when they finished. It rivaled some Rip City racket in that tiny venue and was impressive! Wanting nothing more than to offer the best show possible, Brandon did indeed return to the stage for one last encore song. I smile as I type this because it was so awesome and adorable. He didn’t have anything else prepared, so he played the only other acoustic song he figured he could cover. Apologizing in advance for potentially forgetting the lyrics since he hadn’t played this in years, he asked the audience for help if they would be so kind. Then he stunned us all with a heart stopping version of Bob Dylan’s “Boots of Spanish Leather". . . wow!!! It became apparent during the course of the show that this should be a regularly-occurring event in the world, or at least here in Portland. I had
visions of MTV Unplugged sessions having the entire audience silent for minutes at a time. It’s neat when you can hear just the breaths of fully captivated listeners. Clearly the band recognized this with the post-show mention of a potential acoustic tour—who will be lucky enough to open for that? Put your names in the hat now, because that would be yet another epic event. The band also mentioned the simplistic setup time and laughed about how much easier it was. . . and we all agree, boys—three cheers for an acoustic tour!!! Who knows, Portland, maybe it comes to pass that 150 people just witnessed a new Helio Sequence renaissance. » - Alisha Kelsey
Photo by Barbara Forrer
features JUNE dantes
350 w burnside
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5 6 7 8 11 12 13 Sir Mixalot | Smoochknob | Grand Royale | Cellar Door 14 Mickey Avalon 27 My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult 28
2 Cow Garage | I Can Lick Any SOB In The House Goddamn Gallows | Old Man Markley | Water Tower Errata | Moon By You | Foxy Lemon | Spirit Lake Spafford | Saloon Ensemble Nashville Pussy | Catl | The Yawpers Big Business | American Sharks Daydream Machine | Gaytheist | Miracle Falls
FIRKIN TAVERN 1937 SE 11TH
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Fox & The Law 6 Too Long Sparks | Sam Densmore 12 Sam Densmore 26
the waypost 2120 n williams
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HOLLYWOOD THEATRE A not-for-profit organization whose mission is to entertain, inspire, educate and connect the community through the art of film while preserving an historic Portland landmark. NE HOLLYWOOD 4122 NE Sandy Blvd (97212) 503.493.1128 | hollywoodtheatre.org
Laurelthirst pub 2958 ne glisan
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Freak Mountain Ramblers (Sundays) Kung Pow Chickens (Mondays) Jackstraw (Tuesdays) Shoeshine Blue | Lance Andrew Leonnig The Resolectrics | Sawmill Joe Lewi & Leftcoast Roasters | Rivera | Free Peoples Tree Frogs | Baby Gramps The Yellers | Jimmy Boyer Band Land of the Living | Robert Richter Old Flames | Corner Dust & Thirst Garcia Birthday Band Becky Kapell | Janet Julian & Friends The Resolectrics | Poena & The Lucid Dreamers The Coffis Brothers | The Sorry Devils Lynn Conover & Gravel The Yellers | Country Trash | Dunnoy Whiskey Barrel Rocker Simon Tucker Blues Band Ridgerunners Alice Stuart | Stevie Nicks Tribute The Yellers | Matt Buetow
analog cafe & Theater 720 se hawthorne
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noyouyesme | Thiefteam | Pailo | Rudement Sheep Among Wolves | Summer Soundtrack $intax | Splintered Throne | Agnozia Night by Night Mosby | Lucy Gray | Playfight Oubliete Deacon X Shinobi Ninja Lasher Keen | Blood of Kzasir | Utiseta School of Rock Festa Junina Bill the Pony | The Green Cardts School of Rock Dan the Redneck Soldier
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www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 14
15 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com
Photo by Mercy McNab
features national scene
Hilton’s vocals “are you one of us?” Immediately following, “Eyesight” is an upbeat rocker that affirms the band's decision to unplug the drum machine with drummer Paul Roper and bassist Patrick Adams’ commanding groove. Driving rhythm and a swirl of phased guitar punches make “Arrested” a personal favorite. Imperium should not On Monday, May 19th 2014, U.S. District Judge Michael
serve as a cause to question the band’s new direction, but as a
McShane overturned the prohibition of the practice of same-
snapshot of their obvious growth and a promise of more great
sex marriage, allowing gay and lesbian couples across the
records to come.
state to legally tie the knot for the first time in history. While
Take a journey through my conversation with Blouse as we
many couples were rushing off to sign papers and make 'legal'
discuss the origins of the band, the thought process behind
what they have been practicing for years, I was headed off to
the change in sounds between albums, their drummer falling
one of the city’s hippest cocktail bars, Expatriate, to interview
in love with a member of the Dum Dum Girls, how they feel
Portland’s dreamiest pop outfit: Blouse.
