eleven pdx magazine november 2014

CALIFORNIA

1 1 . 1 8 Sacramento Witch Room • $7 • 8pm • 18+

1 1 . 2 0 Los Angeles No Vacancy

1 1 . 2 1 Merced The Partisan

1 1 . 2 2 Santa Cruz The Crepe Place • $10 • 9pm 21+

1 1 . 2 3 San Francisco The Rickshaw Stop • $12 • 8pm All-ages

WASHINGTON

1 1 . 1 4 Richland MUX • $8 • 7pm • All-ages

1 2 . 0 3 Spokane The Bartlett • $10/12 • 8pm All-ages

1 2 . 0 4 Seattle The Crocodile • $12 • 8pm All-ages

1 2 . 0 6 Wenatchee Cafe Mela • $12/15 • 7:30pm All-ages

OREGON/IDAHO1 1 . 1 5 EugeneWOW • $3/5 stu. $5/7 non 7:30 All-Ages

1 1 . 2 9 Portland Star Theater • $12 • 9pm • 21+

1 2 . 0 2 BoiseThe Crux • $10 • 7pm • All-ages

1 2 . 0 5 Enterprise Ok Theater

WWW.REDBULLSOUNDSELECT.COM

LISTEN TO RADIATION CITY

ELEVEN PDX MAGAZINEELEVEN PDX MAGAZINEISSUE NO. 6 VOLUME 4

contents

new music

THe usuAL

3 Letter from the Editor

3 Staff Credits

Cover Feature 15shakey Graves

Local Feature 11TOPe

LiVe music

9 MusicalendarAn 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.

cOmmuniTY

FiLm

FeATuRes

Watch Me Now 21Film editorial: Return To Twin Peaks

instant Queue Review

Visual Arts 27Portland artist Lenae Day

Literary Arts 23Portland poet stacey Tran

7 Short List

7 Album ReviewsAriel Pink...And You will Know us By The Trail Of Deadmanchester Orchestra

more online at elevenpdx.com

4 Aural FixThe wytchesThe courtneyscaptial citiesPanama wedding

Neighborhood of the Month 26ne Glisan street

3 | ELEVEN PORTLAND | www.elevenpdx.com

eXecuTiVe sTAFF

ADVeRTisinG

GeT inVOLVeD

OnLine

eLeVen wesTmeDiA GROuP, LLc

sPeciAL THAnKs

DisTRiBuTiOn / PROmO

GeneRALinQuiRies

secTiOn eDiTORs

GRAPHic DesiGn

cOPY eDiTinG

cOVeR PHOTO

cOnTRiBuTinG wRiTeRs

PHOTOGRAPHeRs

EDITOR IN CHIEFRyan DornfeldCREATIVE DIRECTOR Dustin Mills

[email protected]

[email protected]/elevenpdxfacebook.com/elevenmagpdx

Mark Dilson, Kim LawsonMichael Reiersgaard

Ryan DornfeldDustin Mills

Our local business partners who make this project possible. Our friends, families, associates, lovers, creators and haters.

And of course, our city!The Redcoats

[email protected]

LOCAL FEATURE: Wendy WorzallaLITERARY ARTS: Billy Dye, Scott McHaleVISUAL ARTS: Mercy McNabFILM: Rachael Haigh, Bex Silver

Dustin Mills

Megan Freshley

Kirk Stewart

Paul Maziar

Alex Combs

Brandy Crowe, Billy Dye, Eric Evans, Donovan Farley, Veronica Greene, Rachael Haigh, Casey Hardmeyer, Kelly Kovl, Travis Leipzig, Ethan Martin, Scott McHale, Aaron Mills, Jacob Schraer, Matthew Sweeney, Charles Trowbridge

Mercy McNab, Aa Mills, Todd Walberg, Caitlin M. Webb

HELLO PORTLAND!Life can be one whole chore. Is that such a bad thing? It

means you're getting things done and making a positive impact. Isn't that what we all want to be doing?

While "chore" is defined as an odd job or small task, an associated word is "goal," which is the result or achievement toward which effort is directed. In my life, chores have always had a negative connotation and goals a positive one, and now it's time to realize that they are both good. Your livelihood, your creative outlet, taking care of your family or pet, and even just getting from place to place are all chores. There's beauty in the chore. There's zen in sweeping the floor.

Today I'm going to set a few extra tasks for myself, and I'm going to be freaking stoked about it, as it means progress is happening. The world can be a better place, it just takes a little bit of extra effort. Won't you join me in the global endeavor of this odd job?

Let's get out there and chore it up. »

- Ryan Dornfeld, Editor in Chief

www.elevenpdx.com | ELEVEN PORTLAND | 4

THE WYTCHES

UP AND COMING MUSIC FROM THE NATIONAL SCENEAURAL FIX

As the seasons change, so do my musical listening pleasures. Summery pop vibes just won’t do it for me throughout the long, cold and dark autumn and winter seasons in Portland. Rather, those are the times that necessitate more aggressive, heavy and loud rock ‘n roll to fill the void. So it is to my pleasant surprise, and with rather convenient timing, that such a band as The Wytches should stumble upon my radar.

This relatively infant power trio, hailing from Brighton, England, has obvious roots in post-hardcore/punk music and at least a bachelor’s degree in garage rock with a major in '90s grunge and minors in '60s psych and surf rock. Three years of disciplined autonomy, DIY tours, and self releases have lead up to The Wytches debut LP, Annabel Dream Reader, which grabbed the attention of Partisan Records in the US and Heavenly Recordings in the UK. Recorded on the 8-track analogue gear at ToeRag Studios in London—the very birthplace of the White Stripes critically acclaimed fourth release, Elephant—the album does have some killer tone and production quality.

There are numerous influential elements audibly at play on Annabel Dream Reader. Singer/guitarist/organist Kristian Bell’s guttural vociferations cover the gamut, with Cobain-esque shrieks on “Digsaw,” poetic warbling similar to MeWithoutYou’s Aaron Weiss on “Beehive Queen,” and at times, similarly irritating whiny mews as Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst on “Weights and Ties” and “Track 13.” Instrumentally, the record strikes more of a sweet chord for my intrinsically heavier taste. Layered in heavy fuzz and with a penchant for attacking his tremolo bar, it seems as though Bell’s guitar work is well studied in the sounds of most of Ty Segall’s projects, or even Portland psych rippers Wooden Indian Burial Ground—which is always a good thing in my book. Catch The Wytches at Doug Fir Lounge November 6 before they hop on their brooms and fly back to the UK. » - Travis Leipzig

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new musicaural fix

THE COURTNEYS

The story begins in Calgary, where Jen Twynn Payne (AKA “Cute Courtney") and Sydney Koke (AKA “Crazy Courtney”) were roommates who ended up parting ways when Koke moved to the States to attend grad school in North Carolina. Shortly after, Payne moved to Vancouver, BC, where she met the one true Courtney of the band, Courtney Loove (AKA “Classic Courtney"). Nearly a year later, Koke dropped out of grad school, hopped in a car, and drove to Vancouver to start a

band with Payne. Immediately, the thought of Loove as a third came to mind and the trio jammed together throughout the summer of 2010. They wrote a bunch of songs and recorded at their practice space before another wrench was thrown in the mix—Loove landed a job in Montreal and the band went on an indefinite hiatus. Payne and Koke decided to start a different band, but as fate had it, Loove returned eight months later. At this point things got a little more serious, and The Courtneys played their first show at a friend’s birthday party.

