Eleven PDX Magazine July 2015 by Eleven PDX

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WATERFRONT PARK

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contents

ELEVEN PDX MAGAZINE VOLUME 5

THE USUAL 3 Letter from the Editor 3 Staff Credits

ISSUE NO. 2

FEATURES Local Feature 13 Joel Magid

Cover Feature 19 Leon Bridges

new music 5 Aural Fix Computer Magic Vinyl Williams Black Honey

FILM Watch Me Now 24 A New World, Lost Expectations: A Look at Jurassic World

7 Short List 7 Album Reviews The Bird and the Bee Ratatat Lianne La Havas

COMMUNITY Literary Arts 25 Portland poet Tim Sproul

Visual Arts 27 Portland illustrator Carla Bartow

LIVE MUSIC 9 Know Your Venue Doug Fir Lounge

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! Whether you're recluding in a dank cave of air conditioning and electronic light or surrounded by greenery, smoldering under a fat softball sun, there's always a way to level up. Often it can be as simple as manifesting some tunage, and what could be sweeter than the honey-butter tune-y croons of Leon Bridges [pp.17-21]? Presently, not much. We're so honored by the opportunity, with this fiftieth (FIFTIETH!) issue of ELEVEN PDX, to continue to bring a wide variety of jams for all sorts to Portland and beyond. Local block rockin' such as Joel Magid [pp.13-16]. Visual jams the likes of awesome illustrator Carla Bartow [pp.28-30]. Literary jams and prose of poet Tim Sproul [pp.25-26]. Film jams something, something dinosaurs [p.22]!!! And of course we really couldn't have made it this far without the support of our incredible long-time business partners, and especially readers and friends like you. From all of us here at ELEVEN PDX, a heartfelt thank you, and we're thrilled to keep reporting on and from [Our 2015 winner for] the best music city in the galaxy: Portland, Oregon, USA. Âť

- Ryan Dornfeld, Editor in Chief

3 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

EXECUTIVE STAFF EDITOR IN CHIEF Ryan Dornfeld CREATIVE DIRECTOR Dustin Mills SECTION EDITORS LOCAL FEATURE: Brandy Crowe LITERARY ARTS: Scott McHale VISUAL ARTS: Mercy McNab FILM: Rachael Haigh, Bex Silver graphic DESIGN Dustin Mills Alex Combs COVER PHOTO Rambo CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Brandy Crowe, Eric Evans, Donovan Farley, Veronica Greene, Rachael Haigh, Casey Hardmeyer, Kelly Kovl, Travis Leipzig, Samantha Lopez, Ethan Martin, Scott McHale, Aaron Mills, Gina Pieracci, Matthew Sweeney, Charles Trowbridge, Wendy Worzalla photographers Mercy McNab, Aa Mills, Todd Walberg, Caitlin M. Webb

online Mark Dilson, Donovan Farley, Kim Lawson, Michael Reiersgaard get involved getinvolved@elevenpdx.com www.elevenpdx.com twitter.com/elevenpdx facebook.com/elevenmagpdx GENERAL INQUIRIES info@elevenpdx.com ADVERTISING sales@elevenpdx.com 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!

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 4

new music aural fix

AURAL FIX

UP AND COMING MUSIC FROM THE NATIONAL SCENE

COMPUTER MAGIC JULY 16 | MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS

Washed-out disco and synth are in, and Computer Magic, the solo project of 21-year-old DJ and blogger Danielle Johnson, is certainly following in the trend. Johnson, who goes by Danz, was born and raised in the Catskills in Upstate New York, she then moved to New York's Chinatown to attend Hunter College. She started her own music blog at the age of 15 and became a DJ in New York City at the age of 18, at places such as the Tribeca Grand Hotel and The Annex. It was while on hiatus from school and city-life at her mother's house in Tampa, FL that she taught herself how to make music. The music she makes is bedroom electronic pop–it feels whimsical and ethereal. Danz’s vocals range from Debbie Harry to the simplistic quality of the Human League girls, tied with the melody and perkiness of Altered Images. Danz is able to perfectly create layer upon layer of wistfully lo-fi electronic melodies and beats that she then adds her vacant coos over, the result of which is something to get excited about. Think MGMT meets Best Coast, the type of music the manic-pixie dream girl and coked-out hipster chick are listening to, and the music Sofia Coppola would have in one of her angsty-teenage-girl coming-of-age-films.

VINYL WILLIAMS JULY 23 | ALADDIN THEATER

There are a few obvious reasons why psychedelic artistry often expresses itself across a variety of mediums. For one, psychedelic music can be so aesthetically landscape-ish, almost conjuring an entire ecology with its diversity of sounds, that it encourages the mind’s eye to imagine a world of images in which to anchor those sounds. Taking psychedelic drugs directly blurs the lines between visual and audible sensation, producing bizarre overlaps that break down the illusory separation of our senses and turn it into one big

5 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

Photo by Computer Magic

Danz is a cyber-dreamer with real life musicality, and the combination of her and her laptop is true “computer magic.” She’s released three self-produced free EPs in 2011 and in 2012, released the Kitsuné:Orion EP with French label Kitsune. Her first full-length record, produced by Claudius Mittendorfer, will be released in Fall 2015. Her music is synth-pop revisited: it feels simple, but it’s not dumb–it’s 60’s bubblegum pop meets 80's new wave, and while listening to it you won’t be sure whether it was recorded 20 years ago or 20 years into the future. » - Samantha Lopez

experiential soup. Musicians have been exploring this link explicitly since the '60s, and the results have varied from kitschy kaleidoscopic visuals to the creation of fantastic artistic partnerships such as between Yes and the man who illustrated their otherworldly lyrics Roger Dean, or the new age paintings of Alex Grey and prog band Tool. Vinyl Williams is one of these artists who embrace that visual/audio nexus, using his skill as a painter and musician to take us wholly into new landscapes. His new album, Into, comes out July 25, two days after he plays the Aladdin Theater with Portland favorite Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Into is rhythmically fascinating throughout, and finds its atypical beats firmly planted in the tight-knit interplay between sparse bass lines and a heavily processed drum sound. It’s clear that Vinyl Williams is committed to producing music that challenges the listener, considering that the first two tracks, “Gold Lodge” and “Space Age Utopia,” both use an unusual 7/8 time signature. These angular beats become not jerky, but smooth and sleek when accompanied by the layers of almost bossa nova like chord changes coming out of the synths and guitars. His falsetto voice on Space Age Utopia in particular is reminiscent of Bebel Gilberto’s feathery and sensual tone. The other side of Vinyl Williams is his fantastic collage artwork that pulls images from all over the Middle East, India, and Africa, producing future-primitive landscapes that expand the aesthetic of his music. » - Ethan Martin

