Eleven PDX Magazine November 2017 by Eleven PDX

contents

ELEVEN PDX MAGAZINE VOLUME 7

THE USUAL 4 Letter from the Editor 4 Staff Credits

ISSUE NO. 6

FEATURES Local Feature 14 Jessica Boudreaux

Cover Feature 18 Ibeyi

NEW MUSIC 5 Aural Fix Gavin Turek The Clientele Khruangbin Julia Jacklin

8 Short List 8 Album Reviews Spinning Coin Dreckig OCS Mo Troper

COMMUNITY Literary Arts 26 Portland writer Zachary Schomburg

Visual Arts 28 Oregon photographer Melissa Kelly

LIVE MUSIC 10 Know Your Venue The Secret Society

12 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! Dear readers, It’s the eve of Halloween as I write you. This wondrous, spooky time of year is always a refreshing milestone no matter how egregious the times may be. Egos and affectations are put aside as we adorn ourselves in ghoulish, comical or bizarre costumes, all in the name of getting weird. A heightened sense of unity permeates throughout Portland’s music community as members of various bands join forces, forming tenable supergroup cover bands—this year bringing renditions of David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Boys II Men and Kraftwerk. Looking into November, there is a lot happening within local music. Summer Cannibals’ lead ripper, Jessica Boudreaux, celebrates the release of her debut solo record—read our interview with her in the Local Feature—and Mo Troper drops what could be one of Portland’s best albums of the year. On the national level, Oh Sees change their name again (back to OCS) with their second release of the year. Disco’s saving grace, Gavin Turek, brings her infectious funk-pop to Holocene, and the French-Cuban twin sisters of Ibeyi come to melt hearts at Revolution Hall. Keep doing you, friends. Talk soon. Dutifully yours,

- Travis Leipzig, Managing Editor

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EXECUTIVE STAFF EDITOR IN CHIEF Ryan Dornfeld (ryan@elevenpdx.com) CREATIVE DIRECTOR Dustin Mills (dustin@elevenpdx.com) MANAGING EDITOR Travis Leipzig (travis@elevenpdx.com) SECTION EDITORS LITERARY ARTS: Scott Mchale, Morgan Nicholson VISUAL ARTS: Mercy McNab GRAPHIC DESIGN Dustin Mills

ONLINE Mark Dilson, Kim Lawson, Michael Reiersgaard

GET INVOLVED getinvolved@elevenpdx.com www.elevenpdx.com twitter.com/elevenpdx facebook.com/elevenmagpdx

GENERAL INQUIRIES info@elevenpdx.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Rosie Blanton, Laurel Bonfiglio, Tyler Burdwood, Matt Carter, Crystal Contreras-Grossman, Brandy Crowe, Sarah Eaton, Eric Evans, Lou Flesh, Jameson Ketchum, Christopher Klarer, Kelly Kovl, Samantha Lopez, Scott McHale, Lucia Ondruskova, Gina Pieracci, Kelsey Rzepecki, Ellis Samsara, Tyler Sanford, Stephanie Scelza, Matthew Sweeney, Charles Trowbridge, Rick White, Henry Whittier-Ferguson, Wendy Worzalla

PHOTOGRAPHERS Patrick Chapman, Eric Evans, Alexander Fattal, Eirinn Gragson, Greg LeMieux, Mercy McNab, Andrew Roles, Todd Walberg, Caitlin Webb COVER PHOTO David Uzochukwu

ADVERTISING sales@elevenpdx.com ELEVEN WEST MEDIA GROUP, LLC Ryan Dornfeld Dustin Mills

SPECIAL THANKS Our local business partners who make this project possible. Our friends, families, associates, lovers, creators and haters. And of course, our city!

new music aural fix

AURAL FIX

Photo by Tiger Tiger

up and coming music from the national scene

GAVIN TUREK NOVEMBER 7 | HOLOCENE

It turns out that disco was not, in fact, dead. It had simply retreated to the corner of some forgotten club, its sequins dulled, its hair a mess. There in the dim light it stood, back against the bar, watching the others dance, waiting for a partner to sweep it off its feet. Then, in walked Gavin Turek. A Los Angeles native, Turek grew up in an eclectic wash of sound, reflected by a body of work that stretches from her hometown to Ghana and beyond. Her 2015 collaborative EP with Brainfeeder producer TOKiMONSTA, You’re Invited, put her on the pop radar, and the next two years would see her touring as a member of Tuxedo, Mayer Hawthorne’s neo-soul/ disco-funk band. Last April, she released her own EP, Good Look for You, which looks forward by looking back, taking disco by the hand and leading it back onto the dance floor. The project strays from the laid-back futurism of TOKiMONSTA’s production, finding a home in the live instrumentation and upbeat grooves that once ruled the popcharts, though aspects of each track do feel informed by the modern electronic era. The aesthetic of the project, though, is decidedly throwback, all sequins and soft focus, lens flares

Photo by Andy Wilsher

THE CLIENTELE NOVEMBER 10 | MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS

After a seven year hiatus, British indie-poppers The Clientele release another album, Music for the Age of Miracles. Lead singer Alasdair MacLean is back doing what he does best across this album, singing faintly about his life and his dreams, blending the lines between reality and something surreal. The band has a sound that’s almost poppier than ever across the instrumentation, but MacLean hasn’t lost the fondness he’s always had for pensive, introspective lyricism. What appealed to most fans across The Clientele’s early 2000’s work was MacLean’s stories over simple, faint

and blue-gold light. Turek’s vocals are produced with a softer hand as well, giving her voice a more natural feel than it had on the 2015 EP. If it’s that electronic feel you want, though, there’s also a trio of remixes for “The Distance,” and a quartet for “Good Look for You,” both featuring varied re-imaginings of the two tracks from a variety of producer/DJs. If that’s not enough, there’s also “Birdie Bees,” a brand new single released in September and perhaps Turek’s best work to date, continuing in her fashion of modernizing classic dance grooves. “It’s not too late,” she says as the song comes to a close, and she’s right. It’s never too late. » - Henry Whittier-Ferguson instrumentation, which gave the vibe that the group was channeling mood more so than mastery of their instrument. What has changed more than anything on Music for the Age of Miracles is how dense and layered the production is. MacLean and company are offering much more flavorful songs, providing rising and falling actions and genuine climaxes to the same brand of storytelling. The lead single off the album, “Lunar Days,” offers up the nostalgia, the pop, and the newfound knack for musical intricacies that best demonstrate the direction The Clientele intended to head with Miracles. MacLean sings about the contrast between the triviality of his own life to the significance of those around himself. What hooks me with MacLean’s lyrics here is what he chooses not to say, singing “Down in the streets they’re falling in love,” leaving the listener left to interpret the ‘and I’m not.’ Easily the most ambitious track on Miracles is “The Museum of Fog,” a 4-minute tale that abandons all singing and structure, and MacLean tells as straightforward of a story as he knows, by essentially reading the audience a chapter of his life, leaving listeners as messy and hollow as MacLean tells us he is. The group’s hiatus and the wisdom that MacLean has gained with the times didn’t necessarily help him figure everything out, but he’s gotten a whole lot better at describing his uncertainty. » - Tyler Sanford