The twenty-somethings’ self-titled 2013 debut was an indie success story: made on a shoestring budget and released on their friend’s small label (Hockey Dad), the three-piece reached their audience by word-of-mouth. With tight musicianship and tough but sugary hooks, the album sold out the day before it was scheduled for release. Needless to say, The Courtneys were astonished, but their '80s/'90s Flying Nun-esque sound qualities, unintentional riot grrl gusto, and short and to-the-point songs had won over a solid fan base.

Influenced by '90s bands like Pavement, Dinosaur Jr, and Fugazi, and fueled by a mutual love of Coke Slurpees, '90s boy bands, and Keanu Reeves, The Courtneys have shaped a perpetual summer with their feel-good poppy tunes. So as the never-ending rain falls down on Portland, you can supplement your vitamin D with a healthy dose of The Courtneys. »

- Wendy Worzalla

2

Photo by Tara Dwelsdorf


new music

CAPITAL CITIES3

aural fix

Apparently writing jingles for car commercials in LA wasn’t cutting it for Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian, and they set out to make some music of their own. The time spent carefully crafting those thirty-second songs has most definitely paid off for the duo, with the ubiquitous “Safe and Sound” flowing through the mainstream since 2012. While their sound easily lends itself to, well, TV commercials, it remains simply feel-good music. All of the singles from In A

Tidal Wave of Mystery are radio-friendly and lean much more into the pop than indie genre, but it’s the dance-compelling force of their music that can’t be denied. It’s no wonder that they are a big hit at festivals like Coachella and are consistently selling out shows.

Technically speaking, Merchant and Simonian do a great job of amping up their signature bright sound with the use of brass, which highlights their straightforward vocal stylings. The samples are light-hearted and add a fun dynamic to their music—like using the familiar voice of Frank Tavares from NPR on “Farrah Fawcett Hair” along with Outkast’s Andre 3000, adding some flare to the piece. It’s style that takes front seat to substance in much of their music, but the kind of style that sells records. This is most apparent in “I Sold My Bed, But Not My Stereo,” with its buzzy synths and funky beats, and “Kangaroo Court,” which is the most infectious track musically.

It’s in the live performance where Capital Cities really shine, however, engaging the audience and feeding into their energy. Spencer Ludwig has been known to sway the crowd by waving his trumpet in the air and playing at a fever pitch. Merchant and Simonian will sometimes join the party and get down to their own songs. They’ll even retro it up a bit by covering fun classics like “Stayin Alive” and Madonna’s “Holiday.” If this band is all about providing the best electro-dance party possible, they’ve succeeded. » - Scott McHale


PANAMA WEDDING

new music

Peter Kirk is the boy next door. He grew up learning classical piano just outside of NYC in Long Island/Oyster Bay, creating a sound that is soft but enthusiastic, electronic and acoustic. It is laden with hook-friendly synths, unexpected bloops, and nuances of The Beatles, Billy Joel, and many '80s artists—including The Police and Hugh Padgham records, but also bringing to mind Owl City with innocent poetry and an earnest voice. It’s a sunny vibe on our cloudy days.

Finding the path to producing music as Panama Wedding came easily. Simple bedroom recordings led to playing shows at venues like Bowery Ballroom and Mercury Lounge, before touring with Dan Croll and showing up on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The hopeful and catchy “All Of The People” became a popular single and remix darling. The EP Parallel Play is poised to be a promising indie-pop full length, and is in reference to people playing next to each other, in synergy, yet apart from one another—touching on the rhythms of moving past each other in the city, at work, and in relationships.

Panama Wedding has now become a five piece sect, with

Kirk himself tapping rhythms on a drum, and members Lauren Zettler, Jared McCarthy, Brett Spigelman, and Kenny Bernard toying keys, heavy bass, and a full drum kit, creating a mellow flow agreeable to the aspects of daily life and exploration. »

- Brandy Crowe

“TRusT”

“umA”

A

QUICK TRACKS

B

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1 FREEMAN ARC IRIS

2 PISSED JEANS STICKERS VEXX

3 BEAR'S DEN DAN MANGAN CHRISTOF

4 SCARS ON 45 BROKEN ANCHOR

5 MEIKO6 THE WYTCHES TALK IN TONGUES

7 JD MCPHERSON THE CACTUS BLOSSOMS

8 HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER

PHIL COOK (MEGAFAUN)

9 THE OH HELLOS10 THE FEATURES CHAPPO

11 STREETS OF LAREDO

MAX JURY

12 MIRAH LUZ MENDOZA

13 CHANGING THE TUNE BENEFIT CONCERT FEATURING JILT

14 RED LIGHT ROMEOSA TRIBUTE TO YACHT ROCK

15 GRUFF RHYS WILLIS EARL BEAL

16 GENERATIONALS SPRINGTIME CARNIVORE 4:30-ALL AGES

16 GENERATIONALS SPRINGTIME CARNIVORE

17 BOB SCHNEIDER THE WIND + THE WAVE

18 SOHN19 JAY NASH W/

JOSH DAY JAVIER DUNN

20 DEERHOOF BUSDRIVER GO DARK

21 BLACK PRAIRIE SWANSEA

22 AVI BUFFALO LOS ANGELES POLICE

DEPARTMENT

23 COLD SPECKS THE DOMESTICS

26 JAMESTOWN REVIVAL

NIKKI LANE PETE MOLINARI

29 SHY GIRLS

Advance tickets at ticketfly.comAll shows 8pm doors/9pm show • 21+ unless noted • box office open ½ hour before doors

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830 E BURNSIDE / 503.231.WOODwww.dougfirlounge.com

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NOVEMBERAT

happy hour 3-6pm daily

Funky keyboard tweaks, harmonies, and putting your

cards on the table. Also, inspired by Prince’s “Joker Parade” song in the 1989 Batman film. So. . . yeah.

Uma says "it’s funny how memories, they’re like

shedding suns.” The song somehow brings to mind

Gordon Sumner, soft voiced Kirk with synthy twists, heavy-handed bass, and

images of a girl driving a Cadillac in Jackson Heights

to a synthy “I wish I didn’t love you but I do (ooo).”

aural fixPhoto by Chris Gregory


THIS MONTH’S BEST

R REISSUE

LOCAL RELEASE

new music

L

L

Buy it Steal it Toss it

ALBUMREVIEWS

Ariel PinkPom Pom4AD

One of the releases I was most hyped for this year was Pom Pom, Ariel Pink’s first major release to be credited as a “solo” album.

So what has everyone’s favorite grouchy music-nerd ironist produced this time? Compared with Mature Themes, this new album is torrid, booming, and cynical—and it’s also

It’s been nearly 13 years since Trail of Dead’s landmark 2002 album Source Tags and Codes was released, fusing together the preferred American indie-rock genres of the late 1990s (post-rock, post-hardcore, Radiohead-styled-alt-rock) and coming up with something timeless and and unique that inspired generations of neo-prog bands to spring up in its aftermath. After all this time, the sound pioneered on Source Tags is starting

really damn good. Really good as in I’ve had it on repeat all this last week.