the Portland music scene has evolved since the band’s 2010
Following the release their sophomore album, Imperium,
inception, and some of their favorite local venues.
which was produced by former band member and current bass player of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Jacob Portrait, and put out by Captured Tracks in September of 2013, Blouse has been hitting the road hard, with extensive tours in Europe and most recently North America with the all-female rock group Dum Dum Girls. Although Blouse has received some skeptic criticism for the drastic transition in the overall sound and style between their self-titled debut album and Imperium—
ELEVEN: First of all, now that we all have libations, cheers to Monday and today’s federal overturn of Oregon’s ban on the practice of same sex marriage! Blouse/11: Cheers! (Glasses clink)
doing away with the vintage sun-warped-tape feel of the electronic drums and synthesizer in exchange for live drums and harder-hitting guitar and bass riffing—I see the change as a positive one, allowing for a more diverse and lively sound for fans to interact with. While still packing the feel of a band from an earlier, more-simple time, Blouse’s new material carries more of an air of psychedelic garage pop than the '80s throwback dream pop of 2011’s Blouse, which rocketed them toward acclaim before they had even played more than a handful of live shows. However, there are several standout tracks on the new album. Opening title track, “Imperium,” jumps right onto a warm, thumping bass line for a ride through scratchy guitar squawks straight into the catchy chorus echoing Charlie
11: Let’s start from the beginning; can you give a brief background on the inception of the band? Charlie Hilton: Was it three years ago? Patrick Adams: Yeah, the beginning of 2010. CH: I moved up from LA and met Patrick in an art 101 class at PSU. We just started talking about music right away, and a few months later decided to start playing in my living room. We went into the studio with Patrick’s friend Jake before we’d ever played a show, and recorded a few demos and put them online. Then a couple months later, we signed with Captured Tracks. And we had never even played a show yet, so everything happened pretty fast. We felt very natural and it just came together really organically.
www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 16
features national scene 11: To get an idea of your influences, what are some of your go-to artists or albums? CH: Galaxy 500’s Today and On Fire have been my go-to albums pretty much since we started the band. Arian Jalali: We all listen to a lot of My Bloody Valentine and The Cure, and as far as newer bands, Deerhunter and Anika. PA: We were listening to the new Horrors record in Arian’s car on the way over here. 11: Getting to your records, your 2013 sophomore album, Imperium, ditches the electronic drums and synth from Blouse for live drums and more driving bass and guitar. Can you explain the transition?
pressure on a sophomore record, because you are competing with yourself kind of, and you’re referencing yourself a little bit—though we tried not to too much. But the songs wanted to sound that way too, like the songs that I was writing at the time, and we were doing a lot more jamming—we’d go to this cabin in the woods up by Mt. Hood. 11: Does the shift in sound between Blouse and Imperium have an effect on how you play live?
“ON TOUR, IT'S THE PLACES THAT HAVE KIND OF CRAPPY MUSIC SCENES ARE ALMOST MORE FUN TO PLAY BECAUSE PEOPLE GET SO EXCITED.”
