Eleven PDX Magazine February 2016 by Eleven PDX

MUSIC, COMMUNITY, AND CULTURE IN PORTLAND

ISSUE 57 | FEBRUARY 2016

ELEVEN PDX MAGAZINE - VOLUME 5, ISSUE 9

COMPLIMENTARY

celebrating 5 years of treefort! a festival of discovery.

treefort�music�fest march 23-27,2016 | downtown Boise, Idaho Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires + Built To Spill + thee oh sees + Chelsea wolfe Youth Lagoon + Aesop Rock w/ Rob Sonic + Oddisee + Nosaj Thing + Thundercat + White Denim + Hinds + J.Phlip Geographer + Pictureplane + AU + French Horn Rebellion + Quilt + Alex G + La Luz + Wax Idols + San Fermin Diarrhea Planet + Acid Mothers Temple + chuck ragan + Methyl Ethel + Christopher Willits + tartufi Mimicking Birds + Y La Bamba + Deep Sea Diver + Prawn + All dogs + conan + lee corey oswald + wimps Mystery Skulls + Terror Pigeon! + Great Dane + Street Fever + SALES + Mothers + Radiation City + Helvetia Porches + Mild High Club + EsME Patterson + Leftover Salmon + Ural Thomas & The Pain + Hollow Wood Tara Brooks + dance with the dead + Pimps of Joytime + SISTERS + Naytronix + Mamiffer + Your Friend vaadat charigim + MAscaras + Honduras + RUMTUM + Hunny + Thunderpussy + LUZCID w/ Born I + The Dirty Moogs cool ghouls + The Crookes + Self Defense Family + Great Grandpa + Stonefield + ORQUESTRA PACIFICO TROPICAL + Dude York living hour + Flaural + Magna Carda + Fog Father + LED + Sly Moon Sutra + Lucy Dacus + Toy Zoo + Cy Dune + C.J. Boyd Sun Blood Stories + Adult Books + Strange Wilds + El Dopamine + Paper Gates + Point Juncture, WA + Transistor Send Serial Hawk + Howardian + Everyone Is Dirty + Clarke And The Himselfs + BOYS + Honey Bucket + BAD90s + METH DAD The Rich Hands + Unconditional Arms + River Whyless + Thomas Paul + The Easy Leaves + Hang Rounders + Light Thieves + Host Pat Benolkin + ANCIENT PSYCHIC + The Western Mystics + Tamar Aphek + Lushlife + MING + The Foreign Resort + Zach Walker leafraker + The Roaring 420s + Freak Heat Waves + Thick Business + and hundreds more

info and tickets visit: treefortmusicfest.com #treefort2016

contents

ELEVEN PDX MAGAZINE VOLUME 5

THE USUAL 3 Letter from the Editor 3 Staff Credits

ISSUE NO. 9

FEATURES Local Feature 13 Sea Caves

Cover Feature 17 NEW MUSIC

Built To Spill

4 Aural Fix Heron Oblivion KING Joywave Palehound

COMMUNITY Neighborhood of the Month 24 SW 3rd Avenue

7 Short List 7 Album Reviews Deep Sea Diver Porches Animal Collective Radiation City

Literary Arts 25 Leila Del Duca & Joe Keatinge

Visual Arts 27 Portland painter Austin Eddy

LIVE MUSIC 9 Know Your Venue The Liquor Store

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! After 50-plus of these little introductory notes from me, I sometimes feel like I'm regurgitating the same optimistic nonsense, but when I look back at how much has changed in five years, I'm flabbergasted. Our city is blooming. Milken Institute just named PDX the #8 Best-Performing City, leading a popular news site to call us "The Next Silicon Valley." Pretty intense, considering most people in the country didn't even know where Oregon was until about ten years ago. What does it mean for the culture here, the communities that we love? It means they will keep changing. For better or (slash and) worse, the change is inevitable, and the growth is no surprise when you consider that we have a hotbed of good people that support progressive ideals, independent projects and the creative arts. Few cities do that bit better than PDX. What is required, however, is continued support from both individuals and groups. I plead, dear reader, shrug off your hatred of gentrification, your anti-Cali bias, and help convert the transplants into people that understand and love the city for the right reasons. Set the example. Together we can lead a new culture that cares about its environment and their fellow human (and cats) more than their car, microcondo or status. Thanks! 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

ONLINE Mark Dilson, Donovan Farley, Kim Lawson, Michael Reiersgaard GET INVOLVED getinvolved@elevenpdx.com www.elevenpdx.com twitter.com/elevenpdx facebook.com/elevenmagpdx

SECTION EDITORS LOCAL FEATURE: Ethan Martin LITERARY ARTS: Scott McHale VISUAL ARTS: Mercy McNab

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, Sarah Eaton, Eric Evans, Donovan Farley, Veronica Greene, Sophia June, JP Kemmick, Kelly Kovl, Travis Leipzig, Samantha Lopez, Ethan Martin, Scott McHale, Lucia Ondruskova, Gina Pieracci, Tyler Sanford, Stephanie Scelza, Victoria Schmidt, Matthew Sweeney, Erin Treat, Charles Trowbridge

ADVERTISING sales@elevenpdx.com

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

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

Photo by Alissa Anderson

up and coming music from the national scene

HERON OBLIVION FEBRUARY 7 | CRYSTAL BALLROOM

Heron Oblivion are another transcendent case of the best of avant-garde and rock coming together for a truly joyful noise. The lineup is a mashup of players from Comets on Fire, Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound and Espers, but the unlikely magic of this musical meeting is something altogether separate from everything they’ve previously had a hand in. The San Francisco-based quartet came together out of a shared love of psychedelic rock and all the noisy esoterica at its fringes, and like all true obsessives, they are not merely interested in one mode of operation. Some time spent with the digital stand-alone release of the extended jam “Funeral Funk 49” conjures up comparisons with the usual suspects of Flower Travellin’ Band, Sunburned Hand of the Man, and all the other mind-bending drone-rock pilots, but their single “Oriar,” off their upcoming self-titled debut on Sub Pop, is a folk-rock influenced tune in which Meg Baird’s limpid voice steers things more than Noel Von Harmonson and Charles Saufley’s twin guitar attack. A Celtic lilt sharing space with psychedelic pedal-stomping and furious cascading drums straight out of a High Rise record—it’s a concoction that’s alternately free-

Photo by Alex King

KING FEBRUARY 14 | DOUG FIR

KING, the all female trio so powerful that lowercase type simply cannot convey their presence, is out with their debut full-length this month. Twin sisters Paris and Amber Strother along with Anita Bias are the sole creators of pretty much any and every piece of music to which their name is attached. While Paris produces, Amber and Anita take up vocals and

flowing and melodic, vicious and tremulous. Put simply, Heron Oblivion are one of those rare bands that please both sides of the aisle out of sheer love of music for its own sake. To get a glimpse of what their highly anticipated debut due in March will offer up, you can catch Heron Oblivion on the third day of Crystal Ballroom’s Sabertooth Micro Fest alongside Mikal Cronin, Built To Spill, The Quick and Easy Boys and Snakes. They’ll be playing Levitation Festival in Austin as well, if you happen to have the income lying around for that, too. This is the wild and accomplished originality the modern psychdrone scene has been missing for far too long—I hope it sticks around. » - Matthew Sweeney

instrumentation, and together it’s a fresh take on R&B with electronic fixings and whimsical reveries in all the right places. They released their first EP, The Story, in 2011, and those three songs alone were enough to capture the attention of none other than Prince, who brought the ladies on tour with him and remains their mentor to this day. These ladies are intent on creating their own sound and willing to give as long as it takes for their music to embody their own personal kingdom. Anita Bias’ chilling croon on their track “Hey” is enough to wake you up, welcome you into their realm of royalty, and vow to never release you. Despite that initial chill, their sound is warm, above all else. Enveloped in intricate synth beats, vocals emerge like soulful exhales. Most of their songs are about love, but it’s of all kinds–lyrics promote self, family, friend and eternal love. Their songs feel like they could have been circling the R&B music sphere for 30 years, yet what they produce is so futuristic in comparison that it belongs in the here and now. The bass lines are grounding but the voices of Bias and Strother, on top of twinkling melodies, transcend their sound beyond any confinements. KING is jazzy, soulful, funky, dreamy, even groovy, and it all makes for a smooth yet eclectic blend. Perhaps what is most refreshing though is the fact that it is solely just these three ladies creating every element of their sound, and it’s the kind of all-female sound the industry needs. » - Gina Pieracci