new music aural fix

BLACK HONEY

Photo by Corrine Noel

After slowly teasing fans and media last year with a drizzle of songs released without showing their faces, Black Honey, shrouded in mystery, simply let their music do the talking. Ditching the quinntessential band photo, the Brighton, UK group had only their TV themed artwork to accompany each track. You could even text the band directly with your burning questions to find out more, but the only way to physically grab a hold of a limited edition copy of their first fourtrack EP was to attend one of their secret shows last year. The four-piece features the sultry and soothing vocals of lead singer, Izzy Bee, over some pretty dreamy musical arrangements compliments of her equally talented bandmates: Chris Ostler, Tommy Taylor, and Tom Dewhurst. "Sleep Forever" opens the album of demos with Bee singing with a yearning desire: "I wish I could sleep forever ooh, I wish I could sleep forever with you." Second song, "Teenager," takes it a notch up as a welcoming raw contrast to the lead track, showing the UK group is not just a one note band. With the third cut, "The Taste," one can't help but dig this upbeat track, drawing attention to the psychedelic swirling guitars and backing vocals. The

EP's closing song, "Bloodlust," is reminiscent of 90s Dandy Warhols with a splash of The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour. But what really stands out is the double A-side single the band released earlier this year on UK label Duly Noted Records. Featuring "Madonna" and "Spinning Wheel," with the former taking an indie psych-pop approach with a garage sensibility and the latter a Spaghetti Western song that could easily appear in a Quentin Tarantino film (or perhaps on a Federale album). Âť - Wendy Worzalla

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 6

new music album reviews

ALBUM REVIEWS This Month’s best R Reissue

L Local release

The Bird and the Bee Recreational Love Rostrum Records

Short List Veruca Salt Ghost Notes Galactic Into the Deep Tame Impala Currents Joel Magid Pyramids

White Reaper White Reaper does it Again Omar Souleman Bahdeni Nami Owl City Mobile Orchestra The Chemical Brothers Born in the Echoes Vinyl Williams Into Sons of Huns While Sleeping Stay Awake

L Buy it

Steal it

Toss it

facebook.com/elevenmagpdx @elevenpdx

7 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

The Bird and the Bee are releasing an eagerly anticipated new album, Recreational Love, this month. The LA-based group consists of one bee, Greg Kurstin and one bird, Inara George, first pairing up back in 2006. Admittedly, I haven’t really been into them since 2007, when they released their self-titled debut LP. That album was chocked full of jazzy indie-pop toe

tappers adjacent to sometimes offbalance avant garde jingles (remember “Fucking Boyfriend?”). That’s why I was surprised when I put the album on and the first track “Young and Dumb” was straight up disco funk. The shift works for them. Inara’s voice is all at once soft, forceful, soulful, and dynamic; it sounds nice over some funky instrumentals. The next couple of tracks skyrocket into popville. The album’s title track is more smooth funk but it’s juxtaposed with a T-Swiftesque storyline about a man that wants his freedom and says he “doesn’t believe in love.” Sounds familiar. Luckily they get back to what makes this album great: that funk. The album ranges from more smooth funk (dat keyboard tho) to seducing ambience (lyrics like “...give me pills, give me love..”) and the vocals seem to be the perfect fit for all of it. The album ends with “Lovey Dovey:” a dreamy, ambient lullaby where Inara’s voice originates from some other dimension where melancholy and joy are the same thing. It was definitely worth the six year wait. » - Kelly Kovl + Steven Ouellette

new music album reviews

Ratatat Magnifique XL Recordings Duo Mike Stroud and Evan Mast are back after a long five-year hiatus, and instead of keeping with the sequence of LP3, LP4 and now 5- they’re calling it Magnifique. Though the sound is just as elaborate as the previous two, they’ve produced a more driven and resolved album this time. If the official “Intro” and “Outro” tracks aren’t any clue,

Lianne La Havas Blood Warner Brothers Records The first thing that comes to mind when listening to Lianne La Havas' lush and expansive new album Blood is what an impressive talent the London-based 25-year-old singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is. In her brief and impressive career La Havas has already opened for the likes of Bon Iver and Alicia Keys, played Glastonbury and The Isle of Wight festivals, had her 2012 debut named “Album of the

look to its title track to hear proper composure and a progression into the beat rather than the eclectic onslaught that was LP3 and LP4. As always, most tracks are guitar heavy and each ends with a radio scanning, vinyl scratching fade out. It adds to the pedal steel guitar’s quasi-retro feel, mostly felt in the stagger and sway of songs “Drift” and “Supreme.” They also introduced their first ever cover song using the pedal steel guitar. Springwater’s “I Will Return” sounds less grainy and Ratatat gives it a wholesome, renewed sound. These stand out tracks stray from Ratatat’s typical brazen beats. Mike Stroud’s finger placement on “Pricks of Brightness” is reminiscent of past popular guitar tracks “Loud Pipes” and “Desert Eagle,” but still comes out sounding fresh. Mast’s beats build a platform for Stroud’s guitar riffs that sometimes swell at unorthodox moments. Some of the most striking guitar stretches materialize at the end of their songs

but make for epic highlights. This is most evident in “Rome,” which begins with wonky riffs, then digs down for a slow-paced build up and explodes with lively shreds from Stroud’s guitar. There are no lyrics in this album though, that were sprinkled throughout previous albums. The closest we get to words are the voice scrambles sampled at the end of a few select tracks. Magnifique goes back to Ratatat’s roots, as the tracks are not overly complex. It’s guitar and synth, Stroud and Mast. They’ve dropped the drastic tinkering and toying with layers and it has resulted in a blend of electronic and hearty guitar picking. Their old sounds fit under the umbrella of hip-hop, with heavy drumbeats, but not many of their new songs fit that description except for maybe “Cold Fingers.” Even that track has a major guitar shred, following the album’s rock tendencies. It’s a good project for Ratatat, maybe even a safe one, but they delivered solid compositions that provide for a robust fifth album. » - Gina Pieracci

Year” by iTunes and enjoyed a concert in her London living room by frequent collaborator Prince! During the first minute of lead single and album opener “Unstoppable,” it’s readily apparent that this is going to be an opulent affair, and that La Havas plans on using as many of her considerable talents as she can on Blood. From there La Havas continues to impress with the murky funk of “Green & Gold,” which for my money is the album’s highlight and recalls D’Angelo, even if it lacks the wonderful “blunt dipped in honey and fine Cognac” vibe of his work. Therein lies my overall (and rather small) complaint with Blood; I could have used a bit more darkness at the edge of the songs, a bit more pain, a bit more… well, blood. However, if the album can slightly drag a little for listeners of my ilk, La Havas still entertains throughout. Beyond her luscious vocals, La Havas reminds listeners of her guitar prowess often on the album as well, from the nifty playing on “Tokyo” that’s reminiscent of Radiohead’s “15 Steps,” to the riffage on “Never Get