CH: We felt like it was really important to try something new and not compete with what we did on the first album. Jake, who produced the record, felt like we should have a really definitive path forward, and he presented the idea of trying to avoid using synths and drum machines. We thought it sounded challenging and interesting and kind of scary because we didn’t really know how it would sound. There is definitely a lot more
PA: Well that was a part of Imperium as well; we wanted to do something a little more exciting live. The first record was fun to play out live, but we wanted to let go a little bit more. It felt like kind of a very tense set—I don’t really know how to put it. This allowed us to jam a little more. But I feel like we’ve stayed pretty true to the first record as far as live shows go. We still play it like it sounds. CH: It’s made the set so much more dynamic. We have to be more crafty about which songs to put next to which, because we don’t want to be too abrupt. In fact on our last tour we opened
ALL SHOWS ARE $5 AND START AT 9PM UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE: 6.3: DJ FLIGHT RISK FREE 6.19: BRAKEMOUTH|RIPLEY SNELL 6.5: WILD AND SCENIC SEANCE CRASHER 6.7: DEER LODGE 5PM PAY WHAT YOU CAN 6.20: FILM EVENT 8PM CUT BANK|DEER LODGE ALL STARS 6.21: INTERNATIONAL MAKE MUSIC DAY: 6.7: GREENLUCK MEDIA GROUP $10 MBBRASCATU|ERIC JOHN KAISER BIG MO|REY TOTEM EDNA VASQUEZ THE RESISTANCE RESI 6.25: CONSUMER 6.8: THE PHOENIX VARIETY REVUE 8PM $10 STOCHASTIC METTLE UNION 6.11: WOODEN SLEEPERS NOAH PETERSON|WAFFLE TACO THE ALL TOGETHERS 6.26: SONGRWRITER SHOWCASE CURSE WORDS ARE VERBS PRESENTED BY LEE AULSON 6.13: HONT|MACHINE 6.27: LIL ASS BOOMBOX FESTIVAL FREE 6.28: LUMINOUS THINGS|FOG FATHER 6.14: VAUDEVILLE ETIQUETTE AUTOPILOT IS FOR LOVERS AU 6.15: BABY KETTEN KARAOKE FREE EVERY SUNDAY: THE EARLY EARLY COMEDY OPEN MIC 4PM FREE EVERY MONDAY: BUNKER SESSIONS OPEN MIC 8PM FREE EVERY MONDAY: EYE CANDY VJʼS - IN THE BAR 9PM FREE
17 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com
features national scene for the Dum Dum Girls, and we felt weird even playing “Time Travel,” which is one of our very heavily electronic songs. It’s a song that we love to play, but it just didn’t feel appropriate, so that was a little bit sad, but at the same time it was interesting how some of the newer more guitar scratchy songs just made me feel more relaxed than playing some of the older songs. 11: Have you noticed a difference in response from the fans when you play the new stuff live? CH: Yeah, people get way more into it. Maybe it’s just because we’re a better live band now, because like I said, when we started, our first show was with Starfucker at a sold out Doug Fir, and we had never played a show before and we were just not really ready. It felt like for a while we were trying to pick up the pieces and play the record as best as we could, and now it feels like the live show is something totally different. It can stand on its own. 11: So you guys were just on tour with the Dum Dum Girls for a little over a month. How was that? AJ: Great. We hit SXSW like a week in, which was pretty exhausting, but it was just kind of so fun that I didn’t think about how physically exhausting it was until it was over. But it was definitely the best tour I have ever been on. CH: Our Drummer fell in love with a member of the Dum Dum Girls and he actually went with them to Europe to continue their tour. It was so fun to watch their relationship unfold every step of the way. It felt like we were in high school. PA: Well when you’re on tour, you’re basically joined at the hip. AJ: It’s like summer camp! 11: So with as much touring experience as you have, what have been your favorite cities to play—and how do they measure up with Portland’s music scene? PA: Phoenix was a really good show. AJ: Oh yeah! We stayed in a haunted hotel, so that was pretty cool. CH: Yeah that was amazing. Also, Montreal was one of my favorite stops. But on tour, it’s the places that have kind of crappy local music scenes are almost more fun to play because people get so excited. Sometimes when you’re in places like New York, or even in Portland, the audience can be really hard to read and just kind of quiet. And we’re the same way when we go to shows here, you know, because there is just so much good music and you see it all the time. But in smaller cities like Albuquerque, it was amazing. PA: Were you at the recent Connan Mockasin show at the Doug Fir by any chance? 11: No, I missed that one unfortunately; I heard it was great though.
