Eleven PDX Magazine June 2018 by Eleven PDX

MUSIC, COMMUNITY, AND CULTURE IN PORTLAND

ISSUE 85 | JUNE 2018

ELEVEN PDX MAGAZINE - VOLUME 8, ISSUE 1

COMPLIMENTARY

contents

ELEVEN PDX MAGAZINE VOLUME 8

THE USUAL 4 Letter from the Editor 4 Staff Credits

ISSUE NO. 1

FEATURES Local Feature 12 Moorea Masa & The Mood

Cover Feature 16 NEW MUSIC

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

5 Aural Fix Chris Cohen Serpentwithfeet Post Animal Frog Eyes

8 Short List 8 Album Reviews Kamasi Washington Father John Misty Melody's Echo Chamber Snail Mail

COMMUNITY Meet Your Maker 24 Pickathon founder and executive director Zale Schoenborn

Literary Arts 26 Portland author Julia Stoops

Visual Arts 28 Portland artist Nolan Restivo

LIVE MUSIC 10 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, This month kicks off our eighth year of publication, and what better time of year could mark such an anniversary than the dawn of a new summer, surrounded by warm breeze, blooming roses and the promise of river days and music festivals to come. I hope this glorious season of growth finds you well, friend. Accordant with the theme of growth, inside this issue we introduce a brand new series to the magazine, Meet Your Maker, where we’ll highlight some of our favorite local craftspeople, curators, mixologists, restauranteurs and more. To kick things off, we catch up with Pickathon’s founder and executive director, Zale Schoenborn, to discuss the festival’s genesis, curation and future. Additionally, for our cover feature, we phoned the future to wax philosophical about art and the creative process with prolific Australian psych rock overlords King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard—catch them at the Crystal Ballroom this month and read the full interview at elevenpdx.com Until next month, keep on flying.

- Travis Leipzig, Managing Editor

4 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

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

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Matt Carter, Crystal Contreras, Mandi Dudek, Eirinn Gragson, Kelly Kovl, Nathan Royster, Kelsey Rzepecki, Ellis Samsara, Eric Swanson, Matthew Sweeney, Charles Trowbridge, Henry Whittier-Ferguson

PHOTOGRAPHERS Mathieu Lewis-Rolland, Molly Macalpine, Mercy McNab, Katie Summer, Todd Walberg

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

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!

AURAL FIX

new music aural fix Photo by Kate Dollenmayer

up and coming music from the national scene

CHRIS COHEN JUNE 12 | BUNK BAR

California-based musician Chris Cohen captures the essence of The Golden State with his unique distillation of psychedelic pop. His sound brings to mind sunny summer afternoons, driving to the beach with the windows down and not taking life too seriously. He makes instantly catchy and incredibly listenable tracks that twang and stretch in the wind. Before going solo, Cohen did a stint with weirdo rockers Deerhoof, playing guitar and bass on two of their cornerstone albums Milk Man and The Runners Four. He played drums in Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, did time with Cass McCombs, and also had several bands of his own–putting out four albums with The Curtains and two with Cryptacize. There’s a lot of talent compacted in a resume that long, and it’s no happenstance that his sound–and that of the bands orbiting him for the last 18 years–draw on similar pop sensibilities and turn them askew. Cohen writes his songs based on feeling rather than intention, finding a chord progression, or even a specific word that has the right vowel sounds, and starting to craft from there, emphasizing the voice as an instrument more so than a narrative device. There is a sensibility of craft taking place Photo by Ash Kingston

SERPENTWITHFEET JUNE 21 | HOLOCENE

Trying to describe Josiah Wise, aka serpentwithfeet, reminded me of trying to explain to my parents why I should be able to listen to Marilyn Manson: “It’s important social commentary, Dad! Listen to what he’s saying!” Despite my protests, his music was banned because they didn’t like his look or the emotions he evoked. Wise would have received the same response. He’s got a few face tats, wears black lipstick, has an obsession with dolls, yet is motivated, creative as hell, kind, and good at what he does. Looking at the pentagram and “suicide” engraved on his forehead doesn’t scream choir boy,

here, one of pleasure over the confessional tell-all that is so defacto with lyrics. With the 2012 debut Overgrown Path, the template of good-vibe pop is set with songs like “Optimist High” espousing “Summer’s here and it never goes away,” a line, while not transcendental in meaning, matches his cordial tone of voice and is intrinsically valuable as a waking meditation. The new album As if Apart (his second), is still full of light touches, tunes for a barbeque and easy-yet-deep layers. There’s an exercise in emotive reminiscing here, with slowed tempos and reverb on “Memory” and “Lender,” while “Yesterday’s on my Mind” is a bittersweet walk past an old apartment, remembering happy times. Cohen’s at his best when he’s sending emotion your way, even if you didn’t know what he was singing, you’d still understand what he meant. » - Kelsey Rzepecki highly educated and highly self aware, but that’s exactly what Wise is. Which is why labels are for canned food. The 29-year-old Baltimore native, now a New York resident, grew up in a very religious household and remnants remain; His soulful voice having been honed during Sundays at church now is a beautiful, mature voice that contorts around experimental sounds. Studying at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts gave Wise a more refined sound. Now the artist is at that age when you usually start to reflect on where you are in life. That new perspective has launched Wise into a space that is more serious, more honest, more… serpentwithfeet. Signed to both Secretly Canadian (JJ, Yeasayer) and Tri Angle (oOoOO, How To Dress Well), they collaborate this month to promote serpentwithfeet’s first full length album, soil. Wise does provide social commentary, and his sound made me draw comparisons to TV On The Radio, Baths, The Weeknd and Perfume Genius. Self described influences include Kirk Franklin and Brandy. Check out singles, “cherubim” and “seedless” to understand what Wise is bringing to the table. Through his defined, well crafted voice over experimental R&B vibes, you’ll be guided into an abstract perspective, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but always real. soil is a great first album for serpentwithfeet and I’m excited to see how he pushes his boundaries further on future work. » - Kelly Kovl

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 5

new music aural fix

POST ANIMAL JUNE 21 | DOUG FIR

Post Animal’s sound has a psychedelic kick that surges through sensitive and melodic moments, displayed in a variety of complex compositions. Their newest release When I Think of You In A Castle, conveys a sense of diversity in their songwriting that seems to span the entire psych/ pop genre. At moments they’re exploring a world of driving, rhythmically-heavy elements, reminiscent of greats like Zeppelin and Sabbath, while at other points they ease into country-tinged classic rock stylings more akin to Steve Miller, and then out of

Photo by Pooneh Ghana

the ether comes a recognition of pop sounds that the Jackson Five could have created. It’s crazy. The span of

getting it right. The band had a little bit of early growing

their sound can be attributable to the fact that each of the

pains after forming in Chicago in 2014/2015, and after

five band members creates and contributes their own musical

rolling DIY-style for their first couple years of touring, they

structures democratically.

were able to hook up with bands like Twin Peaks, Wavves,

The first EPs from Post Animal were much more

and White Reaper. Now things seem to be going pretty well

psychedelically gritty with rough and heavy edges. This

for Post Animal as they frolic around the world playing their

aggressive sound has not deteriorated at all, but rather

own headlining shows and recording videos to support When

they’ve honed it in with tighter production and a new detail-

I Think of You In A Castle, an album that has already been

oriented and flowing maturity. And now these guys are

building some serious traction on it’s own. » - Ellis Samsara

6 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

new music aural fix

6/1 DAMIEN JURADO NAOMI WACHIRA

6/2 TOMMY THAYER & FRIENDS: BENEFIT FOR ANNETTE HOLMES BLACK ‘N BLUE SEQUEL NERVOUS JENNY

FROG EYES JUNE 30 | BUNK BAR

Hailing from British

melding of emotions. A

Columbia, Frog Eyes is a

funeral procession looms

widely overlooked baroque

over the album, and on “A

rock outfit that once

Strand of Blue Stars” Mercer

heralded Spencer Krug (of

knows it (“A rope runs

Wolf Parade and Sunset

through her hand/ Marjorie's

Rubdown fame), has released

in the grass/ Plucking songs

eight albums, and is still

out of the Past”). Cheery

writing music as strange and

tracks like “Idea Man” sound

beautiful as it was when they

optimistic about their soon

started some 15 years ago.