Enough,” Lianne busts out the axe with well-timed precision throughout Blood. A lot of credit should be given to both La Havas and producer Stephen McGregor for their ability to keep the bevy of ideas present on the album from becoming a messy, overwrought melange of sounds. One can envision this record being near the top of NPR’s list of the year’s best albums, as it’s so enjoyably listenable it’s easy to imagine your cool Aunt Sarah jamming to this at Christmas, Chardonnay spilling on the carpet while she grooves to the nifty funk that permeates the album. To some, this will be endearing and one of the record’s main strengths, to others, this will be exactly why they aren’t into the album. At times playful and delicate, at times sensual and funky, Blood is above all an enjoyable listen, and an intriguing peek at an extremely talented musician further developing her talents. While at times you may wish it was a little rougher around the edges, who doesn’t enjoy chilling with their hip aunt Sarah at Christmas time? » - Donovan Farley

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 8

live music

KNOW YOUR VENUE Doug Fir Lounge

Its name comes from the Douglas Fir tree, a species native to the Pacific Northwest. Guests have described the spot as Paul Bunyan’s spaceship, or even as an outer-space-log-cabinon-acid. Its two stories make it easy to pack more people in, with the top floor serving as a restaurant and bar, and the downstairs venue holding up to 299 people. Its one-of-a-kind green room contributes to the unparalleled experience for artists. The room was revealed in January 2012, as a product of a

Photo by Mercy McNab

partnership between both Red Bull and The

hough the Doug Fir Lounge might be one of

Art Institute of Portland. Owner John Plummer worked with

the youngest music venues that calls Portland

a class at the Art Institute to create a space that included

its home, it might as well be one of the most

a soundproof wall, vanity mirrors, Red Bull coolers, and a

established. From its name to its constant

sticker wall. Their $900 budget spurred them to turn to

flow of local acts, everything about the place

recycled materials like bike tires and reclaimed wood.

captures the Pacific Northwest vibe. On the national stage,

The optimum chill space for the artists isn’t the only

The Doug Fir Lounge has been named one of the best music

appeal that draws them to the Doug Fir. The intimate venue

venues by Rolling Stone and USA Today, and has played host

has state of the art acoustics, making it one of the best

to the likes of M83, Alabama Shakes, and The Shins [even

sounding rooms in the city. Concertgoers don’t miss a beat

after they've sold out venues with ten times the capacity].

and artists love their own live sound (which is an unfortunate

The building has had its ups and downs since the 1950s

rarity). Holding at least 25 concerts a month, The Doug Fir

in the lower Burnside area and was home to an old Chinese

serves as both a cultivator for new talent and as an intimate

restaurant before owners John Plummer, Mike Quinn, and

space for larger acts.

Jeff Kovel transformed the premises into what is now The

To amplify their unique presence, the venue is pairing

Doug Fir Lounge. It was renovated alongside the Jupiter

with Worthy Brewing out of Bend, OR to release their very

Hotel in 2004, with Jeff Kovel playing a major hand in the

own Doug Fir Pale Ale. It is expected to be revealed this fall

architectural design of both buildings. Before they began,

around the venue’s 11th anniversary. From its distinct design

the place had been run down for years, making it easy to

to its broad spectrum of bookings, the Doug Fir Lounge is

part with the unsalvageable insides. The only evidence that

continuing to grow its legacy as an ultimate Portland music

remains is the massive wooden beams making up the ceiling,

experience. » - Gina Pieracci

which sparked inspiration for further design of a log cabin.

9 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

MISSIS SIPPI STUDIOS S

C A L E N D A R

2. THU

JUAN WATERS ST. EVEN

HOUNDSTOOTH

BED. / SAVILA (FT. MEMBERS OF LA LUZ AND SHE SHREDS FOUNDER)

4. SAT

artists@hotbonerecords.com

16. THU

MEMORY TAPES 17. FRI

TACOCAT

THE GHOST EASE

18. SAT

THE COATHANGERS 19. SUN

5. SUN

SERYN

HOT VICTORY / SPECTRUM CONTROL

20. MON

THE WEATHER MACHINE

TRANS AM 6. MON

DICK DIVER

GRAND LAKE ISLANDS

21. TUE

PORCELAIN RAFT

www.hotbonerecords.com

IS/IS / MARRIAGE + CANCER

JOEL MAGID

MINDEN / THE DOMESTICS

contact:

COMPUTER MAGIC / SCHOOL DANCE

3. FRI

Record Label & Recording Studio

THE WOOLEN MEN

7. TUE

THE SUFFERS

DOUBLEPLUSGOOD / NOVOSTI

22. WED

PIGWAR

TR/ST

8. WED

THE LOWEST PAIR

SHANNON WRIGHT

23. THU

THE HARMED BROTHERS

SHELLAC 9. THU

SONS OF HUNS

MAS YSA

24. FRI

BUFFALO TOOTH / DIESTO

TANLINES 10. FRI

LOWER DENS

ADJY / COASTER

25. SAT

THE APPLESEED CAST 11. SAT (early show)

LATE NIGHT ACTION WITH ALEX FALCONE (late show)

MRS. PRESENTS QUEEN DJ BEYONDA / ILL CAMINO

12. SUN

THE DESLONDES JAKE RAY

YOUNG EJECTA

BREATHE OWL BREATHE MICHAEL HURLEY

26. SUN

MORGAN JAMES 27. MON

SINGLEY FIMBRES ORKESTRA SAMA DAMS

28. TUE

13. MON

MUSTERED COURAGE MBRASCATU

STOOGES BRASS BAND THE SATIN CHAPS

14. TUE

29. WED

COURTNEY MARIE ANDREWS

30. THU

ELENI MANDELL 15. WED

NORTHWEST STRING SUMMIT KICK-OFF PARTY CROW AND THE CANYON FT. ALLIE KRAL / JAY & MIMI OF FRUITION (DUO SET) / WORLD’S FINEST / GIPSY MOON & MORE!