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 4

new music aural fix Photo by Jesse Lirola

JOYWAVE FEBRUARY 19 | ROSELAND THEATER

Reigning from Rochester, New York, Joywave consists of Daniel Armbruster (vocals), Joseph Morinelli (guitar), Sean Donnelly (bass) Benjamin Bailey (keyboards), and Paul Brenner (drums), and together the five embrace the craft of producing rigid, catchy electro-pop. The band is best known for collaborating with electronic music project Big Data on “Dangerous,” where Armbruster sings lead vocals and which peaked at number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs

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chart, but their notability rose with the release of their 2014 EP, How Do You Feel? The band throws out an interesting mix of sonic textures that all vary in intensity, and each song is filled with selfcontained, quick-peaking structures that are perfect for inclusion on a playlist, a DJ set, or for the dance floor. The songs are bedroom-eyed, bubblegum electronic-pop, as Armbruster’s emotive vocals are layered over beats that are effervescent and dense with neo-soul inspired interludes. Their song “Destruction” has a chorus that elicits some buoyant screeching atop of strained vocals, accompanied by a blaring guitar riff, and the end-product is mind-altering. Their music is for all the rock kids who won’t admit they like to dance as it teeters between alternative dance and indie-pop. Joywave has a talent for echoing tropes found in pop and indie-rock music, and effortlessly blending them together in a wide range of musical texture to create something new. From the sliced up vocals on “Tongues” to the unflustered downtempo effects on “Traveling at the Speed of Light,” the band navigates across an indie-pop highway in an attempt to find their signature sound along the way. A few songs are a little too repetitive and don’t really warrant more than one listen, but the band has appraised themselves in constant reinvention of their sound, and although it’s not 100% clear what that initial sound is, the five are well on their way to top the charts with crunchy bass lines and movingly simple choruses that are infectious, and hook into your brain. » - Samantha Lopez

new music aural fix

2 EMILY KING MOOREA MASA

Photo by Chad Kamenshine

PALEHOUND FEBRUARY 20 | MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS

The very existence of Palehound’s full-length album, Dry Food, is a slap in the face to Sarah McLachlan fans around the world. Ellen Kempner is the mad scientist behind Palehound, which could be described in many ways, but “pretty” is not one of them. It seems Kempner has more to offer than a palatable commercial album, although what that is may not be readily apparent. The juxtaposition of blunt and raw lyrical content with deceptively proficient, playful, and self-effacing guitar lines leave the listener with a sense of fascinated ambiguity. Upon my second listen, in an attempt to fit this album in its proper category, I found that I was unable to find a cookie cutter classification for Palehound. Despite Dry Food’s refusal to settle down and take a seat in my brain, I found that the songs had made themselves very comfortable anyway when I caught myself humming along. While Kempner cites artists like Angel Olsen, Elliott Smith and Kim Deal as major influences on her songwriting, her songs conjure comparisons with a devil-may-care-Liz Phair and Courtney Barnett. Kempner is able to expound on some unsavory subject matter while blithely dancing around the heavier traps that many 20-something artists

can fall into on their journey of self-discovery. Kempner avoids cliché with confidence and strength, resulting in an undeniably intoxicating draw. Kempner must not have been a Disney fan, because she seems to have ignored Mary Poppins’ words of wisdom that “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” Palehound doesn’t pander to those with more delicate sensibilities. One way or another, the medicine will go down. » - Stephanie Scelza

3 TOR MILLER SEAN MCVERRY

4 PETER BRADLEY ADAMS

MOLLY PARDEN

5 THE KNOCKS CARDIKNOX FOG FATHER

6 METTS, RYAN AND COLLINS REDWOOD SON SARAH VITORT

8 PANIC IS PERFECT ANYA MARINA

A “HEALTHIER FOLK” Tracy Bonham and Liz Phair just had a baby who recently got off anti-depressants cold turkey. One of the darker themed songs on this album is balanced out with just enough driving rock n’ roll to keep the ship from going under.

A VALENTINEʼS WEEKEND AFFAIR

THE MOODY DUDES LOST LANDER & FRIENDS MELVILLE BLUE SKIES FOR BLACK HEARTS SPIRIT LAKE

14 KING 16 JOLIE HOLLAND & SAMANTHA PARTON 17 BIKE THIEF RARE MONK CAMBRIAN EXPLOSION

18 BRONCHO DIVERS THE DOMESTICS

WELLS 9 UNMENTIONABLE: 19 EMILY LORNA DUNE A LINGERIE EXPOSITION

10 GRIFFIN HOUSE SEAN MCCONNELL

20 EMILY WELLS

WITH VERY SPECIAL GUESTS LORNA DUNE

11 JACKSON BOONE & 21 THE CAVE SINGERS THE OCEAN GHOSTS CURRENT SWELL SEA CAVES OLD WAVE

QUICK TRACKS

13 UNDER THE COVERS:

12 COVER YOUR HEARTS: A NIGHT

OF GUILTY PLEASURE LOVE SONGS TO BENEFIT THE JEREMY WILSON FOUNDATION

LAEL ALDERMAN DEEPEST DARKEST & DERBY THE FREQUENCE DR. THEOPOLIS THE VERY FOUNDATION

23 STRIKING MATCHES 24 MIKE LOVE 25 EARPHUNK 26 JUST PEOPLE MARV ELLIS AND WE TRIBE WORTH

27 BASIA BULAT THE WEATHER STATION

28 JOHN MORELAND

MARCH SHOWS ON SALE NOW 3/5 : JOSEPH

3/26 : BAG RAIDERS

3/7 : PROTOMARTYR

3/27 : WHITE DENIM

3/8 : JACK GARRATT

3/28 & 29 : POLICA

B “DRY FOOD” Ellen Kempner sings “I’m over it,” but "Dry Food" is one of the high points of the album, leaving the listener far from "over it." Melodic and poetic, without losing any edge, "Dry Food" is most likely the track that will hook you into Kempner’s style.

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 6

new music album reviews

ALBUM REVIEWS THIS MONTH’S BEST R REISSUE

L LOCAL RELEASE

Short List DIIV Is There Is Are Wild Nothing Life of Pause Dr. Dog The Psychedelic Swamp Field Music The Noisy Days are Over Foxes All I Need Junior Boys Big Black Coat Sunflower Bean Human Ceremony

Deep Sea Diver Secrets High Beam Records “See these eyes, they don’t know how to cry,” and while Jessica Dobson’s might not, she sure knows how to bring it out of the rest of us. Deep Sea Diver’s upcoming album Secrets is their newest project since the 2014 EP Always Waiting. Instrumentally and lyrically, the album brings on a slew of emotions–angst, happiness, sadness and fulfillment; the kind of emotion a solid album is built upon.