reprieve (“You’re the one I

Singer/songwriter/guitarist

want to see/Restless, I lost

Carey Mercer is a warbling

some steam”), and helps make

lead, casting falsetto rock

this album not only an end,

tropes aside, trembling at

but a celebration of the years

times and vamping theatrical

that led to it. »

at others, his vocals are ever

- Nathan Royster

from one emotional pole to Their debut The Bloody

QUICK TRACKS

Hand (2002) is a plodding, murky trip through pointed guitars and lo-fi drums, while

The Golden River (2003) goes

“UNCONSCIOUS MISSIVE”

harder with loopy carnival organs. Tears of Valediction (2007) presents Mercer’s strength as a songwriter/

6/4 FREE PATIO SHOW: STRANGE HOTELS 6/5 GREG LASWELL 6/6 ASTRO TAN MEERNAA LAURA PALMER’S DEATH PARADE 6/7 YARDANDANSSS KULULULU HEAVII MELLO 6/8 JOLLYMON SHELTER RED CEDAR & CROWS 6/9 DRAMA NATASHA KMETO CHANTI DARLING 6/10 THE SEA AND CAKE L.A. TAKEDOWN

versatile and often relay the other and back again.

6/3 WEEED ABRONIA DOLPHIN MIDWIVES

Sounds like an operating carousel slowly being lowered into a swimming pool.

6/11 ALEXIS TAYLOR ANNIE HART 6/12 SPEEDY ORTIZ ANNA BURCH ROSEBLOOD 6/13 CAROLINE ROSE CARDIOID

6/15 NICKI BLUHM VIKESH KAPOOR 6/17 MOON TIGER POOL BOYS 6/19 BROWN CALCULUS BRYSON CONE JEAN NADA 6/20 SHE | DIVINE FT. FRITZWA SCOOTY RAQUEL DIVAR 6/21 POST ANIMAL SLOW PULP 6/22 LOUIS FUTON 6/23 DAVE BARNES 6/24 THE GHOST OF PAUL REVERE SLOCAN RAMBLERS 6/25 DECA 6/26 IMMERSION PULSE EMITTER 6/27 THE GET UP KIDS THE CASKET LOTTERY 6/28 NEGATIVE GEMINI & GEORGE CLANTON 6/29 BENT KNEE GATHERERS THIS PATCH OF SKY 6/30 THE BIULDERS AND THE BUTCHERS N.LANNON TENTS

and more!

singer as he explores the swells and wilts possible in a long nine-minute track (“Bushels”). This year’s Violent Psalms is being billed as their farewell album, and as the title infers it’s a complicated

B “DON’T SLEEP UNDER STARS” A display of the earnestness Mercer can belt into the pronunciation of the word stars.

(503) 231-WOOD ALL SHOWS 21+ 830 E. BURNSIDE SERVING BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER & LATE NIGHT HAPPY HOUR 3-6 EVERYDAY & 10PM-12AM SUN-THURS TICKETS AND MORE INFO AT DOUGFIRLOUNGE.COM

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 7

new music album reviews

ALBUM REVIEWS THIS MONTH’S BEST R REISSUE

L LOCAL RELEASE

Short List Mazzy Star Still Gruff Rhys Babelsberg Chromeo Head Over Heels Neko Case Hell-On Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever Hope Downs Nine Inch Nails Bad Witch Dawes Passwords

Kamasi Washington Heaven and Earth Young Turks Kamasi Washington is not one for brevity. His latest double LP, Heaven & Earth, set to be released later this month, is another two-and-a-half hour journey through the realms of the world and the mind—a follow-up to his equally grandiose 2015 debut, The Epic, which, true-to-form, pretty much set the bar upon its release for headyness and musical density in contemporary jazz.

Florence + The Machine High As Hope Nicki Minaj Queen The English Beat Here We Go Love The Get Up Kids Kicker Husky Boys Year of the Wolf

Panic! At The Disco Pray For The Wicked Buy it

Stream it

Toss it

facebook.com/elevenmagpdx @elevenpdx

8 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

Father John Misty God's Favorite Customer Sub Pop “I’m in way over my head,” Father John Misty (Josh Tillman) sings at the end of “The Palace”–a rambling piano ballad that provides a glimpse into Tillman’s mental state during a troubled two-month-long hotel stay, where personal demons were fought and the majority of his latest album was conceived. Coming just fourteen months after the sprawling and modern

The idea of reviewing an album like this in 200 words is frankly laughable, and that’s kinda the point—Washington’s goal with each release seems to be aggressively and diametrically opposed to the culture of the fleeting, the attention span pathetically withered in the dim light of the screen. Heaven & Earth is an exploration of the self comprised of two disks, one representing interior and the other exterior, each an odyssey in its own right. The Earth disk, presented first, contains a more straight ahead kind of jazz, while Heaven opens up into a looser and more forward-thinking sonic realm, a kind of consciousness expansion captured here in sound. Both disks require something of the listener, a kind of work that seems less and less demanded by our art these days, but which, if we’re willing, might lead us beyond the confines of what we thought we knew, out into a larger space, and beyond. » - Henry Whittier-Furguson

society-disparaging Pure Comedy, God’s Favorite Customer feels a bit like drinking from a firehose from Tillman’s brain–especially on cuts like the entire-song-is-a-chorus “Mr. Tillman,” or on opener “Hang Out at the Gallows,” where the listener is thrown in medias res into his latest existential crisis. There’s no time to explain the whole story or fix some of the more questionable lyrics, he’s writing each folk tragedy as fast, as truthfully, and as Father John Misty-ly as he can. The subject matter is fascinating and frightening at the same time as Tillman seems almost overeager to share his recent brushes with depression, suicide, God and unfaithfulness. Yet despite the dark undercurrent that permeates the album, charismatic vocal performances and up-tempo layered arrangements cause you to question whether songs like the bouncy “Disappointing Diamonds are the Rarest of Them All” and the spacy “Don’t Die” are morbid or hopeful. The truth is probably somewhere in-between. » - Eric Swanson

new music album reviews

Melody's Echo Chamber Bon Voyage Fat Possum A hiatus can often be a good thing. Bon Voyage, the new album from Melody’s Echo Chamber, is seeing the light of day, six years after the project’s eponymous debut. Melody Prochet has delivered a strikingly different beast from that very gaze-y, hazy debut. While the first effort, produced by Kevin Parker of Tame Impala, was a decent collection of psychedelic pop,

Snail Mail Lush Matador In a scene some are calling “bedroom pop” (a sound cornered by indie youth dream rock), 18-year-old Lindsey Jordan dove headfirst into a melancholic wave with her first release in 2015. True to her indie lo-fi roots, Jordan’s first EP was a selfrecorded solo work, Sticki, published under the name Snail Mail. Like the term it originates from, Snail Mail is slow-paced, steady and a little retro with simple, yet charming melodies.