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 5

new music aural fix

KHRUANGBIN

Photo by Mary Kang

NOVEMBER 17 | WONDER BALLROOM Khruangbin give exotica a good name. The Texan three piece (Mark Speer on guitar, Laura Lee on bass, and Donald Johnson behind the drums) take their moniker from a phrase in Thai, and much of the inspiration for their hazy, laid-back sound from ‘60s Southeast Asian psychedelic pop. The band’s moment in the sun has been a long time coming. Khruangbin formed in earnest around 2009 and caught the attention of Bonobo, who featured their track “A Calf Born in Winter” on a LateNightTales compilation in 2013. Their excellent fulllength The Universe Smiles on You came out in 2015 on Night Time Stories Ltd. following a string of EPs. In fact, that album’s track “August Twelve” is a reworking of an earlier song “Start, You, the End Starts Again.” They can only gain momentum from here. There’s a strong funk influence to Mark Speer’s casually strung-along guitar lines, giving the sense of a band that anchors delicate ambience with a muscular heart. That metronomic beat and comfy, hyper-melodic guitar are what make tracks like "Two Fish and an Elephant" and "The Man Who Took My Sunglasses" really shine. Though you could call them quintessential lounge music, Khruangbin lean towards jazz and country influences from time to time. For instance, the pedal steel courtesy of Will Van Horn that dips in for “Zionsville.”

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Khruangbin keep things slow and calm, only upping the ante for tracks like “People Everywhere (Still Alive)” with its disco/Philly soul-like beat. For such a minimal approach, the trio can craft an earworm like it’s nothing. Case in point: their single “White Gloves,” which features vocals from Speer and Lee for a cinematic-sounding, mysteriously shimmering pop song. The analog glitches and ethereal echoes at the corners of their tracks could evoke lo-fi Southeast Asian pop from a radio cutting through soft rain–or Jamaican dub–for that matter. A criminally underrated outfit well worth wading through the jungle to find. » - Matthew Sweeney

new music aural fix

Photo by Nick McKinlay

JULIA JACKLIN NOVEMBER 19 | DOUG FIR

Australian singersongwriter Julia Jacklin blesses listeners ears with a satisfying meld of moody indie-folk, dream-pop and alternative country. Her wholesome, endearing and relatable lyricism about the anxieties of growing up take the prominent lead in her music, surrounding her with spare and complementary instrumentation. Her distinct, soft feminine and soulful voice has the ability to charm a listener of any background. She nails the balance of subdued vibes with downtempo rhythms and calming instrumentation mixed with moments of subtle and satisfying angst, showcasing her characteristic style that calls to mind the likes of Angel Olsen and Sharon Van Etten. She doesn’t need much accompaniment to be a serious force; her seductive emotion and the unpredictable range present in her vocal delivery will have you feeling like you can never get enough. She lets loose on the track “Coming of Age,” a clear standout that is the epitome of her point of view as an artist. The nostalgic and playful grungy/ indie-punk vibe pairs well with her especially moody

vocals: “Yeah now I’m gonna learn this new stage/I didn’t see it coming, my coming of age.” The melancholy track “Eastwick” shows an especially vulnerable side of Jacklin as she vocalizes her frustrations with the modern world and needing some time to breathe–a notion that is beyond relatable. Julia Jacklin openly lays out the raw feels of life, serving as a confidant and assuring us that we’re never alone. » - Kelsey Rzepecki

QUICK TRACKS A “POOL PARTY” This track possesses a weary, melancholy drawl coming from Jacklin’s vocals, never afraid to shy away from her blatantly honest storytelling.

B “LEADLIGHT” Jacklin showcases her charmingly soft and seductive side with this nostalgic, blusey track.

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 7

new music album reviews

ALBUM REVIEWS THIS MONTH’S BEST R REISSUE

L LOCAL RELEASE

Short List Anti-Flag American Fall The Hague The Hague

Maroon 5 Red Pill Blues Stereophonics Scream Above the Sounds Morrissey Low in High School Dogheart Beach Farm

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings Soul of a Woman

Spinning Coin Permo Geographic Music A certain innocence born of simplicity and spirit flows and attacks throughout Spinning Coin’s first full length release, Permo. What does not rattle your cage on this album sends you drifting in a sweet innocence towards euphoric concern. There is a definite divide of signature styles that present

Sia Everyday is Christmas

time around, however, the married duo has beamed down as Dreckig, whose

Grace VanderWaal Just the Beginning

latest album Space in Time/Time in Space is Pac-Man meets Fanny Pack

Walk the Moon What if Nothing

with Manu Chao along for the ride. It’s an electronic, bilingual journey

Barenaked Ladies Fake Nudes

through the strobe-lit smoke-machine haze of, well, time and space.

Evanescence Synthesis

Bringing a little bit of everything

Sleigh Bells Kid Kruschev Buy it

Stream it

themselves through the creative touch of this duo. Sean Armstrong (guitar, vocals) brings more melody and sweetness to the vocal and guitar tracks as Jack Mellin (guitar, vocals) brings a certain maniacal neurosis to the table with riffs and vocal expressions akin to punk rock. The fourteen song debut packs a mix of diversity that is exemplified in songs like “Starry Eyes,” where Armstrong pleads “let’s do something that doesn’t involve getting fucked up on a sense of pride.” The song “Tin” comes into formation in nostalgic grunge fashion mixed with punk rock reminiscence as the words, “I need someone to remind me how to communicate/how to participate,” jangle from Mellin’s vocal chords. Spinning Coin has been putting in their fair share of work in the rock ‘n’ roll scene, and Permo is the first major product of the project, sending them off in a good direction. Recklessly rocking and recoiling in chaotic yet sensitive style. » - Ellis Samsara

to the table, Space in Time/Time in Space manages to be experimental, chill and funky while maintaining

Toss it

L Dreckig

Space in Time/Time in Space Self-released

a polished, layered sound. Although playful and sometimes nerdy, like it could be part of the soundtrack to Zardoz, Dreckig is a mature step forward for both Lindbeck and

Papi Fimbres and Shana Lindbeck are gifts that keep on giving to the Portland music scene, appearing to us in many different forms and bringing us a variety of sounds. Sometimes in the cumbia outfit known as Orquestra Pacifico Tropical, other times as part

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of punk group Bitch’n or psych rock trio Mascaras, just to name a few. This

Fimbres, who show us with this album that there is a future–and yes–there is room for everyone. Dreckig celebrate their album release with a show at Bunk Bar on November 3 with an allPOC lineup featuring Amenta Abioto and Brown Calculus. » - Crystal Contreras

new music album reviews

OCS Memory of a Cut Off Head Castle Face Records What’s in a name? For OCS, FKA Oh Sees, FKA Thee Oh Sees (and, if we’re being completists, a few more FKAs as well), a name is as much an identifier as it is an expectation-setting tool. Having just released Orc in August 2017 as Oh Sees, founder and core member John Dwyer turned around and dropped Memory of a Cut Off Head in November under one of the band’s original monikers: OCS.