Lissie My Wild West School of Seven Bells SVIIB The Jezabels Synthia Ra Ra Riot Need Your Light Quilt Eliot St. Sea Caves Bright Forest

L Buy it

Steal it

Toss it

facebook.com/elevenmagpdx @elevenpdx

7 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

Porches Pool Domino Records Porches newest release Pool is a striking departure from their previous release, Slow Dance in the Cosmos, and might therefore not sit well with fans immediately. Pool is both incredibly well-produced and even more synthcentric than their other releases. It is also volumes more sophisticated. Initially, without the fuzzy distorted guitars and forlorn vocals, the album flirts with seeming disingenuous by

Each song has its own ebb and flow stylistically. Some songs start out a little more rock 'n' roll heavy, such as “It Takes A Moment,” and others more progressive and experimental, like the title track, “Secrets.” “Always Waiting,” arguably the best track off the album, shows off the etherealness of frontwoman Jessica Dobson’s voice. Her prior experience with The Shins is evident in Deep Sea Diver’s style. Her sound naturally gravitates toward indie rock, but she brings a rawness and femininity to this project that showcase her talent in a way that she hasn’t been able to do before. Similar to their first album History Speaks, Secrets discusses varying forms of heartbreak in many of its lyrics. Secrets feels more organized, and hopefully they will continue to feel comfortable with their work and break out of their songwriting mold a bit; they have the talent and refining it further will only help them become a next level band to watch. Unfortunately, Deep Sea Diver will not be in Portland during their upcoming tour, but they will be making a stop at Sasquatch and Seattle so all of us Pacific Northwesterners have an opportunity to see their new album in all of its glory live. » - Erin Treat

comparison, but songwriter Aaron Maine has cultivated the darkness Porches fans love and has made it more engaging. The biggest difference between Pool and every other Porches release to date is the undeniable hip-hop influence throughout. This is most evident in the heavy and sleepy bass wobble on songs like “Shape,” and “Even the Shadow,” both songs that are one heavy drop away from being club music. Keep your eyes peeled for remixes. Overall, Pool shows a lot of restraint, to the point that some songs feel more like ambient noise. Both “Shaver” and “Security” seem like filler, lacking any real hook by comparison to the handful of truly memorable songs that are certain to make it into the lexicon of music hip kids are listening to in 2016. Among the most memorable songs is “Underwater,” the first track on the album. The track is just as dark and slow as every other song on the album, but it also has a forceful and unforgettable synth hook that will make you want to keep it on repeat for hours. » - Sarah Eaton

new music album reviews too poppy for some Animal Collective

example of this phenomenon. "Golden

fans, and it has moments where they

Gal" (With Dorothy from The Golden

are doing way too much at once, but

Girls providing samples) is a quite

it definitely brings you back to the

harmonious track, soothing through

Strawberry Jam days. It seems as if

an abrasive fuzz of electronic patterns

Avey Tare and company have focused

underlaying the pleasant vocals.

back on the fun vocal harmonizing

What stands out in this collection as

that brought on comparisons to The

a whole is that the band has returned

Beach Boys. There are some beautifully

to form, and rejected the idea that

strange tracks, like "Burglars" and "On

they have to be something new or a

Delay," that highlight the band's ability

different version of themselves. It’s

to make a dense wall of sound, full of

clear that Avey Tare, Panda Bear and

electronic blips and buzzes overlapping

Geologist put an enormous amount of

each other. Contrasting songs, like

energy into the production of Painting

the mellowed-out "Vertical," give the

With, and I, for one, can’t wait to hear

album the sonic depth we’ve come to

the new stuff live. They are about to

expect from Animal Collective. If you

launch a world tour, including festivals

beginning of the video for the single

didn’t much care for Centipede Hz, or

in Holland and Italy, and it was just

"FloriDada," and I thought it was some

the recent solo offerings, Painting With

recently announced that they will be

kind of gimmick, but the flashing lights

will bring you back on board.

playing the Primavera Sound festival

Animal Collective Painting With Domino Records There is a seizure disclaimer at the

and psychedelic imagery are a bit much

For those not too familiar with

to take, even for the non-epileptic. The

Animal Collective, their sound may be

heard of–Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem,

song however, is pretty damn catchy.

a bit too bizarre upon the first listen,

PJ Harvey, Sigur Rós. It seems that the

The chorus flows on top of itself like

but once you soak in it for awhile,

comeback is at full-tilt. »

a breaking wave, and everything

you want to stay in the hot tub. The

sounds like the beach. Perhaps a little

track "Spilling Guts" is a perfect

L Radiation City

Synesthetica Polyvinyl Records

How do you know when a band has "made it?" A shiny, multi-record deal? The disdain of hipsters for going mainstream? A new touring van that doesn’t smell like feet and sweat? I’m not actually sure that what it means matters all that much, but for Radiation City, a notable feather in the cap is the upcoming Synesthetica, the group’s first album since signing with Polyvinyl Records, home to acts like STRFKR,

Wampire, Deerhoof and Of Montreal. To put that in proper context, you’d have to ask the band. They’re probably happy. If you’ve tracked the group’s sonic evolution since the first album in 2011, you’d notice a group violently allergic to stasis. The growth in both depth and breadth is apparent. Synesthetica represents an attention to detail and finesse that is the result of deliberate honing. Lead single “Juicy” is a fine mix of oozy instrumentals and catchy pop hooks welded finely together into a song that feels familiar even if it’s the first time you’ve heard it. Throughout the album, Radiation City walks the delicate line between expansive sounds and intimate moments. “Oil Show” is light and jumpy, with an upbeat bass line and bouncy percussion, and Elisabeth Ellison’s vocals are as strong as ever. In fact, throughout Synesthetica, all strong instrumental work aside, Ellison’s power is on full display–it’s not so much a "coming-out party" as it is a declaration of excellence to anyone who may have somehow underestimated her the first few times around.

in Spain with a few acts you may have

- Scott McHale

“Milky White” is demonstrative of another common thread weaving throughout the album: the tightness of the rhythm section. Bassist Dasha Shleyeva and drummer Randy Bemrose have discovered a new level. Powering through bass lines that ride the back beat and syncopation with plenty of high-hat, the duo lock in on each track, knowing exactly when to bash to the forefront, and when to pull back. For all the sound, Radiation City still knows how to be delicate. “Separate” is a lovely, soft tune framed by acoustic guitar that floats around, meandering here and there, and demonstrating the ability to lay out a deft touch when desired. Synesthetica is as good an album as one could ask for from a group coming on with a new record label. It’s thorough, powerful and varied. The attention to detail is as strong as the highest crescendo, and the individual instrumental and vocal work is spoton. It is a bar-raising addition to the Radiation City discography. » - Charles Trowbridge

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 8

live music

KNOW YOUR VENUE The Liquor Store

in the corner. There’s also an enticing happy hour of flatbread pizzas and cornbread mac n’ cheese, and a drink menu that is repeatedly applauded, (The Liquor Store was first runner-up for Willamette Week’s Best New Bar 2015), featuring The Blue Monk–an homage to the past with house-made curacao and lime, and most recently The Thin White Duke–a tribute to David Bowie concocted with bergamot orange infused gin. But most of the magic happens when you venture downstairs into the basement. The long, narrow room has a limited capacity, which is part of what caused tension between the aforementioned Blue Monk and local authorities, so Morrone

Photo by Ryan Dornfeld

immediately installed safety precautions like an extra fire

arly in 2015 there was a sudden influx of bands

exit and sprinkler systems. The biggest upgrade, though, was

posting their shows at “The Liquor Store." It

a Funktion-One soundsystem flown directly from the UK.

was unclear as to which, how, or why these

There are only a handful of these high quality audio systems

shows were happening in a liquor store. Turns

on the West Coast. According to Morrone: “We understand that

out, it wasn't really a liquor store, but rather

musicians practice for years and years before they even step

The Liquor Store, a new business on SE Belmont, favorably

onto a stage. With that in mind, the least a venue can do is

located near other late night spots like Circa 33 and Sweet

provide the best possible equipment to help them share their

Hereafter.