it perhaps ended up fitting the mold of myriad other albums in the vein of Tame Impala’s dreamy wall of sound from song to song. That stuff is great, but there’s kind of a saturation at the moment. Six years meant Prochet had time to clean the slate and record this album during a retreat in the Swedish wilds, relatively free of distraction. Bon Voyage was produced and recorded with Reine Fiske and Fredrick Swahn, alum/collaborators around the proggy band Dungen, and the three, along with other friends from Dungen and Pond, have come up with a seven song collection of diverse cultural influences and surreal sonic touches, harder to pinhole and shot through with lust for life. Prochet made the choice to sing in French, English and Swedish, reflecting the eclectic, holistic take on music throughout. The flow of the record is frequently very chaotic, and sometimes a far cry from pop, though the single “Breathe in Breathe Out” sure is an earworm. The flirtations with world music, particularly Eastern sounds,

give a sense of mystery, imaginatively framing Prochet’s lyrics of poetic rebirth; like the frenetic hook that propels “Vision of Someone Special” and the swooping, Arabic-sounding strings in “Desert Horse.” What’s more, the latter song does not follow a straightforward pop-song structure, veering madly from section to section, from guitar solo to ear piercing scream, even taking a few moments in the middle to pause for a deep breath. More auditory surrealism abounds, like the stream-of-consciousness-esque rambling poetry from Pond’s Nicholas Albrook that interrupts “Quand Les Armes D’un Ange Font Danser La Neige.” The end result is oftentimes more like wonky, manic, psychedelicprog than the usual suspects of artists that journalists have compared Melody Prochet’s work to. Broadcast this is not. The irresistible guitar hook from the strutting closer “Shirim” brings things to an end, and you’re left wondering why this 33-minute experiment was so brief. » - Matthew Sweeney

Now accompanied by bassist Alex Bass and drummer Ray Brown, their newest release, Lush, embraces the uprising slowcore movement: melancholic tones, sad-kid lyrics and minimalist arrangements. While a term like “bedroom pop” is broad and dismissive, Lush does feels like an anthem for self reflection circling an adolescent dream: something one might play in the background while spending a full day in PJs, pondering the meaning of life and pacing around potential existential crisis. A caring sense of feigned apathy is set by the tone of lyrics such as: “Same night/ Same humility for those you love/ Anyway/ Anyway,” and “It just feels like/The same party every weekend /Doesn’t it/ Doesn’t it,” (of the song “Pristine”). With constant repetition both lyrically and melodically, the album lends to the listener an easy, dreamy tone to simply feel. With vocals reminiscent of Adult Mom and Diet Cig, and a guitar tone not unlike Chastity Belt, Snail Mail fits snugly into a community of dreamy indie rock. Clean guitar tones, catchy

riffs and Jordan’s clean, unwavering vocal melodies provide a perfect combination for easy listening and pleasant daydreaming. Kicking off the album with “Intro,” there is a dreary note of sadness and crying into a pillow post-breakup. Jordan’s voice is crisp and intimate, as though she were sitting a foot away pouring out her heart and soul to the listener–a private serenade. Every song on Lush holds a tone of lament and heartbreak. “I’m so tired of moving on/ Spending every weekend so far gone/ Heat wave, nothing to do/ Woke up in my clothes having dreamt of you.” “Heat Wave” kicks off as a dreary pop anthem of resigned loss, someone longing for another who has left them and moved on. It’s a relatable and oddly beautiful sentiment, yet somehow magically accentuates young love: a naive first heartbreak with hope for a future. The true brutality of the world has not quite collided in the world of Lush, yet it rings out loud and clear to anyone who has felt a sense of longing or a stagnant place in the world. » - Eirinn Gragson

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 9

live music JUNE CRYSTAL BALLROOM

1332 W BURNSIDE 1 Eels | That1guy 4 King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | Amyl & The Sniffers

5-6 Lord Huron

12 New Found Glory | Bayside | The Movielife

21-22 John Butler Trio+ | Mama Kin

24 Everclear | Marcy Playground | Local H

SKIDMORE ST.

NORTH WEST BROADWAY ST.

PEARL OLD TOWN 2

BURNSIDE ST.

405

23 18

GRAND AVE.

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TA VE

MLK BLVD.

RUSSELL ST.

DOW NTO WN

3939 N MISSISSIPPI

MLK BLVD.

MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS

23RD AVE.

WILLIAMS AVE.

830 E BURNSIDE

VANCOUVER AVE.

DOUG FIR

MISSISSIPPI AVE.

3 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 17 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

8 NW 6TH

The Kooks Sleep | Bell Witch Tory Lanez Blue October | Kitten Ghastly

INTERSTATE AVE.

2 6 7 22 30

ROSELAND THEATER

live music JUNE WONDER BALLROOM 128 NE RUSSELL

ALBERTA ST.

ALBERTA ARTS

42ND AVE.

15TH AVE.

11TH AVE.

PRESCOTT ST.

HOLOCENE

1001 SE MORRISON

FREMONT ST. 24TH AVE.

HOLLYWOOD

KNOTT ST.

33RD AVE.

28TH AVE.

RONTOMS

BROADWAY ST.

EASTBURN

3 5 6 7 13 14 20 21 25

Candace | Quan | Mood Swims | The Early Stuff Moorea Masa and the Mood Husky Boys | Cool American

1800 E BURNSIDE

1 2-3 4 5 6 7 8 11 19 22 23 28

600 E BURNSIDE

V Y BL AND

3 10 17

DJs in The Taproom (weekends)

KELLY’S OLYMPIAN 426 SW WASHINGTON

LAURELHURST GLISAN ST.

BURNSIDE ST. 8

3 11 6

STARK ST.

MORRISON ST. 11TH AVE.

8TH AVE.

HAWTHORNE

LADD’S ADDITION DIVISION ST.

CLINTON ST.

POWEL

L BLVD.

CESAR CHAVEZ BLVD.

HAWTHORNE BLVD. 24

BELMONT ST.

NO VACANCY 235 SW 1ST

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Swing City fea/ Good Co. DJ Nu-Mark King Louie & LaRhonda Steele Tippin w/ The Cary Miga Quartet Set Mo 90s Dance Party - June Edition Just Friends (Funk & Soul) Mothership: Planet LGBTQA Please - Pride Edition Galen Clark Trio Next Legacy Jazz Jam w/Chris Brown Prok & Fitch Dateless

1 2 6 7 8 9 13 15 16 20 21 22 23

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 11

features Photo by Molly Macalpine

JUNE REVOLUTION HALL

11 1300 SE STARK 1 2 7 17 26 30

Natalia LaFourcade Todd Rundgren's Utopia Calexico | Julia Jacklin Gogo Penguin | Korgy & Bass Gomez Dear Sugars

TOFFEE CLUB 12 1006 SE HAWTHORNE 1 3 6 10 13 20

Toffee League Kickoff w/DJ Drew the Universe Indie Pop Brunch w/DJ My Lil Underground Drag Trivia w/Shandi Evans Indie Pop Brunch w/DJ My Lil Underground Drag Trivia w/Shandi Evans Drag Trivia w/Shandi Evans

ALBERTA STREET PUB 13 1036 NE ALBERTA 6 7 13 15 22 25 27 28 30

Jeremiah Clark & The Reasons Why Jack Knight | Jaycob Van Auken Local Roots Live Series Scratchdog Stringband | The Warren G. Hardings The Beautiful Train Wrecks | Andrea von Kampen A Side of Soul w/Josephine Antoinette Phil Ajjarapu & His Heart Army The Harmed Brothers | In/Planes | Freddy Trujillo PigWar | Joy Tribe

14 116 NE RUSSELL

THE SECRET SOCIETY

8 15 22 29

Not So Secret Family Show (Sundays) Zydeco (Wednesdays) Swing (Thursdays) The Yachtsmen | Girls Can't Help It The Longshots | Irie Idea | Buddy Jay's Jamaican Jazz Amy Lavere Brownish Black | Tezeta Band

LOCAL FEATURE Moorea Masa & The Mood

oorea Masa, Portland’s

ELEVEN: So you just got done

prodigal daughter of

teaching, where was that? Have you

soul, strolls down the

been doing that for a while?

path, guitar under her arm. Usually I’ll meet

Moorea Masa: At the Falcon Arts

artists for interviews in their favorite

building, and yeah, I’ve been teaching

dim dive bars, or in practice spaces or

voice for about six years now, and I do

basements cluttered with cables and

voice workshops and stuff.

gear and the weird accoutrements that seem to collect in places where

11: Most people who do that say

people do creative work. Not so with

they also learn things from teaching...

