Eleven PDX Magazine April 2016 by Eleven PDX

The Triggering Town Review is a live performance of original work by some of the most outstanding musicians, poets and ﬁction writers from Portland and Seattle.

April 8th

7pm

Happy Hour   Book Exchange  Music

8pm

Show

$10

Alberta Abbey  126 NE Alberta ST   +21 only

Brandi Katherine Herrera Trinie Dalton Angie Sabin Julia Clare Tillinghast Emily Kendall Frey Naima Karczmar Joseph Mains Liz Mehl Slater Smith Bill Carty Robert Duncan Gray Connor Greer Stephanie Scelza Craig Dermer Derek Stackhouse Donald Dunbar Adam Peterson Anders Pierson Sam Watts JP Kemmick Matthew Kelsey Abilene Slim  James Curry-Castillo Ed Skoog Bamberger-Engel-Hines-Eave

contents

ELEVEN PDX MAGAZINE VOLUME 5

THE USUAL 3 Letter from the Editor 3 Staff Credits

ISSUE NO. 11

FEATURES Local Feature 13 Candace

Cover Feature 17 NEW MUSIC

Julia Holter

4 Aural Fix Escondido Crown Larks Sheer Mag PINS

COMMUNITY Neighborhood of the Month 24 NW Bucket Neighborhood

7 Short List 7 Album Reviews Tender Age Tacocat Frightened Rabbit Mogwai

Literary Arts 25 Portland writer Peter Rock

Visual Arts 27 Portland artist Jay Berrones

LIVE MUSIC 9 Know Your Venue The Know

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.

more online at elevenpdx.com

HELLO PORTLAND! To my dear 2008 self: You just moved to Portland! Good job. Now, good luck getting a job. Fret not, here's your future: In 8 years, the job market will be healthier... but home ownership and rent prices will have doubled. More bad news: A number of your favorite venues including The Woods, Backspace, Someday, Slabtown and Langano are gone. Historic houses are being replaced with tacky apartments. Traffic is a freaking nightmare. Another one of your favorite things will be displaced or closed each month. (So pet the heck out of the Belmont Goats while you can!!) Ok, good news time. While local bands like AristeiA, Southern Belle, Westfold, and countless others have gone, some have stayed, and many, many, many more will come. (Really rad ones, too.) They will play at the venues that you love, which have survived and thrived, e.g. Mississippi Studios, Doug Fir, Holocene and The Know [pp.9-10]. Many great things will happen. You, buddy bro Dustin, and friends will start a music/culture magazine to give the scene a boost. You'll celebrate 5 years of that project in June of 2016. That's life: Some things will go away; more come, so don't dismay; the memories will forever stay. Âť

- Ryan Dornfeld, Editor in Chief

3 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

EXECUTIVE STAFF EDITOR IN CHIEF Ryan Dornfeld ryan@elevenpdx.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Dustin Mills dustin@elevenpdx.com SECTION EDITORS LOCAL FEATURE: Ethan Martin LITERARY ARTS: Scott McHale VISUAL ARTS: Mercy McNab

ONLINE Mark Dilson, Kim Lawson, Michael Reiersgaard, Chance Solem-Pfeifer GET INVOLVED getinvolved@elevenpdx.com www.elevenpdx.com twitter.com/elevenpdx facebook.com/elevenmagpdx MAILING ADRESS 126 NE Alberta Suite 211 Portland, OR. 97211

GRAPHIC DESIGN Dustin Mills Alex Combs

GENERAL INQUIRIES info@elevenpdx.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Brandy Crowe, Billy Dye, Sarah Eaton, Eric Evans, JP Kemmick, Kelly Kovl, Travis Leipzig, Samantha Lopez, Ethan Martin, Scott McHale, Lucia Ondruskova, Gina Pieracci, Tyler Sanford, Stephanie Scelza, Matthew Sweeney, Erin Treat, Charles Trowbridge

ADVERTISING sales@elevenpdx.com

PHOTOGRAPHERS Alexa Lepisto, Mercy McNab, Aa Mills, Todd Walberg, Caitlin M. Webb COVER PHOTO Marc Sethi

LOGISTICS Billy Dye 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!

new music aural fix

AURAL FIX

duo took a break from each other but reunited in the Southwestern

up and coming music from the national scene

desert. Their feelings of loneliness and

ESCONDIDO

missing that special APRIL 5 | BUNK BAR

Jessica Maros and Tyler James are the two creators of

someone are major themes across their most recent releases,

the band Escondido. Since beginning their recording careers

and it’s safe to say

together in 2011, they’ve put out two albums, most recently

that producing an

their sophomore effort, Walking With A Stranger, out last

album this time around

month. Initial vibes hint at country, but it becomes clear

was quite a bit more

that rock music is at their core. Their Southwest style is

strenuous for them.

complete with stinging trumpets around the edges and that

That’s not to say

ever-present twang of their electric guitar. By channeling

that they fell short of

their inner Ennio Morricone and Fleetwood Mac, they’ve

a solid piece of work.

made it easy to conjure up memories of shimmering mirages

Together their two full-

and cacti, maybe the occasional lizard, too. But sonically,

lengths have earned

their sound draws easy comparisons to First Aid Kit and

significant recognition

Mount Moriah.

and they’ve embodied

Walking With A Stranger is the kind of album you take

Photo by Talia Shipman

a sound of their own.

with you on a road trip through a desert like Death Valley,

The past few years have seen tours with Lord Huron, The

which happened to be a major source of inspiration during

Lone Bellow and Wild Cub. Their songs have been featured

the writing process, though it was mostly produced in

in shows like HBO’s Girls and the film Sex Tape. After their

Tyler James’ bedroom. The intensive touring life on top of

recent SXSW appearance, they’re currently headed on their

recording another album hit Maros and James hard, so the

own headlining tour around the U.S. » - Gina Pieracci Crown Larks. The group captures the city’s eccentricities as an experimental noise psychedelic rock quartet. If they aren’t being played on soma.fm’s Drone Zone, they should be. The core players are Lorraine Bailey, Jack Bouboushian, Bill Miller and Linda Malonis. Together with touring guests, the group plays these multi-layered, very curious songs. You start to listen and you think you get the gist, then out of nowhere you hear something odd and ask yourself, “Is that a flute?” Yes, that is a flute. Listen for savage sax that gets thrown in (a lot) too. On last year’s EP Blood Dancer, “Blood Mirage” and “Fog, Doves” showcase the collective sounds that the Crown Larks so effortlessly put together. I keep trying to nail down where you will enjoy listening to Crown Larks the most. While shopping at Whole Foods? While

Photo by Karina Natis

CROWN LARKS

sipping on gin in the 1920s in an avantg arde, brickw alled speakeasy? While laying in your bed with your cat on a Friday night? If the Twin Peaks soundtrack was to be revamped,

APRIL 22 | THE KNOW If you have ever read a review of mine, you know I love talking about cities I have lived in. Now it’s Chicago’s turn. I lived a block from Lake Michigan, went to shows almost every night and remember cruising down Lake Shore Drive on hot summer nights. That said, it makes me happy to see the music scene is still alive and kicking with bands like

Crown Larks would be all over that. Punk vibes and essences of Radiohead and Explosions in the Sky take over entire parts of songs. The magic trick is them being able to incorporate so many instruments, including their voices, into songs that at the same time make no sense, yet make all the sense in the world. The work they are doing is so fantastic as it blurs the boundary between all the arts. Throw a wrench in your playlist with Crown Larks and keep an open mind. » - Kelly Kovl

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 4

new music aural fix Photo by Christopher Grady

it's not a shock that a band would co-opt aspects of '70s melodic radio rock. Many have. What’s surprising is how well that style blends with the no-wave lo-fi style that was originally intended to kill it. Sheer Mag (short for Sheer Magnitude, which reflects their sound pretty well) recall Cheap Trick fronted by VKTMS' Nyna Crawford. Well, OK, maybe that’s going too far: Cheap Trick in their prime were amazing and Nyna Crawford never had the range Sheer Mag singer Tina Halladay shows in song after song. If you like the tight guitar lines of shorthair rock bands like The Knack or Milk 'N' Cookies, there's a lot to like on Sheer Mag's latest 7" III (2016). "Worth The Tears," "Can't Stop Fighting," and especially "Nobody's Baby" all have a crunch and grit that says punk. But that lo-fi production can't

SHEER MAG APRIL 26 | MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS

mask the hooks or the radio-ready lyrics. Like Nashville's Daddy Issues does with grunge, Sheer Mag can recall the forms and features of '70s pop rock without falling victim to its excesses or limitations. A handful of 7” records is an admittedly small sample size