music... the sound quality [of the Funktion-One] impresses

Some may remember the address as the former Blue

even the harshest audiophile critics, and we know there are a

Monk, a jazz-inspired variety club that made headlines after a protest between hip hop artists and a police presence in the spring of 2014. It closed shortly after, but did not stay vacant for long. Entrepreneur Ray Morrone moved in and gave the two floors of the location a well-deserved facelift. Morrone looked to his past working in record stores and studying journalism to inspire the interior. First, you have the spacious upstairs with rustic wood, vintage ceiling tiles and a sophisticated central U-shaped bar. Fading newspapers with historical headlines like the moon landing are available, and silent film shorts (Charlie Chaplin) are projected on the wall. Mostly, there is an entire wall displaying Morrone’s HUGE personal vinyl collection, which he encourages guests to dig through and make requests to the DJ’s manning turntables Photo by Ryan Dornfeld

9 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

live music

Local band Laura Palmer's Death Parade. Photo by Todd Walberg

lot in PDX.” Morrone also wants to ensure the bands and DJ’s that book at The Liquor Store feel like welcome guests, so instead of taxing them for expenses he allows them to keep 100 percent of their ticket sales. Even as a new bar and venue, The Liquor Store is busy hosting everything from mellow DJ grooves and EDM, to psych-rock like Wooden Indian Burial Ground, and a Valentine's Day show from Papermoon Cabaret. Morrone hints that there’s more to come. » - Brandy Crowe

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live music FEBRUARY CRYSTAL BALLROOM

1332 W BURNSIDE 1 Granger Smith | Drew Baldridge | Rae Solomon 2 Mike Gordon 4 Dr. Dog | Hop Along

DOUG FIR

830 E BURNSIDE

2 3 4 5 6 8 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18

RUSSELL ST.

TA VE

NORTH WEST BROADWAY ST.

PEARL 2

BURNSIDE ST.

3939 N MISSISSIPPI

405

26 18

GRAND AVE.

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OLD TOWN

MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS

MLK BLVD.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 18 19 20 22 23 25 26 27 28 29

23RD AVE.

MLK BLVD.

WILLIAMS AVE.

8 NW 6TH

VANCOUVER AVE.

ROSELAND THEATER

MISSISSIPPI AVE.

6 8 12 13 17 19 24 27

SKIDMORE ST.

INTERSTATE AVE.

ALBERTA

DOW NTO WN

9 14 18 19 23 27

live music FEBRUARY WONDER BALLROOM 128 NE RUSSELL

TA ST.

ALBERTA ARTS

15TH AVE.

11TH AVE.

PRESCOTT ST.

HOLOCENE

1001 SE MORRISON

24TH AVE.

RONTOMS

HOLLYWOOD

KNOTT ST.

33RD AVE.

28TH AVE.

EASTBURN

D. BLV Y D AN

LAURELHURST

21 29

GLEASON ST.

BURNSIDE ST. 8 11 6

MORRISON ST.

1028 SE WATER

BELMONT ST.

11TH AVE.

8TH AVE.

HAWTHORNE BLVD.

HAWTHORNE

1300 SE STARK

DIVISION ST.

POWEL

L BLVD.

CHAVEZ BLVD.

CLINTON ST.

CESAR

LADD’S ADDITION

THE KNOW

5 10 11 13 19 21

Stone In Love | Barracuda | Heroes The Band Perry Indigo Girls Brian Blade & Fellowship | Alicia Olatuja John Scofield | Joe Lovano Quartet

2026 NE ALBERTA

2 3 4 5 6 9 11 12 13 18 19 20 21 26 27 28

Cat Hoch | And And And | Ice Queens Meat Wave Battleme | Criminal Guitars | Hollers Mass Gothic Diane Coffee Sumac

REVOLUTION HALL

17 27

426 SW WASHINGTON

7 14 21

8 9

BUNK BAR

STARK ST.

KELLY’S OLYMPIAN

1 2 4 10 24

1800 E BURNSIDE

BROADWAY ST.

600 E BURNSIDE

4 5 6 12 13 16 19 23 24 25 26

FREMONT ST.

13 20 24 25 28

2 4 5 6 7 9

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features FEBRUARY THE KNOW (CONTINUED) 11 12 13 14 15 17 18 19 20 25 26 29

Photo by Mercy McNab

ALBERTA STREET PUB 13 1036 NE ALBERTA 5 6 11 12 17 18 20 24 25 27

THE SECRET SOCIETY 14 116 NE RUSSELL 5 6 14 19 20 26 27 28

LOCAL FEATURE 15 836 N RUSSELL

WHITE EAGLE

3 4 5 6 9 10 12 13 17 18 23 24 26

16 8 NE KILLINGSWORTH

TURN TURN TURN

5 6 10 12 13 19 20 21

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Sea Caves

ea Cavesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; forthcoming

Shiloh Halsey began collaborating

sophomore album,

with Cameron Jones in Portland more

Bright Forest, is a

than a decade ago, and the two have

gesture of conviction.

stuck close, trusting each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s artistic

Like disoriented

instincts. Although other members have

hikers, overwhelmed

come and gone, Halsey and Jones feel

by the immensity of the deep woods

confident the recent addition of Seiji

around them, they have taken time

Nair (keyboards) and Brian Nelson (bass)

deciding which path leads toward the

has cemented the group. At last on firm

goals they seek. But now, having crept

footing, Bright Forest finds the band

about the old growth and deer trails long

playing music that is an expression both

and quietly enough, they are beginning

distinct and reflective: distinct in its

to hear sounds assuring them they are

clear awareness of self, yet mirroring

not lost. These are the sounds of their

the earth it echoes across. The world is

own instruments and voices mixing

a deep wood, but their music is both the

with the trickling brooks and shaking

path and the goal.

sparrows, the rustles of badgers and coyote calls. Their sounds resonate well

ELEVEN: Cameron, you met Shiloh

amongst the trees and boulders, and

in 2004 when he moved to Portland.

they begin to wonder whether they have

What brought you together and created

arrived.

an artistic match?

was really cool. I still do. I thought he was doing a really interesting take on (big band) jazz. And he was my grandpa, so it was great to get lessons from him, and when he would come visit he would bring his instruments. I still remember their smell, because woodwinds have a certain smell. CJ: Grandpas have a certain smell… SH: Grandpas do too. Especially the woodwinds. You open up the case and it’s kind of a musty, wooden or metallic smell. So I have fond memories of that time. He played flute in addition to bassoon, his main instrument, and that’s sort of how he became well known. He was somewhat of a virtuosic bassoon player, and sort of laid that over a big band jazz template. But back in that era as a working musician, you had to play different instruments, so he played, in addition to bassoon, clarinet, saxophone, flute and oboe.

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Cameron Jones: We had mutual

one thing I think the flute does really

friends from San Diego. We did various

well. I like the almost Steve Reich-like

non-Sea Caves stuff for a while, and I

application of an instrument like that,

think our personalities, artistically and

kind of where it’s looping or it’s droning,

just personally, meshed really well. And

and then the tones are changing at

so as we started experimenting with

different intervals. That’s something

different stuff we realized it worked

I’ve come to appreciate over the years.

really well.

It’s not something you can do with every instrument.

enjoyed working on things somewhat intensely, and so we were able to forge

11: Brian, all the instruments

a relationship through that. Plus, yeah,

are heavily syncopated, but the bass

our personalities, they matched.

playing stands out to me as filling a role that is untypical for that instrument in indie music. It seems to

early days as a musician, your

often play an unconventional harmony

grandfather was a pretty successful

line. I’m thinking of songs “Winter”

(woodwind) jazz musician. Was he the

and “Stoned in the Road.” What does

inspiration behind you wanting to

a dynamic bassline (that doesn’t just

learn the flute?

hang out on the root) do for the song’s harmonic structure?