Moorea. She’s asked if we’d meet her at Peninsula Park in North Portland,

15 836 N RUSSELL

WHITE EAGLE

9 12 14 15 16 18 19 21 24 26 27 28 29 30

Hackensaw Boys The Redeemers | The Toads | Demure Every Moment We Delay | Shoring | Evan Way The Groove Cabin | The Antonyms Reina Del Cid Motel Radio Goose Hollow Danielle Nicole Luke Winslow-King Chris Arellano Y Nuevo Americana Louder Oceans Mic Check Local Hip Hop Showcase Mobilities Eleanor Elektra | Papa Maurice

12 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

MM: Oh yeah, I love teaching. I first

one of her favorite spots, she says, and

started to make some side money, with

rightfully so. It’s a stunning mid-May

doing music, and now I love it, it’s a good

afternoon, one of the first days of real

balance for me, sometimes I can’t always

heat, and the people are out in force.

teach because I’m busy, but I have a good

It’s a fitting space to discuss

balance between teaching and being on

Moorea’s new album, Shine A Light,

the road. Sometimes being a musician

which she describes as an attempt to

can be a very self-absorbed job in a lot

examine the darker parts of herself,

of ways, not the actual performing and

to illuminate the pain and to watch it

making music part, but all the other

shrivel in the light of a healing sun. We

sides can be really, like, just telling

sit on the steps by the park’s central

people how great you are, you know? So

gazebo, surrounded by the happy sounds

yeah, teaching is a really great balance

of life, and we talk.

to that, holding space for other people,

which I love, and helping people make

pushed out of their homes, mostly

music, which is really amazing and

black communities. I mean, there’s an

important.

eighteen unit complex going in right where there used to be one home. It’s

11: You’re a native Portlander, but

just ridiculous.

you left for a while to travel. What made you decide to return? Was there a moment, or a kind of general feeling?

11: So, the new record is just out. How does that feel, how has it been received?

MM: Yeah, I mean I lived in England, I went to school there for a couple

MM: Yeah! It’s still really new, so I

years, and I dropped out and moved to

think people are just starting to get to

Spain and lived in a cave in Spain for a

hear it, but I think it’s been received

while. That’s a whole ‘nother interview.

really well.

(laughs) Yeah, but I hitchhiked around Europe for a while. I decided to quit school for a number of reasons, but

11: How did you arrive at this collection of songs?

part of moving back here was leaving Portland and realizing that not

on this record for a few years. The

as we do here. I grew up playing music

record is called Shine A Light, and the

in the Portland scene since I was maybe

theme has been me just really taking

fifteen, and it was such a supportive

a look at myself, looking at myself in

environment. Everybody works together

the mirror, and I’ve said this a couple

and goes and sees each other’s shows,

times in interviews, but I feel like our

and it’s not like that everywhere. When I

country has been doing that as a whole

left, I was like, oh my gosh, Portland is a

lately, and I’ve been taking a hard look

really special place.

at myself, and digging deeper into those things that I didn’t want to look at

years, and a lot has changed, and

earlier. I think that’s what we’re doing as a whole right now.

probably even more so since when you were growing up. Some of that

11: I think “Wake Up/Lover Be

change is maybe not for the better,

Found” seems to be the most pointedly

but it’s all happening regardless. Do

political, and it seems to kind of have

you think that’s affected that sense of

this transition from the personal to the

community, that you’ve noticed?

political. For me, R&B and Soul always come from a very personal place,

MM: Oh my god, yeah. In both

songs about love and loss, but then

negative and positive ways. In positive

it can be used as a vehicle for social

ways as a musician, there’s definitely

commentary…

more opportunities. The city has a bigger scene, so you can be more recognized, you can build a name for

JUNE TURN! TURN! TURN! 8 NE KILLINGSWORTH

1 2 3 7 8 9 10 13 14 15 17 18 21 22 23 24 25 27 28 29 30

MM: Well yeah, I’ve been working

everywhere has the same community

11: I’ve been here going on nine

features

MM: Yeah, I mean there’s a huge history of R&B being political. But

yourself in Portland more than maybe

“Wake Up/Lover Be Found” is about

you used to be able to. But it’s also

police and gun violence, and Lauren

more saturated. And I mean, I live on

Steele (Lo Steele) does a really beautiful

Alberta, and my sister used to live on

spoken word piece on that song, and I

Killingsworth and like fourteenth,

got a couple of my friends to just wail at

and that area used to be so dangerous

the end, it was a really moving moment

growing up. It was not like it is now. So

in the studio, recording these women,

in some ways it’s nice that it’s not as

we were all just in tears, thinking about

dangerous, but also people are getting

a woman losing her son to gun violence.

HAWTHORNE THEATRE 1507 SE 39TH

VALENTINES

232 SW ANKENY

King Ghiadora Slender Gems | Ponte Vedra | Life in Vacuum Sad Day | Buckmaster

ALADDIN THEATER 3017 SE MILWAUKIE

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PORTLAND’S MUSIC MAGAZINE SINCE 2011

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features Photo by Jose Amandor

JUNE THE GOODFOOT

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like, “send me your tunes, I like your

to maybe start that conversation?

stuff.”

NE HOLLYWOOD 4122 NE Sandy Blvd (97212) 503.493.1128 | hollywoodtheatre.org

with my life? Should I be out there

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Star Club (residency every Tues in June) Ben Annand | Mark Farry | DidjeKelli | Manoj Lovefingers JGarrett | JAK Dom & Roland

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me,” but he got back to me the same day,

A not-for-profit organization whose mission is to entertain, inspire, educate and connect the community through the art of film while preserving an historic Portland landmark.

THE LIQUOR STORE

1 8 9 14

11: Do you feel like as an artist it’s your duty to give a voice to these issues,

HOLLYWOOD THEATRE

MM: Oh sure. You watch the news and you think, what the hell am I doing doing something? And I’m not going to be a lawyer or something, that’s not how my brain works, but as a musician, whether it’s in my songwriting or when I’m performing, or on my social media, or whatever it is, whenever I can use my platform, I think I have a duty to speak out. 11: Shine A Light was produced by Jeremy Most, how did you make that connection? MM: I didn’t really know him before,

11: The production is really clean, and vocal-centric, and seems to recreate what you might sound like in a live setting. Was that a style that you had in mind? MM: Yeah, I mean I tried to make it more produced than I have in the past. But it’s funny because my perception is that it’s very produced, but I’ve had a lot of people say that it feels really live and stripped down, and I’m like, gosh, there’s so many instruments and all that. 11: Can you speak a little about the video for “I Can’t Tell?” MM: Yeah, that video I made with

I’d just been a huge fan of his work.

my best friend ever in the whole world,

And there’s also some Portland people

she just started a production company

FIRKIN TAVERN 24 THE 1937 SE 11TH

who worked on the record, Raymond

called Ursa Major, out of the bay area,

Richards and Sebastian Rogers also

and she and her husband came up and

worked on the record, but yeah Jeremy

we did the video along with some really

was there from the beginning to the

incredible dancers in portland, Akela

ROOM 25 SPARE 4830 NE 42ND

very end. He produced Emily King’s last

Jaffi choreographed the whole thing,

couple records, I’m a huge fan of hers,

and it had Che Che Luna, Marquise

2 7 8 9 10 14 15 16

and I found out about him through her,

Dickerson, and Grace Eucker, Uriah

and did a few opening shows for her, and

Boyd, and Paige Moreland, just really

Sugar Town Karaoke From Hell The Hustle! Norman Sylvester Band Tevis Hodge Jr. Heather Anne Jr. Ty Curtis Cool Breeze

14 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

met him through that. We had a bunch of mutual friends, and one of them was like, “reach out to him,” and I was like “there’s no way he’d want to work with

amazing humans. Daniel Giron was in it, he was the male lead. Yeah, so that was a really special experience putting that together.