In an ugly past best forgotten, record labels and radio

to draw any conclusions about who they are or where they’re

stations actually had some say in how bands developed, and

headed. Is the distortion in the vocals a choice or a budgetary

that say usually had a lot to do with keeping bands easily

limitation? Without the indie production touches, you might

categorized by genre. Experimentation made in-store racking

confuse Sheer Mag with a pop band, albeit an outlier, like

and inclusion on primetime DJs' playlists more difficult, so it

pre-Tragic Kingdom No Doubt. They've got chops and hooks

was either discouraged or outright banned. Now that those

and attitude to spare, and the old rules don't seem to apply to

genre lines have blurred to the point that they're insignificant,

them. » - Eric Evans

5 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

new music aural fix

PINS APRIL 28 | DOUG FIR

The girls of PINS have been making headlines since their debut show in 2012 because of their all-girl lineup and meticulously cultivated stage personas. What they should have been making headlines about though, is not that they are an all-girl band, or that they are incredibly stylish, but that they are powerhouse musicians who are dominating the grunge scene in Manchester and bringing it worldwide. PINS was pieced together in 2011 by singer and guitarist Faith Holgate, who had been feeling depressed and knew music was the only thing that could make her happy. This drove her to start a project, and over the next year, through a handful of chance meetings and good luck, met and befriended guitarist Lois McDonald, bassist Anna Donigan, and drummer Sophie Galpin. From the start, these girls have meant business, wasting no time booking tours around the world and, in the span of just four years, releasing two full-length albums. Not only do PINS create fresh, cutting garage pop, but they also manage their own cassette label, releasing work from artists they find and love, like September Girls and Abjects. And PINS only grows more impressive from there. In the few short years they’ve been together they have

played a handful of festivals, including SXSW most recently. Five years ago, when the band was coming together, it doesn’t seem like any of these girls could have fathomed that this is where they would end up, and it’s clear they’re only going to grow from here. » - Sarah Eaton

QUICK TRACKS A “GOT IT BAD” Here the guitar blends seamlessly with the lulling drumbeat, creating a perfect setting for Faith’s voice to settle in. Everything is soft, lacking some of the grunge that other songs carry, sometimes needlessly. The quiet choral singing behind Faith’s vocals are a perfect addition to the song, setting a stage for the pastel softness their image conveys.

B “DAZED BY YOU” This song gifts you with a chorus so catchy you want to sing along with it before the end of the first listen. But then PINS does what we should expect them to do, even though we never will: they flip the entire song on its head. The twangy guitar speeds up, becomes dissonant, and everything breaks down into a satisfying cacophony that leaves you feeling breathless and intrigued.

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 6

new music album reviews

ALBUM REVIEWS THIS MONTH’S BEST R REISSUE

L LOCAL RELEASE

Short List Aesop Rock The Impossible Kid Autolux Pussy's Dead Bleached Welcome The Worms Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros PersonA Explosions In The Sky The Wilderness Guided By Voices Please Be Honest M83 Junk

L Tender Age

Disappear Here Sinis Recordings

The 1990s were a time in which different styles morphed and merged into music that was both edgy and oddly familiar, combing a style of jarring guitar, simple drumbeats and brooding lyrics. It’s a style that has helped deem the decade as being one of the best in music. This tradition is most recently shown in local band Tender Age’s, newest EP Disappear Here. The EP, a short-lived six songs, evokes a rhythmic shoegaze, noise-pop feel. The band is able to reconstruct the

Mean Jeans Tight New Dimension Parquet Courts Human Performance PJ Harvey The Hope Six Demolition Project The Dandy Warhols Distortland

Weezer The White Album Deftones Gore Buy it

Steal it

Toss it

Tacocat Lost Time Sub Pop

facebook.com/elevenmagpdx @elevenpdx

7 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

My girlfriend’s new favorite album comes from this Seattle pop-punk group. Lost Time picks up right where they left off in their last album, NVM. The album is full of solid, quick-paced songs that are easy to sing along with and assist in feeling cool with clever lyrics that capture a realistic picture of the Pacific Northwest’s intellectual, laissez-faire lifestyle.

intense reverb-heavy and dissonant feedback that trended in the early-to-mid '90s with bands like Sonic Youth, Primal Scream and Breeders. The group's dual female vocals arranged with layered guitars is reminiscent of bands like My Bloody Valentine. Each song is uniquely true to Portland’s music scene and is universally gratifying. From the get-go, with its tracks “Lowers” and “Delirium” the band shows their level of comfort with disintegrationlike synth and metallic beats, and both are tied together with ethereal vocal styles. The songs, though seemingly simple with their instruments–guitar, drums, bass, synths, vocals and more guitar– display a cohesion that bleeds together into a fervent trebly jangle. The EP is compelling and rides a wave of nostalgia with its fuzz guitar, simple melodies, augmented electronics and basic drum pulses. Disappear Here is meant to be heard loud, because at any lower volume its vitality would be lost–and Tender Age is able to update the early rock riffs and distortion with an intensity that when cranked up to speaker-rattling levels has an infectious end result. » - Samantha Lopez “I Hate the Weekend” unapologetically assigns fun on the weekends to traditional nine-tofivers, while our young NW population subscribes to working self-determined hours and knows the best nights at a bar are probably gonna be on a Monday or Wednesday (whiskey!). “I Love Seattle” playfully addresses the outside world’s concerns over the natural disasters scheduled to ravage our landscapes and push our culture further into a postapocalyptic way of living. The song says, “Earthquake? Tsunami? There’s still no place I’d rather be.” While I am cautious to compare our great city to our big brother up north, we are family relative to the way the rest of the world views us (for better or worse). Our values deviate from secular society’s norms and rituals (if you’re a Portland native, go to Wisconsin–not Madison–and you’ll see what I mean). It’s not because we’re stupid, its because we’re brave enough to have fun amid the impending doom rumored in our future. Tacocat’s music does an excellent job representing us to everyone else. » - Billy Dye

new music album reviews the darker fringes of Scott Hutchison’s

Dream” starts off as a nearly barren

psyche. He’s not very OK, and he’s not

piano ballad that backs Hutchison’s

quite at peace with that realization.

cries of “We died in our sleep last night,”

As the album progresses, there are

and the track crescendos and climaxes

tinges of acceptance, or at least an

with beautiful horns and sullen drums,

acknowledgement that things may get

as he states, “It’s been awhile since I’ve

better, but these fleeting moments

dreamed this.”

matter much less among the manic depressive ones.

Frightened Rabbit Painting of a Panic Attack Atlantic Records Sometimes life is bleak and

We gather a lot of information simply from the track listing. The

Painting of a Panic Attack acts

song “I Wish I Was Sober” is followed

as a kaleidoscope of frontman and

by “Woke Up Hurting.” “Still Want To

songwriter Scott Hutchison’s life; you

Be Here” is followed by “An Otherwise

can view it from any angle and it’s

Disappointing Life.” He’s not ready to

a goddamn mess. Each song paints

die, but he hates where he’s at. He’s

its own picture of Hutchison's past

willing to let go of past experiences,

regrets, lost loves, and hatred for life

while recognizing that they’ve caused

stagnation and the mundane. The track

damage, such as on the track “Blood

“An Otherwise Disappointing Life,”

Under The Bridge.” But, like the sunny days in March

sometimes life is beautiful, and healthy

features some of the most painful

people grow to appreciate each one for

bellows from Hutchison, and he says

that get you overly eager for spring, the

their own merit. Beauty in the sadness

he “just wants to wave goodbye,” to

songs “Still Want To Be Here” and “Break”

and sadness in the beauty, as we know

that life. We’re processing the current

act as cathartic interludes and releases

each emotion is prone to collapse into

state of his life as he is, with each

of the building tensions at play. We just

the other. This isn’t the case across

track having Hutchison reveal to us yet

hope Hutchison can find more of these

Frightened Rabbit’s Painting of a Panic

another reason he’s so morose. This is

moments in the future. For now, we revel

Attack. We’re getting exactly as the

reflected in the songs not just lyrically,

in the beautifully heartbreaking indie-

title suggests; an aural encapsulation of

but musically. The opening track “Death

rock he’s created. » - Tyler Sanford

group has focused on writing music for the screen, most notably the soundtrack for the French television show, Les Revenants. This is also the foundation for Atomic. In 2015 the group wrote the soundtrack for a documentary called Atomic: Living in Dread and Promise, and the album Atomic is the reworking of those original songs. The first track on the album, “Ether” isn’t immediately striking as a song Mogwai would make or even a song that fits within the framework of post-rock. From the very start “Ether” is lush with sound, taking all the negative space so played upon in post-rock and obliterating it with a synth rhythm persistently twinkling over the low sustain of guitar. The heavy instrumentation isn’t the only thing that sets this song apart though. “Ether” is resoundingly triumphant, in a way not often associated with groups like Mogwai or their compatriots, but everything about the tone in “Ether” seems like it could be played over a video of the first time a rover landed on Mars or a time-lapse of reforesting the Amazon.