SH: Definitely. He’s the first person how to play a flute. I thought his music

HAWTHORNE THEATRE

24 27

consistent that it almost sounds like a

SH: I like that consistency. I guess

who ever showed me a flute, showed me

Stein | Kulululu | Three Sigma Vernor Pantons | Thousand Arrows | The Reverberations

MERCY MCNAB PHOTOGRAPHY

you call it “continual presence.” That’s

11: Shiloh, looking back at your

FEBRUARY TURN TURN TURN (CONTINUED)

11: On the album, the flute is so synth.

Shiloh Halsey: Yeah I think we both

features

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I studied a lot of jazz, and I was always

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Brian Nelson: Coming up on the bass

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features FEBRUARY ASH STREET SALOON (CONTINUED) 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 23 24 25 26 27 29

taught to not just be a filler, and I was

more oriented toward the songs. I think

taught that you can always contribute

the music creates that holistic theme,

melodically as long as you’re not

but lyrically it’s more about the mood

interfering with more important aspects

of that moment, and what’s going on in

of the song. So that’s my usual approach,

my mind or in our discussions.

to not just sit there at the bottom of the

period where he’s just singing nonsense

honest, a lot of those basslines were

to a melody and then we block in the

already there when I joined. I was able

words at some point.

to pick up on those. They were arranged really well, so it was a good jumping off point to see what they wanted. SH: I’ll have to add that Brian brought a very melodic approach to the

LIQUOR STORE 24 THE 3341 SE BELMONT

bass, which was very different for us

2 3 4 6 8 10 11 12 16 27

things. But I think it really fits with

at first, and kind of shifted how we did what we’re trying to do. 11: What do you mean by shifted? SH: I guess just how we view certain parts, or how we move forward with a song. I really like it though. Brian brings this wafting, melodic approach to things. It [does] more than just compliment the songs. It helps a mood, a feel in the music. BN: And they’re so involved too in the production of their songs. They talk about this texturing and layering, and

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they do a really good job of that, so it’s

what they have there already.

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CJ: There’s usually a three-month

harmonic spectrum. But to be totally

kind of nice to just weave in and out of

SH: Yeah. And that’s always a tough period cause we never know quite where the songs are going to go. 11: There’s a lot of content in the lyrics of this album concerning the natural world. Did this connection between your music and your interest in the natural world always exist, going back to your childhood in the Midwest, or did it really come to be once moving out to the Pacific Northwest? SH: The intermingling, no, there was no connection. That’s been recent. I mean they both existed on their own on separate trajectories. It’s two big pieces of what I do. I mean I work as a conservation scientist, and part of that means I’m out in the field a lot. We go out in the woods. It’s something that we enjoy. I mean here we are surrounded by a lot of great places to explore while simultaneously playing music and

11: In songs “Spanning the River”

writing music.

and “Fault Lines” there is a sense of wonder, unknowing, and of the

11: Have you ever considered

overpowering presence of nature, while

making recordings out in nature and

in other songs such as “Border Walls”

including them on the album?

and “Birds” the lyrics have a vein of socio-political commentary. What motivates you lyrically?

SH: Yes, although I never have good recording equipment when I’m out there. But yeah, river sounds, sounds of

SH: Mainly just the mood of the

birds, classic examples. Last time when

moment. What kind of seems to fit with

we were out by Mount St. Helens there

the musical parts.

was that howling. That was uh… pretty intense and mysterious.

11: So the process is usually music and then lyrics?

CJ: Slightly disconcerting. SH: Yeah I’ve had to get out of the tent at times and throw rocks into the

SH: Yes. Yes the lyrics aren’t

dark just for some peace of mind, ‘cause

necessarily trying to create a holistic

there’s noises coming closer. I think

story theme through the album, it’s

that’s part of the unknowing.

11: There is a lot of coherency on that first part of the album.

I mean I’m excited about the music on this album, but we have our lineup now, which has been changing over the last

SH: Yeah, and if you listen closely

couple years. So we have our lineup now

there’s the same melody on “Islands” and

and I’d be really stoked if we could build

“Winter” at certain points.

on this and work with some awesome

CJ: So “Islands” was a song at first,

producer for the next album, and just

and then at some point we just chopped

refine stuff and strengthen our position

the front and the end, and we used the

as a band.

stuff we chopped off for other things. 11: What other bands in Portland do 11: What hopes do you have for the

you guys really like?

album? SH: Well we were really lucky to get SH: Well we hope it reaches a broad

paired up with Jackson Boone and Old

audience. Although we’ve been playing

Wave for our album release show at the

with each other for a while, Sea Caves

Doug Fir on Feb. 11. Which is great, I

has been playing in Portland for several

think both those bands are great.

years, I kind of consider this a beginning

CJ: There’s a band called Bearcubbin’

for us. So in a way I think of this album

that I’m really into that we have nothing

as an initial album for us. I hope we can

in common with, but I would be super

take it to new cities and play it.

stoked to play a show with. »

CJ: One thing that I’m really excited

- Ethan Martin

Bright Forest Self-released

The key to standing out in an independent music scene as crowded as modern day Portland is uniqueness; what can you provide that others cannot? Sea Caves has the answer, and it comes in the form of their instrumentation. The orchestral indie quartet often places guitar on the back burner and shines a bright light on the flute and other chamber instruments throughout their record, Bright Forest. But this isn’t just a group using orchestral arrangements to create orchestral music. The record is still

FEBRUARY ANALOG CAFE & THEATER 720 SE HAWTHORNE

indie rock/indie folk at its core and, while featured prominently, the flute and strings aren’t ever overpowering. They exist to enhance and apply a fresh take on an already established genre, and it’s very effective. There is enough diversity throughout the record to keep the listener engaged as the group switches setups and allows different instruments to take the spotlight on different tracks. Another endearing quirk is the frequent and effective use of vocal harmonies reminiscent of Dirty Projectors, and I really enjoyed the interludes “Winter” and “Mesa.” Early standout tracks “Birds” and “Stoned in the Road” stand out for entirely different reasons. “Birds” features a great little guitar riff looped over a harmony created by vocals, flute, and keys, and at different points brings each instrument to the front for a bit. “Stoned in the Road” stands out by featuring more commanding drum and bass lines over the top of more distinct vocals and guitar lines. The result is a unique, moody, charismatic record that stands out in a city full of artists hoping to do the same. » - Tyler Sanford

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about is the music we’re working on now.

L Sea Caves

features

PORTLAND’S MUSIC MAGAZINE SINCE 2011

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 16

To say Doug Martsch is

relevant for more than 20

Internal factors are not

humble is an understatement.

years while retaining a similar

the only ones that have

The Built To Spill leader often

sound. Martsch himself seems

changed during Built To

borders self-deprecation in his

surprised by the expansive

Spill’s expansive career.

avoidance of the ideas of fame

and devoted crowd Built To

The band has experienced

and success. For Martsch,

Spill has accumulated. From

the spectrum of the

becoming a professional

Millennials to Baby Boomers, a

industry shift from the

musician was unintentional;

wide range of people identity

profitability of album

a combination of passion and circumstance. He doesn’t understand the widespread connection fans have toward his music, nor does he attempt to. For him, music is subjective and something that happens differently for each individual. Dating back to the early '90s, Built To Spill has released eight full-length albums, with their most recent being last year’s Untethered Moon. During that time, the band has toured extensively, and through such activity carved themselves

with Martsch’s songwriting. If you’ve been to a Built To Spill show, you know what I am talking about. A 60-year-old standing next to a teenager, both singing every word. That doesn’t mean Built To Spill hasn’t changed throughout the years, however. Change was one of the original intentions of the band as Martsch planned to be the only continuous member with a different lineup for each album. That did not end up being the case, but like any relationship, time has

sales to the tour-untilyou-die mentality. Making a living means life on the road, and Martsch is okay with that. Built To Spill has toured thousands of shows. With 2016 marking the the end of 20 years worth of contracts with major record labels, the future of Built To Spill is a bit in the air. That does not concern Martsch,

naturally affected the band.

though. He is not one

They have had families, lost

to jump through hoops

an influential place in music

and gained members, and

and will ultimately do

history.

taken long pauses between

what his band has always

releasing albums; all things

done: make music that

impressive about Built To

that subtly incorporate their

feels right and take it on

Spill is their ability to remain

way into a band’s sound.

the road.