11: I also wanted to talk a bit about

on each other, and were like, wouldn’t it

the collaboration with Ural Thomas,

be fun if we toured together, and then

who you used to sing with. How did

realized that we actually could, so we’re

that come to be? Did you write the song

doing it.

together? 11: What do you have going on after MM: Yeah, I just missed singing with

the tour?

Ural, so I asked if he would be on the record. I wrote the song, and asked if he

MM: A bunch of festivals this

would come sing it with me. He’s one of

summer, although I don’t know that

my favorite people on the whole planet.

all of those are announced. Upstream Music Fest is announced, that’s on June

11: So you’re about to set off on this

2nd. [I’m playing] festivals this summer,

west coast tour with Raquel Rodriguez,

then I’m touring with K.D. Lang in the

how did that come together? Did you

fall, and I’m going to do a fall Europe

know her previously?

tour, then hopefully some music videos, and them some new music will come

MM: No, I’ve been a fan of hers, and kinda connected through some mutual

eventually, once I can sleep a little bit. » - Henry Whittier-Ferguson

friends, and we were just both fangirling

features JUNE NO FUN

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TWILIGHT CAFE & BAR choral accompaniment or pulling back to just her and a guitar. Songs like “Wanna Be Close” showcase Masa's ability to create an entire landscape using just her vocals as she moves seamlessly between lilting highs and deep, soulful lows. On “Conversation,” she pairs bold guitar strokes with delicate percussions, creating the musical manifestation of the soft emotions,

L Moorea Masa & The Mood

Shine A Light Self-released

like fear, that are often hidden behind a wall of anger. Masa trades vocals with soul legend Ural Thomas, who she has sung with in the past, on “Don't Let Me Run,” and is joined

The spiritual becomes the religious and the healing is in the journey in Shine a Light, the newest album from Moorea Masa & The Mood. The Portland-born Masa has invited us to join her as she bows her head in gentle introspection, working to understand and ultimately heal from the pain and injustices both from her life and in the world at large. Masa is masterful at knowing what to bring in and when, her songs sometimes welling up with

by Lo Steele on “Wake Up//Lover Be Found.” From the opening track to the final number, Shine a Light plays seamlessly from start to finish, but with each track carrying enough weight and richness to stand on its own accord. Each song acts as its own lesson or parable, and when taken as a whole, together they tell a story that speaks to the restorative power of gentle self-exploration that eventually leads to redemption. » - Crystal Contreras

1420 SE POWELL

WHITE OWL SOCIAL CLUB 1305 SE 8TH

BUNK BAR

1028 SE WATER

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16 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com Photo by Jason Galea

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Photo by Kymmo

ive albums in one year. From a purely logistical standpoint, the feat is impressive. From a musical standpoint, you have to wonder, how does anyone have that much to say? For King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, it is less about having something to say and more about how to say it. Each of the five albums the group put out in 2017 had some kind of theme. Flying Microtonal Banana used non-Western instrumentation and a 24-tone equal temperament (where traditional octaves are divided into 24 tones). Murder of the Universe is an epic sci-fi concept album full of robots and synthesizers. Sketches of Brunswick East–a play on Miles Davis’s Sketches of Spain–is an improv jazz album recorded with Alex Brettin’s Mild High Club. Polygondwanaland was recorded and released for free with the band enabling fans to take the album master and press their own vinyl copies. Gumboot Soup, the fifth album, was released on the final day of 2017 and featured a mashup of songs that, as the band stated, “didn’t really fit in with any of other albums.” Even trying to keep track of the music as a fan is exhausting, let alone creating and releasing the projects. But, one of the hallmarks of King Gizzard is the group’s inability to take themselves too seriously. They take their music seriously, sure, as evidenced by the complexity and nuance present in all of their projects, but the band isn’t scared of completely stripping away any previous identity and building again from scratch. This ethos is what keeps the music fresh, interesting and continuously unexpected.

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We contacted King Gizzard’s guitar player and mastermind, Stu Mackenzie, to discuss the process of putting together the albums, how to build a live show out of an overwhelming amount of material, and the challenges that come along with making concept albums. ELEVEN: I’m going to bury the lead a little bit and ask you, what's the most challenging thing that you've done since the beginning of 2018? Stu Mackenzie: I don't know… Last year was kind of hectic, you know, maxed out for the whole year. We were kind of like on a treadmill constantly, which was cool, but it's felt like this year has been way, way more chill in comparison. It's hard to say that something's been challenging. I mean, we played 50 shows already and all that sort of thing, but that's fun. We've just been trying to play a lot of shows this year. But so far just kind of been trying to tour and be a band in that respect after working on recordings all last year. It can be challenging with some of the songs, working out live versions, especially songs like "Polygondwanaland" and records like that where they were made not as a full group. They were kind of made with a few of us and then fleshed out with a lot of overdubs of synths, and arpeggiated synth lines to play drums to, and with stuff like that it's tricky to do live–maybe we're doing it a different way. So that's been challenging for sure. So far it's been a good year. I'm all smiles.

features national scene 11: What does arranging the live show look like? With so many records, how do you even decide what you're going play on a given night? SM: It's definitely kind of a challenge. We'll work out a bunch of songs for a tour, and we'll often work out stuff on the road as well. Like, the last tour through Europe we were kind of working out a few songs on the road. We were playing "Beginner's Luck" from Gumboot in sound checks until we felt like we could play it, and then played it a few times and that sort of thing. But yeah, a mix of the records. It's hard to do so much of Sketches. I think I'd like to do more of that stuff, but I feel like we need Alex [Brettin] for that. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mostly a mix of the last six records reallyâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;the last five plus Nonagon. Occasionally something from Quarters!, occasionally something from I'm In Your Mind Fuzz. That's feeling like the, kind of, what's getting in there. It's probably a pretty even spread of the last five records, besides Sketches, you know? A bit of each. The last sort of few weeks we've been home, so we've been casually jamming and practicing a few of the songs off Polygon and a few songs off Gumboot that we've never played before, so that's kind of fun. But it's actually nice to have too much material to play live. You kind of just pick and choose a little bit. Some songs you wanna play and then you jam it and you're

just like, "Fuck, this kinda sucks. This isn't working right now in this sort of combo for whatever reason." And then you put it down and you pick it up in a year or something, or, I don't know, someone's playing a different keyboard or something and you just approach it a different way and it works. It's been nice to think about the show. I think last year we just kind of made records and just went with the flow in terms of what we're playing, but I feel like that kind of element can progress a bit. But, you know, we're just kind of jamming. We're just having fun. We're having fun with it. It's gonna be a fun year. We're just kinda playing a million shows and all that sort of thing. So yeah, it's cool. 11: This is a weird comparison but it kind of reminds me of The Grateful Dead, in a way. Where they'd be live on the road all the time and doing these crazy songs, and then all of a sudden they would hunker down and release a bunch of stuff from the studio, but still everyone considers them a live band. Was there a moment last year where you felt like more of a studio band, just because of how much time you spent in there, and what did that process look like? SM: I think, I mean, for me at least, I've always spent a lot of time thinking about the studio or thinking about recordings. I love playing live, I love doing everything, but