L Mo Troper

Exposure & Response Good Cheer Records

Rolling Stone used the occasion of Tom Petty's death to republish an early interview he gave them. The late '70s were an unusual time in popular music, as tastes varied between disco, southern rock and the insurgent punk scene. As one may expect, Petty was in no hurry to align himself with the punk movement: "All that punk shit was just a little too trendy. Costello's OK. We played with him, but I couldn't

The name change signals a return to the group’s lo-fi, psychedelic sensibilities from the early albums like The Cool Death of Island Raiders and Sucks Blood, and the experimental, acoustically oriented 34 Reasons Why Life Goes on Without You. As with previous eras within the band, Memory of a Cut Off Head is several steps removed from the garage rock and punk flavors of Thee Oh Sees projects. It is a folky album that finds Dwyer looking to create mellow tapestries, rather than static-y sledgehammers. Dwyer is rejoined by his former bandmate, Brigid Dawson, whose back-up vocals often serve as an edgesanding counterbalances to Dwyer’s throughout the album. Album-opener “Memory of a Cut Off Head” is a sonic tone-setter, with a bouncy snare tap and ‘60s-style trippy juxtaposition of a folk duet singing from the perspective of a cut off head. “Neighbor to None” is positively gentle in its mien, with Dwyer whisper-singing and Dawson finding a vocal lightness to dance an octave above. Not-quite-treacly strings provide a viscous accompaniment to

a finger-picked guitar. “The Fool,” the album’s second single, features Dawson on lead vocals exclusively, and marks a turning point where her vocals take over the lead role for the remainder of the album (with the exception of the Bowie-esque “The Chopping Block”). By the time we’ve hit the final track, “Lift a Finger,” we’ve come full circle back to the earlier psych-folk tones. It rambles with a jaunty step amid Dawson’s somewhat matter-offact, albeit velvety delivery. Every now and then you can pick out slightly (intentionally) discordant tones between the flute, vocals and bass, which give the track a topsy-turvy, surreal flow. Putting Memory of a Cut Off Head into the context of earlier work and the frequent transitional phases of Dwyer, it really is a lovely album, with consistent musicality and quirky little moments that remind you who is actually in charge of the experience (hint: it’s not you). » - Charles Trowbridge

call him Elvis." Costello's early career may have been buoyed by punk, but he wasn't a proper punk himself. That Costello could move in punk circles seems obvious now that the genre has expanded so drastically, but the mood in 1978 was that punk was distinctly anti-musical—or at the very least, antimelodic. So an artist like Costello, who blended the in-your-face provocation and lyrical bite of punk, could only pass as punk for so long. The Attractions played with the immediacy of punk, but even then Costello's songcraft was simply too refined to be defined by the movement. Mo Troper's new album, Exposure & Response, strikes a very similar chord. As power-pop goes, it's smart and fun. Like early Costello, there's an immediacy and sneer to the vocal delivery, which suits the songs well. The album opens with "Rock and Roll will Change the World," featuring Troper's harmonies and thundering guitar. Both draw similarities to the kind of polished, "important" musical artifice his lyrics skewer, a point

reinforced by the set's most accessible track "Your Brand." The lyrics savage the social media mentality, while chugging guitars recall Weezer at their most melodic. "The Poet Laureate of Neverland" uses a slightly off-kilter brass arrangement to embroider the lyrical dressing down of a selfimportant artist-type. As the music swells to the song's end, Troper manages to both have his cake and eat it—it's an almost elegant thing, hinting at Beatle-esque pomp while burning someone for their bluster. The record grows on you with repeat listens, but it's clear from the get-go that Mo Troper walks the tightrope between punk and power-pop. These are songs with incisive lyrics and memorable, melodic music played with urgency. The wild card here is Troper's vocals, about which your mileage may vary. They're very much in the same vein as those of Elvis Costello or Billie Joe Armstrong: unpolished maybe, but distinctive, emotive, passionate and very appropriate for the songs. » - Eric Evans

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live music before entrepreneur Matt Johnson purchased it and began a massive renovation in 2004. A new Spanish restaurant, Toro Bravo, opened downstairs, and the former fraternal meeting room became a rental for special events upstairs. At the time, Johnson’s office was also upstairs, overlooking Russell St. As general manager Jesse Lundin tells it, “Toro Bravo became wildly popular, and from his window Matt could see lines of people milling about waiting to get tapas and coming to and from the newly opened Wonder. He thought ‘why not give these people a place to sit and wait and have a drink?’” So his office became a swanky cocktail lounge called The Secret Society. To find it, you must find the simple, single door almost blending into Toro Bravo’s windows. It opens into a grand red staircase leading to a foyer with two doors. It feels like a speakeasy, but no secret password is needed. Choose the left door and find the office-turned-lounge–A small, secret hideaway of polished wood and glowing lights, and a warm respite from the waiting and rain, which you can still view from the windows. The bar is stocked with local spirits and wines, and “The Green Fairy.” They have an amazingly detailed craft-cocktail menu inspired by film, song and history from the early 20th century. My pick is the “Blood And Sand,” with Bank Note Scotch whisky, cherry brandy, sweet vermouth and OJ served up, created for the 1922 silent film that starred Rudolph Valentino Photo by Ryan Dornfeld

KNOW YOUR VENUE The Secret Society | 116 NE

quiet little stretch of Russell St. in the Boise-Eliot neighborhood has been roused in the last decade with the emergence of new businesses like Russell St. BBQ, Black Water Records and the Wonder Ballroom. A nearby Victorian-Era building–circa 1907–was also revived. The building’s past housed two fraternal orders, The Woodman of The World and The Prince Hall Masons (secret societies, if you will). Years later it was converted into artist studios

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as a matador. Their food menu has matured from snacks since their 2007 opening. They now serve

plates of Shrimp Scampi, Linguini, Chicken Duxelles and perhaps a Brandy Alexander creme brulee for dessert.

Photo by Ryan Dornfeld

live music

Local band Chris Robley & The Fear of Heights playing The Secret Society. Photo by Inger Klekacz.

Choose the other door and find the old meeting room as a dance hall and performance venue, with an additional full bar. The Secret Society has built a community around ongoing shows that hearken to a past of jazz, soul, folk and vaudeville. Mainstay events include Pete Krebs & His Portland Playboys, vintage starlet Pink Lady and swing and salsa dancing. There’s also a monthly literary event, The Moth StorySLAM, and a new “Not-So-Secret” family show on Sunday. There are special performances in November that will showcase The Wallace (Erin Wallace) EP on release with The Get Ahead on November 3, and the caravan songs of Robin Jackson’s sophomore album, Dark Stars, on November 11. These events can be easily recorded, because the ballroom is wired to a recording studio below. This spacious hidden gem is lined with a variety of art, Persian rugs, vintage amps, guitars and an old organ. The gear list is serious business, and engineer Jordan Leff has helped artists like KD Lang, Ezza Rose, Edna Vasquez, Ravishers and Dirty Martini record here. The Secret Society has symbiotic relationships with its Russell Street neighbors, and within itself as an all-in-one cocktail lounge, music venue and recording studio. It’s no secret that it’s magic is making guests feel like they are stepping into another time–sipping classy cocktails, enjoying the crooners, the camaraderie and dancing the night away. » - Brandy Crowe

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live music NOVEMBER CRYSTAL BALLROOM

1332 W BURNSIDE

TA VE

NORTH WEST

830 E BURNSIDE

BROADWAY ST.