Perhaps what is most

17 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN Photo PORTLAND 18 by Katie|Summer

features national scene ELEVEN: Do you have any fond memories from back in the day, before "making it," that are especially noteworthy? Doug Martsch: Well, actually we're going to be playing some shows with The Hand, who's going to be on tour with us, and they're actually not playing the Portland show, but they're playing the rest of this ten day West Coast tour with us, and the guitar player is from my old band Treepeople. That's about how I got my start playing music was in that band. It was just a bunch of guys here in Boise, they were a band called State of Confusion, a hardcore band, and they broke up, and when I was old enough, I joined up with them. They were older guys. We formed Treepeople and moved up to Seattle together. They were really the people who got me going into music, and made it a real thing instead of just messing around by myself.

11: What kind of music were you listening to in junior high? What kind of shows did you go to? DM: Well in junior high school, I kind of got into heavy metal, like sort of poppy heavy metal. Things like Quiet Riot, or AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, kind of that sort of stuff. A melodic kind of heavy metal or something. And Brett, my musical brother or whatever, he was into new wave stuff. And then as we got into high school we kind of grew together and we both got into punk rock. You know, David Bowie and The Smiths and things like that. Echo and the Bunnymen was a band that we both could love. 11: You’ve expressed the idea that music is subjective and it means something different to each person. Why do you think so many people

11: Watching projects come and go, and people start new collaborations, do you still see a lot of people that you saw or played with back in the day? Are they still active, or have they moved on to different things?

connect to your music? DM: I have no idea. It's strange. It's really nothing that I ever expected to happen. Like I said, we all just did this stuff because we liked doing it, and my

DM: Well, it seems to me that most of the people that I've played music with are still doing it. They're lifers. Brett Nelson, who played bass in Built to Spill up until just a few years ago, he was the first person to really get me into music when I was just in junior high school, he was... In Twin Falls, Idaho. He was the first person I knew that had a new wave haircut and owned a synthesizer and then he got a bass. He kind of made the whole thing, the idea of making music, seem within reach. He was into a lot different music than me, but [there were] a few things that we did love, that we had in common. We also had a lot of the same appreciation about music. We liked a lot of the same things about it, even though we had pretty different tastes. He still makes music. He's in a band right now called Sick Wish. His son plays drums, and Scott Schmaljohn, like I was saying, that's the guy from Treepeople, he's in The Hand. The other people in Treepeople, Wayne Flower, he's still making music. Most of the people that I know are kind of lifers that just love it and have done it. None of the people I ever played with... I never played with anyone who thought they could make a career out of music. We were all doing it for fun, and that was it. Nothing's changed. If you played video games when you were a teenager you probably still play them. If you made music, you're probably still doing that too.

19 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

feeling about making music was that I was just trying to sort of... I can pretty well remember when I first started doing it that I thought, I like a lot of bands, but it always seemed like nothing was totally perfect to me. Maybe as I got a little older, a few things did become perfect to me, but when I was young and first started playing music I remember thinking, "Well I like this part of this thing, Photo by Stephen Gere

and I like the way they do this, but I don't like this

part of it." So my idea in making music was to try to do what I think it should be. I didn't even come close, I had no clue about all of the subtleties of music and all the different aspects of it. I focused really on melody. 11: Is it ever kind of overwhelming to have so many people have your music and art mean so much to them? DM: You know what? I guess it kind of is. I feel like people like the music. I don't feel like our music is anything ... People that come up to me and say they like the music after the show or something, I appreciate it, but I know that it's not just about us. It's about music. If they were in a Modest Mouse show they'd go up to Isaac and say the same thing, or The

features national scene Flaming Lips, whoever it is, Clark & The Himselfs. And I feel the same way when I go see bands. I can go see some famous band that everyone loves, I can go see some local band that only a few people have heard of and be just as moved by either experience. I don't really take it too seriously. It's the music that people love, and I happen to be in that field. 11: What is the ideal show setting for you? What kind room do you like to play, and what kind of crowd? DM: I like small shows for sure. I like to go to small shows, definitely, and I like to play [smaller shows]. We play pretty much the [ideal] level of clubs almost nightly that's really great, I think. Like a 500 capacity place. Not super tiny, so it has a decent PA because it's an established place, but it's not so big that it sounds washed out, or that people are uncomfortable, too far away. It still feels intimate. The Crystal, I think it is a great place, I think it's not the best sounding room and a lot of people complain about that and we play there a lot and I complain about it, but I don't know if there's anything they can do about it. As far as the feel of the room, it's great, and I love the people there. 11: So going back to the subjectivity of music, what, in your opinion, makes for good music? DM: Well, I'm not really sure. I think it might be kind of a... I don't know, I really don't know. My musical taste changed a lot over the years. When I was growing up, I think what I liked most about music was melodies and interesting chord progressions, I didn't really pay much attention to tones and rhythms and beats and things like that. Later on, I learned to appreciate those things more. When I was younger and I was into punk rock, when I was a teenager and stuff, I liked people that just had interesting ideas and things that were kind of weird and unconventional. I didn't care if someone sang in key or were one of the good musicians, as long as they were trying and pushing themselves in an interesting way. Then as I got older, when I got into my thirties, I got into the blues and old soul music and reggae and then my aesthetic really changed. That was all music that was real conventional, and people weren't... It wasn't so much about having great new ideas, it was more about just getting into a groove and being a good player, being a good singer. It was more about kind of raw talent. And not bringing anything totally new to the table, just by being yourself you would interpret things and make it your own, in a subtle way, not in a real drastic way like punk rock and art music. 11: What are some bands that you're into right now? DM: Right now I think my favorite thing going on is a band called Slam Dunk out of Victoria, BC.

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 20

features national scene 11: Oh yeah, they're awesome! I saw them at Treefort a couple years ago. DM: Oh good! Yeah, they're some kind of party, punk, fuckin' fun... But they're also really great songwriters, all really great players, just an amazing energy and... It's a fun thing, but as a record they're serious. They're fun too, but they're really super talented people. I can listen to any of their records all day long still. 11: What are your feelings about Treefort Music Fest and what it's done for the Boise music scene and Built to Spill's involvement in it? DM: We've played every year. The first year I think was 2012. Does that sound correct? 11: Yeah, that was the first year. DM: It seems like it's been around for a decade, but this is only the fourth one coming up. Eric [Gilbert], when he first thought about doing it, he proposed to have us play as like... That we would sort of be a draw and a help to the festival, and it seems like year two, in the first year things just blew up. We've been lucky enough to get to play every year and get to kind of hog up some stages. A couple years in a row we took over one of the rooms and played three nights and kind of

21 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

booked our friends and got to turn it into a little festival of our own. This year we're going to play two shows. We're going to play one on the main stage opening for Charles Bradley with a five-piece and then we're going to play another show at the Shrine on Sunday as a three-piece. Mix it up a little bit. Yeah, Treefort is amazing. It's one of those things too, where everyone I know loves it. People that are jaded or hard to please... I consider myself among those sorts of people that... With things like this, usually there's a lot to bitch about, I have not had anything to bitch about with Treefort, and I've really caught the spirit of it. I think [that] it has really moved people, it's kind of amazing. We'll see. We'll see how long it lasts. Maybe that's just the first four or five years and it really does become something that annoys people [laughs]. Up until now, it's been magical every year. Just seeing the streets of Boise transformed into people walking around happy and going from one venue to the next. It's got a great reputation and it's a pretty amazing thing. 11: There's definitely something kind of magical and spiritual about the event. DM: For sure. » BUILT TO SPILL PLAYS LIVE IN PORTLAND FEBRUARY 7 AT CRYSTAL BALLROOM FOR SABERTOOTH MICRO FEST, AND AT TREEFORT MUSIC FEST IN BOISE MARCH 23-27

Shall we make art together?