STICKY FINGERS (AUS) HOLLY HERNDON VISIBLE CLOAKS

31. FRI

SLIM CESSNAS AUTO CLUB MICHAEL DEAN / DAMRON

SHOWS you’ll remember, presented in an independently run, best-sounding music listening environment with great staff (mostly musicians), drinks, burgers, and PATIO.

mississippistudios.com

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 10

live music JULY

5 18 21 28 31

1332 w burnside

Fare Thee Well: Celebrating The Grateful Dead Badbadnotgood | Ghostface Killah | Def 3 Jane's Addiction Esperanza Spalding Floater

2 2 16 24 29

crystal ballroom

Roseland Theater 8 nw 6th

Tyler The Creator | Taco Dada Life Say Anything | Modern Baseball | Cymbals Eat Guitars Ratatat

Doug fir

830 e burnside

4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

mississippi studios 3939 n mississippi

wonder ballroom

128 ne russell 1 Tuxedo 2 The Greren | The Expanders

22-23 Built To Spill | Genders | Honeybucket

25 Jamie XX | Mattis

11 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

live music JULY holocene

1001 se morrison

rontoms

600 e burnside

eastburn

1800 e burnside

7 8

Eat Off Your Banjo Dinner & Bluegrass (Thursdays) DJ Magnus Cagney Santiam | DJ Kenny 80's Night Eric Kallio The Band Harper Dina y los Rumberos | DJ Kenny Eric John Kaiser Scratchdog Stringband Matthew Zeitler Groove Rooster | DJ Blas Castletown Erotic City (Prince Tribute)

bossanova ballroom 722 E Burnside

426 sw washington

4 11 16 17 18 22 23 24 25 30 31

Psycroptic | Arkaik | Ovid's Withering | The Kennedy Veil Slaughter & The Dogs Autograph

kellyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s olympian

1 3 8 12 14 15 16 25 31

12 17 25

2 3 4 5 8 9 10 11 12 16 17 18 23 Toyboat Toyboat Toyboat | Atlas & The Astronaut | Bleach Blonde Dudes 24 Wave Action | Wild Call | Rentz Leinbach 25

bunk bar

1028 se water

the know

2026 ne alberta

4 6 8 9 10 12 14

3 5 6 7 8 9

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features JULY the know (continued) 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 24 25 31

street pub 13 alberta 1036 ne alberta 2 3 7 16 17 18 21 22 23 24 25 28

THE SECRET SOCIETY 14 116 NE RUSSELL 3 9 10 17 23 24 30

15 836 n russell

white eagle

6 7 9 11 14 16 17 18 23 24 25 27 29 31

turn turn 16 8turn ne killingsworth 3 John Krausbauer | Brown | Failings 8 Bone & Bell | Kassie & Sagebrush Band | Dan Loredo

13 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

LOCAL FEATURE JOEL MAGID ELEVEN: How did you start playing music? Joel Magid: I started out playing

11: Who or what are some of your influences? JM: The Beatles are too easy. The

punk rock. I was in a punk rock band

Kinks. I will listen to the Kinks forever.

with The Kyd, we had been playing

Learning to play Ray Davies songs,

together in the Eugene area since

chord progressions and changes, really

about 14 or 15 years old. From there it

helped me with my own songwriting.

evolved into rock and roll with a quick

I love all that old sixties stuff: The

blip, in this weird electronic thing we

Zombies, The Animals, Nancy Sinatra,

did for a minute.

Randy Newman, Tom Waits, Freddie King, classical, blues, punk rock.

11: You did an electronic album? 11: Even though you make light JM: We did many! We dont talk about it much, but we did it for about two years. It trickled into rock and roll.

of everything, some of the content is jaded.

JM: “Hole In My Head” came out with a jazzy feel, which I use that term really loosely because it is certainly a rock-n-roll song. Ryan Wiggins is playing trumpet, he plays all the wind or brass on the record. That song for me is about addiction. Drinking. I used the metaphor “hole in the head” for that. With “Maybe Tomorrow” it’s reflective of loss, and accepting that loss, and being ok with it. That’s one that is recurring, accepting the possibility of failure. It’s not going to kill you, it’s not going to take you down. 11: Is it true you were a recluse?

hawthorne theatre 1507 se 39th

11 15 17 18 23 24 25

3 8 11 12 17 24 27 31

18 ALADDIN THEATER 3017 SE MILWAUKIE 19 VALENTINES

232 SW ANKENY

JM: I think it was true. Hyenas came out of the meltdown of my last actual band before I went out and started playing as myself with the backing band The Hyenas. I got really bummed out. I stopped showing up to shows, stopped hanging out with people, and just recorded that record. It probably comes through a little too clearly on that record, but it felt really good. Right as it was being pressed onto Photo by Mercy McNab

vinyl, I wasn't sure how or when I was going to release it. I submitted a track to PDX Pop Now! and really that’s

JM: I’m not cynical at all, but I will

to book a release show for the record,

have always made a conscious effort to

and I put together a group. From that

not directly avoid struggle or problem.

moment things began snowballing, and

But I also try to make a point to not

I began to become reinvolved, actually

be negative. Sometimes I draw from

much more actively than before.

frustration. It’s a great way to work 11: You use a lot of

emotions. Happiness. Confusion. I’d say

instrumentation. What are some of the

one place that I found a lot of lyrical

weirder instruments you are using for

inspiration on both albums was pulled

effects?

from Carl Sagan. His books speak so loudly to me. Music's biggest power to

The Kyd: Tin Foil. Shoes.

me is when it evokes feelings, relating to it. It’s all up for interpretation.

JM: We used tin foil over a grate,

Lyrics are incredibly important to me.

we used brushes to play it back and

They are the first thing that I identify

forth. Kyd played shoes, rubbed them

with when I hear a song.

together and it turned out great. Half of what I record I record at home, the

11: Like the songs “Hole In My Head,” or “Maybe Tomorrow.” They sound ominous. But as you get into it, they’re positive.

other half has recently been done at Buzz Or Howl Studios. When we went into the studio, I had a lot of help from a lot of people.

11 15 18 22 23 25 31

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where things changed. From there I had

say when it comes to writing songs, I

through depression, well all of the

Purusa & Ian Moore John Mayall Graham Nash Rickie Lee Jones Unknown Mortal Orchestra | Vinyl Williams Uhh Yeah Dude Kasey Chambers

the goodfoot 2845 se stark

the liquor store 3341 SE BELMONT

Natural Magic MermaidInChina|SpectacularSpectacular|ClawfootSlumber Astro Tan Two Planets | Yaarow | The Arsonists

star theater 13 nw 6th

8 9 11 15 16 23 25 29 30

3 7 8 15

10 14 16 17 18 20 22 24

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 14

features JULY

street saloon 23 ash 225 sw ash

3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15

24 315 SE 3rd

ROTTURE/BRANX

29 Valentino Khan

Casey [Burge] came in, Brian, Kyd, Papi

Shivas, Sama Dams, The Century, Is/Is,

Fimbres, Lia Lavender–just a whole

and Boone Howard.

bunch of people. The things that they added were things that I couldn't do. There is no way the record would sound like it does without them.

SE LADD'S 1937 SE 11th Ave (97214) 503.206.7552 | thefirkintavern.com

JM: It’s going to be an incredible compilation, it’s going to be called

11: Is that a big difference

Mt. Portland. Bands are recording

between your first album, Hyenas,

everyday. We wanted to make

and Pyramids?

something specific to rock-n-roll. It’s all analog, all being recorded on a two-

JM: Yeah, it’s pretty huge. Hyenas

inch tape.