PEARL OLD TOWN 2

BURNSIDE ST.

405

DOW NTO WN

25 18

MLK BLVD.

MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS 3939 N MISSISSIPPI

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GRAND AVE.

1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 15

RUSSELL ST.

DOUG FIR

23RD AVE.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 17 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 28 29

MLK BLVD.

WILLIAMS AVE.

8 NW 6TH

2 3 4 6 11 14 16 18 22 23 24 25 28

VANCOUVER AVE.

ROSELAND THEATER

MISSISSIPPI AVE.

SKIDMORE ST.

INTERSTATE AVE.

1 2 3 5 6 7 10 11 17 22 24 25 27 30

live music NOVEMBER MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS (CONTINUED)

ALBERTA ST.

ALBERTA ARTS

42ND AVE.

15TH AVE.

11TH AVE.

PRESCOTT ST.

FREMONT ST. 24TH AVE.

HOLLYWOOD

KNOTT ST.

33RD AVE.

28TH AVE.

D. BLV Y D AN

LAURELHURST GLISAN ST.

426 SW WASHINGTON

BELMONT ST.

11TH AVE.

8TH AVE.

HAWTHORNE

LADD’S ADDITION DIVISION ST.

CLINTON ST.

CESAR CHAVEZ BLVD.

L BLVD.

1-2 5 7 9 11 13 14 16 29

KELLY’S OLYMPIAN

HAWTHORNE BLVD.

POWEL

600 E BURNSIDE

EASTBURN

STARK ST.

5 12 19 26

DJs in The Taproom (weekends)

MORRISON ST.

1800 E BURNSIDE

8 11

16 17 18 19 21 24 25 28 29 30

RONTOMS

BURNSIDE ST. 3

128 NE RUSSELL

HOLOCENE

WONDER BALLROOM

1001 SE MORRISON

BROADWAY ST.

BUNK BAR

1028 SE WATER

1 2 3 4 5 9 10 15 16 17 18 22 24 25

3 4 7 10 11

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features NOVEMBER BUNK BAR (CONTINUED) 12 15 17 18 21 30

REVOLUTION HALL 11 1300 SE STARK 5 Typhoon | Loch Lomond | Jared Mees 6 Ted Leo & The Pharmacists | Ian Sweet 7 Mandolin Orange | Rachel Baima

24-25 Portland Cello Project

28 An Acoustic Evening with Dispatch

TOFFEE CLUB 12 1006 SE HAWTHORNE 3 Sticky Toffee - House & Disco 10 Waves - Hip-hop, Trap & Grime 17 Park Life - All-vinyl Britpop

ALBERTA STREET PUB 13 1036 NE ALBERTA 1 4 8 18

Justin Klump Barra Brown Trio | Negative Press Project KMUZ Local Roots Live Series Hall Pass | Brad Creel & The Reel Deel

Photo by Alexander Fattal

LOCAL FEATURE

THE SECRET SOCIETY 14 116 NE RUSSELL 1 3 9 11 17 18 24 25

15 836 N RUSSELL

WHITE EAGLE

4 8 10 11 17 20 25 29 30

Nate Botsford Edison | Hawkeye Pierce | Maxwell Hughes The Novel Ideas Hawthorne Roots | Melville Jon Koonce Greyhounds Common Starling Rachel Paschket | Chasing Ebenezer “Mic Check” Local Hip-Hop Showcase

Jessica Boudreaux

ust about every last one of you reading this has been dumped (If you haven’t yet don’t worry, soon enough the universe will make sure to rip your heart out). Now, while most of us would wallow over a pint of ice cold creamy confection, the fine young cannibal Jessica Boudreaux decided to create a solo record to process her feelings. No Fury comes over November 3 via Boudreaux’s label New Moss Records. You can catch Boudreaux at Holocene November 5 for her release party. ELEVEN: So with being the solo writer for Summer Cannibals and creating all the demos, do you find that you have any push back from your band mates or are they mostly on board?

Jessica Boudreaux: That’s the way things have always been done and TURN! TURN! TURN! people like Jenny (Logan) and Devon 8 NE KILLINGSWORTH (Shirley) don’t’ have time for that. I Starship Infinity | The Social Stomach Karl Blau | Barry Walker Jr. spend a lot of time writing Summer Bob Carol Ted | Deathlist | Dragging an Ox Through Water Cannibals songs and it’s not like I’m Low Hums | Bobby Peru | Red Ribbon | Strugglers saying “This needs to sound exactly like Ora Cogan | Tispur | Ilyas Ahmed Husky Boys | North by North | The Toads | Tom Ghoulie the demo” because I cannot play like WL | Jeff Beam them, especially like Devon, I cannot Cockeye | Creature vs. Creature | Whisper Hiss play drums like that. I know they will Dana Buoy | Drunken Palms | Holy Golden start playing it and add to it what they Verstehen | Geological Creep John Savage’s Lie Very Still | Talon see fit.

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11: It’s almost like you’re doing them favor; you’re doing the hard part. JB: Yeah, and bands that like jam together and write together, that’s just a totally different experience. You have to set things up like that from the beginning. I feel way freer to experiment and try bad things that help push me in the direction of good when I’m alone or when I’m one-on-one with someone. 11: It’s funny because the more and more people I interview, I find that your process is actually the norm. I know that New Moss Records is yours, that’s pretty impressive that you’re in all these bands and you run a record company. What’s it like? Why did you start it? JB: I started it specifically to put out the first Sun Angle album because I love them and thought they were awesome and wanted to see that record on vinyl. After that, I decided “Well no one is going to put out this first Summer Cannibals record so I’ll just do it myself.” So I did that with the first two Summer Cannibals records. Since then I’ve only

put out a comp, and it’s not something I’m too concerned with growing because it’s kind of an impossible industry and a great way to lose money. Also I felt a lot pressure to tour and be on for Summer Cannibals over the last four years and I really didn’t want that pressure or responsibility with No Fury. I wanted to tour if I felt like it. I didn’t want that expectation. So shopping No Fury around didn’t sound too appealing because I knew if someone picked it up I would have a lot more responsibilities. So I did it myself and I actually really love it. I like being able to package all the orders myself and send letters to people, and I don’t mind the emailing and the business stuff. 11: I think it’s cool that you’re putting out your own record. You can control the creative side. It’ll be exactly what you’ll want it to be. JB: You forget how nice it is to not have to go through people for everything you want to do. And with the election and how volatile it’s been, I want to be close to my family and friends and have my dog around. It’s been a nice break, the second half of this year. I can’t imagine traveling right now. 11: I’m sure also on the road it’s hard to be creative and develop new material. JB: I had this conversation recently and I have it a lot. It’s the least creative I feel. But when I’m home I write every day. I'm either working on my own or someone else’s music. To be on tour doing the same thing every night and not being able to write puts me in a weird headspace. 11: I read in a Willamette Week interview that you had been spending a lot of time in LA and were thinking about making the move down there. Is that still something you want to do, career wise? JB: I had a room down there and I was ready but it’s the same thing that I was saying with touring. I started to have a lot of anxiety about it. I guess for me, I have always had a strong drive to be successful and to reach the next

milestone or whatever. I want to start writing and producing for other people, and I felt I had to get down there and kind of fight for it. But on a personal level, I started to prioritize family, friends and my home before touring and before a career. So I was thinking I would just push it back a little. I was supposed to be down there the beginning of this year. I started focusing on recording and I decided at least for now, it’s not where I want to be. I don’t want to be away from family, and in this more intense, high stress place. It just didn’t feel right anymore. It’s also more about the commercial than the creative there and everyone in Portland just finds a way to create. Portland is a city that values creativity over other things. At least in the recording or music scene. I did like the diversity in LA. I simultaneously liked the idea of starting over new but it’s a hard place to start over in. I also don’t know if I value the things that most musicians and writers value in LA, at least at this point in my life. I’m comfortable here and I’m creating at a rate that I wouldn’t have been able to down there. 11: So speaking about creating, let me get to No Fury. I Know Hutch (Harris) kind of helped you with writing a few of the songs and Victor Nash built on your songs at his studio?