Ariel’s experiments on this album are addictive: “Put Your Number In My Phone,” a tongue-in-cheek come-on that could’ve come straight off Stephin Merritt’s 69 Love Songs is preceded by the haunting epic “Not Enough Violence,” some kind of deranged psychedelic hybrid of Ultravox and Peter Murphy with threatening lyrics. The whole album is like this: there’s a sexy noir tale (“Lipstick”), a '50s beach musical number (“One Summer Night”), the reggae-dyed “Dinosaur Carebears." Ariel is more inventive than ever.

The only criticism I can make is that lyrically, the album can come off as a little snide and bitter. “I dedicate this selfie to the little guy who will outlast me when I’m done.” And it comes as no surprise, as Ariel has been getting in trouble for off-color remarks lately—hopefully this won’t tarnish anyone’s perception of a great album. This is the good stuff. »

- Matthew Sweeney

to finally show its age, as IX is largely steeped in the same fiery prog riffs, quasi-orchestral crescendos, and impassioned vocals of dual frontmen Conrad Keeley and Jason Reece that made Source Tags so vital at the beginning of the last decade.

So much has changed for guitar-based rock in the last decade, and Trail of Dead are now on the outside looking in, making being a Trail of Dead fan in 2014 start to feel like how King Crimson fans must have felt like in the late 1980s. That’s not to say there aren’t a few wonderful moments on IX. The back-to-back blasts of space-rock “Bus Lines” and “Lost in the Grand Scheme” manage to make their signature brand of prog-rock sound relevant again. The album’s closing tracks “Like Summer Tempests” and “Sound of the Silk” are Trail at their most delightfully retro, channeling the Moody Blues at their most psychedelic.

Still, the meandering and tedious first half of IX isn’t quite good enough to justify sticking around for its awesome-at-times second half. But there are a few moments on here exciting enough to make you want get out the ol’ circa-2003 mini-disc player and get your alt-rock on. What’s wrong with that? » - Casey Hardmeyerfacebook.com/elevenmagpdx

@elevenpdx

Deerhoof

Dirty Beaches

Foo Fighters

Pink Floyd

nicki minaj

songs Ohia

Avid Dancer

Joseph salvat

2:54

TV On The Radio

Big K.R.i.T.

eminem

Purse candy

La Isla Bonita

Stateless

Sonic Highways

The Endless River

The Pinkprint

Didn't It Rain

I Want To See You Dance

In Your Prime

The Other

Seeds

Cadillactica

Shady XV

Visions of a Healed Kingdom ...And You will Know us ByThe Trail Of DeadIXSuperball Music

short List

album reviews


manchester OrchestraHopeLoma Vista Recordings

In early April 2014, Manchester Orchestra released Cope, their fourth studio album. Five months later, they released Hope, an acoustic remix of Cope. It was an interesting decision—not to mention a surprise release—and according to lead singer Andy Hull, the band decided to move forward with it after receiving positive feedback on a

stripped-down version of Cope’s lead single, “Top Notch.”

So what do you get when you take an album that lacked much of an edge and strip it down? A compelling and tender upgrade is what you get.

We can get the inevitable Band of Horses comparisons out of the way early. Both Cope and Hope certainly call to mind early Band of Horses, but the former less favorably than the latter. Where Cope leaves you wanting a little more, Hope provides a clear glimpse into the soul of the songs.

“Top Notch” opens with muted piano chords and soft guitar strums—soft enough that the sound of the hand sliding along the guitar neck comes across as almost percussive. It rolls gently into ambient crescendos of strings and floating vocal harmonies as Hull’s vocal ostinato fades out. As the song that inspired the entire acoustic version of the album, it’s a fitting encompassment of tone, detail, and restrained élan.

The most noticeable aspect of Hope’s instrumentation is the deep presence

of Chris Freeman’s piano work. It is refreshing to hear a bottom-up approach to an acoustic proceeding, as tenor-heavy instrumentation seems to be the trend of the moment. Freeman brings necessary gravity to these tracks, and it’s hard to imagine how the album would have come off had the group decided to feature guitar as the driving chord-carrier.

“The Ocean” effectively illuminates the multi-layered approach taken on Hope. On an acoustic album like this, there’s really no place to hide, and the subtle addition of strings and light reverb on group vocals provide enough solid differentiation that the track manages to feel both weighted and ephemeral.

It’s hard to say where Manchester Orchestra completists will ultimately slot this album. It’s a stark departure from other work, but it exposes a depth and attention to detail that, while present on previous albums, manages to find a new voice and disposition here. Where Cope came across as a little lackluster, Hope fleshes out the soul of the album and redeems the effort admirably. »

- Charles Trowbridge

new musicalbum reviews


features

nOVemBeR

Lubec | Couches | Arlo IndigoTender Age | Blackstone Rangers | Ah GodC Average | Prizehog | PolstHerkemer | GladnessMemory Boys | Half Shadow | Black Belt Eagle ScoutBurning Palms | Is/IsPushy | Crystal LogicResidual Echos | Terminal Fuzz Terror | Eternal TapestryPurling Hiss | The Woolen Men | LandlinesTalio | Signor Benedick The Moor | DJ DevdanOvenMongoloid | Freak Vibe | Andy Place & The CoolheadsVisions Of War | Lost Tribe | Frenzy | Dead HuntSwim Swam Swum | Months | Down GownTSA | AsthmaCharlie Megira | The Pynnacles | The TrenchSteel Bearing Hand | SatanarchistCarrion Spring | Edhochuli | Valkyrie Rodeo

LA Hell Gang | Grandparents | Ancient ForestFrankie Rose | Cold Beat | EphrataAll Them Witches | The WellThe Shivas | Jollapin Jasper | Moon By YouWater Liars | BedTruman's Water | Octagrape | Permanent Makeup | And And AndEDJField Report | Hip HatchetMirel WagnerCelestial ShoreNolala | Fog Father | Máscaras

Singer/Songwriter Showcase (Mondays)Bottleneck Blues BandLike A RocketMy Brothers And I | Liz ViceThe Working Stiffs | The Brothers JamGreyDogzLess Cash | S.S. Curmudgeon | BoomrangKidsThe Hill DogsGarcia Birthday Band

THe KnOw

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Trashcan Joe | Endangered SpeciesAmanda Breese | Lewi Longmire | LowlightThe Jenny Finn Orchestra | Libertine BellesThe Swingtown VipersThe My Oh Mys | The FrequenceRocket 3 | Citypools | ChartsKenny White | Amy Speace | Jeffrey MartinThe UkeladiesBrownish Black | Tezeta BandAra Lee | Redray Frazier | Midnight HoneyThe SupraphonicsLa Rivera | Beach Fire | Ezra Bell

THe KnOcK BAcK

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LOCAL FEATURE: TOPE

ELEVEN: I really feel like each record of yours represents a step forward (which is saying, something since they all are pretty dope) in a way. Is that a conscious decision, or is it something occurs totally naturally and randomly? Do you ever sit down and think, “I want this record to have more ‘so and so’ than the last one,” or does it just pour out of you?

TOPE: I think every album being more and more personal is a natural process of maturing and becoming more comfortable being myself with my audience and in my writing. Every album

I feel like I peel back another layer and tell another story of my life. I'm young, but my life has been crazy and I've seen a lot already—sometimes I even forget. I think after I wrote "Birthday Song" for my mom (RIP) on Trouble Man, I realized that I could be really honest and open while still staying in the pocket lyrically and timing-wise. After that I decided my story was enough, and that I didn't need to try to be anybody but myself or tell anybody else's story but mine.