www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 18
features national scene PA: It was really interesting, talking about crowds being hard to read—during his first song he walked into the crowd and told everybody to sit down and he laid and played the guitar [laughs]. I heard he’s kind of an eccentric performer anyway, but it took that to get the Doug Fir (crowd) to be like “Okay, you got us!” 11: Since Blouse first began in Portland in 2010, have you noticed any significant shifts in the city’s musical landscape? AJ: I feel like the biggest difference is that when I first moved here, there was an abundance of house shows, and that is seemingly gone now. It might just be that people reached the age where they can go to bars, so maybe there is a new younger house show scene. Also I feel like there are more and more bands every year in Portland. So like what Charlie said, in Albuquerque and other smaller cities—when bands come through, people get excited and everyone goes, so it can be surprisingly easy to sell out a decent-size venue. But in Portland, there is so much free shit every day to go to. A lot of touring bands that I’ve gone to see that I thought would be big shows have been empty, probably because there were eight free things to do that night. 11: What are some of your favorite venues or hangouts in Portland when you’re home? CH: I feel like another thing about Portland is that it’s such a small scene that you can get kind of jaded on some of the same old venues, so when you find a new venue that you’ve never been to it’s really exciting. We just played Star Theater for the first time. That place is really cool. I heard that Langano [Lounge] is closing. . . PA: It’s done already. . . My roommates smashed the windows out and kicked in the toilet there, because that’s apparently what happened there on the last night—they just destroyed it. AJ: Yeah they had an eviction party; people were smoking inside and smashing bottles. PA: I liked a couple small shows we did right before the record came out. We played Valentine's and that was a lot of fun, and we also played at this warehouse that our friend runs called Information Warehouse. AJ: I like playing at Mississippi [Studios]; I feel like they treat all bands really well there. 11: To wrap things up, if you could play a dream bill with any musicians live or dead at any venue present or no longer, who would you play with and where? AJ: I’d want to play with Nirvana at Satyricon. CH: Slowdive in Geneva! PA: Velvet Underground in New York. »
BLOUSE PLAYS LIVE JUNE 13 AT HOLOCENE FOR ELEVEN'S 3-YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION 19 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com
film
WATCH ME NOW
FILM AND TELEVISION
FILM REVIEW
I WATCHED ALL OF THE GODZILLA MOVIES ON NETFLIX SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO (BUT YOU SHOUD)
K
written by Rachael Haigh
aiju, Japan’s giant monster film genre, is an important archetype for 20th century storytelling. Beginning with Godzilla: Godzilla and his fellow beasts are much more than monsters. They are bleak reminders of the perils of nuclear war. In the wake of the Godzilla reboot, I realized that I haven’t really seen the originals. I’ve seen a few moments—Godzilla knocking down some buildings, a crowd running in terror—but I haven’t sat down and digested them. Netflix is streaming most of the first seven films (1954-1975), so I got a six pack and commenced. Unfortunately, Netflix is only streaming the English dubbed versions, which add an extra layer of unnecessary camp. The films in the original Japanese have a sadness and a subtlety that lets the moral message shine through without the cheese factor.
TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA (1975) This one takes place right after the events of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, where another space princess and an alien syndicate create a monster out of “space titanium". . . I won’t give too much away, but lets just say a lot of things blow up. In this sequel, some aliens in disguise as corporate suits fool INTERPOL and get a disgraced biologist—who apparently worked for the “Ocean Exploitation Institute”—heavy handed metaphors!—to help them take over Earth by rebuilding Mechagodzilla with reclaimed space titanium. Meanwhile, the nefarious biologist has his own monster: Titanosaurus. After some pretty intense battles, Godzilla overcomes Mechagodzilla and Titanosaurus returns to the sea. There are exploding submarines, a cyborg daughter, unrequited love, aliens, and three badass dueling beasts.
GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS! (1956) This film was released in 1956, two years after the original. Fearing American audiences would not want to see a film starring a wholly Japanese audience, American producers re-dubbed the film and added scenes with the actor Raymond Burr (who would go on to play Perry Mason) playing American reporter Steve Martin (yep) who witnesses the destruction of Tokyo. All of the scientists get together and decide that he is a Jurassic beast come back to haunt us because humans have irradiated everything.
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film
GHIDORAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER (1964) A foreign princess visiting Japan tells everyone she’s from Mars and starts preaching about a coming disaster. Rodan the pterodactyl is about to be resurrected and some villains attempt to kill the princess. Meanwhile, King Ghidorah, a dragon with three fire-breathing heads, is planning to “turn Earth into a dead planet,” and—big surprise—the tiny twins return! And they will only ask Mothra for help against Ghidorah if Godzilla and Rodan will quit their caterwauling. Mothra has chat with the two monsters, during which Godzilla says he’s tired of being attacked by humans, and Rodan agrees. Luckily an agreement is worked out, and our monster gang throws a bunch of rocks at Ghidorah, who flies away, and the other monsters become pals. Godzilla goes from villain to anti-hero in this film, which is an important shift in the series.
GODZILLA'S REVENGE (1969) First: this is essentially a children’s movie. Second: this is the most ridiculous and nonsensical of all these films. There isn’t too much to say about this one. Cobbled together with stock footage (they essentially had no budget for this one), it stars a precocious little boy who is being bullied and also gets kidnapped by some bank robbers. Right. Fed up, he takes a ton of naps and dreams he is on Monster Island, hanging out with Godzilla. He meets a kindred spirit in Godzilla’s son Minya and gets some solid advice about how to defeat his bullies and escape from his captors. The greatest part of this film is Gabara, the monster with a cat face.