I did mostly by myself with just a couple of people. Very minimal. I was still playing all of the parts myself.

Casey Burge: Another crazy idea this guy had.

Pyramids was a total collaboration with many different awesome

JM: When I was a kid, I loved getting

musicians that I was super lucky to

a compilation. If I went and bought a

have access to and they were super

punk rock album I knew what I was

open and willing to step in on a whim

getting. Even if I only liked half the

and just bang it out.

album, the other half was likely to blow

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!

11: Well that’s impressive.

my mind. 11: What else have you been up to? CB: This one is special because they JM: I’ve travelled. I’m going back

are all brand new songs written just for

to India for a few months. We just

this album, recorded in the same studio,

recorded this new record with all

and every band has a day to record. So

of these great people on it. We are

it’s kind of a unique thing.

PANIC ROOM 25 THE 3100 NE SANDY

playing more shows. We are working

1 2 5 10 14 16 21 23 26

Actually, it’s more like children’s

have a stockade of vintage equipment

music for adults. It’s in kids format,

in your basement.

26 350 w burnside dantes

2 5 9 10 11 14 16

27 1937 se 11th

firkin tavern

11 The Secret Ceremony | Blind Swords 18 Stiff Other Lip | Rilla | Burst Suppression

28 2120 n williams

the waypost

PORTLAND’S MUSIC MAGAZINE SINCE 2011

15 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

very hard on a children’s record.

11: Speaking of analog, I heard you

very sing-songy, but it’s got some heavy moments. We recorded a new track for you,

JM: That is absolutely accurate. I have a ton of gear that I have been

ELEVEN PDX Magazine. [We teamed]

collecting for a really long time. I

up with Hot Bone Records, and we

think I have 18 or 19 guitars. I don't

recorded a brand new song called “I

know how many amps, but they are all

Know What’s Real” with the help of

old and they are all great, and I love

Casey Burge, Brian, The Kyd, and Leo

each of them the same. They are really

London of The Domestics. We knocked

important to me, because I love their

it out. We are very excited.

sound. I love analog, even though most

We are also working on a

of what I record at home is actually on

compilation album, with a list of

a little digital machine. But it's really

amazing bands. It’s a Portland rock-

important to me to maintain that

n-roll compilation, it’s going to be

sound quality and reach that aesthetic

pressed onto vinyl, we are doing 2000

through recording techniques.

records and also releasing on CD. Stan

What I am personally obsessed

Wright at Buzz Or Howl is our biggest

with is old Silvertone. Love it! The old

in-kind sponsor, and is helping every

Silvertone amps have ridiculous reverb,

band involved record one song for the

there is nothing quite like it. I’ve heard

album for free. This involves Minden,

Silvertone was too cheap to order

The Domestics, Ah God, Grandparents,

stock parts, so Sears and Roebuck paid

And And And, Mascaras, Talkative, The

to have their own cheap parts made.

I think they were trying to emulate

hat just to help out. When you go out

Fender, but they just failed miserably.

to a show here and look around, you

However, the resulting sound that

see a lot of other musicians in the

they got, to me, is so much better and

audience. It’s incredible that they are

different.

all supporting, accepting, and inspiring each other. Mt. Portland is a way to

11: What does Independence Day mean to you?

document and highlight how special things are here right now with many local bands influencing each other.

JM: I’m feeling very lucky to

It’s changed a lot since I first arrived

play the record release show on the

in Portland. There was more ego

Fourth of July with a live band, and

then, but everyone is so cool now. No

with Minden and The Domestics. It’s

reservations.

a celebration of everyone coming

I know the scene will continue to

together to make this record. It’s

change, I don’t know how, but I know

important for me to mention, even if

it will. I can’t imagine how it will get

it’s said over and over, that Portland’s

much better than it is now. »

musical community is really special

- Brandy Crowe

and open. Pyramids is a testament to that. All of these people coming together, willing to give their time, effort, and energy at the drop of a

LISTEN TO THE BRAND NEW TRACK "I KNOW WHAT'S REAL" AT ELEVENPDX.COM

strums and choruses bang out hazey, somewhat despondent ditties, such as the filtered pining vocals and warped guitar solo of “Here Comes a Big Black Cloud.” Pyramids moved Magid out of his basement studio and into Buzz Or Howl Studios, where it was recorded on tape to retain a lo-fi, analog style. On vinyl, it sounds like a long lost rock and roll album from the sixties. Sounds wave in and out of clarity

L Joel Magid

Pyramids Self-released

like varied consciousnesses. There are psychoactive breaks and an array of sound contributions from other artists. A long list of players

Since the inception of first

include Casey Burge(Minden), Casey

album Hyenas, Joel Magid’s echos

Robbins (The Kyd), and drummer/

of vintage rock and roll aesthetic

sound engineer Bryan Woolen.

emerged. Magid is the driving force

Ryan Wiggins (And And And) offers

behind his music, but his second

intense woodwinds to the chimes of

record Pyramids is a testament to

“Bodies In The Ark,” and also adds

the Portland music community.

a New Orleans corner vibe to “Hole

Many fellow friends and musicians

In The Head.” Lia Lavender from

stepped in to support his vision

Minden performs back up harmonies

and build up his sound with varied

on “Bluebells and Carbon,” a song

voices, instrumentation, and ideas.

that also finishes up the record by

Magid’s music evokes a deep,

being stripped and played backwards

dreamy rock groove that also holds

as final fluid track, “A Tomb Turned

grit and swing and stomp. Jangly

Backward.” » - Brandy Crowe

features JULY Laurelthirst pub 2958 ne glisan

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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

analog cafe & Theater 720 se hawthorne

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 13 15 16 18 19 20 21 22 24 26 28 29 30 31

Want to have your show listed? E-mail listings@elevenpdx.com

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features national scene

Photo by Rambo

features national scene

written by charles trowbridge

f you’ve turned on the radio at all in the last six months, chances are, you’ve heard of Leon Bridges. If you haven’t, somehow, take a minute to question your life decisions and then go find him. Immediately. Bridges has blown up with his smooth voice and retro-soul songs reminiscent of the Golden Age, drawing instant comparisons to Sam Cooke, Otis Redding or Percy Sledge. Those comparisons are neither gratuitous nor fully accurate. His debut full-length album, Coming Home, hit the airwaves in late June, after slowly releasing tantalizing singles one at a time. Bridges at once sounds comfortably familiar while maintaining

an element of freshness that stems from his unique song structures and buoyant fluidity. Coming out of the Fort Worth area, Bridges spent his early musical years washing dishes and hitting as many open mics as possible before ultimately catching the ear of Austin Jenkins, from White Denim. The results are self-explanatory. Suffice it to say, Bridges no longer needs to worry about washing the dishes of strangers. Busy as he may be taking over the musical world, Bridges took a few minutes to talk with us about his meteoric rise, his writing style, and why he really doesn’t mind being compared to the veritable Mount Rushmore of soul men.