It isn’t until much later on the album, on “Pripyat,” that the music dips into something more expected. This is where you find the familiar swelling spaces between notes, instruments communicating slowly with one another providing the chilling sense of melancholy we’ve come to expect and long for. “Are You A Dancer?” is one of the greatest songs on the album, perhaps in their entire discography, full of depth and paradox. Winding down in tone from hopeful, exploratory, triumphant, “Dancer” is pointedly dark–the faintest sound of piano in the background playing contrasts forward, reverb-heavy guitar—both aggressive and soft. But both of these only lay the groundwork for a violin line so beautiful it will linger in your memory hours after you’ve stopped listening. It is these simple and brief parts that they have written into this album that make Atomic feel like a masterwork; a collection so powerful, so passionate it’s difficult to imagine this isn’t what they’ve always been working toward. » - Sarah Eaton

Mogwai Atomic Temporary Residence It isn’t often that a band whose been releasing work for over two decades retains the ability to shock you, but Mogwai’s latest release, Atomic, is nothing short of stunning. As with all great albums it has taken several times listening through to even begin unpacking exactly how Atomic elicits such chilling, surprising depth. The album, by its nature, is a narrative work; for the last few years the

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 8

live music

KNOW YOUR VENUE The Know

the calendar fills up fast with bands touring from all over. For example, April brings classic power pop Paul Collins Beat, and local hardcore band Tragedy playing with Gaslight Terror (all the way from France). There is also a monthly stand up comedy night, called “In The Know." There is no vanity here. Even the mirrors in the bathroom are covered in graffiti and band stickers. The small 21-and-up venue, a bar on one side and performance area on the other, reaches capacity at 100, so it can get crowded and crazy. There’s a handful of pinball machines, a vending machine that sells quirky care packages, and an intense looking creature named Otis (by visual artist Meg Adamson, Photo by Ryan Dornfeld

who also did the snakes behind the stage) guarding the bar. The

t really wasn’t that long ago that the “Alberta Arts

drinks are cheap, and the menu is simple and simply there to

District” was rougher around the edges. It was

appease the OLCC.

largely boarded up and only dotted with a handful

Unfortunately, other Portland venues that catered to the

of small businesses. That meant it was still an

heavier, faster and louder demographic of music patrons,

affordable neighborhood, which brought a lot of

such as Slabtown, East End and Habesha Lounge, have closed

down-to-earth clientele to local bar, The Know.

recently and given way to more indie-centric venues. The

No one really knows how The Know got its name, but it started out as an internet cafe, theatre space and no-frills dive bar where the artists, hippies and Portland punks could unwind. In just a few years, condominiums and touristattracting eateries sprouted up on all sides of the humble venue, but The Know remains. It did evolve to hold more music performances, particularly of the D.I.Y., hardcore, rock, and punk scene. A lot of extra soundproofing had to be installed due to very loud, growling sets. Since the area is mostly residential right off Alberta Street, noise ordinances have the shows ending promptly at 11 p.m. Most of the employees behind the bar or working sound have been there from the beginning, and are artists or musicians themselves. They work hard to host the bands that visit, and have been involved with anarchist/punk zine The Defector as well as local label Poison Apple Records. The Know definitely caters to a more underground scene, and

9 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

Photo by Ryan Dornfeld

live music

Local band Guantanamo Baywatch. Photo by Todd Walberg

building that houses The Know also sold last year for a very large sum of money, and now The Know faces what could be a very large rent hike. This could mean having to find a new location. Co-owner David Rose says on one hand this could be a good thing, meaning a larger bar and concert venue with a full kitchen and outdoor seating. But on the other hand, their home and 11-year history is still on Alberta Street, and they would like to stay rooted there, despite the big money chaos closing in. » - Brandy Crowe

䘀刀䤀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㄀㨀一伀䄀䰀伀䠀䄀簀娀唀䰀䤀 ⠀一夀⤀簀吀䠀䔀䠀唀䜀匀 ⠀䄀䌀伀唀匀吀䤀䌀⤀ ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀匀䄀吀唀刀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㈀㨀䴀䄀一伀䘀吀䠀䔀夀䔀䄀刀簀䰀唀䴀䤀一伀唀匀吀䠀䤀一䜀匀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀匀唀一䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㌀㨀䬀倀匀唀倀刀䔀匀䔀一吀匀㨀䘀䤀刀䔀一唀一匀簀䴀䤀䰀䰀匀吀伀一䔀䜀刀䤀吀簀䠀伀吀匀倀䤀吀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀吀唀䔀匀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㔀㨀匀䄀䰀伀倀䄀一吀伀簀吀䠀䔀䘀䄀䴀䤀䰀䤀䄀刀一䄀䴀䔀匀簀䐀䄀一䤀䔀䰀䜀刀䔀䤀一䔀刀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀圀䔀䐀一䔀匀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㘀㨀嘀䄀䰀䈀䄀唀䔀刀簀䰀䄀刀夀匀匀䄀䈀䤀刀䐀匀䔀夀䔀簀吀䠀䔀倀䤀一䤀一䜀䠀䔀䄀刀吀匀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀吀䠀唀刀匀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㜀㨀堀刀䄀夀䘀䴀 ⬀ 圀䔀伀唀吀䠀䔀刀䔀䴀䄀䜀䄀娀䤀一䔀倀刀䔀匀䔀一吀㨀吀䠀䔀吀䠀䔀匀䤀匀簀䌀䄀䰀嘀䤀一嘀䄀䰀䔀一吀䤀一䔀簀䌀䠀䤀一䄀ⴀ䴀䄀刀䤀䔀簀匀吀䔀嘀伀吀䠀䔀圀䔀䤀刀䐀伀簀䴀䄀吀吀夀簀嘀䔀刀䈀娀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀匀吀䔀嘀伀吀䠀䔀圀䔀䤀刀䐀伀簀䴀䄀吀吀夀簀嘀䔀刀䈀娀䘀刀䤀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㠀㨀䌀伀吀吀伀一簀䈀䄀刀刀夀䈀刀唀匀匀䔀䄀唀簀圀䄀嘀䔀刀䌀䰀䄀䴀伀刀䈀䔀䰀䰀伀圀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀匀䄀吀唀刀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㤀㨀匀倀䤀刀䤀吀伀䘀㈀㘀簀䴀䄀䰀䄀䌀䠀䤀䜀刀䄀䠀䄀䴀簀䐀伀一䰀䄀一䜀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀匀唀一䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㄀㨀䄀䰀䔀堀䄀䐀䔀堀䄀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀圀䔀䐀一䔀匀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㄀㌀㨀䠀䤀䜀䠀䘀䤀嘀䔀䐀䄀一䜀䔀刀簀䌀䄀匀吀䰀䔀匀簀匀吀伀一䔀刀䌀伀一吀刀伀䰀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀吀䠀唀刀匀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㄀㐀㨀䔀䄀䌀䠀䈀伀吀䠀簀䈀刀唀吀簀刀䤀伀吀䄀䘀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀䘀刀䤀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㄀㔀㨀䜀刀䔀䔀一䰀唀䌀䬀䴀䔀䐀䤀䄀䜀刀伀唀倀倀刀䔀匀䔀一吀匀㨀匀䄀一䄀一䐀刀䔀圀匀簀䈀䤀䜀䴀伀簀䰀䄀一䜀簀匀䄀䴀唀䔀䰀吀䠀䔀㄀匀吀簀䐀刀䔀圀䰀伀䌀匀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㠀䐀刀䔀圀䰀伀䌀匀匀䄀吀唀刀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㄀㘀㨀䌀䄀䴀䈀刀䤀䄀一䔀堀倀䰀伀匀䤀伀一簀吀䠀䔀䴀伀一䐀䔀䜀刀䔀䔀一匀簀刀伀䜀唀䔀䜀䤀䄀一吀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀匀唀一䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㄀㜀㨀匀䔀䰀䘀䜀刀伀唀倀倀刀䔀匀䔀一吀匀㨀䌀䄀吀䠀䔀䐀刀䄀䰀倀䄀刀䬀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀圀䔀䐀一䔀匀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㈀㨀䠀伀䰀䰀伀圀匀䤀䐀䔀圀䄀䰀䬀匀簀吀䠀䔀刀䔀嘀䔀刀䈀䔀刀䄀吀䤀伀一匀簀吀䠀䔀䐀䄀一䐀䔀䰀夀伀一匀簀匀䤀䰀嘀䔀刀匀䠀䤀倀匀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀吀䠀唀刀匀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㈀㄀㨀匀䄀一吀䤀䄀䴀簀吀唀䴀䈀䰀䔀䐀伀圀一簀䐀䄀一䌀䄀䈀䰀䔀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀䘀刀䤀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㈀㈀㨀䜀刀䔀䔀一䰀唀䌀䬀䴀䔀䐀䤀䄀䜀刀伀唀倀倀刀䔀匀䔀一吀匀㨀吀䠀刀䔀䔀匀䤀䜀䴀䄀簀吀䠀䔀䜀伀伀䐀匀簀䌀伀匀䴀䤀䌀䈀唀吀吀䔀刀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㠀匀䄀吀唀刀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㈀㌀㨀吀䔀一䐀䔀刀䄀䜀䔀簀吀䠀䔀倀唀刀刀匀簀吀伀堀䤀䌀匀䰀䤀䴀䔀簀䄀䌀䔀刀吀䄀䤀一匀䴀䤀䰀䔀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀匀唀一䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㈀㐀㨀䈀䄀䈀夀䬀䔀吀吀䔀一䬀䄀刀䄀伀䬀䔀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀䘀刀䔀䔀匀唀一䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㈀㐀㨀吀唀䔀匀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㈀㘀㨀䠀伀吀䈀䤀䬀䤀一䤀䈀䔀䄀一匀 ⴀ 倀刀䔀䴀䤀䔀刀䔀 ⴀ 㠀倀䴀⼀䘀刀䔀䔀吀唀䔀匀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㈀㘀㨀倀䄀刀吀夀䐀䄀䴀䄀䜀䔀䐀䨀匀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀䘀刀䔀䔀圀䔀䐀一䔀匀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㈀㜀㨀吀䠀䔀匀䔀䌀刀䔀吀匀䔀䄀簀圀䠀䄀䰀䔀匀圀䠀䄀䤀䰀䤀一䜀簀䴀䄀吀吀䠀䔀圀䘀伀唀一吀䄀䤀一䄀一䐀吀䠀䔀圀䠀䔀刀䔀䄀䈀伀唀吀匀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀吀䠀唀刀匀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㈀㠀㨀吀䠀䔀刀䄀䬀䔀匀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀䘀刀䤀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㈀㤀㨀吀䠀䔀䠀伀吀䰀娀✀匀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀匀䄀吀唀刀䐀䄀夀㐀⸀㌀㨀刀䄀䐀䤀伀䠀伀吀吀唀䈀倀刀䔀匀䔀一吀匀㨀䬀伀伀䰀匀吀唀䘀䘀䬀䄀吀䤀䔀簀䌀伀䴀䄀一䌀䠀䔀䨀伀䔀夀簀吀刀䤀䌀䬀匀䔀一匀䔀䤀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀␀㔀匀唀一䐀䄀夀匀㨀吀䠀䔀䔀䄀刀䰀夀䔀䄀刀䰀夀䌀伀䴀䔀䐀夀伀倀䔀一䴀䤀䌀 ⴀ 㐀倀䴀䘀刀䔀䔀匀唀一䐀䄀夀匀㨀圀䔀䔀䬀䰀夀䘀刀䔀䔀䌀伀䴀䔀䐀夀伀倀䔀一䴀䤀䌀⸀ 匀䤀䜀一唀倀䄀吀㌀㌀ ⸀