GODZILLA vs MONSTER ZERO (1965) Godzilla and Rodan our pterodactyl friend travel to Planet X at the behest of the inhabitants to fight off Ghidora one more time, except this time he goes by the name “Monster Zero.” If the monsters successfully defeat this three-headed scourge, the aliens will give humans a medicine that can cure all diseases. Seems like a good trade-off. This one also features an American astronaut played by television actor Nick Adams, and he is about as witless as they come. Anyhow, Godzilla has a great victory dance in this one, and it was worth watching just for that. This film also went by the name Invasion of Astro-Monster and was the first in the franchise to feature space themes.
S
ince everyone in the world decided to sit down and watch all of these movies and talk about them on various media, I narrowed my screenings to Netflix only. The films I did not watch are: Gojira (the original from 1954) King Kong vs. Godzilla (the first Godzilla film in color, 1962), and many others. They really are silly, magical explorations of a very important time in Japanese and American relations, so if you have a lot of beer and/or time, watch them. »
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film
Instant Queue Review While I was on a roll with Godzilla, I wanted to see what else Netflix had to offer in terms of early/campy monster movies that were not all Mystery Science Theater 3000, although it was tempting. Here is what I found! » - Rachel Haigh
THE ANGRY RED PLANET
(1959)
A space crew travels to Mars, and, well, things don’t really work out. Seen mostly through flashbacks, the crew members get closer to finding intelligent life. They run into some pretty dangerous stuff: a giant maneating plant, a giant amoeba who consumes everything in its path, and a giant bat/rat/spider thing. Beware the Angry Red Planet!
ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTER (1957) Netflix describes this one as: “Killer crustaceans unleash their wrath and their sizable claws on scientists sent to explore their habitat..” Roger Corman’s crab masterpiece is another parable on atomic radiation, and it's said that Corman told his collaborator that he wanted no scene to not be rife with suspense or action—and to be honest, they came pretty close to delivering on that request!
FROGS
(1972)
This is not exactly a monster movie, but this tale of amphibian revenge on a ruthless millionaire and animals victimizing a Bourgeois Southern family is pretty great. And Sam Elliott is in it!
making waves at Portland State since 1994
KPSU
Portland’s College Radio broadcasting 24/7 at kpsu.org
www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 22
community literary arts
Photo by Mercy McNab
Angeles. I had never read him before. A bunch of my friends went down, but I ended up staying home, smoking opium and reading Charles Bukowski for the first time—and started writing that same night. 11: So you majored in Art, but did you take any writing classes? RDG: I didn’t really take any writing classes at all. I was painting, and performance [poetry] is what made me write. So I was writing basically in the same format for three minute long poems for the purpose of performing. And then I took a class called Personal Narrative with professor Kip Fulbeck. It was all about finding the interesting parts of your life, and doing performances that were similar to slams but more performance art projects. 11: Like that “write what you know” thing? RDG: Yes, and Santa Barbara is full of people who think that they’re boring, mostly, and that their childhoods were boring. So it helped them realize that their little quirks were interesting to other people. 11: You eventually made it north. How long have you been
LITERARY ARTS
Portland poet Robert Duncan Gray
R
here? RDG: I’m on year six in Portland. I spent five years to do college. I took an extra year to do an honors program. I spent an extra year in Santa Barbara while my partner Lindsey was finishing school, and another six months hanging out in the Bay Area. And we just had to move, so we chose Portland. We’re very happy here. 11: You work with adults with developmental disabilities. How did you get involved in that? RDG: I started working about ten years ago. In Santa Barbara
obert Duncan Gray is an English poet living in Portland. He hosts À Reading, a monthly series at Valentine's. He has just released a new collection of poems called Ticklish Animal, and also performs as Cold Gold Chain
at several establishments. He manages all of this while working full time with adults with developmental disabilities. I met Robert at the Rose and Thistle on a crisp Saturday noon. I introduced him to the Northwest’s version of the Brass Monkey—a pint of Rainier with a splash of OJ. We headed directly to the big booth on the patio, or the “hot tub” as the regulars call it. Robert was slightly haggard from the night before, but clear-eyed and sharp-minded, ready to discuss his life, his work. and the current state of the literary scene in Portland. 11: Let’s start with a brief history. Where are you from? RDG: I was born twenty miles west of London, in a place called Surrey, and lived in Egham for the first four years of my life. It’s the place that Ali G sometimes shouts out to—the Egham Posse. Then I moved to Germany and lived there until I was fourteen, and then moved to California and did high school in the bay area. 11: What was your education? When did you start writing? RDG: After high school, I went to UC Santa Barbara. I was an Art major, and started writing my sophomore year there. . . I was doing sort of a music thing, and writing songs, and had some classes that inspired me to do mostly slam poetry. I specifically started writing the night the Bukowski film (Born Into This) came out in Los