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 19

features national scene I also love making records. I kind of like the constructive, and this architectural side of things where you start with something simple. You begin with an idea that's just an idea, or it's just something very simple. And I love the collaboration process, making music with other people. It's social, it's communicative, and then you can create something that's tangible. I like that. I think we've always kind of tried to experiment with recording a lot. The live thing is like a separate entity that, you know, goes hand in hand. But that's the way I've always thought of it. They're kind of like two pretty distant things. There's very, very few songs that we will play live the same way that we recorded it. Like, I've always kind of thought with a recording, you make the recording how the recording is gonna be. Don't worry about if it's got 100 guitar overdubs, or don't worry about if you double track the vocals 14 times. Or don't worry about if you're never, ever going to be able to play this song live. Just don't worry about it. Don't worry about if you use a drum machine and you use acoustic drum kit live, or whatever. It's just kind of like a separate thing. In that respect, the last year was kind of pretty sweet to me. I don't know, I think it's fun. I [like] constructing a record and it being all the songs trying to serve the same purpose and create this world, or sort of create a visual with the music. And they all occupy their own landscape. Maybe the perception of us changed, but I don't know, that's hard for me to quantify. I'm just doing my thing. If people like it, that's cool.

20 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

Photo by Vincent Philbert

11: Do you feel like there are any bigger philosophical questions to be answered about art and the creative process, and the way that musicians make music for their audience? Or is it just purely kind of a very visceral thing that just happened and now it is what it is? SM: Yeah, I mean, I don't wanna preach or anything. I don't know, I think for me, like, the process kind of is odd. It's like, you make a collaborative record, and that is the process. And the ideas all come from the process, or you make music with different people. Or you are a guitarist, but you make a record on piano or something, and that is the process, and that is where the songs come from. And I think that's how we've always made records. It's like, "Let's make it hard for ourselves and let's see what happens." And we're not, like, in a trained place or anything, so we kind of maybe look at music naively, or something, I don't know. But yeah, it's just a tool, I suppose. It's just a tool. You can kind of look at it from a selfish perspective, like, it's a tool to be able to go on tour and be able to hang out with your friends, and live a sort of life of blurred lines of both work and leisure, which I kinda believe in, if you can. I mean, it was nice to do the record for free with Polygon. That kinda felt positive. I mean, that kinda came out of guilt really rather than some sort of political or social statement. It came out of guilt of we're selling so much fucking shit all the time. It's like making records and trying to sell them constantly felt a bit on-the-nose, so that kinda came out of

Photo by Kymmo

features national scene guilt more than anything. It felt like, this is a present for everybody, for, you know, just feeling like we had generous fans, or feeling like we had generous people around us helping us do what we do and that sort of thing. 11: What about theming the albums like you did last year? Flying Microtonal Banana specifically, and then Murder of the Universe. I mean, they're themes. There's some songs that stand alone on there, but still, they're the kind of thing that are built to be consumed in one piece almost, right? Is that what your aim was? SM: For sure, and, like, I listen to records. I mean, albums, like I listen to an album. I almost always listen to an album. All my favorite music is favorite albums. I don't really have favorite songs but I've got favorite records. It's just for whatever reason that's just the way that I think about music. It's like you wouldn't say to someone, "What's your favorite scene from a movie?" You say, "What's your favorite movie?" You know, a song is great when it encapsulates itself and it is its own sort of entity, and that's cool. And we sometimes make music like that, but usually the way we make music is like how does it fit within the context of the record? Or how does it fit within the context of the whole album and the flow of the thing? You know, we usually kind of work out a running order pretty early on and sort of think about that. Especially with records like Polygon and Nonagonâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;the running order on that one was really important. Especially with those records, it felt integral, like you can't really... I mean, you definitely can listen to it on shuffle but you couldn't really change the order so much and make it still make sense, I think. But that's just the way I kind of think about music. 11: With the way that people are consuming music now, people that really love it, they want to be kind of captured like that. So let me ask you this, from your perspective, three questions: Easiest album to make, most challenging album to make, and then, after-the-fact, the most satisfactory album of the five that you put out last year? SM: Okay, of the five? Okay. Well, I was gonna say easiest album to make was Quarters! but that's not one of the five. Easiest one to make... 11: Yeah, we're locked into the five now. That's the lead. SM: The easiest album was Sketches, I think, and I'm really saying that because I'm trying to think of what album took the least amount of time. And that's not to say that it wasn't challenging in a different sense. Sketches was kinda jammy and in that sense it was easiest. Yeah, but was it? I don't know. Tricky question. Most challenging, hardest, I would say Polygondwanaland. I think that was one that had the most attention to detail. I think that was the one where it felt like every riff, or every

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 21

features national scene thing that was in it was important. It was less of a just jam, less of a throw shit at the wall. It was much more calculated [and time consuming]. It was also maybe the most challenging guitar recording just to get takes right, and probably the most challenging for Cavs [Michael Cavanagh] doing the drums as well. Definitely the most challenging, but weirdly less challenging to get right in the mix. What was the last question? 11: The most satisfying after the fact? SM: I think that one is kinda, weirdly for me, Gumboot. I think even though for each individual song we did spend a lot of time kind of working on making sure that they were all worthy, and getting every song individually really good, it was thrown together. It was a completely slapped-together record. Every single song was recorded in different places with different arrangement of people, different instruments, you know? The kind of deliberately least cohesive record that we've ever made. But I think finishing it I was like, "Okay, all right. Well, that somehow maybe worked." And actually it has some of my favorite songs, songs that were just kind of talked about over the whole year ended up on that record for some reason. 11: So, can we get on record here, breaking the news: King Gizzard confirmed for six albums in 2018. SM: Please don't do that to me. 11: Anything on the slate for 2018 as it stands? SM: We've been jamming a little bit. We're kind of working on a few ideas and letting that fall into place this year and trying to focus on playing as many shows as we can. I think we just kind of need a break from recording for a minute, and then we might dive head first into it again and do some kind of intenser stuff. It's hard to say what we're gonna do but I think it's like we need to just rest, but by rest, like, play shows. I don't know, it's weird. We need to just not think about new stuff for a second. We need to just focus on what we got, and just consolidate, you know? Âť

CATCH KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD LIVE IN PORTLAND THIS MONTH, JUNE 4 AT CRYSTAL BALLROOM 22 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

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community meet your maker Photo by Tim LaBarge

MEET YOUR MAKER Pickathon founder and executive director Zale Schoenborn

[Editor’s note: Hello Portland! I’m so pleased to introduce our newest section, Meet Your Maker. Here we will be highlighting a vast array of local characters from craftspeople to curators in order to get a better insight into some of our favorite products, places, and the people that make them. For the inaugural interview, we connected with Pickathon Founder and Executive Director, Zale Schoenborn.] ELEVEN: Where did the idea for Pickathon come from? Zale Schoenborn: I think the original genesis was, "let's throw a better party." An influence on that came from when I was in Boulder, Colorado, there was a group of friends and musicians. When I was a mandolin player in a band called Soul Tractor, there was a band called String Cheese Incident, (you may have heard of,) the bass player in that band, we were all friends, kind of mixing up different bands together, and the community decided throw the Tell You What Festival, which is like a parody of Telluride. We threw all kinds of music together, any kind of mixing of music in weird genres like bluegrass or blues or zydeco, it was like totally forbidden. "Don't do that. Nobody's going to go." We were like, "screw that!" That little experience, which I was kind of just partially involved, I was like, "yeah, let's do something like that here!"