11: What is the “Broke Boy Syndrome" to you exactly?


features

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nOVemBeR

New Politics | Bad Suns | SomeKindaWonderfulNew Found Glory | We Are The In Crowd } Fireworks | Better Off

A Distan Calm | The Diggers | To Die Elsewhere | AralynMaiden NW | Chemical Rage | Axecrack

Arch Enemy | Kreator | HuntressLagwagon | Swingin' Utters | This Legend

Mariachi El Bronx | Tijuana Panthers | Pounded By The SurfThe Coup | TOPE | Speaker Minds | Verbz

Scott Bradlee & The Post Modern JukeboxRun The Jewels | Ratking | Despot

Sanctuary | Spellcaster | Earth To Ashes | Cry Havok | TangraWovenhand | Pontiak | Bike Thief

The Ghost Inside | Every Time I Die | Architects | HundrethEmery | The Classic Crime | Artifex Pereo

Issues | Ghost Twon | Nightmares | MarmozetsHe Is Legend | Wounds | Dirtnap | When They Invade

The Lone BellowGreg Brown

Angus & Julia StoneDavid Grisman & Del McCoury

The Pimps of Joytime | MoonhoochSwahn Mullins | Max Gomez

An Evening with Terry BozzioThe Psychedelic Furs | The Lemonheads

Patty GriffinFrazey Ford of the Be Good Tanyas | The Bros Landreth

Leon RussellElephant Revival | Rushad Eggleston

The Storm Large Holiday Ordeal

HAwTHORne THeATRe

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Real Friends | Neck Deep | Cruel Hand | Have MercyHenhouse Prowlers

The Early Bird Project | DMLH | Diction UNO | DJ ZoneFortunate Youth | The Expanders | Thrive

Sepiatonic | GlobalRuckus | The BrundLyrics Born | Dirty Revival Collective

Head For The Hills | The Hill Dogs | Matt Franzen & Kina Lyn MuirNew Kingston

Poor Man's Whiskey

Melanie MartinezOrphan Train | Freddy & Francine | Anne-Marie Sanderson

Alex NicoleJeremiah Clark & TheReason Why | Billy Mixer | Carmen Cooper

Nova BlueAstro Tan | Space Shark | Mamai

The Marshall McLean Band | Marty O'Reilly | Ghost TownsMonica Nelson & The Highgates

Vinyl Gold | Space LeechWest My Friend | The Stubborn Lovers | The Breaking

Close Talker | Hemlock Lane | Jordan Klassen

ALHAmBRA THeATRe

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TOPE: Broke Boy Syndrome has a lot of definitions to me really. It's about people who work their entire life to break even. It’s about people who grew up poor and had no one else to rely on for success but themselves. It's about people who finally start to see success/money and how difficult it is to maintain that success when you come from a dark place and everything around you is trying to bring you down. Broke Boy Syndrome is about the fact that most people never make it out of the social class they are born in. It's an underdog's story on trying to make it and maintain. "It’s for my people who never had money, just got money, and they about spend money!"

11: BBS touches on a couple of very personal topics: your family, your father, the frustrations of an up and coming artist, money, etc. Yet your

attitude remains positive throughout the record, which I found refreshing and engaging. Is it difficult to keep your mind right while dealing with all this? Is your music a positive outlet for your frustrations?

TOPE: I've always just been a believer in maintaining a positive attitude and trying to make a plus out of a minus. Especially with music. If you can't find a way to maintain your happiness through the ups and downs of trying to "make it," you're going to be in for a rough ride. I definitely deal with a lot of stresses; 2014 has probably been one the most personally up and down years of my life, but thankfully I've had my music this year to keep me moving forward and always having something to work on. The "rap game" in 2014 doesn't make ANY sense at all, and you can burn yourself out real quick trying to compete with these industry people with an independent budget. Music is my outlet for everything: positive, negative, and everything in between. I'm 100% honest in my music, so you get humor, anger, pain, party, love, everything.

11: You mention Death Row and Tupac a couple of times. I was wondering what other artists inspire you, both past and present.

TOPE: As funny as it may sound or look, 2Pac was a HUGE influence on me as a kid. Same with Snoop, DJ Quik, Warren G, Too Short—west-coast rap was my favorite growing up, but I also loved BIG, Puff, Ma$e and that whole era. Ma$e still has joints to me. Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony was also a big group for me as a kid, as well as De La Soul, Tribe, and Wu-Tang. I don't think I really wanted to rap myself until I saw Eyedea (RIP) on HBO Blaze Battle in high school. He was amazing, the way he could use his humor and punchlines to humiliate his opponents. 8 Mile and battle rap were definitely making a comeback at that time, and I think then I knew it was something I could do myself. Later, underground hip hop like Hieroglyphics, Living Legends, Black Star, ect. helped me develop my tastes and what I really liked and didn't like in hip hop. J Dilla was the main factor to me starting to produce—I loved his work with Common, Slum Village, and The Pharcyde. Jay Dee helped me realize how much soul music was a part of the

Photo by Caitlin M. Webb

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MuffalufagusEcho Pearl Varsity | Olivia Awbrey | Perfect FamiliesCandy Machine Wrecker | Fun WIth DynamiteEngraveD | Open Fate | Toxic Rock SyndromeSun Kids | The Dakota Badlands | VotiveHemorage | Path TO Ruin | Antique ScreamFells Acres | Class M PLanetsGround Score WillieDJ AmbushDJ Smooth HopperatorThe Side Dish Smorgasbord | Stein | NomenclatureGod Bless America | Car 87 | Motorama | 13 Scars | Mr. PlowSeparation Of Sanity | Chronological Injustice | OthrysApathy Cycle | The Mormon Trannys

Year Of No Light | Take Over And Destroy | Eight BellsIntronaut | Anciients | Graves At Sea | Wayfarer | SiouxLight Years | Driver Friendly | Give It FM | TrunksThe Cutthroats 9 | AegesThe Bug | Manga | Alter Echo | Selcta YTSelf Defense Family | Creative Adult | Wild MothThe Hoot Hoots | Doubleplusgood | Arlo Indigo

Alien Ant Farm | Zeale | The Slants | Crazy Like MeThe Animal In Me | The Nearly Deads | She's Not DeadMysticism Black | Nekro Drunks | ArachnidFornicator | Panzergod | Infernus | ZorakarerAtriarch } Usnea | Muscle & Marrow

Dan Reed NetworkTim Reynolds Trio | Marcus EatonDads | Tiny Moving Parts | Choir VandalsThe Human Experience | SaQi | Minhkal | Sixis | GudaThe Flatliners | The Greenery | Lee Cory OswaldThis Town Needs Guns | Emma Ruth Rundle | MyletsAnuheah | Tribal Theory | DJ KDRock The AwarenessFoxing | Gates | We The Wild | Robot BoyRyan BinghamWild Ones | Radiation City

AsH sTReeT sALOOn

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Located on the west side of Ladd’s, the Firkin Tavern features an astounding selection of craft beers to enjoy inside or on our patio. Art enthusiasts will enjoy a variety of local artwork on display and sold comission-free!

se LADD's1937 SE 11th Ave (97214)503.206.7552 | thefirkintavern.com

rap that I loved. After getting into production, I dove deeper into the soul music realm and started discovering world music (Fela!), gospel music, and most importantly jazz! Today I'm influenced by a lot of artists, but mainly life itself. New artists I check for, though, include Dom Kennedy, Drake, Logic, Elzhi, BJ The Chicago Kid, Terrace Martin, Overdoz, Kendrick Lamar, Troy Ave, Jeremih, YG, Nipsey Hussle, Fly Union, etc.