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I got a job as a painting tutor for a man who lives with autism. His name was Noah Ehrenburg, and he was a fantastic painter. . . we would just hang out and paint together. That was a great job. He was very high functioning. He worked at the pizza shop, and [it was] mostly just getting beers and hanging out in the studio and painting. So when I moved here, I got a job with Full Life, and have been there ever since. I started as a direct caregiver, but now I am the Media Director there. One of the activities we do there is air a radio show once or twice a week. Then I also produce a television show there for public access. It gives them an opportunity to make regular wages, interview with local business owners, and be on TV. We have a lot of fun with it. 11: You also go by the moniker Cold Gold Chain sometimes. How long have you been doing this? RDG: Since I lived in Germany, I’ve listened to rap music. And I suddenly realized that here I was making acoustic music that I would never listen to, so I. . . just felt confident enough to do R&B and rap music, and so far it’s been pretty great. I’ve done a handful of shows and I have a little EP out on Bandcamp. And it’s had. . . a relatively mixed response! 11: Please tell me about this Park House project. RDG: Kelly Schirmann is a local poet and it was her idea. In Portland there are so many small presses popping up, so she had the idea of a press that functioned a little more as a record label in
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community literary arts that it’s just audio recordings. It’s called Black Cake Records. I just recorded some poems for her on a four track. Park House is actually my grandparents' house in Yorkshire. They lived on Main St, and instead of numbers, the houses all had names. Their house is just “Park House, Main Street.” Most of those poems are about holidays in England. 11: You’ve just released this book Ticklish Animal, and you recently had a reading at Glyph, downtown, where you read “The Letters Vincent.” Can you explain the inspiration? RDG: Sure, I bought the letters of Vincent Van Gogh at a used book shop, and for a bookmark, used one of those tiny moleskine notebooks. I started to take notes of words that struck me in the letters that were particularly beautiful or that I felt were poetic. A lot of it is just responses to the ideas in the letters. 11: Who are you speaking to in that poem?
RDG: Yes, but it’s totally possible for people to be totally into the music scene and know nothing of the poetry scene. But it is an interesting time right now, where things are coming together a bit. It’s really what Portland needs right now. Especially with the situation with rap and hip hop music. They need everyone else to come in right now and help. The police are targeting the rap shows— and I think it’s happening, that the people in the rock scene and punk scene can reach out a little bit to help. As far as the lit scene goes, it’s fantastic. It’s almost too much. I think in the last two days there were ten or so readings. It’s quite a special time. Almost like art and literature have come together in a way that people think to themselves that it can’t happen like that anymore. . . but people are just getting together and making shows happen and, without any resources, making books appear. People aren’t satisfied with how western society is panning out, but people are able to make a living wage and pay their bills and be responsible without having to forfeit their souls. » - Scott McHale
RDG: Specifically that poem is very fragmented. So it can change not only from
TICKLISH ANIMAL
who I’m talking to, but who I am when I’m
a poem by Robert Duncan Gray
talking. Which is why it is a weird one [to read]—I like it a lot and I wanted to read it, but it’s not exactly a performance piece.
We are in bed tickling ourselves, but you can't tickle yourself. That's one of the rules.
11: It seemed very stream-of-conscious
I am tickling you.
while you were reading it. RDG: Yes, I feel good when I’m writing
We should tickle more, I say, but you cannot answer because you are laughing.
things, and feel like I’m in the middle of something. It’s the same with the Eratures and the Whorehouse books. Sometimes you don’t feel the inspiration to write something out of the blue. . . but i feel there are many techniques you can use and inspiration you
We are tickled so much we can see the dirt under Death's fingernails. Death, I say, wash your hands before you touch my love.
can draw from other texts to just flex the muscle a little bit. 11: How does your writing go? Do you write all the time, or is it sporadic? RDG: I feel as though it’s a constant thing that’s going on in my mind, and then I take notes on it. I paint, I have a little studio in my basement for creative things, and I do creative work at Full Life. I have little notes in my pocket, and little notes on my phone—I often get to the point where I realize I have half a book of poems, somewhere. 11: That’s what’s great about technology. You can use that little notepad to capture gems before they vanish. RDG: Yeah, life is pretty busy these days—with jobs and general social things. Being an adult is pretty weird to me, I think. When I was in college I was pretty free to be high all the time and just work on things. These days, time is more fragmented. I can’t just sit down and write poems at any given moment. It’s more about taking notes and keeping the mind moving. It’s also about having ideas and letting them go. 11: It feels like the music scene and lit scene are really entwined at the moment. What are your thoughts on the literary scene in Portland?