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features national scene and we just got some really good sound out of that equipment. 11: You can kind of tell when you listen to your stuff, it has a really warm feel to it. I guess aside from your voice, it seems like that’s where some of the comparisons you’re getting to some of the old soul guys is coming from–do you see that as well?

Photo by Andrew Krupp

ELEVEN: You have a lot of really cool stuff happening right now. From what I can tell, it all started with a pair of Wranglers? Leon Bridges: Yeah, it’s been happening. I’m excited with everything going on, excited with the record release–yeah, it’s all exciting times. 11: Can you talk a little bit about how you kicked things off? I was reading a little about how you initially met the guys from White Denim–what’s the background with that? LB: I first met up with them at a little bar in Fort Worth, and when I met him, he didn’t tell me–he told me he played in a band, but he didn’t tell me what band it was–and so I found out a week later, at this place called the Magnolia Motor Lounge, when I was on stage, playing some of my solo songs, and he came in, and after I got done playing he was like, “man, we gotta make a record,” Right after he left the bar, my friend goes, “You know the guys in White Denim?” And I had never even heard of White Denim, so I went online and checked out the music. Austin [Jenkins] came up to me about making the record, afterward. 11: Some of the equipment you’ve been recording on is quite a bit older to kind of get that retro-style sound you’ve got. How important is that to you, the scene and the setting that you were making your music in? LB: When Austin came and told me he wanted to record, I had never really thought of recording that way. Coming up in the scene–I didn’t have any money to record period, so I would have been thankful to have anybody offer some time for me to record, but getting in there and going through the process, I began to see that this is the way music should be recorded,

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LB: Yes. I think it’s cool how you can hear some of the imperfections. You look at “The River,” and that was a take that I wasn’t totally happy with. It sounds like we’re rehearsing or something. It’s so raw, but it definitely speaks to the listener.

11: I was also wondering about some of your influences. I see that when you were in high school you were digging the neo-soul scene with guys like D’Angelo, Ginuwine and Usher and whatnot, and at some point you switched over, and I’m wondering how those influences have affected the music you’re making right now? LB: For sure. My goal is to make timeless soul songs, but of course it’s still going to sound a little bit fresh and different because of my influences. But you know, I can’t deny that I didn’t grow up listening to Sam Cooke or Otis Redding, you know, I didn’t really find their music until two years ago or so.

"It’s something that just kind of comes out naturally. Of course, I’m always thinking of ideas and melodies and song structures that are different than what’s out there." 11: I saw that you mentioned that in one of your older songs, “Lisa Sawyer,” you tried to adopt the phrasing that you picked up from hip hop into your writing style. Is that something that you still do consciously? LB: I think in the beginning it was something that I was conscious of. Now, every now and then, I’ll be writing and I’ll think of phrasing that I heard in a certain hip hop song. But the funny thing is, even those old soul guys back in the ‘50s had the same phrasing, that’s where it all started. You look at

features national scene Johnny Taylor or even Sam Cooke, and it’s like, wow, it’s really cool those guys were doing that back then. 11: There’s a lot of musicians you could sift through going back through when you start talking about those old soul guys. I’m kind of wondering how much time you’ve had to put in going back and digging in to those old catalogues. I imagine that’s a pretty tall task. LB: I’m kind of a lazy person. I am. So in the beginning, I would kind of just haphazardly go listen to Sam Cooke or the Temptations, but I never really just dug in deep and went through all their records; it was just something where I went online and just looked stuff up. But when I set out to write at first, I took the little that I knew about it and tried to recreate it in my own way. 11: I was actually kind of curious about that, when you say "create it in your own way." The music that you make is really interesting because on the one hand it sounds familiar and it harkens to that throwback sound, but on the other hand, it’s fresh, and I’m wondering what do you do? What’s your process? How do you get that mix? LB: It’s something that just kind of comes out naturally. Of course, I’m always thinking of ideas and melodies and song structures that are different than what’s out there. If you look at anything different in the past–if you look at “Lisa Sawyer,” that structure is not something you would have heard back in the ‘50s and ‘60s in that it doesn’t really have a chorus, but it still reminds you of something you would have heard in the past. 11: I wanted to ask you a little about your community in the Fort Worth area. I know you’ve been out on tour, but it sounds like you’ve kind of made that area your home base. LB: I mean, people ask me if I’m going to move or anything, but I look at Fort Worth as home to me. I get a warm feeling when I’m riding down the street in the neighborhood and reminisce all the times I was on those same streets when no one really knew about it. It was a time in my life when I was washing dishes, working, going to different open mics–just a more simple time. But it’s all coming up. There’s a really awesome community of songwriters–there wasn’t any soul musicians–but there are guys, I was aspiring to be a better writer because of them. I would look at some guys and they would be doing more like a Townes Van Zandt vibe, or a Bob Dylan vibe, and I loved that consistency. I would think to myself, you know, I want to be consistent like that, and so, I’m very thankful for the community. 11: I know a lot of your songs right now are kind of love songs, but I think one of the interesting things that you’re doing is that the way that you write, and the lyrics that you’re writing are pretty visceral. What comes first for you? Do you get melody, do you get the lyrics down, you get the chords–how do you put your music together?

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features national scene LB: You know, with me, there are different situations. Sometimes, the song might start with the melody, or sometimes it starts with me messing around on the guitar and I come up with something I like. Sometimes I just kind of write some lyrics down and mold that into a melody. Of course, a lot of my songs are love songs, but I try to find ways to package it differently to make it fresh. 11: You were initially studying to be a dancer. Your music has a noticeable fluidity, but it’s also still fairly rhythmic. Is the way that you approach your music the same way you would approach maybe a piece of choreography or interaction? LB: Hmm, I never really think of it when I’m writing, but one thing I did take from dance, and much love to my teachers –before I started dancing, I had only ever been on stage in high school, and I was nervous as crap for that. So being on stage when I started dancing, it helped me learn how to perform in front of people. 11: That makes sense. And dancing is a physical thing, so it forces you to kind of get out of your headspace. LB: Yeah! And another thing is that, doing some of the jazz, and having to be a certain character, that really kind of grew my love for some of the classic styles.