11: Follow up to that: who are your favorite Pacific Northwest hip hop artists right now?

TOPE: Favorite NW hip hop artists right now include HANiF f.k.a., Luck-One, Mikey Vegaz, Eighty 4 Fly, Thaddeus David, Stewart Villain, Trox, Cool Nutz, Lifesavaz, Wes Guy—to be honest I don't listen to hardly any rap from the NW.

11: Speaking of the Pacific Northwest, I’ve been wondering if it’s ever frustrating to come from a place like Portland that’s so synonymous (at least to the media) with indie rock? Have you ever considered leaving? You rep Oregon pretty hard on the record, which I thought was very cool.

TOPE: Making hip hop in Portland, OR is definitely not the easiest place to get recognized or even for people to take you seriously. I think a lot of Portlanders wish they lived or were

from somewhere else, so it's hard for them to support a hip hop artist from their backyard as opposed to one from NY, LA, or even Seattle. A lot of people don't understand why you would even live in PDX and make hip hop because they tie the music to an urban culture—something that lacks in our city. I can't seem to make sense of why Seattle artists are able to come down here, tour, and sell out shows, while artists from this town have a hard time getting a free show to capacity. We have an incredible rock scene here, and the majority of people are white so it only makes sense that rock is the dominant genre in the media and around town in general. For every person that has a Radiation City album on their iPod, they probably have a Kanye West album on there too. I guess it's just a matter of getting the right music into the right hands of the people. As far as the media and other artists in Portland, I feel like a lot of people only want to support you when you're "up and coming." When you start to threaten other people's position of success, they start to get uncomfortable. This year has been an interesting one for me, because I've been trying to step out and really be my own artist, carve my own lane, and it's crazy to see who is riding with me and who has gotten left behind.

11: Do you feel like Portland’s and the Pacific Northwest’s hip hop scenes in general are getting more attention (finally) with the emerging popularity of acts like Shabazz Palaces, yourself, THEESatisfaction, and Nacho Picasso?

Sonic Forum Open Mic Night (Mondays)Asher Fulero BandFirst Friday Superjam w/DJ Magneto & FriendsMotherlode | ElektrapodL'il Smokies | Kory Quinn BandScott Law Band | The Student LoanJon Ostom Band | RosewaterDJ Anjali & The Incredible KidBoys II Gentlemen

Photo by Caitlin M. Webb


features

TOPE performs live in Portland November 7 @ Roseland Theater,

opening for Deltron 3030

TOPE: I definitely feel like the NW scene is starting be recognized on a national scale. You have artists like J Pinder, who is writing for Dr. Dre, Royce The Choice, who just got signed by DJ Mustard, Trox producing for 50 Cent, DJ Fatboy djing for E-40, Illmaculate battling all over the world, and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis becoming international mega-stars. People are starting to check, but I think a lot of that attention is still focused on Seattle. They deserve it though—Seattle has a great scene– artists like Sol, Grieves, Mack, Grynch, BFA. I really respect those dudes' grind.

11: Was the massive success of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis a good or a bad thing for the scene here?

TOPE: I think Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' success was great for the region. I don't really see any negatives from the issue, besides the "next-Macklemore" issue everyone loves talking about. I'm proud of those guys.

Portland’s Tope adds to his already impressively prolific output with his latest album, Broke Boy Syndrome, and the stellar record is one that is not only one of Portland’s best of the year, but hip hop in general’s.

Songs like “Let It Go”, “Almighty” and the title track are instant winners featuring clever wordplay and some fantastic production, but for me the

I've worked with both of them closely and see them rise, fall, everything in between. They definitely deserve all the success they are achieving in my opinion.

11: What are you plans following the release of BBS? Touring and whatnot?

TOPE: Plans for after BBS include touring (including a European run), more videos, remixes, and releasing more merch to go with the album. I really want to be able to tap into some younger markets and be able to share my story with high school and middle school aged kids. I think BBS is something kids trying to figure what they want to do with their life can relate to. » - Donovan Farley

centerpiece of the record is the absolute banger that is “Red Light." A fantastic soul sample and some Hammond B3 organ during the intro set the stage perfectly for the eventual beat drop, and when the drums kick in the song becomes literally impossible to ignore. It’s here that Tope’s myriad of talents are on display, and his influences, from J Dilla to jazz, are abundantly apparent and presented with razor sharp focus. I found myself having one of those “Oh shit!” moments the first four or five times I heard the track.

Tope told me in our interview that, “I'm 100% honest in my music so you get humor, anger, pain, party, love, everything” and attempting to bring all of that into any piece of art is a Herculean task, but with Broke Boy Syndrome, he has done just that. Tope hasn’t just made a very good local record, and he hasn’t just made a very good hip hop record, this is just a very good record. Period. Here’s to hoping it and he get the attention he deserves in the coming months. » - Donovan Farley

TOPeBroke Boy SyndromeSelf-released

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DJ Anjali & The Incredible KidScofflaw Soiree | Pink Lady | John Bennett Jazz Band

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Jackstraw (Tuesdays)John Hartford Tribute

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Lewi & Left Coast Roasters| Blue Flags & Black GrassJenny Don't & The Spurs | Brush Prairie

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The Yellers | Jerry Joseph Acoustic TrioLewi & The Left Coast Roasters | Pretty Gritty

Old Flames | The ResolectricsAnja's Pale Blue Eyes | The Foothills

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The Blind Shake | Love CopAcoustic Minds

The Chicharones | XPERIENCE | IAME | Goldini BagwellJohn Moreland | Keirston White Count Kellum

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Mudhoney | Poison Idea | P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S. | DJ Jason KeeblerJ. Mascis | Luluc | Pete International Airport

Har Mar Superstar | The Pizza Underground | LizzoLos Strait Jackets | Deke Dickerson

Mr. Gnome | Young TongueOBN IIIs | Pampers

Brothers Gow | South Satern DeltaThe Sorry Devils | Re-Ignition

Hobbs Angel Of Death | Swarming Darkness | Torture RackRighteous Darkness | Gloaming | Rotten Strawberry

Onslaught | Artillery | Raptor | Gladius | Revolution OverdueRennie Foster | Sappho | The Messengers

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HOLLYwOOD THeATRe

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

ne HOLLYwOOD4122 NE Sandy Blvd (97212)503.493.1128 | hollywoodtheatre.org

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featuresnational scene

Photo by Jarred Gastriech

On the horn is Alejandro Rose-Garcia. To spare the busy man

some time, I skip formalities and attempt to dive into the questions. He is amidst load-in to one of the many shows within his grandest-to-date tour. Before we begin, he imposes a quick pause and multi-tasks, inquiring

how I’m doing, while setting himself and a friend up with a whistle-wetter. He’s

excited by the little things: “Oh, awesome,” he exclaims, “I love you forever,” he informs either his

friend Dan or the beer in a glass that is shaped like a can.