LOCAL LITERARY EVENTS written by Billy Dye
POETRY PRESS WEEK 1 JUNE 7 | DISJECTA A unique display of language formats. Mingle with presses, publishers and poets as they come together for an event that unites upcoming writers and renowned poets like Zachary Schomburg.
BONE TAX 2 JUNE 21 | ANNA BANANAS ALBERTA A raucous group of varying local poets hosted by the charming literary deviant Ross Robbins. A friendly group of listeners and published writers who make for a great introduction to the Portland literary scene.
À READING #7 3 JUNE 29 | VALENTINES Becoming a featured spot in Portland hosted by this month’s Robert Duncan Gray. If you enjoyed the interview, then check out his celebration of literary performances and get entrenched in the writing community. »
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10 Location photos by Mercy McNab
1. JAZZY VINTAGE VINYL
Vinyl Resting Place - 8332 N Lombard St
3. NO FINER DINER
Patties Home Plate Cafe - 8501 N Lombard St
2. SPECIALTY FILM & VIDEO
Blue Moon Camera & Machine - 8417 N Lombard St
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BEST OF NE KILLINGSWORTH
Pro Shop t
4. PLEW IT TO IT
Plew's Brews - 8409 N Lombard St
5. DIG UP SOME TREASURE
Hound & Hare Vintage - 7322 N Leavitt Ave
6. FUNKY FURNITURE & DECOR
Kingdom Market - 8401 N Ivanhoe St
7. BANGIN' BREAKFASTS
John Street Cafe - 8338 N Lombard St
8. THE PASTRY FAMILY
Tulip Pastry Shop - 8322 N Lombard St
9. I WANT PIZZA!
Signal Station Pizza - 8302 N Lombard St
10. MAKE A NIGHT OF IT
St John's Theater and Pub - 8203 N Ivanhoe St
11. DISCUS AMONGST YOURSELVES Huk Lab Disc Golf Pro Shop - 8247 N Lombard St
community visual arts
Photo by Mercy McNab
11: What is it about digital design that appeals to you? JB: Digital art has allowed me to explore in so many different directions. Digital is so versatile. There's no wasted paper or paint. Things can be changed in a matter of minutes (or seconds). I've always been a computer nut. I find something soothing about staring at a screen for hours. I'm sure by the time I'm 50 I will have burnt my retinas out of my face parts. As for the process itself, I sort of had to learn something new from scratch—how to draw using a tablet. I still work from hand, painting away on a tablet for hours on end. Eventually what it turned into was a process not so different from the original analog process. Sometimes it's much quicker than getting my hands dirty with paint, and sometimes longer. If it were up to me, I would do digital art 99% of the time. I'm thrilled about it, but the galleries aren't. Fine art is supposed to be one of a kind. In the digital realm, an original work can be reproduced an infinite number of times. Does this take away from the work itself? I don't think so. In fact, it's really irritating not submitting something to a gallery because it's digital, even though you know it's way better than the analog work. Sadly, that's the nature of the beast currently. 11: What is your biggest challenge when starting new work? JB: Just getting through the composition stage. Going to school for illustration forced me to really consider concept and to really nail it down before I even start anything. I sort of have that down,
VISUAL ARTS Portland artist Josh Burd
PORTLAND BASED TEXTILe PRINTING
mongst the serene setting of Laurelhurst Park between bouts of badminton and cold beverages, ELEVEN met up with Josh Burd to give us insight about his artistic creations. The scenery was perfect for sharing secrets about the mind of an artist—Canadian geese gawking while they swooped down to graze the blue green water, and millions of tiny flies swarmed just over the surface of the lake near our feet. It was one of those sunny Portland days that everybody loves, complete with skateboards, bikes, and blinding white bare legs. ELEVEN: What is your medium? Josh Burd: Digital illustration and watercolor. I graduated from PNCA with my degree in illustration. Getting the illustration degree really made me think so much more about concept and composition. 11: Where can people see your work? JB: My website is joshuaburd.prosite.com and I show at the Goodfoot gallery and Peoples Gallery often enough.