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11: You can’t avoid the comparisons that you get to Sam Cooke or the Valentinos. Do you like that? I know it’s flattering, but do you think that it’s something in the future you won’t have to be thinking about too much? LB: Sure, yeah. The thing I don’t like is when people say, “Oh, it’s the next Sam Cooke,” because of my range or my voice, but I’m not anywhere near him like that. But I understand that, you know, people might make the comparison because it’s something classic and it’s something smooth, because Sam Cooke was different from a James Brown, and my music is very smooth, and soft, so I can see where they make the comparisons. But, it’s very evident that Sam Cooke is one of the biggest inspirations. 11: You’re going to be playing at Pickathon later in July– have you spent much time in the area? LB: Yeah, I’ve been to Portland twice. I guess Texas is a little far from Portland, in terms of culture, but yeah, I’ve spent a little time. »

CATCH LEON BRIDGES LIVE IN OREGON AUGUST 1 AT PICKATHON MUSIC FESTIVAL

film

WATCH ME NOW

FILM AND TELEVISION

A NEW WORLD, LOST EXPECTATIONS: A LOOK AT JURASSIC WORLD

ummer is upon us again, and that means influence of adventure serials, screwball comedies, classic blockbusters. The season for door-busting, King Kong and of course, the source material. The operating explosive epics to sate the movie going public’s ever formula here is strictly the spectacle-driven, leave no increasing desire for bigger, louder and faster. The suspension of disbelief variety. advent of blockbuster season was heralded with In the movie, Bryce Dallas Howard plays Hubris in High the highly anticipated fourth installment of the Jurassic Park Heels, a tightly-wound corporate bureaucrat type who lets films, Jurassic World. It is the continuation of a legacy of a audience whims dictate the park’s dinos-gone-wild agenda. beloved series, and with fourteen years between Jurassic Park “Consumers want them bigger, louder. More teeth,” she says, III, Jurassic World had to walk the which could not be a truer phrase for the contemporary line of catering to die-hard fans blockbuster going public. A young and the introduction of dinosaur director with a rumored 190 million wonderment to a new generation. dollar budget, a veteran director Director Colin Trevorrow was an looming above the creative process interesting choice to continue and a heaping of fans bleary-eyed a cinematic legacy, especially with a healthy dose of anticipation one of such highly anticipated and suspicion that a beloved proportions. His previous film, franchise is about to fall victim to twee time travel tale Safety Not an ever-growing need for “more Guaranteed was charming to teeth,” as Dallas Howard warns. be sure, but not quite the film Twenty-two years ago, Jurassic to cut one’s blockbuster teeth Park was on the bleeding edge upon (Note: sorry for the puns I of the CG revolution, though am about to use, it's been a long it still relied heavily on June…). I was reticent to believe meticulously crafted that Trevorrow could harness the practical effects. It used magic, suspense and nostalgia the CG sparingly, but to that the original Jurassic Park “impressive” effect, still film handled with aplomb, and relying heavily on suspense. yet I should have realized that And buckets of imagination. And this is not a sequel in the true Jeff Goldblum. Again, I want to sense of the word. It is a remake drive the point home that this at its essence, engineered in the is not quite a continuation of way that Steven Spielberg of a story, or a spiritual sequel, today might devise. Spielberg but an attempt to capture acted as a fairly hands on grandiosity on an incredible Illustration by Drew Bardana executive producer on Jurassic scale. it's a movie that wants to World, and I can only imagine the conversations that a continue a beloved franchise but falls flat because exactly seasoned, seemingly cynical Spielberg must have had with the warning of unbridled capitalism that it presents in its Trevorrow. Spielberg gave both instructions and feedback genetically modified terrible lizard, is what is happening in to Trevorrow on the film but also seemingly let the young blockbusters, despite the inherent fact that they're meant to protege follow his own creative druthers. Trevorrow, who has be spectacular. There is an erratic self-awareness mixed with nowhere near the experience under his belt that Spielberg aggrandizement that makes this film a strange beast. » did in 1993, creates a mishmash of movie DNA through the - Rachael Haigh

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 24

community literary arts Photo by Scott McHale

that poetry is very musical. I sailed along and figured out that I wanted to do writing of some kind, but I had no idea how to make any money at it. So I thought that journalism was the way, but poetry always kept percolating along. 11: What is it about words that makes it click for you?

LITERARY ARTS Portland poet Tim Sproul

t takes a certain type of person to be a writer. Some people see numbers, learn how to manipulate them and get into finance. They get hitched at a reasonable age, purchase a house, settle down, watch their 401k. Writers see words and instinctively know how to string them together into something beautiful. Tim Sproul is one of those souls who pays attention to the poetry and music inherent in everyday experience. He’s out on the fringe of the scene, looking to alter the way we appreciate poetry. With his new book Newported, he has taken his poetic stories and set them to the music of Mike Coykendall, a local legend who has produced for Bright Eyes, M Ward, and Zooey Deschanel. The accompanying songs underlay his words and give them a texture that is as raw and distressed as an old coastal bar top, stripped down by the many elbows that have leaned on it over the years. I shared a shot of Fireball with Tim and listened to him talk about his process and his muse, the Oregon Coast. ELEVEN: Can you tell me about yourself? When did you start writing? Tim Sproul: I grew up on the coast and started writing poetry at an early age. I had a cool music teacher, Mr. Cohen, who created a prompt, so I ran with it and started writing poetry in the second grade. I enjoyed the sounds of poetry, and how it made people feel. The sounds of connecting one idea to the next, and flowing sentences into each other. I really enjoy the music of poetry. I feel

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TS: I like to connect people who maybe are on the downside of advantage and are real, and are faced with real problems. I like the poetry of everyday people, and the dance of music and language. I fuckin' dig it. I can go into a bar, and lay down a poem about a fisherman friend of mine who died and get fishermen there to pay attention, and to be real. I can hit it with hard consonants and then be soft. I like the musicality of poetry, how it can be hard and soft and beautiful and then light, and dark and stormy. That transition and unpredictability that poetry can bring. The other thing too about poetry is that I love pulling it out of academia and bringing it to bars and street corners. I’ve sat at places like the Sand Bar in Newport and heard conversations that are just beautiful in their sadness and pathos, and laments of dreaming and being bummed out, and wanting to do better. Being fuckin’ broke and then finding hope and connecting with people. 11: You’re soon to be releasing a unique piece of poetry set to music produced by Mike Coykendall. How did that all come to be? How did you guys come together? TS: I’m friends with Willie Vlautin and I’m a fan of Mike’s music and literally it was at a show where I recited poetry to him on the street and he dug it. And he saw me perform poetry with Richmond Fontaine and dug it. Willie is such a story teller and he gravitated towards my storytelling and we just decided to put it to music. It just seemed natural. And then Mike Coykendall is like the Willy Wonka of music, he’s just a genius. He’s got such a broad palette. He produces on one-inch tape and in fact the CD I’m putting together was recorded on one-inch tape! So it’s fully analog. So we’re rewinding and going back and it’s all one take. So it’s all live stuff. With the poems, I kind of want to preserve the spontaneity and unexpectedness of live performance and not have it be a Pro Tools perfectly produced experience. Working with Coykendall has been awesome, he’s a unique cat in that way, recording on one-inch tape.There’s no internet at his house, there’s no cable TV. He’s got a flip-phone! 11: What are your thoughts on the local lit scene? TS: I would say this–I would like to disrupt the typical poetry presentation of reverence, academia, and preciousness. And yet I want to elevate language, but make it approachable and fun. I want it to be a party. I think we can return to the spirit of poetry, and poetry that everyone can relate to, that is meaningful and

community literary arts culturally relevant by practicing it everyday, by telling stories in bars, and disrupting just the preciousness of the genre. And I think that combining music with poetry is just another way to relax people and make them feel good and get a groove going.