Billy

k Bor

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 22

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10 Cafe Yumm 11 Silverado

community

NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE MONTH SW 3rd Avenue

SW 4TH AVE

6 7

SW OAK ST

SW STARK ST

1 5 4

SW WASHINGTON ST

1. CHEERY CAFE

Lotus & Bean - 536 SW 3rd Ave

SW 3RD AVE SW ALDER ST

SW 2ND AVE

SW MORRISON ST

SW YAMHILL ST

SW TAYLOR ST

2. RANDOM READS

Cameron's Books - 336 SW 3rd Ave

3. RUNNER'S RESOURCE

Foot Traffic - 333 SW Taylor

BEST OF SW 3RD AVE

Location photos by Mercy McNab

4. DEADLY DINING

Killer Burger - 510 SW 3rd Ave

5. SEASONAL STEMS

Avalon Flowers - 520 SW 3rd Ave

6. ALL-AGES AMUSEMENT

Punch Bowl Social - 340 SW Morrison St

7. MOVIES IN THE MALL

Regal Cinema - 340 SW Morrison

8. TASTY THAI

Bankok Palace - 300 SW Taylor St

9. FIERCE FASHION

Nordstrom Rack - 245 SW Morrison St

10. BOWLS FOR BELLIES

Cafe Yumm - 301 SW Morrison

11. NAUGHTY NIGHTLIFE Silverado - 318 SW 3rd Ave

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 24

community literary arts Photo by Mercy McNab

Leila Del Duca: It was so amazing, I don't even know how to describe how amazing it was [Laughs]. Coming from little to no recognition, to immediate recognition and strangers knowing who I am and being like, “Wow, your art is so pretty,” whereas before it was mostly my family members and friends who were like, “Yeah your stuff is great.” 11: Joe, you came to comics through a backwards route, especially when you consider how Image started with a bunch of artists defecting from Marvel to start their own creatorowned company. What's it been like to work your way from the publishing side to writing? Joe Keatinge: Well, yeah, in comics, writing is the main aspect of what I do, but I care a lot about comics as a whole. I have three tenets to my career, and one of them is create a bunch of cool stuff with a bunch of cool people in all sorts of different genres and formats. Two is don't die broke in the process. Three is to help make it better in some way along the way. My whole thing was, "How do you get into comics?" There's no way to do it. So I was thinking, "Well, I'll just take whatever," and so I started doing color flats because a friend of mine needed a color flatter and I didn't know what that was. It was basically a production thing. Long story short, it ended with me working for Image Comics on the publishing side. It did reach a point though, where the writing was kind of the thing I always wanted to do and I had strayed away from it. 11: You felt that a part of why you had gotten in, you weren't doing that?

LITERARY ARTS Leila Del Duca & Joe Keatinge

eila Del Duca and Joe Keatinge are the power house team behind Image Comics series Shutter, the story of Kate Kristopher, daughter of famed explorer Chris Kristopher, who wants nothing more than to escape her father's shadow. But when a family secret is revealed, she learns that running from her father's legacy might be harder than she thought. The third trade paperback of the series, collecting issues 13-17, came out this January. Besides Shutter, both are busy with other projects as well. Keatinge writes the wrestling-meets-crime-noir series Ringside, also for Image, and Leila has a new short piece in Vertigo's SFX #4 written by Portland's own Jonathan Case. I sat down with them at Keatinge's studio, conveniently located above Floating World Comics, to talk about Portland's comic book community, strong female characters and the future of the industry. ELEVEN: Leila, you came to Shutter from smaller press and indie web comics. What's that transition been like?

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JK: Ehh, but it wasn't like I wasn't liking my job, it was more like, this is the next step and it's time to take that next step. And then I did that and was broke for about a year and a half and then I did a comic called Glory and that launched everything. So, it's nice because I get… I see the larger system of how this works, that if we're late on a book there are people who have to stay until late on a Friday night at the office. And in terms of my long term goals, I'm here for comics for life, I'm not doing this because I want to make a TV show, or a movie or anything. I'm doing this because I want to make comics and that could be as a writer, or an editor, or who knows in the future. I am working on other things. I'm working on my first novel actually, but in terms of creative freedom, and what you're able to do, there's nothing that comes close to comics. But to really get back to your question, it's that I'm able to see how all these parts work together. One of the things I'm doing now is working with Floating World Comics, in Portland, Oregon, in book sales and ordering, so I can help understand further what the mechanics of retailing are like. 11: My first comic book shop, The Splash Page, in Billings, Montana, the owner there was one of the first people to ever talk to me like an adult. He would talk about some of that big picture stuff, like ordering with Diamond Distributors, and it was my first real glimpse into an adult job. JK: Well, that's the thing that I get most out of the store, is the importance of developing community. I think that's more important than trying to sell a physical SKU, a single unit. 11: Joe, you mentioned Glory earlier. You have a history of writing strong, female characters. I'm curious if that was intentional or if you started off with Glory and just fell into that character mode.

community literary arts JK: I'm not doing it to fill in, like, oh this is the world I'm planning. That's bullshit. If you're creating anything for that purpose, you're doing it wrong. Everything I do, whether it's good or not, I enjoy it and it's something I'm writing to entertain. Comics I'm excited about reading, and in terms of writing and stuff like that, are, well, I haven't seen that before. And my family was largely built of strong women. My grandma worked in dispatch at the police department and as a funny thing, they decided to enter her in the shooting competition and then she annihilated everybody. And then, the twist is, did she get the first place award for the shooting competition? No, she got first place in the women's competition. She was the only woman competing against all these men. LDL: That's bullshit. JK: I don't want my daughter to be raised in a world like that.

LDL: It really feeds my interests a lot. I get bored easily, so it was awesome to be able to draw something different every page. That's another reason I like working with Joe, because he comes up with these awesome ideas and characters. He gives me just enough information where I can put whatever the hell else I want to in there. The backgrounds are pretty much up to me, so I can put little Easter eggs in there. I'm really afraid I'll never have a project that'll let me be this free again. Hopefully I find creators who are like, "What do you want to draw?" And I can just tell them the same thing that I told Joe, which was pretty much anything, except for superheroes and zombies. And then they'll write a cool script to go along with my interests. 11: Joe, where did the inspiration for that kind of diversity come from? JK: It's what we were talking about earlier, wanting to see something I haven't read before. The book is about a lot of things, but also largely about seeing the world you grew up in through different eyes, and so it made sense to have such a huge scale to it. 11: Joe, I've read you're a music buff. Does music shape your comics work at all? JK: Oh, absolutely. When I'm plotting or writing, I'm always listening to music. Aimee Mann is really big on me. I'm doing Ringside, the wrestling crime comic, and I would say if I could get anyone to do the soundtrack, it would be her. I think the construction of a song, like a two minute, thirty second song, is much closer to a twenty page comic in terms of overall construction. 11: Leila, you play a number of instruments, is that right? LDL: It's definitely more of a hobby and not really a practiced skill with me, but I like making music. It really is a nice supplement to drawing for me because it works a different creative part of my brain, but it also exercises the mathematic part of my brain, which is something I think I'm missing when I'm too creative. Âť - JP Kemmick

LOCAL LITERARY EVENTS 11: Leila, what's it like to draw a strong, female character in an industry still dominated by men, even if to a lesser extent than it once was? Do you feel any responsibility, or are you just drawing a bad-ass adventurer? LDL: Well, it's mostly I want to draw bad-ass, cool, engaging, interesting characters, and luckily Joe writes all of the above. I do feel a sense of responsibility though, because I am a woman who's been subjected to a lot of sexism and it is really important to me to portray believable women and basically non-white guys, becauseâ&#x20AC;Ś for the exact same reasons Joe just mentioned. I want to live in a world where the question you just asked isn't even a question anymore.