Shakey Graves is the tangible free radical extension of Alejandro. The life of the party, the leader of the pack, Shakey is a man on a mission to rock your soul with the fire of a thousand hells and the sweetness of a honey-soaked bear cub. The best way to understand this is to listen to the music, and the second best way to understand this is to peruse the following insights.



an orgasm being a tiny death or whatever. It’s semi-biographical, some of the stuff is, and some of it is a collage of many different experiences in my life. Some of those songs were written in different points about different people, but they all speak about some mysterious Other. The course of the album essentially starts off with breaking up with somebody or having a split and then addressing it. “Only Son” is about figuring out why that happened, and it goes into “Dearly Departed,” which is addressing the home and the space that you have and the lack of that person. And then it goes into “The Perfect Parts,” which is sort of the insanity part of trying to call the person and figure out where you are and where you stand and maybe the rebound kind of situation. Then it goes into “Hard Wired,” which is the clarity aspect of it, and then “Family [and] Genus” is right when you start to find clarity in your choices. And then it goes into “[Big Time] Nashville Star,” which is the point where you’re totally resolved and you don’t feel like anyone could hurt you anymore, and I think that song is where the perspective or the narrative voice actually shifts. “Nashville Star” is the other side, the voice of the female or other person in that action—the response to the first half of the album. “Pansy Waltz” is the response to that response; those two songs are the twin songs. That’s one side of it, which is, “You can do whatever you want and it’s not going to hurt me. I’m over this,” and the other side is like, “Well, you should have been a better friend of mine in the first place.” Let’s see, where does it go from there?

ELEVEN: Legend says you caught a ghost about ten years back. Would you provide some details about that?

Shakey Graves: Oh, okay, well let’s see. How to handle this question. Yeah, I had an experience when I was. . . maybe eighteen or nineteen. I’ve made music for a long time, but. . . I had one of those seminal nights where I “found my voice” and I essentially just sat down and turned on a microphone and like eight songs came out of me. It was a very weird kind of dialogue between me and something else. I don’t know how to explain it. It was the first time I had ever recorded myself singing in a way that, when I listened to it, it didn’t sound like me. These songs came out totally formed, more or less. I’m trying to think if I still play any of them. There’s one called “Parliment” that I play every once in a while, but that’s the only one that kind of survived. Yeah, that was the beginning of me finding something a little bit weirder within my own stuff. It was like feeling that your hands are being moved somewhere, and that if you’re trying to use too much of your brain to write, it kind of counteracts it and you just have to let your mouth go. It’s like a really minor possession.

11: Do you have that original recording? Is it on lockdown?

SG: I do. Yeah, it’s definitely on lockdown.

11: For your creative process, does it vary from song to song then? What’s the origination of a Shakey Graves tune?

SG: It totally changes song to song. There’s certain songs that were out of direct passion [where] something happens to me and I feel emotionally [driven]. . . like that song “Daisy Chains.” That song is a pretty good example of a combination of the two. I got my heart broken by a girl a while back, and if I could howl, I would have. It was just a deep pain that I really just didn’t know how to process, and I sat down and I wrote that song. It was a weird combo where I felt like I let something in and I also let something out. And that song is essentially the story of a man begging a woman to marry him to give him a reason to not go to war, and I don’t know what [happened]. . . that was not what I was trying to do. That song kind of showed up entirely, and I’ve always considered in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way that that song is someone else’s story that I was just in the mood to receive—and for all I know that could be a true story. It’s not mine, but the emotion is the same. That was sort of the harmonic frequency that I was aching in, so it came.

11: In the new album And The War Came, relationships are entangled throughout all eleven tracks. Going into it, was that a theme you had in mind, or is it more of a collage?

SG: It’s both. There’s definitely a theme that [arose] out of it on accident, which is kind of how I like things to be, but it is the story of a relationship and an analogy to war, you know, the concept of


11: “House of Winston.”

SG: Yeah, and then it goes to “House of Winston,” which is trying to date again, or find another person and just really wanting to waste someone’s time and not having anything too heavy go on. And then it goes into “If Not For You,” which is the horrible horribleness of dealing with all your baggage. Then it goes into “Call It Heaven,” which is the happy-sad, letting go of all the shit that happened in the first place, and you know, it could be worse. Things could be worse. We’re still alive.

11: Wow. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a better track-by-track breakdown of the story of an album. That was awesome.

SG: [laughs] I mean, it wasn’t on purpose. That’s just what I heard from listening to it myself. I was like, “Oh! Oh yeah.”

11: Did making the second album light a fire for making more?

SG: Yeah, I’m really thrilled about the next one. Doing Roll The Bones and then doing this one—between the two of those—everything I’ve learned is really exciting me about how I’m going to approach the Shakey Graves III, whatever it’s going to be. We have so much material again left over from this album that we discovered thematically didn’t have any home in the album we

1. SAT AN EVENING WITH THECALIFORNIA HONEYDROPS

2. SUNDENVERHOUNDSTOOTH / BARNA HOWARD

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were trying to create—a bunch of weird electronic-y stuff, and we did some wild shit that I would really really love. . . some of the best tracks that we made that just weren’t finished or didn’t make it on.

11: Well, your career is blazing through milestones now. How do you stay grounded with that, and is there anything that scares you?

SG: Yeah, I’m afraid of everything. Also, this didn’t just happen overnight. I have a lot of hours logged in the fight. And again, the whole fight/war stuff, I can’t help but refer to it like that because it really is a very personal struggle and it’s also in a very public arena. As much as it’s all petty and doesn’t matter because it is just music, it’s just performance, it’s also my life and it’s me kind of putting myself on the line and having to deal with people [who say], “I think this fucking sucks,” you know? O-kay! Cool. And other people who are like, “I think this is the most important thing ever so don’t change it. EVER,” and you’re like “Well, I’m going to, I guarantee you. I’m going to change it and it might bug you, but just trust me.” So, the scariest stuff right now has also been the most rewarding stuff. “Only Son” is kind of a manifest of that too, regarding me becoming whatever the next type of musician I am. Because I think the one man thing is awesome. I’ve always thought I can really get a lot out of it, and I think there’s something really pure and beautiful about it. But I also listen to so many different types of music, and I listen to everything from Bruce Springsteen to the Wu-Tang Clan (I’m wearing a Wu-Tang Clan shirt right now, I’m totally going to wear it on stage tonight), and I’m very inspired by big shows.

The show I’m working on right now is really crazy. For the last five days, we’ve had a six piece band, off and on, kind of by accident. Just being open to the way the universe kind of pulls you through stuff. This dude that, him and I started playing music together when I was in L.A. and just budding as a musician, we would go in his practice space for his band and I would go and follow his band around. And Shakey Graves didn’t mean anything, and I would like, do lights really badly. I would lug their gear. I was their photographer for a little bit, and I just wanted to participate. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I [thought], “This is great. I get to see every side of this thing.” I’ve been on every side of the musical performance.

11: Now, years later, Shakey Graves ain’t nuthin ta fuck with, and you have a crew.

SG: Exactly, Shakey Graves ain’t nuthin ta fuck with. So, we figured it out, a couple nights. . . The first two were kind of wonky whatever, but the cool thing is that if at any point it starts to get out of hand, I can instantly just get everyone offstage and still maintain a show. It has these peaks and valleys that I really like. But man, we’ve played a couple of shows so far, we’re only on our fifth day, and holy shit, we played in Louisville and it was like a little baby arena show, running around stage. We did guitar antics. We did the Chuck Berry Duck Walk. it was just absolutely insane, and same goes with the show we played in Charlotte the other night. It was a small scale Bruce Springsteen show. It was nuts.