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JB: Yeah, Victor took some of the demos that I had made at my studio and Devon came in and played live drums. Jenny played a little on bass. We kind of just worked off the electronic demos I had made. 11: With this album, it’s a lot more poppy, it’s great. I envision girlfriends singing this together in a car on their way out or while getting ready, but what does the album mean to you? JB: The whole thing pretty much is based around one almost-relationship that I had. It was emotionally very traumatic for me. I loved someone so much but they just could not get there with me. It kind of felt like they were just stringing me along. The album for me from start to finish is about that, and from start to finish it shifts into the different stages of dealing with

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that. The album starts with “Ask Me To Stay,”–which is super straightforward– and the first half of the album is like that, and then it goes into a darker, electronic, more introspective, poetic way of looking at things. It ends with this realization that I’m never going to be the thing they needed me to be. For me it’s almost a concept record because I know it’s all about this one thing. It takes a lot of different routes and side streets though to get to the end. 11: I have been in that relationship, so I completely understand. When you started writing this album, had you received closure on the relationship or was writing it a cathartic way to process it all out? JB: I was not over it until the last day of mixing. I was fully in the thick of it from the day I started writing. Which I’ve never done before. Usually I can’t write about something until it’s over. 11: With the recording process, what were the most time consuming or difficult parts? JB: It was pretty smooth because Hutch and I had done so much work going into it. With every song, we knew what we wanted it to sound like. The demos are very close to what the finished record ended up sounding like. With a few of the songs all we did was re-record the vocals. “Echo” and “Falling Leaves” were both done at my house before-hand. It was really just the live drums that kind of changed everything else–we had to shift things to fit that sound. There was a little trial

and error because none of us had made a pop album before. The biggest obstacle was how I had hang-ups in my head. I had this initial reaction of “Should I be embarrassed? I’ve been in Summer Cannibals and now I’m doing this super pop, love record.” Part of me kind of felt like “There’s all this stuff going on in the world, am I neglecting those things by not talking about them?” But the more it went along I realized that just because there are all these things going on in the world, it doesn’t mean that we lose these kind of problems too. It doesn’t mean that these kinds of problems don’t still hold the greatest importance to us in our emotional daily lives. 11: Yeah no matter who the president is, getting dumped fucking sucks. I also think personally with the pop element, it shows your creative diversity. You’re not making the same album over and over again. That is really hard for most musicians. Once they find something that works, that’s what they stick with. JB: I feel great about it. I’m so happy with it and with the response of people who have been Summer Cannibals fans for a long time. That was a big part of what I was worried about. Like what will those fans think? 11: Do you have a favorite track? JB: I really love “Echo” and “Televised.” “Televised” was the first track that Hutch and I wrote together. For us, it opened up something because neither of us realized we had these kinds of songs in us. We’ve written lots of songs together since that one–it kind of opened the floodgates. That one means a lot to me. I also really love “All for the Best,” the melodramatic piano ballad. I’ve just never done a song like that so it felt good to sit at the piano. I’m really happy with how it turned out. 11: I love a good ballad! When you’re not recording yourself or other artists, what else do you like to do around Portland? JB: I’m a pretty big nerd, I just kind of want to work all the time. I’ve been doing some mixing work and assistant engineering stuff.

11: That’s rad, where are you doing that? JB: Hutch has been recoding people at his house, and he kind of opened up his studio there so a lot of times I’ll just kind of go and engineer while he produces. I’m basically in the process of building a studio in my basement. I have one small room where all my gear is and where we practice and record, but I’m expanding it and trying to get it to a place where bands can come in. That’s really what I want to be doing long-term. So I spend a lot of time reading books about that and reading books about mixing and recording. I’m just a sponge right now and trying to learn everything that I can. 11: I think that’s awesome, I would love to see more women in sound engineering. JB: Me too. I was definitely searching for a female owned recording studio in Portland. I’ve had the hardest time

L Jessica Boudreaux

No Fury New Moss Records

It’s hard not to compare Jessica Boudreaux’s new solo album, No Fury, to her work as frontwoman for Portland’s grunge-revivalists Summer Cannibals. The biggest departure from the laudable Kill Rock Stars act is the notable lack of a band playing through the tunes. Instead, instrumentation drops in and out as needed. The result is a soundscape that’s less furious, more orchestrated and definitively pop. At the same time it’s hand-crafted and rough around the edges.

finding one. Representation matters so much. People see someone who looks like them or is like them and realize “Oh I can do that too.” The more I realize there’s a lack of it here, the more I want to do it. 11: Maybe New Moss will be the first?! So what’s next for you? JB: I’m not totally sure. I’ve always had the next 6 months planned. I needed a little break from those responsibilities. I am almost finished with a second solo record. I’ve been recording over the last 4 months. Summer Cannibals just finished the fourth album. I have both of those so I need to decide what I want to do with those. Also hopefully I’ll be recording and producing other artists. » - Rosie Blanton JESSICA BOUDREAUX CELEBRATES THE RELEASE OF NO FURY NOVEMBER 5 AT HOLOCENE

The first track, “Ask Me to Stay,” is a minimalist, synth-centric pop song including 21st-centurydiva vocal fry. Often the songs are stripped down to the vocals and drum beat. “Echo” stands out with its spooky psychedelic bass line and the squeaking of fingers on the fretboard of a massively distorted guitar, which sounds all the more monstrous juxtaposed against a tiny drum machine. The coordinate call-and-response background vocals on “Move On” will get even the least musical listener’s head bobbing. The lyrics dwell on love lost or unrequited. “I wanted to run away with you like you ran away from me,” Boudreaux sings on the piano ballad, “All for the Best.” The album is sonically diverse, seeming to draw its tones and feels from all across the past four decades. The album ranges from fun and beachy to locked-away and heartbroken. At times deceptively simple, the songs consistently pass the only pop test that means anything–its choruses always deliver instantly-familiar hooks. » - Tyler Burdwood