IAN BRENNAN WITH CORIN TUCKER 1 FEBRUARY 5 | POWELL'S BOOKS | 1005 W BURNSIDE Author and Grammy-winning producer Ian Brennan chronicles his own journeys to find new and ancient sounds, textured voices, and non-malleable songs, and presents readers with an intricate look at our technological society in his book, How Music Dies (or Lives).

CHRIS OFFUTT READING 2 FEBRUARY 25 | POWELL'S BOOKS | 1005 W BURNSIDE After inheriting 400 novels of pornography written by his father in the 1970s and '80s, author Chris Offutt sets

11: Not only is Shutter an insanely action-packed read, but the diversity of settings and characters on every page is astounding. Is it difficult from an illustrative standpoint to keep up with it all?

out to make sense of a complicated father-son relationship in My Father, the Pornographer (Atria Books), a carefully observed, beautifully written memoir.

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community visual arts Photo by Mercy McNab

Austin Eddy: I consider myself a West Coast native more than anything. I was born in Berkeley, California, and lived all over Northern California before my family moved outside of Sun River, Oregon for my 6/7 grade year. While it was super fun to live out there and we got tons of snow in the winter, I felt generally cut off from the world for an 11 year old. The town of Bend had gotten pressure from a special interest group, or church or something to ban MTV in the town and I remember we had to get bootleg VHS copies of music videos of Beavis and Butthead etc. from someone's brother or cousin who had come to town from Portland. We later moved up to a small town north of Seattle called Mukilteo and I stayed there through High School and some Community College and then moved back to San Francisco when I got a scholarship to attend the Academy of Art University for a summer in 2001. After college I stuck around the Bay for a couple years then moved to New Zealand to work on Avatar. I ended up staying in NZ for four years and when it was time to move back to the states I decided Portland sounded like a nice place, it was the only city on the west coast I hadn't lived in yet, and I have close friends and family that live here. 11: What type of visual artist would you consider yourself to be? What is the name of

VISUAL ARTS Portland painter Austin Eddy

xalted by the beauty of life and influenced by the importance of the human experience, artist Austin Eddy takes the time to make a visual statement with each stroke of paint,

which he carefully places onto his canvas. As an artist with an impressive portfolio, working on illustration for films like Avatar, The Hobbit, Planet of the Apes and other films, he is someone that understands the value of patience within the artistic process. In his latest venture with modern surrealist painting, Eddy makes accessible to the viewer a new perspective and manner by which to examine life. ELEVEN: You are from California originally, and studied art at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. What brought you up to Portland?

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the style of art that you make? AE: A good one! I would consider my art to fall into the modern surrealism and realism spectrum. I've always been attracted to realism in some form. 11: I noticed that your father was an artist influenced by the Tibetan Thangka painting style, can you tell us about how that influenced the type of artist that you have become? AE: Glen Eddy is my father; he was a notable painter and probably one of the earliest western Tibetan Thangka painters. Painting today is so easy because we just squeeze these perfectly formulated paints out of a tube. My father was interested in preserving the ritual and tradition of Thangka painting and took the time to gather the stones and grind them into pigment and make his own rabbit skin glue and develop his own paints, stretch canvas, etc. While I don't go to those lengths, I think I was able to absorb some of his patience. I can work on a single painting for months, putting many layers of oil and pigment down and then waiting for each one to dry.

community visual arts 11: What brought you into animation and then allowed

tessellated semi-transparent hands seemingly manipulating

you to transition into painting? Tell us a little about the

different areas of the portrait. It's definitely the largest

artistic evolution and progression that you have been

project I've ever attempted in painting and I hope it turns out

through.

well!

AE: I've always loved animation, but mostly the more "realistic" stuff. I loved watching Ray Harryhausen movies

11: Who are your artistic inspirations or influences that you have had through your career?

and Akira when I was a kid. When I went to art school, it was originally for fine art, which I have always seen as my calling, but I was just blown away by what people were doing in the

AE: I've always loved Van Gogh, Klimt, Canova and more recently contemporary artists like Jean-Pierre Roy, Steven

animation department.

Assael. I recently saw a

This was around 2001,

video installation at the

when all the best

Broad museum in LA from

animation stuff was

Ragnar Kjartansson called

really growing fast

The Visitors which was

around San Francisco.

amazing!

Stuff like Pixar, ILM (industrial light and

11: On your website

magic), DreamWorks,

you state, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am

Lucas Film, Lucas Arts,

committed to taking

and The Matrix were

the beauty, uniqueness

all just shot there.

and mystery of human

There was just a lot

experiences and making

of energy in that field

them tangible and

at the time so as an

accessible.â&#x20AC;? Can you

artist I jumped in to

expand on what you mean

the animation world.

by that and how you feel

The past 10 years

you make these aspects

working on movies has been an incredible

of the human experience

education for me and

more accessible or

has lead me to places

tangible? Why is it

I would have never

important or valuable to

imagined going. When

have that accessibility in

you are working on any

our culture?

creative endeavor, be it AE: Well, most of our

painting or working on

thoughts and feelings

a film, you are making choices, one choice is succeeded by another

"The World of Things" (oil on canvas, 2015)

are intangible and yet completely unique to

and another etc. and the outcome of all those choices leads to

each of us, and I believe they are the most important factor

the finished work. Working in film is very similar to painting

in what drives us. Thoughts and feelings are completely

in that it's about making aesthetic choices.

subjective, and I think art is a way of sharing or expressing what is subjective. It allows us to be able to transform these

11: Tell us about your newest work and what you are currently working on.

subjective aspects into the objective, and these in turn can be interpreted by anyone in a subjective way. In this way, I believe making artwork is a great way to share the strange,

AE: I'm currently working on a huge painting that is 4x6

beautiful, and unique mystery of life.

feet, which for me seems daunting. It's a portrait with many

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community visual arts 11: How do you feel abstract or surreal art is different from realistic artwork as forms of artistic expression? What does surreal artwork have to offer the artist and the viewer? AE: In short, a different perspective. For example, I didn't connect with Pablo Picasso's art until I was exposed to his early work. He was an absolute genius from an early age. His figure drawings from his early years are amazingly accurate and beautifully rendered. I realized that his later work was not of a naive artist as I had previously thought, but of someone who had chosen a different perspective. 11: What does the theme of hands in the pieces on your website represent? AE: I like to paint hands because they are what we use to manipulate the world. Next to our face I think they are the most expressive appendage. They are our built in multi-tool, and I think it's fascinating to think about what we are able to do with our hands.

"Untitled Work in Progress" (oil on canvas, 2016)

11: Tell us about your upcoming projects? What is Surreal Salon 8? AE: Surreal Salon 8 is a national juried exhibition of popsurrealist/lowbrow art. Baton Rouge Gallery will host it for its eighth year from Jan. 4-28 2016. I've never been before but I'll be going to the show on the 22nd! Âť - Lucia Ondruskova

FIND THIS ARTIST ONLINE WWW.AUSTINEDDY.COM INSTAGRAM: AUSTINOEDDY

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Please enjoy Austin's piece "Annika" (oil on canvas, 2015) decorating our inside back cover this month.