Catch Shakey Graves live this month November 14 @ Wonder Ballroom

11: How much has your acting background contributed to controlling the live performance?

SG: Oh, tons. It’s just a bunch of physical training. I was trained when I was younger how to do that, how to find my light and work the crowd, and what is appropriate and how not to lose attention and keep going and improvise and be conscious of other people on the stage with you, and how not to shut the audience out. It’s a constant thing.

11: Is acting something you would want to return to in some form?

SG: People talk about it like you have to make a choice or something. Both of these are pretty silly. It’s a blessing to work as an actor, and it’s a blessing to work as a musician. Right now, everything that I have going, the music side of it is much more in the driver’s seat. It’s something [where] there is no reason for me to pull out. I’m not only enjoying myself but I’m deeply fulfilled by expanding upon my artistic ideas and anything that you would want to express as a performer or as an artist. I’m getting the opportunity to do that. So there’s really no question of what I would choose to do. It’s not like acting was ever thrown out the window; I’ve always acted. I love acting, and it’s just as [much] of a lifelong pursuit as this is. Right now, as it is, I’ve put more time into music. So that skill is more honed, and my acting is just less battle-tested. It’s very time consuming, and the benefits and rewards are very different and much more transient or long lasting. . . You shoot a movie over the course of two years, and then you have to wait another year to see it, and it’s two hours long and you have

so little control. It’s a whole thing. If and when I ever have time, of course, I’ll act all day long if I can.

11: What does the word Pickathon mean to you?

SG: Well, Pickathon was a very seminal point of me kind of realizing that I’m pulling my head out of my ass. I really had my head down, and I was trying to fight my way into what my show was. I just locked in a holding pattern and clung to what I thought people wanted, and I hadn’t really noticed that [happening]. I went to Pickathon and [it] refreshed me in a sense that I just remembered that there is so much good music being made, and it’s so diverse and there is a through line that good music is good music. If you’re not playing as weird or as big or as small, or truthfully, you should reassess that, and Pickathon helped me reassess that in myself. It made me realize that I was kind of plowing through some stuff that should have been lighter because I kind of afraid of seeing the people or that at certain points I should expand upon other things. It’s done that both years I’ve played. This last year it was a bigger, scarier show, but at the same time I don’t think it had the valleys that I really wanted—or maybe it did but I couldn’t tell. It’s also just the most enjoyable music festival I’ve ever been to, just for the bands that I want to see. There’s so much music that has just changed my taste or musicians that have just shocked me. It’s just a recharge. I hope I get to go to Pickathon every year even if I don’t get to play. »

SATURDAY 11.1: CHRIS NEWMAN AND THE BEACHCOMBERS|1776 - 9PM/$5TUESDAY 11.4: ”WHOʼS THE ROSS?” - 9PM/$5FRIDAY 11.7: SEISMOGRAPH - 9PM/$5SATURDAY 11.8: DEMURE|LUCY GRAY|MOSBY - 9PM/$5SUNDAY 11.9: THE PHOENIX VARIETY REVUE - 8PM/$10THURSDAY 11.13: NEURO SOUND PRESENTS - 9PM/$5FRIDAY 11.14: FRIDAY 11.14: TIM SNIDER & SOUND SOCIETY|HAYLEY JOHNSEN|WOLFCHILD - 9PM/$9SATURDAY 11.15: GREEN LUCK MEDIA GROUP AND TRIBE PRESENT:RASHEED JAMAL|BIG MO|MIC CAPES|MONTEY CARLO - 9PM/$10SUNDAY 11.16: BABY KETTEN KARAOKE - 9PM/FREEWEDNESDAY 11.19: THE JOHN BLACK BAND|THIS FAIR CITY|CASTA - 9PM/$5THURSDAY 11.20: WOODEN SLEEPERS|THE SINCERELYS|MILLSTONE GRIT - 9PM/$5FRIDAY 11.21: WALKING STALKING ROBOTS|THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE - 9PM/$5SATURDAY 11.22: SATURDAY 11.22: CAMBRIAN EXPLOSION|A HAPPY DEATH|LADYWOLF - 9PM/$5TUESDAY 11.25: BRIDGECITY TRIVIA - 6PM/FREEKPSU PRESENTS:FRIDAY 11.28: THE HUGS|WHEN WE MET|KOOL STUFF KATIE|SMALL MILLION - 9PM/$5SATURDAY 11.29: JUST LIONS|FOXY LEMON|PATRIMONY - 9PM/$5SUNDAY 11.30: ENTENDRE ENDTENDRE|THE MERCURY TREE|LIQUID LIGHT - 9PM/$5SUNDAYS: THE EARLY EARLY COMEDY OPEN MIC - 4PM FREEMONDAYS: MONDAYS: BUNKER SESSIONS OPEN MIC - 8PM/FREEMONDAYS: EYE CANDY VJS - 9PM/FREETUESDAYS: LATE TUNES WITH KPSU DJʼS - 9PM/FREE


film

ast month, lovers of metaphysical police procedurals rejoiced when David Lynch and Mark Frost announced that their show Twin Peaks would return to television with a nine episode series in 2016. For

months Lynch and Frost teased fans with cryptic tweets, and when finally announced (via Twitter of course), cult television fandom let out a collective exaltation. The announcement dovetails nicely with a scene from the original series in which a spectral Laura Palmer, speaking backwards in the ominous Black Lodge, tells the erstwhile Agent Cooper, “I will see you again in 25 years.” Which is a particularly well-placed easter egg, I’d say.

Twin Peaks, while somewhat heady and often times dense, is an incredibly important part of contemporary television history. The construction of the narrative, unreliable narrators, and impeccable production–not to mention Angelo Badalamenti’s melodramatic score–helped usher in the paradigm shift in television programming that has occurred over those 25 years. We would not have a True Detective if Twin Peaks had not set the tone. With Lynch and Frost producing, writing, and directing this new incarnation of Twin Peaks, it should not only fit in well with the landscape it helped to create, but I cannot help but imagine it will break new television ground once again. Luckily it was picked up by Showtime, meaning the undercurrent of dark adult themes will fit in quite nicely, and may give Lynch and Frost even more freedom than they had in the original run. It seems a very '90s phenomena that a surreal, auteur-driven soap opera/murder

RETURN TO TWIN PEAKS

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mystery would dominate the pop culture conversation, but at the time it defied any convention of what audiences expected from television. Today’s audiences are seven years past the most popular show on cable, The Sopranos, featuring all manner of challenging, experimental scenes. Twin Peaks began in the days where shows were either nine season powerhouses or two and a half season failures with little room in between. Success, for network and cable shows, is a much more nebulous proposition these days.

Such a sensibility could have helped Twin Peaks in its initial run. Lynch and Frost originally planned for the show to transcend the central murder. “Who killed Laura Palmer?” was the gateway to the world of Twin Peaks, but the creators envisioned a broader plot that encompassed the entire town’s denizens and their secrets. Eventually, the central murder would exist in the background, a centralizing event but not the focus.

The network had other ideas. With an unexpected hit on their hands, pressure mounted on Lynch to solve the central mystery, which he eventually did halfway through season 2. I still remember watching it, a terrified ten-year-old, sitting on the floor at a cousin’s home in the Los Angeles hills while the rain pounded outside. Maybe I imagined the rain, but that was the hold the atmosphere of Twin Peaks had on me.