䴀伀一䐀䄀夀匀㨀䈀唀一䬀䔀刀匀䔀匀匀䤀伀一匀伀倀䔀一䴀䤀䌀 ⴀ 㠀倀䴀⼀䘀刀䔀䔀伀倀䔀一䴀䤀䌀䠀伀匀吀䔀䐀䈀夀䨀伀匀䔀倀䠀圀䄀夀䄀⸀ 匀䤀䜀一唀倀䄀吀㜀㌀ ⸀ 匀䠀伀圀㠀⸀

䴀伀一䐀䄀夀匀㨀䔀夀䔀䌀䄀一䐀夀嘀䨀匀 ⴀ 㤀倀䴀⼀䘀刀䔀䔀䴀唀匀䤀䌀嘀䤀䐀䔀伀刀䔀儀唀䔀匀吀匀䘀伀刀吀䠀䔀匀伀唀䰀

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 10

live music APRIL CRYSTAL BALLROOM

1332 W BURNSIDE

2-3 Dark Star Orchestra Santigold | Leileki47 Tinashe | Snakehips George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic Thomas Jack | The Human Experience Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine Parov Stelar Lush Courtney Barnett | Alvvays Down The Rabbit Hole Beach House

830 E BURNSIDE

3939 N MISSISSIPPI

11 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

NORTH WEST BROADWAY ST.

PEARL OLD TOWN 2

BURNSIDE ST.

405

26 18

GRAND AVE.

TA VE

MLK BLVD.

MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS

RUSSELL ST.

23RD AVE.

1 2 3 4 6 7 8 10 11 12 14 15 16

DOUG FIR

DOW NTO WN

3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 20 21 22 23 24 25 27 28 29 30

MLK BLVD.

4 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 19 23

WILLIAMS AVE.

8 NW 6TH

VANCOUVER AVE.

ROSELAND THEATER

MISSISSIPPI AVE.

SKIDMORE ST.

INTERSTATE AVE.

6 7 13 14 15 17 19 20 22 28

ALBERTA ST.

ALBERTA ARTS

15TH AVE.

11TH AVE.

WONDER BALLROOM

PRESCOTT ST.

128 NE RUSSELL

FREMONT ST. 24TH AVE.

HOLLYWOOD

KNOTT ST.

33RD AVE.

28TH AVE.

D. BLV Y D AN

BROADWAY ST.

LAURELHURST

21 29

GLISAN ST.

EASTBURN

426 SW WASHINGTON

MORRISON ST.

BELMONT ST.

11TH AVE.

8TH AVE.

HAWTHORNE BLVD.

HAWTHORNE 17

DIVISION ST.

L BLVD.

CHAVEZ BLVD.

CLINTON ST.

POWEL

CESAR

LADD’S ADDITION

RONTOMS

600 E BURNSIDE

KELLY’S OLYMPIAN

STARK ST.

1800 E BURNSIDE

8 11

HOLOCENE

1001 SE MORRISON

4 6 7 9 11 13 15 16 17 21 23 28 29 30

Dreckig | Copy | Amani Haley Heynderickx | Briana Marlea | Lilac

BURNSIDE ST. 3

The Joy Formidable 1 Marco Benevento 8 Elephant Revival | Mandolin Orange 9 Sza 13 Hieroglyphics 14 Moe. & Chris Robinson Brotherhood 15 Boyce Avenue 19 Frightened Rabbit | Caveman 21 Fruition 22-23 Say Anything | Mewithoutyou | Teen Suicide 29

3 10

8 9

Bunker Sessions Open Mic | Eye Candy VJs(Mondays) No Aloha | Zuli | The Hugs Man of the Year | Luminous Things Fire Nuns | Millstone Grit | Hot Spit Salo Panto | The Familiar Names | Daniel Greiner Val Bauer | Laryssa Birdseye | The Pining Hearts The Thesis | Calvin Valentine | China-Marie | Verbz Cotton | Barry Brusseau } Waver Clamor Bellow Spirit of 206 | Malachi Graham | Don Lang Alexa Dexa High Five Danger | Castles | Stoner Control Each Both | Brut | Riot AF San Andrews | Big Mo | Lang | Samuel The 1st | Drew Locs Cambrian Explosion | The Mondegreens | Rogue Giant Self Group Presents: Cathedral Park Hollow Sidewalks | The Reverberations | The Dandelyons Santiam | Tumbledown | Dan Cable Three Sigma | The Goods | Cosmic Butter Tender Age | The Purrs | Toxic Slime | A Certain Smile Baby Ketten Karaoke Hot Bikini Beans | Party Damage DJs The Secret Sea | Whales Whailing | Matthew Fountain The Rakes The Hot LZ's Kool Stuff Katie | Comanche Joey | Trick Sensei

1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 13 14 15 16 17 20 21 22 23 24 26 27 28 29 30

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 12

features APRIL BUNK BAR

10 1028 SE WATER 1 Tiburones | Death Songs | Kulululu 5 Escondido 7 Ali Muhareb | Moon Tiger

REVOLUTION HALL 11 1300 SE STARK 1 6 7 13 14 29

Ra Ra Riot | And The Kids | PWR BTTM Robert Cray Band An evening with Noel Fielding Thundercat Arlo Guthrie | Sarah Lee Guthrie Tortoise | Life Coach