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he concept of pride permeates Ash, the sophomore album of the sister duo Ibeyi. Ash is a meditation on identity and the implicit pride that can be both empowering and delicate. The juxtaposition between the anecdotal “Deathless” (feat. Kamasi Washington) where Lisa-Kaindé is confronted by a policeman accusing her of being a drug dealer, and “No Man is Big Enough for My Arms,” featuring a repeated line from Michelle Obama’s 2016 speech: “The measure of any society is how it treats its women and girls,” provides a visceral demonstration of this balance. Sandwiched between the two tracks is “I Wanne Be Like You,” a song that Lisa-Kaindé wrote about her sister and bandmate, Naomi. Together, the three tracks outline the thesis of Ash: Together, with respect and understanding, we can empower others with the pride each individual deserves. Through powerful, Yoruba-influenced choruses, impeccable production and Ibeyi’s signature ability to seamlessly blend genres, Ash becomes as much a collage of love, politics, identity and hope as it is a record. Twins Lisa-Kaindé Díaz and Naomi Díaz come from a family of musicians, including their father, Miguel “Angá” Díaz, who was a percussionist with the Buena Vista Social Club. They credit their family’s French-Cuban ancestry with providing a rich backdrop of the musical influences, genres and instruments they mix into their own creations. The sisters come from different musical backgrounds individually as well. Naomi spent time studying percussion,

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while Lisa-Kaindé focused on vocals and piano. On Ibeyi’s eponymous debut album, Lisa-Kaindé handled the majority of the songwriting and vocals, with Naomi providing backup vocals and beat production. However, for Ash, they decided to distribute the creative responsibilities evenly between them, with Naomi taking more of a presence in songwriting, along with lead vocals on the ethereal “Waves.” On both Ash and Ibeyi, the sisters were joined by Richard Russell, head of XL Recordings, as both a producer and collaborator. They credit Russell’s deft touch in the studio as a key catalyst in unlocking the myriad sounds and sensibilities present on the two albums. Ash, particularly, features varied production styles, bringing in collaborators like saxophone luminary Kamasi Washington, bassist Meshell Ndegeocello and hip-hop artist Mala Rodríguez, along with numerous samples, including the aforementioned Michelle Obama and excerpts from The Diary of Frida Kahlo read by the sisters’ mother, Maya Dagnino. With these collaborators, and the duo’s strong sense of self and purpose, Ash became an organism of statement, community and pride, emanating energy and an infectious, potent sense of movement. Following the lauded debut of Ash, Ibeyi sat down with ELEVEN to talk about their broad musical influences, the process of creating music together and the importance of staying true to themselves as musicians and humans in the tumultuous present.

features national scene ELEVEN: What was your musical development like? Did your development happen individually or have you always been making music together? Lisa-Kaindé Díaz: No, we actually made music separately. Naomi was studying classical percussion, and I was studying piano, and then I went on to study vocal jazz, and then I started creating songs, and then one day Naomi said to me, “When are we going to start making music together?” So, we decided to start creating music together. Actually, everything happened– it’s really quite funny because we were not at all thinking about having a musical career or being on stage. I mean, of course we were thinking about it in our wildest dreams, but it was not, like, a choice we made. And then, when we were in the studio making the first album we were like, “Oh, yes, this is where we want to be!” And we wanted to feel like that for the second album, and want to notice that in the next one, and the eighth one and the tenth one! 11: So, given that being professional musicians wasn’t something you’d necessarily planned on, how did you even end up in the studio making your first album to begin with? LD: We were touring already–we were opening for artists and we were enjoying opening for artists. We were doing, I think, one show per month and it was great and someone posted a video of us online. Then we met Richard [Russell] in the studio and we thought, “Oh, he is the one we want to make music with.”

11: Does he bring some kind of creative catalyst to you guys, or why do you enjoy working with him so much? LD: We love working with him! He is a great collaborator. We have the three of us in the studio all the time, and we’ve done all the music together. We played, on the first album, everything–and in the second we played pretty much everything, too–and we are all just creating the songs together, even though we came into the studio with the songs already made, the majority of them. We knew, going into the studio for the first album that we wanted to make an album that had a specific sound, and he opened that door for us with his studio and time and helping us find what we wanted to do. 11: What was it like, on Ash, working with contributors and all of the sampling? How did you incorporate those elements into your creative process? LD: Yes, so on Ash we played everything except the parts from the contributors like Kamasi Washington, and it was incredible to get to work with these people and let them into our world and collaborate with someone. We loved it. And using the samples, we felt like, because we were stronger, we could use samples without it taking over our sound, and it was a whole new world, this experience with that. And that's what you want when you're making music, to get excited and create with all of these new things–to explore.

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features national scene 11: Did you have some of the samples in mind, did you build around them, or were they things that you just added along the way? LD: We added them along the way. It's kind of funny because Richard has real knowledge about sampling and the history of sampling, and he knows so many samples, and he loves them and is obsessive about them, so each time he would say, “I think this song needs a sample,” we would get really excited. We got to look for samples together and find the right ones. It's just really beautiful. For example, the Frida Kahlo one [Ed: "Transmission/Michaelion"], we asked our mother to find something from The Diary of Frida Kahlo that she could read and record it on her phone. And the Michelle Obama one [Ed: "No Man Is Big Enough For My Arms"], we wanted a sample from a woman's voice, and at that time this was the speech that everyone was talking about, so we listened to it because I didn't know it. And then hearing it, we ended up using a lot more than we were expecting to because it was so powerful and right. Really, every sample has its own special story. 11: It's cool that you got your mother to read on the record! What is the influence of family on your music in general? Can you talk a little bit more about that?

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LD: Oh, family is everything. It has influenced everything. My father was an incredible musician, and I think he passed on to us a love for enjoying music–every type of music. And then my mother was the one who took us to hear our first Yeruba choir to hear the songs we heard growing up in our household. And I think our father gave us the love of mixing different music without being afraid and finding what is your music and going for it. Really, family is everything. That first album, we really wanted to make an homage to our father and sister who passed away, and we feel like when we sing these songs, we are connected with them. 11: When you listen to music and then create your own, do you mix instruments and genres intentionally, or is it just something that happens through osmosis as part of your creative process? Naomi: No, it just happens organically, through the process–it's natural. We love mixing like that, it adds new flavors and energy. LD: Yes, it's really a reflection of us: we are mixed with music. We grew up with so many different kinds of music, they naturally mix together and come out like that. Ibeyi is a mix between Naomi and I. Naomi, she loves hip-hop, she loves funk, soul, reggaeton–anything that has a rhythm–and I love jazz

features national scene and vocals and electronic music and downtempo. I think that's what makes Ibeyi: mixing Naomi and I together. 11: On Ash, Naomi, I was reading that you wanted to sing a little bit more than you did on that first album. Why was that something that you wanted to do consciously? ND: I wanted to be more involved in this album in that way. For the first album, Lisa kind of started the album and I finished it, and I knew that I wanted this one to be more equal, more organic, more visceral. So you know, I wanted to do more, and that's what I did! 11: There are a lot of really joyful, inspirational and empowering elements in the album. Is that the kind of record you set out to make? LD: Actually, we wanted to make that kind of album, but we wanted to make it because we needed it. And I think that listening to people's stories and the whole world we live in–this is what is happening and this is what we needed to talk about, this is what we needed to sing, and that's why it happened like that. Thank you so much for saying that there is joy in the album. We thought there was a lot of that as well. And there were definitely songs like "Deathless," "No Man is Big Enough for My Arms," and even "Ash" that we felt like we needed to sing. And we wrote those songs imagining ourselves on stage sharing them with people. 11: You can tell that many of the choruses–many moments with large groups of people singing together–it feels kind of communal, that element of sharing something together. Do you feel like you have a responsibility as musicians and people with a healthy consciousness to try to unite people or do you mainly just want to put positive messages out there? LD: I think the most important thing is to be truthful and talk about things that really touch you, and to deliver it in a way that you are 100 percent proud of and that you feel deeply. It can be about anything. It can be about love, it can be about politics, it can be about an issue, it can be personal, it can be global, but it has to be truthful and that's what we're trying to do. Actually, it's quite hard because it makes you have to think, but it's also fascinating and really fun. 11: So, this album feels like art in movement. It has movement. It feels like it's art in motion. Was that intentional? I think it's fascinating when artists can capture that element in their work.