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11: Did you know immediately that you had something special that you'd want to do again and again? ZS: I could say I had a master plan, but in a gradual sense, it felt good and we wanted to do it again. It was a harrowing journey. We never knew if it was actually going to happen. There's a vibe that I was aware of super early, that was the irrational part of putting together an art or a best weekend of the year experience. There's a real tension with making it a business. The big inflection point for us was trying to figure out how to survive that journey. Then looking out even further we're like, "Okay, where are we headed? Are we headed towards becoming another corporate festival?" Because there's a model there and I can tell you right now that is not the better party. It has a bit of a soloist center that doesn't really attract the olympic performance from people that you're trying to get fired up. It turns into more like-- you're hiring people and they'll do it. 11: How do you stay authentic here in year 20? ZS: You just double down on [authenticity]. You go, “unless Pickathon is this insane blowout of an experience, we aren’t going to make the most amazing content,” and it feeds back on itself because what looks great visually in terms of treating everything a musical fantasy ride-- it looks great on film and film is even more unforgiving, it really creates flaw. You can see every single flaw, from lighting, audiences too far away, just every little detail makes you get taken out of watching live music. 11: Why has video media become such a central focus of the project? ZS: It is the way that Pickathon becomes sustainable. It's just flat out. As a festival, Pickathon makes no sense. It's completely, ridiculously illogical in every way you look at it which is why it's so awesome. You can dig very deep into Pickathon on almost any dimension and the story is still good. There's not an evil person behind the curtain like the Wizard of Oz. That's a Portland culture thing, too.

Photo by Brud Giles

community meet your maker

Photo by Amanda Cowan

11: The booking is unbelievably on the pulse. Maybe even pre-pulse. Where did you get your crystal ball and can you let us behind the curtain a bit on that decisionmaking process? ZS: Absolutely. Open source booking is the answer. Nobody is that smart. You literally have to tap and be open to as many smart people as you can humanly handle, aggregating their ideas in some form, "give us your 10 favorite things. Forget draw. I don't want to know about draw." There is stuff regionally everywhere that is just super obvious to them. You have to have faith. That actually is part of the rationality at Pickathon again is like, the best music should win. Screw genre. Screw any kind of rules. It should just be the best music. I don't care what it is. It could be somebody banging on a hubcap if it's the coolest thing you've ever seen. You can't fake people being excited about something, right? It's your approach more than your business. 11: The year is 2028 and here comes Pickathon 30, what does the festival look like now? ZS: We've succeeded in our content. We are known nationally for this amazingly influential weird music that people never had thought was awesome but they are experiencing it through Pickathon. On a large scale, millions of people are watching it and Pickathon still is the same size. It doesn't change. It is like this thing that is a real thing that generates all these other amazing things. That's what I hope we are. That energy is why we can all come here and hang out and make it real every year. Âť - Ryan Dornfeld

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 25

community literary arts

Photo by Thomas Martin

LITERARY ARTS Portland author Julia Stoops

ulia Stoops’s Parts Per Million (Forest Avenue, 2018) wonderfully recaptures the spirit of Old Portland through fastidious research and uniquely told eco-fiction. Set in 2002, Stoops’s novel follows four charming Portland activists trying to break the story of their lives. Their story–excellently told from three individual narrative perspectives–finds her characters romping through real Portland events like the M20 Protest, and discovering a not-so-real university system nefariously working for the government to produce military projects. Parts Per Million’s perfectly Portland brand of fiction found itself shortlisted for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. While its locality is familiar and well researched, Stoops’s ability to write highly refined fiction set in a nonfiction playground with thoughtfully endearing characters turns her book into a must read. ELEVEN: Parts Per Million captures the personality of Portland in 2002 by authentically communicating the social fabric of that time. Can you talk about the research you did to capture Portland at such a specific time? Julia Stoops: Making the story as realistic as possible was really important to me. I did all sorts of research to capture

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that slice of our history from June 2002 through the spring of 2003. For instance, apart from the fictional Maryville firebombing report, every news item the characters read or hear is verbatim from that time. Like in Chapter 79 where the crew is disgusted at a TV news reporter representing the huge antiwar protests with, “These kids are chanting the same thing over and over again. It seems to be the only thing they know how to say”–that’s verbatim from an actual local news show. I have a lot of this stuff on VHS. One day I’ll get it converted to digital and go back over it again just for the memories! Some of the research was first-hand, such as being kettled into an intersection during the August ’02 Bush protest and watching a guy get pepper-sprayed point-blank to his face. Some other details, such as Jen’s experience inside the detention center, came from interviews with fellow activists. And then for the technical stuff like the tricked-out Oldsmobile, the phone tapping and the hacking scenes, I read up a lot, and then relied on several experts to advise me on nuances. Oh, and when Sylvia gives Deirdre a cell phone with a camera? That was the first camera phone available in the US, in the fall of 2002! Researching all that stuff was really fun. Nevertheless, I didn’t want the novel to be a documentary, and I fudged some details to make them fit better. The news reports are all verbatim, but the source was often changed for aesthetic reasons. And when you’re on the Burnside Bridge looking south, you can’t actually see all the way to the RiverPlace condos–other bridges are in the way. But for dramatic reasons I had to have Jen and Franky look down the river at those condos, which by then had taken on a sad meaning for the crew. Oh, and the street they live on–Novi–is a fictional street between SE Clinton and Ivon. Novi is Ivon backwards. 11: Parts Per Million collects many aspects of your personality into a single volume. What was it like fictionalizing elements of your own character into your book? JS: I’d say it’s more fictionalizing my own experiences than my own personality, since the characters each have different and distinct personalities. But of course there’s a bit of me in each of them, to greater or lesser degrees. I drew on personal experiences of making and exhibiting visual art to give depth to Deirdre’s evolving reactions to her photography exhibition. And volunteering in the KBOO newsroom in 2002 and 2003 was a big source of all those community radio station details where the crew does their monthly show. I was also teaching media studies at the time, and, like the crew, I was acutely aware of what was going on in the mainstream and alternative medias, and the gap between them in how the build-up to war was being presented and discussed. Then my experiences of being on the streets during many anti-war protests made it into the book–like a detail from the M20 protests, of being nearby when some folks attempted to take over the Steel Bridge (which didn’t eventuate) with a guy yelling “Steel Bridge!” into a megaphone right near my ear. In the book that megaphone drowns out something important

community literary arts that Fetzer is trying to tell Jen over the phone. 11: What was it like retelling real events like the M20 protests from a fictional perspective? JS: It was exciting. As the fall of 2002 unfolded and I realized I wanted that historical moment to be the backdrop of Parts Per Million, I stopped taking a sign to protests and started taking a video camera. I have a lot of mini DV tape stored away. I also vacuumed up every bit of ephemera I could: Anarchist broadsides, irreverent anti-Bush guerilla art, newspaper clippings, random bumper stickers. I even have an “AgitWare” mug featuring the faces of Bush and Ashcroft interspersed with apes. 11: I wanted to ask about the book cover, which you painted, and Gigi Little designed. Can you talk about the book cover and how it represents Parts Per Million? JS: The cover you see is the second version. The first version was gray and gritty–literally! The title and my name spray-painted on a sidewalk. The distributor’s reps advised against using it, as they felt it would not sell as well. I’m not about to argue with a book distributor’s long expertise with how covers work in the marketplace, so Gigi went back to the drawing board and we used one of my paintings as the basis for the new cover. The piece is from 2001, part of a series I did the same time I was writing the first draft of Parts Per Million. The novel is set in 2002-2003, but the story arc was laid down a year earlier! I was exploring the motif of a man in a suit standing alone in a desert, holding something in his hand as if struck with a realization, or waiting for something to happen. The man in a suit was growing into the character Nelson in my novel– who doesn’t wear suits much but always goes around in a tan corduroy sport coat and a tie. He was this everyman character: unremarkable, but at the same time somehow deeply interesting. Like he was a metaphor for potential. I drew and painted that man in the desert over and over. For the book cover, Gigi split the Nelson figure into two, and it was perfect! Another metaphor for how he is split off from his past, not integrated into his present life, but full of potential that you start to see towards the end of the novel. 11: While your book is set in the early-aughts, how would your characters react to 2018’s political climate?