THE KNOW 12 2026 NE ALBERTA 1 2 6 7 9 10 15 16 17 18 19 21 22 23 24 25 27 28 30

ALBERTA STREET PUB 13 1036 NE ALBERTA 1 2 6 7 9 10 12 14 15 16 20 21 22 23 27 28 29

THE SECRET SOCIETY 14 116 NE RUSSELL 3 8 11 15 16 23

13 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

LOCAL FEATURE

emember the color of sunlight that endless teenage afternoon as you picked up speed, your hands lifting off the wheel, alone and free in your car after passing the driver’s test? Or the first time you found yourself swept up, caught, hanging on the edge of a moment at a rock show with old friends in a new city, staring surprised at the beauty of strangers? Still feel the way the rocks and desert dust crunched beneath your back as you stared up at the midnight blue heavens stretched out over Joshua Tree? Portland’s Candace, by way of Minneapolis, will remind you that at least some people aren’t content to let their youth and dreamy ambitions disappear into a box of melancholy

Candace

memories after 25. These three girls are getting after it, and don’t let the critics mislead: Candace wants you to come along with. ELEVEN: Well let’s talk about your guys’ beginnings and moving to Portland. You came here from Minneapolis in 2012? Mara Appel: I actually came in 2010, and we were a band in Minneapolis for about a year and a half before I moved. The band continued without me when I moved to Portland, but we all basically absolutely needed to play music with each other still so we went on tour when I lived in Portland, and we were always kind of connected. Then they followed me four years later.

Photo by Mercy McNab

Sarah Nienaber: The two of us (pointing to Sarah Rose) moved out here almost two years ago. Sarah Rose: We just followed her. We had like five different drummers or something crazy like that. SN: In the time between when Mara moved and we moved we couldn’t hold onto anybody. I think nobody else was supposed to be the drummer. It just wasn’t right. Either we don’t do this band anymore or we move to Portland. MA: It was just as extreme a feeling for me being away, but moving away from my hometown was something I always wanted to do and so I had to do that, but being disconnected from the band was not really the best thing for me either. But now we’re all together in Portland again and it’s really great. 11: Does it feel like the Portland culture or perspective has seeped into your musical style or lyrics since moving here?

SN: Being in a new place and not having a lot of friends or social engagements, just because we’re new to town, at least for me, has forced me to fill that empty space with something. Feeling more alone out here has made us turn to the music even more than we did before. But not to say that we’re not a part of the place and that this place isn’t touching us every day. SR: I feel like we designed our lives out here to have the band be our first priority. SN: Yeah we got to start over and reinvent our lives. SR: We all live together, and we can walk to our practice space. MA: I love Portland, and we do have friends that we love and they’re the best. But we just happen to have a situation right now that’s very inexpensive and we can do this as much as we can because we don’t need to work all the time, and we happen to live together in a really cheap apartment. Since we have this dream scenario right now we’re just taking advantage of it and playing all the time. 11: You just made it into the Willamette Week’s Best 10 New Bands of 2016 as number nine, and the people who vote in that poll are people who are totally enmeshed in the Portland music scene, so obviously you guys are on the radar. How does it feel to be recognized by the Portland community? MA: It feels good to have so many people hear the music we’re making, that’s really the important thing for us, and it’s nice that people are embracing it. We want to make people feel a feeling. 11: How do you guys feel connected to the Portland music scene, the other bands, and how do you feel that you guys are doing something that is a little different? MA: Well we obviously have bands and friends that we love what they’re doing. Talkative, Ah God, Hands In, are some of those people. Dræmhouse from Seattle is one of those bands, who we’re about to go on tour with. There’s a cool stew of things that are going on, and we definitely don’t feel disconnected from that. But I feel like the term “scene” is a pretty weird umbrella term.

features APRIL SECRET SOCIETY (CONTINUED) Wesley Stace & Scott McCaughey The Midnight Serenaders | Bridgetown Sextet

WHITE EAGLE 836 N RUSSELL

TURN TURN TURN 8 NE KILLINGSWORTH

1507 SE 39TH

VALENTINES

1 6 8 9 10 13 15 17 20 22 23 24 27 29 30

232 SW ANKENY

1 2 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 19 21 23 28 29

HAWTHORNE THEATRE

24 30

1 2 3 8 10 12 13 14 15 16 19 22 23

3 5 8 13 14

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 14

features APRIL VALENTINES (CONTINUED) 15 16 19 22 25 28 29

THEATER 19 ALADDIN 3017 SE MILWAUKIE 7 Jonathan Coulton | Paul & Storm

8-9 Home Free Vocal Band

12 19 23 25

The Residents Present Shadowland Joan Osborne Cloud Cult Joshua Radin | Allison Pierce 28-30 Todd Snider

GOODFOOT 20 THE 2845 SE STARK 6 7 9 16 21 23 27 28

Radula (Tuedays) Ramblin' Rose Elektrapod Life During Wartime DJ Anjali & The Incredible Kid The Movement | Iya Terra Garcia Birthday Band Buddy Jay's Jamaican Jazz Band | The Bandalus Scott Law Band | Rabbit Wilde 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

21 21 CLUB 2035 NE GLISAN THEATER 22 STAR 13 NW 6TH 6 7 8 9 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 20 22 23 28 29

STREET SALOON 23 ASH 225 SW ASH 5 Eaton Flowers 6 The Adnas

7-9 NW Black Circle Fest 7

10 12 13 14 15 16 17

15 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

Photo by Jud Muir

SN: Music just because it’s in the same place geographically doesn’t necessarily have to have a connection outside the fact that everyone’s in the same place. I don’t feel like our music itself is influenced by very much outside of ourselves and what we dig. And I think that’s OK. MA: But we have a connection in the fact that we’re all here, we all play at the same weird sort of places, and have the same weird experiences, and there’s that commonality. But I think that–and this is a good thing–that it’s less of a club than is being conjured up in the imaginations of people. We’re all doing this grind; it’s kind of like a job I guess. We all have our weird hustle. The scene is there but I don’t know if it’s a 100% real group. SN: I still feel pretty new to it, honestly. Two years isn’t that long, and I think it’s only been in the past ten months that people have even noticed that we’re here. Which is fine, and I think as time goes on we’ll wriggle in there more and be more connected with more people. But I feel like that’s just starting. MA: I feel like as far as Candace and the music scene, we’re like kindergarteners. SR: But it’s weird because we may be kindergarteners here but this band has been around for six and a half years, and we were all in bands before that. So I don’t feel like we’re a new band, but we’re a new Portland band. MA: Sophomore year of high school perhaps. SN: We’re like 22 years old and we can’t get past tenth grade.

11: What does this album achieve that your previous LPs, EPs, and mix tapes didn’t? SN: Compared to everything else I feel that the sounds are most fully realized. I feel like the sounds for every song were carefully chosen, and carefully recorded, and carefully put together. I think that on the other albums we were always doing the best we could but we never really had the wherewithal to make those really careful decisions that I think make the difference between an OK sounding recording and a good sounding one. SR: This time we were able to book eight days in a row, and we had demos of all the songs done beforehand so we knew what we wanted to do, and we had notes and ideas for all the parts. We obviously experimented in there too, but we were very focused on this one, and it sounds more cohesive. 11: What does this album express best about what you aspire to with your art? SR: I think there’s better songwriting on this album. The songs are more interesting. That’s something we’ve all been working on, writing good songs. SN: And that’s, I mean, for all of us regarding music, what we love are songs. Not genres. Not even necessarily bands... MA: Just obsessed with songs. SN: Songs, yeah. All we want to do is write really good songs. And I think that this album is closer. I still think that we can do better.

MA: I think that we’re going to do much better. I love this album. But I’m really excited about the next one, because we basically have enough material to do that now, but there are a lot of logistical things that we have to do in order to do that next album. But I’m so excited for it and I think this album is a good peek at what’s about to go down. SN: It’s a good introduction to what we’re about to do. SR: We are also just better musicians, which is something we’ve always wanted to be. 11: Where do you hope to see Candace going after the album release? SR: We’re doing this tour in March, and then we were going to do another tour in the summer, and I want to do another one in the fall, and then have that fall one bring us to whatever studio we were going to record at, and then record another album before the end of the year.