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LD: Wow, that is the most beautiful thing someone has said about our work, thank you so much. I don't really know what I can say about that; it's just something that happens, I think?

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features national scene Photo by Boby Allin

LD: Oh wow, I think it's always going to be the same answer, staying true to yourself and at the same time trying to explore something else. I think that's the most challenging. We really wanted to deliver something that we would feel proud of, and yet still be able to discover ourselves and other genres and discover other types of music and go search for meaning. 11: It sounds like it comes more from a perspective rather than technical challenges–like trying to incorporate instruments and collaborators; is that accurate? LD: Sort of, I mean, there are always going to be those elements, but again, I think the most challenging thing is figuring out what you want to sing, and to make it 100 percent yourself and to make it truthful. Then the technical elements are not really that difficult at all. You can always find someone to help you with that. Actually, we were quite lucky with that. It felt quite natural working with Naomi and Richard and I in the studio. So, yeah, I think the most difficult thing is finding what you want to say and saying it loud and being proud of what you do. 11: Moving forward for you now, you're currently touring in support of the new album–do you find that your music changes when you perform it live, based on things you might be thinking about or what you're listening to?

11: When you guys are making the music, is it something you can feel, like forward movement, or is it a function of the themes you're trying to capture–love, community, politics– going so many different directions that it happens out of necessity? LD: I think it's a lot of work, and it's challenging, but I think it's so important to us. When Naomi and I are making music is also when we are connecting the most. So, it's always special and intimate, and I don't really know how to express it or how to explain it, but there's nothing like doing a song and finishing it in the studio and realizing that it was something that you needed to say and being proud of it for three seconds. Usually, after that, an hour after, you think, 'Oh no, I can do better than that." But for those three seconds, it's a feeling like nothing else. 11: What was the most challenging thing about making Ash?

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LD: Um, I think it's changing a little every night. I think it depends on who is in front of us and how the audience reacts to it. We definitely are constantly thinking about what's next, what the next album is going to be, that's what excites us, thinking about what we're going to do. And sometimes there will be moments where something will happen live and we'll think, “This is incredible, maybe we should do something like that on the next album.” That's what's fun. It's all about discovering more and more, and learning more and more. »

CATCH IBEYI LIVE IN PORTLAND NOVEMBER 16 AT REVOLUTION HALL

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community literary arts Zachary Schomburg: I moved here in the summer of 2008 from Lincoln, Nebraska. That’s a whole other story. A good one, and a complicated one. That was me kind of starting this new life. I was thirty. Octopus Books had already been started, in ‘06. When I got here I was pretty excited, coming from Lincoln. There was a scene that I felt I was already connected to. Especially as a publisher, and as a poet. Where I could start setting up readings, and doing readings. Even in the first week or so, already, we wanted to hand make these C.D. Wright books, 40 Watts. People came over, and I made new friends that night. We ordered a pizza and just started making books. It can happen in Lincoln, but the scene was different than it is now, for sure. It just felt like people were on board. Things

Photo by Brandi Katherine Herrera

LITERARY ARTS

Portland writer Zachary Schomburg

were starting to happen. The timing was good, and I felt really at home here, especially for someone who wanted to write and publish other people’s stuff. 11: Ok let’s talk about this book. What is a Mammother? ZS: It’s just a made up word. The whole story started with the word, Mammother. I probably picked that word up six years ago. I just started telling this story around that concept to myself until I had the chance to just write it out, which was

bsessing over the word “Mammother,” which

three years ago now. It’s used in a couple of ways in the book.

he made up, Zachary Schomburg set out on the

And I think as a poet, I’m so interested in words and language

ambitious journey of writing his first novel born out of that word. In short, a Mammother is

someone who hunts for nonexistent mammoths. In a room in the back of Mother Foucault’s bookshop, he wrote the first paragraph of Mammother (Featherproof Books)and wrote the rest in a chateau deep in the French countryside. Instead of being driven by plot, Schomburg creates his world out of a fascinating set of characters surrounding Mano Medium, who seems to come from either a children’s tale or a Beckett novel. Mammother is an enjoyable read because it does not take itself too seriously. Although death is a main theme, Zachary’s light hearted nature shines through in the text, and the story is profoundly life-affirming. Schomburg runs the small poetry press Octopus Books

and how the letters fit together and all the ways that the word can work, and how it can be broken down. It’s just a perfect word for the book. And I think because it started with that, the story was born out of the word. So Mammother is a minor character in the book but is really a major part which propels everything forward. Mano’s father, who he doesn’t know, and is never in the book, is a Mammother and is talked about in one or maybe two scenes as this person who hunts mammoths. He doesn’t know if he’s dead or alive, and the mother is kind of incapable of talking about it. If he’s alive, he’s hunting mammoths somewhere. And mammoths don’t exist in this world. So he’s talked about someone who wants to find mammoths so he’s going to hunt them even though he knows

with fellow poet Hajara Quinn. I met him in the office of

they don’t exist. Because that’s what great hunters would

Octopus Books in the basement of the Ford Building, where he

do. There’s a few moments where Mano is confronted with

had read from his new book the night before at Ford Food and

similar ideas about loving things that don’t exist and being

Drink.

disappointed by them.

ELEVEN: Can you tell me a little about yourself and your history with Octopus Books?

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11: This book addresses religion in an interesting way, can you tell us about that?

community literary arts ZS: In the book,

otherwise take for granted and making the story about them

there’s a church and

in a way. In the case of Mammother, for example, it can’t

a corporation, and

just be assumed that a character can get from here to there.

Mano is one of the

It can be assumed if you just want plot, but I like the idea of

few people in town

making the reader focus on the thing that you would take for

who doesn’t go to

granted and make that the plot, make that the story. You’re

church, and he kind

not breaking the third wall, but you’re asking the reader to to

of positions himself

pay attention to the art of the writing, and the fun the writer

against the church

is having.

who aligns itself with this corporation

11: This is your first novel, can you tell me about this as

called XO. The

opposed to writing your poetry? How do you apply that same

church in the book

visual nature to your prose?

is a real joke. Father Mothers is this real

ZS: They are so different from each other. And that was

kind of a joke of a

what was hard for me to get over at first. I didn’t know what

character. He’s an

I was doing because the impulse in a poem for me is when

alcoholic and he

I start a line, or start a narrative, the impulse is to think

just gets everything

immediately, “How do I get out of this,” now that I started this

wrong. The church

little image or have this line. The next thought is literally,

is something Mano

“How am I going to wrap this up? And how am I going to

has positioned himself away from because they are really

get there?” In a novel, I drive myself crazy because I’m not

concerned that everyone is dying from this plague, so they

developing anything, I’m just trying to get out of it. Which is

want to make money off of that. The church is becoming more

way too much information to hold in any one sitting, instead

successful because the more that people die, the more people

of just focusing on a scene or whatever. So I think once I was

show up to the church.

able to get out of that I think I still have an advantage because I’m still really interested in syntax, in the lyric, in wild images.