Join us for Brunch, Saturday and Sunday from 9am-3pm in the Cafe & Bar

11: Not everyone would want to stop in a bar if there was a poetry reading going on. Can you combine storytelling with poetry? What’s wrong with capturing a moment in time and presenting it poetically? TS: I think the best poetry brings you to a place, a real place and tells you stories about real people and confronts darkness in a way to create epiphanies of compassion and understanding. I think it’s important to understand the real problems that Americans face. I see it in Newport where I grew up. Where the fishing industry is fading because it’s overfished, and the economic disparity in this country is real.

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11: You talk a about music in poetry, are you a musician yourself?

11: Don’t you address that in one of your new poems? What is the name of that one? TS: "The Sound of a Motorboat is Not the Same as a Motorboat on the Lake." That experience is celebrating the beauty of Oregon, and the beauty of the coast contrasted by the challenge and the stress and the potential poverty of trying to make it work. Trying to make a living in this beautiful setting is very dangerous. There’s great tension there–between the natural beauty of Oregon, which is generally not fucked up, and trying to harvest what is there and do it safely and responsibly, and being inspired and having a happy life. I mean, there are very simple needs for the people who are working there. They want to catch fish, they want to do well and they want to have a shot of Fireball at the end of the day. I do feel like the idea of my book is centered on the Oregon Coast, and talks of the Pacific Coast, but it deals with universal concerns. Which are finding meaning with each other, finding respite and relief after a hard days work, connecting with family, not killing each other. It applies to farming, fishing, logging. You can even enlarge it to corporate culture. 11: Do you think that poetry is political? TS: Well hopefully poetry is political. If it wants to be relevant, it’s gotta be political.

TS: I’m a marginal guitar player, and inspired and moved by music every day. I find music and poetry are symbiotic. People who write great music have a poetic sensibility to them. My friends in town, like Willy Vlautin, Mike Coykendall, Bat For Lashes. I love her poetry from the very sort of abstract lyrical to the effusive like Walt Whitman–there’s just musicality in all those people that for me, feels like one thing. What I love about music and poetry is that it can be one line, it can be one single phrase that can trigger someone to another level of inspiration. That’s where music and poetry intersect. Just that expression, that emotion that comes out of it. » - Scott McHale

LOCAL LITERARY EVENTS SUMMER EVENING PARK LIT 1 JULY 11 | COLONEL SUMMERS PARK Pack up a lawn chair or blanket and come listen to Chelsea Hodson, Elissa Washuta and Kevin Maloney read some of their poetry in this inner SE Portland park.

TIM SPROUL POETRY READING 2 JULY 20 | POWELL'S BOOKS (WEST BURNSIDE) Musician Mike Coykendall will accompany Tim Sproul as he presents his musical vision of the Oregon Coast with readings from his new book, Newported. Astoria author Matt Love will also be reading.

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community visual arts

VISUAL ARTS Portland illustrator Carla Bartow

Photo by Mercy McNab

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community visual arts Where are you from? I was born and raised in Syracuse, New York. Post grad I lived in Rochester, NY for five years before moving to Portland for bikes and art. What is your education, if any in the art field? I spent about seven years in undergrad. The first three were unfocused at SUNY Purchase and abroad (doing a lot of arty stuff and printmaking), moving on to an associates in Fine Art from a Community College, and finishing out with a BFA in Illustration from RIT. Creative influences? Oh boy! I just watched a Terry Gilliam movie and I'm obsessed with weird angles. Tomer Hanuka for his use of color and sexy line quality. My illustration contemporaries from college, they're all doing such fun stuff now! Most used medium within your work? Digitally layered linoleum block prints. Favorite artist? Egon Schile, Stormin' Norman Rockwell, Edward Gorey, and JC Leyendecker. Best thing about being an artist in PDX? I've found Portland to be such a welcoming and encouraging community to be a part of! I feel that a broader spectrum of people are interested in supporting artists and art, and I feel a sense of camaraderie amongst the artists rather than a competition.

CHA I N — M A I LLE . c o m

How do you pay the rent? I work at an awesome local art supply store, Collage. I paint murals. I freelance. If you could meet anyone in the world , who would it be? (Living or dead) Edward Gorey or Ralph Steadman for some drawing hangs. Upcoming projects? Oh boy! This summer is going to be crazy! Right now I'm wrapping up a poster for the Destiny City Film Festival in Tacoma, WA. I'm working on the cover to the event guide for Interbike in September. I'm working on my first outdoor mural on Alberta through Alberta Art Works which will be on the BUFOR building, telling the history of the Alberta neighborhood. I'm continuing some indoor murals at Collage. This past winter I won a contest with Nutcase Helmets to have my art on one of their artist series helmets! Along with seeing my art printed on a helmet, I'll be traveling with them to Germany for Eurobike and Las Vegas for Interbike to do live painting during the trade shows. »

FIND THIS ARTIST ONLINE WEBSITE: WWW.CARLABARTOW.COM FACEBOOK: CARLABARTOWILLUSTRATION INSTAGRAM: CARLABARTOW

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community visual arts

Please enjoy Carla's cover design for the book Pier Rats decorating our inside back cover this month.

7/02: 7/09: 7/11: 7/16: 7/17: 7/18: 7/22: 7/23: 7/24: 7/25: 7/30: 7/31:

Jonathan Trawick and Aarun Carter 8pm Benjamin Brown 8pm Santiam 10pm Eric Kallio 8pm The Band Harper 10pm Dina y los Rumberos 10pm Eric John Kaiser 8pm Scratchdog Stringband 8pm Matthew Zeltzer 10pm Groove Rooster 10pm Castletown 8pm Erotic City (Prince Tribute) 8pm * “Eat Off Your Banjo” Bluegrass

7/04: DJ Magnus Cagney 10pm 7/11: DJ Kenny ‘80s Night 10pm 7/18: DJ Kenny 10pm 7/25: DJ Blas 10pm

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