L Candace

New Future Found Object Recordings

Candace, the trio formally known as Is/Is, have taken the energy of a new identity and channeled it into the confident and cohesive New Future. Apropos of the new name, New Future seems to chart a path forward that places the group’s sound into a gray area of genre melds. The instrumentals coexist in a space that is both aggressive and controlled, matching the fuzzy alt-rock sounds with the syrupy vocals. There are alternating moments of claustrophobic intensity, like opener “Wasted View,”

SN: This time next year we want to know that the next album is coming out soon. 11: What Portland bands do you really admire? SN: We’ve talked about our buds, Ah God and Talkative. I don’t know anybody in the band Sioux Falls but I really love that band. MA: Hollow Sidewalks. Our friend Nora is the front lady in that band. They’re ripping it up super hard. Hands In. Pure Bathing Culture is a band that we really like right now. A band that is kind of coming back that is an obscure Portland band is The Whole Wide World. I think they’re on Bandcamp, and they’re playing shows here and there. But my friends Josh and Charlotte, they have that band, and it’s some of the best music I’ve ever heard. » - Ethan Martin

juxtaposed with tracks like “Mirror Bird” and “Disappearing” that take advantage of the expanse when the vocals are pulled back a bit and the instrumentals toned down. Although the record runs a brisk 35 minutes, tracks seem to unwind at a surprisingly leisurely pace, suggesting both a calm control and a firm grip on the sonic ethos that pervades the album. The bass and guitar work are perpetually solid, and the drums are understated, allowing other rhythmic elements to push the songs forward. This balance is a nice change of pace from the insistence that percussion be loud, at the forefront, and the sole driver of musical pace. That Candace not only understands this dynamic, but uses it to extreme effectiveness, speaks volumes about the ongoing and future development of the group’s musical explorations. There’s an inherent maturity to the approach Candace has taken on New Future, both from a songwriting and structural perspective, and the stellar results are a testament to the focus the group has given the latest project. » - Charles Trowbridge

THE LIQUOR STORE 3341 SE BELMONT

DJ Manoj Machine | Pet Tigers | Die Robot

PANIC ROOM 3100 NE SANDY

22 23 24 26 27 28 29

1 24

DANTES

350 W BURNSIDE

7 8 9 13 15 19 21 22 23 27

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

FIRKIN TAVERN 1937 SE 11TH

Stiff Other Lip | The Wild War | Big Bad Artifice

15 23

28 LAURELTHIRST PUB 2958 NE GLISAN 29 ANALOG CAFE & THEATER 720 SE HAWTHORNE 30 THE WAYPOST 2120 N WILLIAMS

TWILIGHT CAFE & BAR 1420 SE POWELL

6 8 12 13 16 17 20 21 22 23 28 29

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 16

17 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

ulia Holter has spent much of her career making music that manages to somehow sound comforting and relatable, while still being the work of a songwriter who is clearly an artist in every sense of the word. Beginning with 2012’s Tragedy, a collection of heavily atmospheric sound collages, all the way through the captivatingly rich art pop of last year’s excellent Have You In My Wilderness, it’s always been clear that Holter is a top-rate and utterly unique talent. Take, for example, Holter’s unique way of approaching her writing process: on previous records she has a used things like the 1958 musical Gigi, the writings of Virginia Woolf and Euripides, (a playwright from ancient Greece) as inspiration for the record's overall theme. However, the always-evolving Holter decided to eschew this process on Have You In My Wilderness, instead opting to create a collection of separate short stories that are only loosely connected thematically– both in the music and lyrics. The resulting record is a gorgeous collection of off-kilter and densely arranged ballads that was one of 2015’s best albums. Holter is fond of saying she doesn’t think of herself as a singer, but instead as a storyteller, and that’s something that is certainly on display throughout her latest album. Much of Have You In My Wilderness sounds effortless: the languid pacing of most of the songs, the gorgeously put together arrangements and Holter’s warm voice mix for a wonderfully cozy listen. The songs envelop the listener like an old quilt sewn together by a loving grandmother, and are as comfortable as they are captivating. The recording process was anything but however, with Holter having a difficult time fully developing the songs from their initial raw forms. Whereas Loud City Song (2013) was a breeze to make, Have You In My Wilderness was Holter’s

“problem” child, perhaps because she wanted the record to sound so spacious and open. “The songs would just come out of me a certain way,” Holter has said of the process,”but then I had to develop them, and that was really the hard part, because it’s hard to see something raw, in its raw form, and then try to develop it and build it up into something that still maintains the same raw energy.” Both Holter and producer Cole M. Greif-Neill deserve a lot credit for emerging from the studio with such a fully formed and pleasantly effortless sounding album. Songs like “Lucrette Stranded on the Island” flow so freely you can almost picture a summer field at dusk, littered with dandelions floating on the breeze, and that sort of mental picture appeared for me often through the record. The song, like much of Have You In My Wilderness is also deceptive in the sense that it’s so pleasant and comfortable, you can almost miss just how much is going on. That theme–of getting lost in the gently rocking sea of pleasure that is Julia Holter’s music–is apparent throughout all of her albums, but is especially prevalent on Have You In My Wilderness. Although her latest record is probably her most straightforward “pop” effort to date, it remains wonderfully off-kilter. Jazz and orchestral flourishes emerge at unexpected, but perfectly timed intervals, rewarding multiple listens as layer after layer of the songs unfurl. As with her other records, Holter’s voice continues to impress– but this time around producer Cole M. Greif-Neill asked Holter to push her vocals to the forefront–and the resulting synergy between music and singing is fantastic. Although Have You In My Wilderness sees Holter eschewing her previous strategy of using a source material to build her stories around, she and Greif-Neill have done a fantastic job of retaining a sense of cohesiveness throughout

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 18

features national scene

Photo by Tonje Thilesen

the album. The record may be a collection of separate ballads, but both the arrangements and the nature of Holter’s lyrics keep Wilderness thematically unified. The sea, for instance, has a recurring role in these songs, from “The Sea Calls Me Home”, to the line “I swim to you…” in “Silhouette,” and an oceanic theme goes back to my imagery of a dandelion-filled field in that they both evoke wide-openess. On the title track, Holter (altering her voice once again) plaintively sings, “Tell me why do I feel you running away?” over a swell of aching orchestral strings and perfectly placed piano keys that sees the album out in grand fashion. Although Holter didn’t use a single piece of source material as inspiration on Have You In My Wilderness, the songs seem to have organically become a cohesive whole, with overreaching themes repeating themselves throughout the album. The songs on this album are about relationship dynamics: there are lovers being hunted, and others doing the hunting. Another waits, holding her lover’s coat while she dutifully (and perhaps hopelessly) awaits his return. Often the songs sound interconnected–if only slightly–like a batch of random snippets of a much larger story. It’s almost as if Have You In My Wilderness could be seen as portions of a much, much larger story arch, and it’s a testament to the both the album’s quality and Holter’s considerable talents. ELEVEN recently chatted with her about her creative process, the themes on Wilderness and more.

19 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

ELEVEN: It seems you often have a central theme to your records, which is very interesting, but I read you didn’t this time–is that always an organic occurrence, or do you consciously think about a theme when you sit down to write? Julia Holter: I have four records that people are mostly aware of (more that many don’t know about)—two of them (Tragedy and Loud City Song) follow a story, and two of them (Ekstasis and Wilderness) don’t. I find that sometimes it is inspiring to build a record around a story, just because a story can be a fun pivot point—you can feel free to work with a variety of sounds. But other times, I am just interested in exploring different musical worlds with some kind of general world in mind, but not really defined until the end. With Wilderness, I was thinking more sonically. It was the first record in which I wanted to work within a musical tradition—if '60s love ballads are a “musical tradition.” 11: You’ve mentioned that Have You In My Wilderness was a bit difficult to record and complete, why do you think that was? Did the departure from a central story thematically have anything to do with that?

features national scene JH: It was difficult because my studio recording process has been that I make fairly developed demos at home first, and then recreate them in the studio, and with Wilderness, there were songs that were very old for which I had never made proper demos keeping in mind the band. So my “demos” were really just finished solo recordings. So it was making decisions about the arrangement because I didn’t have a demo as a model. Also because I was wedded to them as solo recordings and couldn’t love the band version fully until I let myself. 11: Reading what you’ve said about the recording process was interesting, because these songs seem almost to be scenes from a relationship–or relationships. Any truth to that? Were they inspired by an event or did they just come from the ether? In a sense, everything we create is informed by our relationships I suppose. JH: I’m not sure why this question ever comes up, but it always seems to! Of course poets and musicians write about their lives to some extent, but what’s the point of knowing to what extent? Is it because the songs are less relevant if they are not 100% based on real events? It’s really confusing to me. Of course everything is not 100% based on real events, and of course some of it is inspired by real events. 11: I really like the title and was intrigued to see you mention that it had to do with the idea of male possession in relationships. As someone who grew up in the south and has since lived in NYC and now Portland, it’s interesting to me to see how that idea (of women being treated equally) changes where you’re located, care to expound on this thought? JH: I’m not sure exactly what you mean but I suppose ideas about women and their role are different in certain areas of the world and that’s what you mean? I wouldn’t say that the different places I’ve lived in have been oppressive for women in a political sense, in the times I’ve lived. It’s more about the history of western culture and the history of art really being through the eyes of men, even still to some extent, and that can affect our ideas of love still. The stories we read and the films we watch still revolve around this kind of possessive, aggressive idea of love, and I’m not even saying that’s a bad thing always. I have had a very free life as a woman, because I live in a big city in the U.S., and I haven’t faced many obstacles. But I’ve realized how frequently I like to play a man in my songs and I wonder why.