JS: Gosh, good question. I think they’d be a lot better organized. They were getting their act together, organization and strategy-wise by the end of the novel, and by now, fifteen years later, I think they’d be a local force to reckon with! Part of what progressives were processing in 2002-2003 was a climate of utter strangeness. There was this continual sense of “This can’t be happening.” Nelson articulates that bafflement near the beginning of the story when he says–of Bush’s doctrine of preemptive strike–“No way... That’s against international law... The U.N. wouldn’t let him. Right?” He still believes on some level that the positive, democratic structures put in place by earlier generations still work as they were meant to. Fifteen years and countless examples of the decay of those values later (The U.S. used torture!), the characters would likely be more revolutionary. Perhaps out of the forums would have come a movement for general strikes, for example. 11: Perhaps adding to the conversation? JS: One thing the characters would feel positive about is the growing public conversation about race, and the evolving efforts by white people to figure out how to be more inclusive, not just to be welcoming and safe for people of color, but also to accept leadership from them. 11: Jen and Fetzer tell their stories from the first-person perspective, while Nelson tells his in third-person. How did your decision to share their narratives from different perspectives shape your characters? JS: The first draft was written in third-person omniscient, which is all I knew before I studied the craft of fiction writing. I’ve always been fascinated by stories told from multiple points of view, so I was excited to learn how to write in the voice of the characters. I experimented with that for a few years and the voices naturally fell into a shape that relates to their personalities. Jen is impulsive and irritable, so we get her in first-person present, almost in real time. Fetzer is the oldest and wisest, he’s processed the events of the story, so his version of the narrative is retrospective, in first-person past. Nelson’s experience, like Jen’s, unfolds in the present, but he’s the least grounded of all POV characters, so I kept his voice in third-person to underscore the disconnect he feels. 11: The Thermals, a beloved PDX band, released an album called More Parts Per Million in 2003. I think Jen would have listened to it between radio shows. Have you heard it? JS: I did not know about this! I wish I had. Jen definitely would have played this album between segments of their show. In earlier drafts of the manuscript, the crew opens their show with Casey Neill’s “Dancing on the Ruins of the Multinational Corporations.” I had to shorten the MS to make it a marketable length, and that detail, along with many others, I sadly cut out. But if there were ever a museum of Parts Per Million, that album would be in it! » - Morgan Nicholson

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community visual arts

VISUAL ARTS

take it serious. I never considered myself an artist, but those years opened my eyes to what is possible with the right tools and a little time.

Portland artist Nolan Restivo

11: Have you had any formal art training? How has this creative endeavor morphed into what it is today? ELEVEN: Are you originally from the Pacific Northwest?

NR: I got a job setting tile with a friend when I was 22, and that was when I first really learned anything

Nolan Restivo: I grew up in Southern California. I moved to Bend in my early twenties. Bend was a lot of fun, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s where I built a lot of solid friendships that I have today. After 10+ years there, I was ready for change and headed to Portland. I have been here for close to 6 years now. I love it here. 11: Where does your love of woodworking stem from? NR: I love working with my hands. I was completely addicted to ceramics throughout high school. Constantly trying to throw bigger and bigger pots on the wheel. I got really good fast, although I didn't have the patience at the time to really focus on it. I was just a little shit, and didn't

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Alder Coffee Table, 3' x 5'

community visual arts NR: The people, the people. I could easily say, "the trees, and the outdoors", but thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s getting old. The Northwest is constantly showing the world how progressive and forward thinking we have become. You are constantly seeing, reading, and hearing about amazing people, doing amazing things. There is just so much creativity here, that It opens your eyes to more of what is possible, and helps give you the nudge to go for it. 11: What is the creation process like â&#x20AC;&#x201C; how do your ideas precipitate into a physical manifestation? NR: Most of my design happens during the build. I usually go into it with a rough idea of tones and style, but that often changes during the process. I rarely sketch out my work beforehand. I have found that I spend too much time trying to replicate the sketch up, and it limits my creativity. A lot of it

Alder Coffee Table, 36"

just doesn't translate from paper

about tools, and construction. From there I slowly

to wood either, so that throws a wrench in the design as

learned other trades, and eventually bought a house,

well.

pretty much gutted it, and remodeled it. It was on a budget, second hand, and total D.I.Y style. If I still had

11: Many of your pieces incorporate different stains

that house today, I would have to redo everything, it was

or colors of wood. How does staining work its way into

pretty half-assed, the way I did stuff then, but it was all

the process of putting these pieces together? How do you

I knew. Fast forward 15 years, I see a piece of art online

choose colors?

with a tutorial on how to build it. So I pull my chop saw out, and give it a go. I butchered it, but within a week I

NR: Staining always happens before each piece is

figured it out, and made a pretty large wall piece. My

glued into place. Once I have my cuts made, I will start

wife convinced me to start an Instagram and post it,

staining and gluing down. I use a mix of oil based stains,

so I did. A year and a half later, I somehow, someway,

along with spray paint. I like to spray and then wipe,

managed to quit my bartending job, and make a living as a

that way you still get the wood grain to pop. I keep a full

woodworker. I have so much to learn, and feel so lucky to

spectrum of colors in the shop, that way I can play around

be where I'm at.

on sample pieces, and try different things. I really enjoy switching it up. As gorgeous as a dark walnut coffee table

11: What about the Pacific Northwest provides you with inspiration for your pieces?

is, some people would prefer some teal and black in their space, so I like to make sure my work speaks to different crowds. Different flavors for different people.

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community visual arts 11: Where do you source the wood from? Is it locallysourced or do you work with wood from around the world? NR: I work with a couple different distributors here in Portland. As much as I would love to be using reclaimed wood, its just not the right product for what I do. I do my best to use all my scraps for smaller projects or burn for firewood. 11: Are there certain kinds of wood you prefer to work with? I noticed you use a lot of Alder. Is that due to preference? Accessibility? NR: Yeah, I have found the Rustic Alder to be the most practical, durable, and affordable material for my process. I love it when I hear that my tables are

Hemlock Headboard, 4' x 8'

affordable. It’s because I'm using Alder. If a client wants to spend a little more and go with oak, or cherry, then I have no problem doing that, but as far as custom pieces, I go with Alder. Solid wood furniture, locally made, is not cheap. So keeping my cost down means that I can continue to offer quality pieces at a price that is not only reasonable but doable.

11: What do you find challenging about working with wood that you might not have with other mediums (i.e. clay, watercolor, metal)? NR: Oh man, every medium has a thing. For me, it’s the dust. Lots of it. Keeping the shop clean, and making sure bags and filters are attended to is super important. I feel like half of my time in the shop is dedicated to cleaning. 11: You also do a lot of custom pieces. What is that process like- working with the client to create both their vision and yours? NR: If a client gives me full creative freedom on tones and style, I like to get pretty creative, and see how far I can take the design. Most often the client sees a piece I have already made, and either asks for a similar piece, or something with the same tones. I always ask them to view my work and show my their favorites and least favorites and then go from there. Seeing pictures of the space where my piece will be living is always helpful. That way, I can try and match tones up, and also stay away from colors and patterns that may clash. » - Mercy McNab

FIND THIS ARTIST ONLINE WEB: WWW.JUNCTUREWOODWORKS.COM INSTAGRAM: @JUNCTUREWOODWORKS

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Nolan Restivo's "Abstract Blues in Fir" (36" x 18")