Mention this ad for a 5% discount on your first order (503) 752-8185
. www.spinneretgraphics.com
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but sometimes it still takes a while, you know? As an artist, you don't want to just give the message in your work to a viewer, but you don't want it to be too difficult to figure out either. Finding that balance is key. After I nail down a concept, I can just make. The making is the best, easiest part. 11: I noticed you had a series of illustrations with a Miyaziki theme. Everybody loves Miyazaki, right? JB: Doing the Miyazaki posters was a way for me to recreate the things I loved growing up. Miyazaki has something for everyone, not just anime nuts— heartwarming stories and amazing characters. I wasn't the kid who copied Marvel comics because he loved the characters. In fact I still can't stand cheesy superhero comics. I respect it, but I just don't like it. Since I never did the copying thing like most kids, I thought at 29 it would be good to do my own version of one of the things I liked growing up.
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11: Who is your greatest artistic influence/hero/idol? JB: My grandmother. She graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a masters in watercolor when she was in her mid-'60s. I always thought that was inspiring because it showed that no matter the age of the person, finding what you love and want to do in life is what matters. When she died, I got a bunch of her pastels and watercolor paper. I made sure that every piece I did on that paper was something from way inside of me. I'm sure she would be stoked! Oh, and another major influence was Dragon Ball Z. You have these crazy strong beings from another planet kicking the shit out of these crazy strong mental alien beings who basically have nukes coming out of their fingers or eyeballs. There is so much power there. Maybe my work holds some of that power. 11: What's your experience being an artist in portland? JB: Um, it's awesome because there's a huge community of artists here. Everybody is passionate about something. I mean even crafting, gardening, or cooking. That's also the most difficult thing. We are so saturated with artists that you feel like you go unseen most of the time. I feel like it's
community visual arts difficult to stand out because of that saturation. That being said, I wouldn't change it. Nope, not at all. I'm a server. I work at The Bread and Ink Cafe over on Hawthorne. Being around other people who are working jobs that they have to so they can do what they want to is actually really inspiring. 11: What are you currently working on? What would you like to be working on? JB: Ah, I would like to be working on video game art. Yeah, that's what I would like to be working on. Right now I'm doing patches, stickers and posters for a nonprofit called the Macdonald Center. It's cool because it's a freelance gig for a nonprofit, and that feels good. The Macdonald Center provides assistance for the large downtown homeless population. Everybody I've talked to at the center is super nice and I'm stoked to be part of what they are doing. 11: What do you consider your greatest artistic achievement? That's a tough one—you can skip it if you want. JB: Naw, I've got an answer. I think that my personal greatest artistic accomplishment is accepting the fact that no matter what territory comes with it [creating the work], I'm going to do it. You know, understanding that I just love to do this. I have passions for other things, but it's not even in the same realm as visual art.
11: What's your current obsession? JB: Flannels. Is that an okay answer? 11: Yeah, of course! JB: Okay, so growing up in Southern California, I dress like a skateboarder. There's no getting around it. I realized that I don't have that real suave hipster look, so the flannels are helping me get that. It's not really working, but I have bought like ten flannels. 11: Do you have a favorite term or saying that you've coined to describe your artistic style? JB: Um yes! But I can't remember it right now. [laughing] 11: Tell me about your skater series. JB: I've been skating since I was like ten or eleven, so I wanted to do a collection of skateboard designs that I could send out to companies that I want to be involved with. I wanted them to be really simple and still reminiscent of the kind of work that I do. But kind of, like, super playful, you know. The thing about skateboard designs, though, is there is a big history of skateboard designs looking kind of dirty—which my work really isn't. It's got kind of a clean look to it. So doing the really weird subject matter pieces
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community visual arts really allowed me to hold on to the stylizations I put forth and the concept—and the subject matter was maybe a little on the dirty side itself. I mean a rainbow coming out of toilet isn't, like, super dirty. You know, it's, like, happy. You're taking a shit and are you not stoked about it? Unless you had ten PBR's the day before. Then it's probably not the greatest time.
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"Electric Poles" Illustrator and Photoshop, 2013
11: How do you stay inspired? JB:Most of the artist friends I have in Portland are musicians— electronic heads. Seeing them experiment confidently while refining their work gives me a lot of inspiration. It really just gives me so much motivation to be around people who are just as inspired about their work as I am about mine. Other motivation comes from coworkers. We all support each other and know that at the end of a day we have the personal freedom to do what we love. 11: Let's have it, Josh. Who ya wanna give a shout out to?
Please enjoy Ben's painting "Jem Brite" (acrylic on board) decorating our inside back cover this month. Find more from Ben at mentalben69.blogspot.com
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JB: In particular, my friend Al-x. I call him Gizmo Zander. My buddy Joshua Shayhan a.k.a. Clark Nova. Both have huge hearts and are amazing musicians. Those people have given me so much confidence. Oh, and one more—Mr. Say. He's a total sticker head and an amazing artist. » - Veronica Greene