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 20

features national scene 11: Looking back, was having some difficulty getting

and it moved me and I felt like making music for it. I

the record just how you wanted it and stepping out of

know almost nothing about ancient Greek culture. It’s

your comfort zone writing-wise beneficial in a sense? Or

a coincidence that “Ekstasis” is a Greek name, it’s just a

again, was this just part of the process, and since each

word/concept that seemed evocative of the vibes on that

record is different this really won’t affect your process

record, but the album has nothing to do with Greek culture

going forward?

overall.

JH: I think my goal is to always step outside of my

11: Tell me about the film score you’re working on?

“comfort zone” and challenge myself, so I’ll keep doing that.

JH: I finished it last year, it’s a score for a boxing film. It’s kind of minimal and bluesy piano music with strings

11: Do your records feel interconnected, or is each approached as its own project? JH: Each as its own project.

and some saxophone. It was a lot of fun working on it, mostly with the film director Ben Younger. 11: After all of these long-winded questions about the artistic process, it’s time to get down to the real issues: is

11: What, if anything, does the fact that your first

that your pup in the “Feel You” video?

two records are Greek-related say? I’m interested to know what about Greek culture speaks to you, many storytellers are intrigued by history would be interested

JH: Ha, it’s my boyfriend Tashi’s dog. He’ll be home in LA when I’m in Portland unfortunately! »

in the stories of Euripides and Sophocles, does your interest go deeper than that? JH: Actually it says nothing—I only based Tragedy on a Greek tragedy because I happened to read Hippolytus

21 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

JULIA HOLTER PLAYS LIVE NEARBY AT SASQUATCH IN MAY AND PICKATHON IN AUGUST

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 22

CHAIN — M AILLE . c o m 23 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

community

NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE MONTH NW "Bucket" Neighborhood

10 11

405 NW 15TH AVE

3. WHAT IS ART?

White Space Gallery - 1439 NW Marshall

2. SORTED STYLIN'

Folly - 1005 NW 16th Ave

BEST OF "BUCKET" HOOD

1. WARM YOUR TURN

Le Happy Creperie - 1011 NW 16th Ave

NW THURMAN ST

NW SAVIER ST

NW RAELEIGH ST

NW 16TH AVE

NW QUIMBY ST

NW PETTYGROVE ST

NW 17TH AVE

NW OVERTON ST

NW NORTHRUP ST

1 2

NW MARSHALL ST

NW LOVEJOY ST

4 5

4. BAR ON THE CORNER

Triple Lindy - 1000 NW 17th Ave

5. DRINK YOUR PAYCHECK

Paymaster Lounge - 1020 NW 17th Ave

6. EVERYTHING AUDIO

Super Digital - 1150 NW 17th Ave

7. FINE WINE TIME

Vintner's Cellar of Oregon - 1111 NW 16th Ave

8. ONE FOR THE KIDS

Playdate PDX - 1434 NW 17th Ave

9. WHEEL KEEPS TURNIN'

Portland Bicycle Studio - 1435 NW Raleigh St

10. FRESH FISH

Mio Sushi - 1703 NW 16th Ave

11. SCHOOL IS COOL Childpeace Montessori - 1516 NW Thurman St

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 24

community literary arts lot of things... starting kind of younger, with Beezus and Ramona and then, traveling on through all of Laura Ingalls Wilder, which is very sister-intensive. I guess, you know, I'm always interested in writing about things I don't understand very well and that's something I will never understand. I think writing The Shelter Cycle changed the way I think about the world in general, but it also made me want to write about things that are invisible in some way, that are ineffable in some way, the ways in which we might be communicating with things that we can't easily see or apprehend. There's a story in my book, The Unsettling, called “The Sharpest Knife,” which is partially about a girl who finds writing in a notebook. It's a story, for something that I wrote, that I like quite a bit, but there was a question of whether or not I was going to answer where this writing was coming from. And in the story there is an answer for it, which I think is a good answer for that story, but it always seemed like I... not exactly bailed, but that there was another way to take that. So that was an idea I wanted to think about. I had, from The Shelter Cycle, and also from My Abandonment, somewhat, I had so much information about survivalism and children surviving in the wilderness that I was kind of curious about. So those were all things that were sort of around. As you no doubt know, everything we write is in some ways a reaction to what we just wrote, or an attempt to get away from what we just wrote or to make new, different kinds of mistakes. My Abandonment, the book before The Shelter Cycle, won this award called the Alex Award, which librarians give to books that were written for adults, ostensibly, that cross over to adolescents. It's a book that in many ways is the inverse of Klickitat, in that it's the story of a girl who lives in the wilderness and is integrated into the world. Photo by Scott McHale

LITERARY ARTS Portland writer Peter Rock

he work of Peter Rock is deeply indebted to Portland's many idiosyncrasies. He writes about man's connection to the natural world, about drifters and misfits, about a tenuous relationship with a mysterious spirituality. He's currently putting the finishing touches on an art book called Spells, in which he pairs stories with hand-picked photographs, and for which he received a 2014 Guggenheim fellowship to pursue. His first young adult novel, Klickitat, about two sisters struggling to come to grips with their place in the natural world, comes out April 13. Join him at Powell's that evening to celebrate its release. ELEVEN: Do you want to tell me about the genesis of Klickitat? Peter Rock: There're sort of practical reasons why I wrote it and then there are other reasons. Certainly one of the big things that drove me to write it was just thinking about sisters. I have two sisters who are very strange. My wife has two sisters who live about half a mile from us. And I have two daughters, who are, in fact, sisters of each other. And my wife's sister also has two daughters who are about the same age. So I've spent the last eight years, especially before they got into elementary school, driving these four girls. At the same time, reading a

25 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

11: Which is based off a true, Portland story. PR: Yeah, so I started hearing from a number of different people, and I have friends who write in different genres, and I started hearing from editors, “Why don't you just write a YA book?” My first reaction was like, fuck no, I'm an artist, why would I ever do that? And then, as I said, I was reading Laura Ingalls Wilder, who is just an amazing writer, just astoundingly great sentences. And of course, this idea occurred to me of what a story might be. At the same time, for an hour and a half every night, I was reading these books and thinking, why do I have an attitude about this, what is my problem?

community literary arts But at the same time, I guess, in terms of my psychic health, it's good for me to have projects I'm working on all the time, that may or may not surface. And I was getting toward the end of Spells and I was thinking, I'm just gonna write this thing a chapter at a time, I'm not going to get involved in a huge research project. I wanted to write something that was kind of just organically generated.

there are some gray areas, where editors are like, "I have no idea, but you're smart and it probably makes sense." The world of YA is a more commercial world, in some ways, but there is also more money for design, more money for time and editing. I know what it feels like to send something off when I think it's done, and this book I sent off five or six times with that feeling, and it kept coming back.

11: When you say organically generated, did you have a pretty good idea of what the book would be, or were you trying to be looser than usual?

11: Were a lot of those edits at the line level, over specific word choice?

PR: In some ways, with a book like The Shelter Cycle, which was very much based in history, and was very true to the events of that time, you do a lot of reverse engineering. So instead of a classic Alice Munro way, finding out about your characters and then seeing where they go, it's much more like, here are the events, what kind of people would be in this situation and then try and figure out who the people are. More trying to figure out the characters and the logic of the story. 11: So the story sort of molded the characters, instead of vice-versa? PR: With The Shelter Cycle, yes. But also, I was interviewing... it was the real people I talked to, that molded it. But with Klickitat it was more, I sort of wrote the first chapter and I looked at it and thought about what I would do, where it would go. It wasn't until a year or two years or so, that I had a kind of draft and I thought, what do I think about this? I didn't know. I hadn't been in contact with anyone, I hadn't mentioned it to anyone. So I sent it to my agent. I said, "I think it's a young adult book." And he read it and he liked it, but he said, "I don't see why this is any different than anything else you've written." Like, you have no idea what young adult is. And that turned out to be kind of true. There's a way to tell the story. The book is so much different than it was when I first wrote it. It was much crazier.