11: Can you also talk about the other meaning of mammoth in this book? How something becomes mammoth?

More so than just developing this realistic narrative or these realistic characters. To get interested in working on a real sentence. I’m interested in last lines and first lines as a poet. I

ZS: So Mano loses the only two people he loves. As

think it was important to me to see how each scene starts and

that happens, he decides that he’s not going to love people

definitely what’s the last line of each scene to try to really end

anymore, because it’s too hard. He decides that he is going to

on an idea or an image.

love the things that people leave behind in their death holes, because things can’t die on you. He starts collecting all the things, because no one else wants them. If your loved one dies

11: What advice would you have for an aspiring writer or poet?

and there’s a toaster inside of them, then they do not want the toaster, it just reminds them of their grief. So he sees it as

ZS: The best advice I can give if you have to simplify it

something that he can collect and love. His service, in a way, is

all down is to relax. None of what you’re writing is precious.

to collect all of those things. But the only way that a thing will

Nobody cares, in a way. If you think you’re going to write

die on you is if you lose it. So he decides that he is not going to

the most amazing stuff that is going to change the world

set any of it down, so he carries it. As one person dies a day–

then you’re really putting too much pressure on yourself.

more or less–he picks up a thing and he never sets it down, so

It’s a game, and it’s fun. And I think if you’re writing poems,

he gets bigger and bigger–mammother and mammother.

for example, with the same level of entertainment as say, completing a crossword puzzle, you might have these little

11: You have several scenes that concentrate on a

moments of pride, but you might start writing things that are

character just moving from one place to another. Can you

pretty beautiful because they’re not precious. The pressure

explain that? Is this breaking the third wall?

is off. You’re just entertaining yourself. But if you have this connection to your writing that feels like a real spark is there,

ZS: I think there are these things in storytelling that

and you’ve learned something about yourself and the world

you can take for granted because the most important thing

because you’ve made this little piece of art, then the world is

is to move the plot forward and develop the character. We

because of that–as a result, not as an intention. As a result,

can assume that these tiny things are true. I think like

the world is a little better because you’re now in it and you’ve

Beckett, and other writers like Amy Bender or Lidia Davis

learned something about making art. » - Scott McHale

can do a really good job at taking those things that you would

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community visual arts time a roll of film came back I couldn't wait to get my hands on it and see what new treasures I had! In high school I joined the yearbook committee and I took a darkroom photography class where I learned to roll and develop my own film. That hands-on aspect of photography forever sealed my love for it. Over the past few years I've been slowly accumulating darkroom equipment. I'm hoping that within the next two years I'll be able to convert a space outside of my home for a darkroom of my own. With the advent of digital photography, I've found a level of creativity and photographic freedom that I hadn't had before, however, I would love to be back in a darkroom playing around with images and old techniques again. 11: Your portfolio shows a wide variety of locations and Photo by Melissa Kelly (self-portrait)

VISUAL ARTS Oregon photographer Melissa Kelly

environments. How has travel played a part in your career and experience with photographing landscapes? MK: For me, travel is a vital aspect of my photography. I absolutely love to spend a day (week, month even!) wandering around old barns, ghost towns, ruined castles, historic towns, wind swept beaches and spacious deserts. If

ELEVEN: What does photography mean to you? Melissa Kelly: I have always been deeply drawn to various art forms. Having little skill at drawing or painting, I was naturally drawn to photography as a way to â&#x20AC;&#x153;captureâ&#x20AC;? something I saw and share with others.

I weren't able to travel I feel that I would possibly begin to stagnate somewhat creatively. Getting out of town allows me to see things with fresh eyes when I return home. 11: If there was one destination you could photograph, where is it and why?

11: Can you give us a brief history of your photography experience and tell us how you landed in the PNW? MK: I am very blessed to have been born and raised in the PNW. I'm quite certain there is salt in my veins. I was gifted with my first camera at 12 years old. I saved all my allowance to purchase film and pay for developing the images. Every

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Peeping Cows (Galway Ireland, March 2010)

School's Out (School house in creek. Coolidge Montana ghost town, May 2015)

MK: It was Ireland. I've been over and photographed

11: Canon or Nikon?

three different times now, each time covering a different area. One more trip and I will have covered the whole island!

MK: I love my Canon.

Ireland is an exceptionally beautiful place, very similar to the PNW only there is such an incredible amount of history to soak up while photographing people and places. Ireland

11: What kind of tools do you use for post processing? Explain your work flow.

is a place very near and dear to my heart. If you were to ask me a second destination I would be very hard pressed to

MK: I use my laptop to do an initial run through of

come up with only one. I would love to be able to travel the

images and discard the ones I won't use. After that it

world and photograph it all, bit by bit.

depends on what I'm editing. If I'm editing a wedding/senior portrait/family session I immediately launch Lightroom and begin all my initial work there. If I need or want to do additional editing on any of those images I then move to Photoshop. For landscapes and pieces I'm working on for myself I start off in Photoshop and sometimes utilize Photomatix. 11: Have you ever lost or damaged your equipment on location? MK: I haven't lost or damaged anything on location during a professional shoot but I did lose a $1500 prime lens to a friend knocking my camera off a table during

Left Behind (Remnants left behind in a bar located in Garnet Montana ghost town, May 2015)

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community visual arts a family pumpkin carving event. That was an expensive lesson learned! 11: Are there any photographers that inspire or influence your own work? MK: Ansel Adams has inspired me since I was very young. His landscapes and skill with black and white are nothing short of genius. Dorothea Lange and Annie Leibovitz are two of my other great favorites. Their portraiture work is evocative and memorable. 11: Any advice you would give to a newcomer in the field of competitive photography in PDX? MK: Get out there and do what makes your heart happy! My advice for established photographers would be, "Don't shun the newbies." I've run into many new photographers who were simply stunned that I would sit down and take the time to help them better understand their equipment, give them advice on locations, or invite them to tag along and go for a hike with their cameras. Their experience with other

Oceanside Sunset (Silhouette of a tree at sunset in Oceanside Oregon, August 2013)

photographers was completely the opposite. That makes me incredibly sad. All artists should be encouraged, there is room for us all. 11: Where can our readers purchase your prints? MK: Images are currently available for custom printing on my website: www.melissakellyphotography.smugmug. com Or, if you are in the area, Upstairs Bar and Grill and The Schooner Restaurant and Lounge in Netarts OR host printed canvases for sale. Âť - Mercy McNab

FIND THIS ARTIST ONLINE WEB: MELISSAKELLYPHOTOGRAPHY.SMUGMUG.COM FACEBOOK: FACEBOOK.COM/MELLYKELLYPHOTOGRAPHY

Giant's Causeway (Bushmills, Co Antrim, Ireland May 2014)

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