PR: No, it was more sort of questions of conclusion, questions of how clear can we physically be about a given situation. I still don't understand what all the rules of the genre are, but there are things in this that are problematic I realize. One is that, really dark and violent things can happen in young adult books, of course, but usually there is a logic to why they happen, where people who are punished, are punished justly, in some way. Especially, if there are things that happen that are beyond reality, they either happen in a world that is fantastic, and safely so, with its own rules, and not so much integrated with the real world, and they're explained at some point. And there also needs to be a happy ending. 11: So it was almost a question of how far can you trust your young readers to suss out the underlying meaning? PR: I believe, because I have children and I have a lot of faith in young people's ability to put up with a certain level of confusion and chaos and that they will recognize that as believable, as opposed to having everything explained to them. So those were some of the challenges. But mostly it was just a question of trying to figure out, who is this girl, what is her voice, what is going on with her, what are her hopes, what does she want, what can't she have? 11: You write about drifters and also the connection to the natural world a lot. Where did those twin themes emerge from?

11: Did you tone it down to help with that YA aspect? PR: I think I brought it into focus in different kinds of ways. I think one of the things that's true about my work in general is... my agent is wont to say that my greatest strength is that I'm a very mysterious writer, bordering on cryptic, and my greatest weakness is that I'm a very mysterious writer bordering on cryptic. Looking at projects to do, I'm always sort of thinking about, how can I get better, how can I challenge myself in some way. So one of my challenges this time was, if I believe I am writing a book that is for a younger audience, which, really, to me, it doesn't matter, but in another kind of inversion, this is a book that is ostensibly written for young adults, that hopefully adults will like. But I think clarity was a part of it. I have never been edited in such a severe way in my life. My editor would just say, "I'm thirty-five and I can't understand this, an adolescent is not going to be able to follow this." I think with my other books,

PR: I think the natural world part is something I've always been into. When I was little I would always carry around those Golden Nature Guides and I wanted to be a ranger. I see that now with my girls, who are doing all sorts of weird survival stuff, they're just so into all of that. And I think part of that is a reaction to the world we live in now where there's a million things going on, and people who want my attention, and there's so many distractions. A lot of that desire for a simpler life is a fantasy and it's delusional and I recognize that, but also there's something great about that yearning. When that father and daughter were found living in Forest Park, the reaction was so Portland, it was so delusional in some way, because people took it as a judgement upon us, that they seemed to be doing so well with so little and they were so happy and they just wanted to be left alone. Âť - JP Kemmick

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 26

community visual arts that if you have the gift, or are able to get lost into something beautiful to not be afraid to do that. 11: What made you choose collage work? JB: My girlfriend stabbed herself with an x-acto knife one day when she was cleaning and rather than paying mind to the fact that she had hurt herself I just got really excited that I found an x-acto knife. If it never happened I would have never stumbled into collage. I had done collage here and there in the past so at first it felt nostalgic and then it turned from just silly images into an OCD kind of cutting things out. As I made more and more compilations, the Photo by Mercy McNab

VISUAL ARTS Portland artist Jay Berrones

images that I selected seemed to start to talk to each other and form their

own dialogue, almost as if I had nothing to do with it. Then it started to come together as this sort of divine poetry that was happening and it became nice to be able to execute an idea immediately and graphically. 11: What is the selective process that you use to find

hether in some delicious new cuisine or

images?

conceptualized in imagery sliced up on paper, collage artist Jay Berrones knows

JB: It changes a lot, at first it was only about what striking

how to mix together the right ingredients

images I could find and how they came together. More

to stimulate your artistic palate. The

recently I’ve become interested in magazine layout and the

graphic compilation of vintage imagery creates a modern

history of magazines. I am really into Life Magazine and the

perspective eternalized by a commentary into the mind of this

history of magazine publishing being more ephemeral than it

Houston native’s art.

is today. Certain magazines have a different feel, reminiscent of different decades. I am really into the history and how

ELEVEN: What got you interested in art?

intensely talented the people were in the '50s making photojournal magazines with photo presses, etc. These are the

Jay Berrones: I’ve played music forever, it has always been a form of expression for me, my uncle always played

magazines that I have been collecting as of late, and getting back in touch with the grassroots magazine feel.

guitar and we always played together. I grew up on the blues, country, Tejano and all kinds of different music. There

11: Is there any common message or theme underlying

was also always skateboarding and drawing as a form of

the final products that you create? Some of it seems to speak

expression. Growing up in Houston, there is a lot of graffiti so

a lot to qualms with technology.

I also tried to get into that but it never stuck with me. All the stuff that I have been doing lately is a reflection of feeling

JB: It’s always been about ridiculing reality. A lot of collage

frustrated with feeling like I am not fully accomplishing an

tends to be surreal, similar to the Dada movement. Being able

expression through music or skating, and it lead to collage.

to put images together that are so far on a spectrum from each

A lot of kids like myself, didn’t really get too encouraged to

other is kind of like being able to reach into what is inside of

make or pursue art, especially not in South Texas, because the

the artist's head. A lot of technology is a symbol for today’s

focus is on getting a job, married, having kids and a family.

day and age: TVs, typewriters, phones, anything machine like,

Making my art felt like more like a civic duty, to show people

which offers me a chance to utilize images of these objects as

27 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

community visual arts a symbol of where our generation is headed with technology. In general I think my perspective is that through technology we are heading away from each other, which is kind of scary. 11: How has being a chef helped you in your artistic expression? JB: Food is a basic fucking need; you have to eat. The most basic and intriguing part of cooking food is the communal aspect. I am not interested in being able to stroke my ego about how good, cool or advanced my food ever was, but I learned how to manipulate ingredients to help to bring people to a table. I learned knife skills through cooking, but also how to make people smile, I never felt like a Picasso but I was able to facilitate making people feel happy. I think that is the best part about collage in general, the images are stark graphic and you can be immediately drawn to how

11: How do you think that being from Houston has influenced your artistic perspective? JB: I am pretty proud to say that I am from Texas. I have been to San Francisco and I have been around hard working artistic people, and it is cool to be able to gain some inspiration from that. Rather than make my art define me though, I also always crave to be able to be just a dude who just wants to eat some good food and hang out. Houston is a huge city, seven million people, and it’s also a huge ambassador of people who are just easy going and don’t fuss about much. It’s an extremely humble town, but people also have to hustle really hard. I like to make sure that at the end of the day I am still just being me, that’s what Houston people are all about. We don’t have any grandeur about being in the New York Times or anything like that.

profound images can be in juxtaposition to each other. There was a show that I did in Seattle, and people’s faces where just stuck like magnets to the collages, people gravitated easily towards having a conversation with each other as a response to what they were seeing. If a piece of art on the wall or putting a meal in front of somebody can have that effect of starting a conversation amongst people, then mission accomplished. 11: What inspires you to make art? JB: Confusion, and a lot of ADD as well. I draw a lot of inspiration from not having complete thoughts ever, and so each little image I cut out represents its own thought. By the end, if it comes together then it’s like I am making sense of the thoughts in my head. I am influenced by work ethic and the manner that people go and attack the things that seem challenging. One of my biggest influences that inspired me to be me and not worry about shit around me is Mark Gonzales, an old school skater that still skates really hard and still does off the wall weird shit. It’s inspiring to see somebody that doesn’t have to fall into the routine of the world around them because that is hard to do. My lady is also a very incredible influence, sometimes I make too many excuses and she makes none, she is a photographer.

"That's The Way Things Are Everywhere" (collage, 2016)

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 28

community visual arts We’re just a bunch of blue collar weirdos. I realize it’s not a destination or somewhere that people may consider to be beautiful, but if you know what to look for I think it’s also one of the most beautiful places. It’s filled with blue collar people that want and have the time and luxury of finding still somewhat cheap places to live and to express themselves. It comes out in a really cool way because it’s one of the most diverse places of this country with representations from every kind of culture and we don’t shy away from each other. The byproduct of that is insanely beautiful art, that looks and feels and tastes like a Mexican that lives right next to a Chinese person who lives next to a Jewish person, who all live in a black neighborhood. That was my upbringing, and so I try to exude that through my art. I realize that there is not that much of a boundary from one person to the next. If you don’t travel, your next best option is to look at art, because you get to get a taste of how people live and struggle. People should all express themselves so that another demographic could look at their work and gain perspective and understanding about their experience. 11: Any new shows or events coming up where we can see your work?

"Pilot" (collage, 2015)

JB: In June, I will be involved in a show at the Burnside Powell’s. Quick shout out to Kevin Sampsell, who introduced me to all the collage nerds in town. He also hosts a collage night every second Wednesday of the month for free at the IPRC on Division and 10th, it keeps getting bigger, which I am excited about because it means more people to talk to about cutting paper. In June, we will also be doing a skill share to look out for. » - Lucia Ondruskova

FIND THIS ARTIST ONLINE WWW.JAYBERRONES.COM INSTAGRAM: JAYBERRONES

Please enjoy Jay's piece "Crave Grave" (digital, 2016) decorating our inside back cover this month.

29 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com