The revelation of the killer and his bringing to justice made for riveting television, but the aftermath led to a severe ratings drop.

When people refer to the much derided “second season,” what they mean are these latter episodes. Just

as Lynch thought, without the Laura Palmer mystery, the show lost its

ballast. Characters began to slip into absurdity and self-parody. Some plots, such as Nadine’s super strength, have a loopy, nonsensical humor to them if you’re willing to have an open mind. Others, like James’s stint as a rich woman’s boy toy, fall into the soap opera cliches that Twin Peaks was parodying at first. The show found its footing for its considerably dark ending, but in general it was considered a disappointment to anyone outside of the hardcore Lynch admirers.

Those fans, along with the kids like myself who grew up cowering away from the strange, compelling show, have kept the hype alive with conventions

and DVD marathons. The prospect of a

reboot could not come at a better time. Lynch

has not made a film for eight years (it

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Illustration by Melissa Dow


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11/5: Asher Fulero @ 8pm11/8: Bibliothéque w/ guests @ 10pm11/12: William Scott Browning @ 8pm11/14: Space Leech @ 10pm11/15: Inherit Earth @ 10pm11/19: Laura Ivancie @ 8pm11/21: Christopher John Mead Band11/22: Well Swung @ 10pm11/26: Kory Quinn @ 8pm

11/7: plug8811/14: DJ Rhienna11/15: DJ Kenny11/21: DJ 60/4011/22: DJ Blas Latin Soulsa Party11/28: DJ Gregarious11/29: DJ Le Phreak

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TWIN PEAKS (ORIGINAL)

You’ve got plenty of time before the new run airs, so hunker down this winter and go through the series in its entirety.

TOP OF THE LAKE

Jane Campion’s first foray into television was stunning, mysterious and definitely rife with homages to Lynch’s fictional Washington town.

HINTERLAND

A Welsh police procedural that accents its mysteries with the stunning, ancient Welsh landscape.

Instant Queue ReviewInstant Queue Review

will be a decade when the new series premieres). Contemporary television audiences have become primed for the next tenebrous, dreamlike show that will blow their minds as evidenced by the recent hype over True Detective and Hannibal. The rise of the weekly television blogging recap industrial complex is well suited to a layered mystery like Twin Peaks, a classic “water cooler” show if there ever was one. While the prospect of rebooting things, especially early-'90s properties which are getting more than they’re due at the moment, new material from Lynch is always welcome if you’re a fan. With over a year production time and a prestigious cable television budget, there’s enough for Lynch and Frost to craft a quality run. While some of the original actors have passed away (RIP, Jack Nance) and others have reached late middle age, there’s no reason the story of Agent Cooper and Audrey and James and Killer Bob and the Log Lady and the Owls Who Aren’t What They Seem can’t pick up where it left off. » - Jacob Schraer


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LITERARY ARTS

imply put, Stacey Tran gets shit done. In five years, she has gone from a student at the U of O to an institution in her own right. This past month alone, she curated two events—Togetherness and Pure Surface—and read

her own poetry at Valentines for À Reading. Togetherness, in particular, is a fascinating coupling of Stacey’s poetry and dancer Danielle Ross’s choreography that explores the sublime nature of being present with another human being, or the state of “twoness.” It evolved into non-linear narrative, abstractly mixing elements of mythological pairs through the use of shadow and light, the human form, and the spoken word. She also oversees two online series for Poor Claudia: Phenome for up and coming talent, and Ten Sources, her pet project where she invites poets to explore the “life of the mind” by just having them list ten things and let their imaginations take over. It’s like a small window into the hyper-active mind of a poet.

When the founders of Poor Claudia were looking to move on, Stacey took over with a laser sharp focus to create something different. In doing so she transformed the established literary journal into one of the most sought after small presses in town for emerging writers and poets. Matthew Dickman, perhaps Portland’s most revered poet, approached her to publish his latest book, which had been only published in France.

As busy as she is, Stacy met up with us on her lunch break from Works Partnership Architecture. With coffee roasters screaming and a young Tom Waits serenading, we talked about her work with Poor Claudia, her own poetry, and what it feels like to be in the midst of a literary movement.

ELEVEN: Recently you’ve been working on several projects that merge spoken word poetry with dance and film. Can you tell me a little about Pure Surface and Togetherness?

Stacey Tran: Togetherness is a project I’ve been working on with a dancer and choreographer named Danielle Ross. She and I met two summers ago and we started talking about what we do in town. She’s very connected with the dance community and I feel I’m very connected with the writing and publishing community in Portland. We were trying to think of ways that our friend groups could be in the same room more often, to not just see dance or see poetry, but to see both. Danielle was working on a piece that turned into Togetherness, and at the time she was interested in inviting a writer to contribute an aspect of text and collaborate on a level of language to go with a dance that

Portland poet Stacey Tran

S

literary arts Photo by Mercy McNab


she was choreographing for a cast. We will be performing that together in early November. It’s been really interesting working with a dancer—and a cast of dancers—as a writer, because writing can be a very private act and dance is not. It takes up a lot of space. I think it’s very interesting to watch a group of dancers commune in order to do their work, whereas writers don’t need that as much. We commune to celebrate, but not to work. So it’s been cool, and I’ve been learning a lot about space and timing through working with dancers. With Pure Surface, it’s another way of inviting our friends and our community together in an interdisciplinary way and seeing if sparks fly. And since Danielle and I also curate that together, the way we select the dancer and the writer and the film artist is that we all know their work, and we’re interested in seeing them blend their different styles together and just seeing what happens.

11: There is an interesting use of line breaks in your recent poem "End Solo." Can you explain?

ST: I like that space. "End Solo" is the result of the text I’m working on for Togetherness, and a lot of it was not used. So I just formed it into my new work. Before that, I wasn’t writing very much, and working with Danielle was an opportunity for me to think about how I like to create writing. For a long time, I was feeling that I didn’t know what to do with my writing, and I didn’t see a point in it, and it was hard to continue to write aimlessly. With Togetherness there was actually a goal and a vision. So I started working with those ideas Danielle and I had talked about, and came out with "End Solo." It has a lot of spacing to deliver the work in a certain timing, visually as well as to be read. I think that it’s very sparse as well. There’s not a lot of capitalization. I tried to make it fluid instead of very dense. So I think the line breaks show room for the reader to interpret.

11: Can you tell me about the history of Poor Claudia? How did you get involved? Who are you publishing?

ST: Poor Claudia was started in 2008-2009 by my friends Marshall Walker Lee and Drew Scott Swenhaugen. Marshall moved away, and Drew has been working more with Octopus now. So when he met Travis [Meyer] and I, it’s when he was interested in handing Poor Claudia over to somebody else, while being a part of it in a different way that he was as a founding editor. So the transition took place two and a half years ago where Travis and I came on board and our other editor Nick Van Eck was also introduced. Drew gave us a lot of room to develop Poor Claudia into whatever we wanted it to be. At the time, Poor Claudia was also a literary journal. They also had a few chapbooks published: James Gendron, Emily Kendal Frey, Zachary Schomburg, and Joseph Mains. A lot of influential writers in Portland—household names. When Travis, Nick and I came on board, we were interested in experimenting more. These writers didn’t need us to publish them, necessarily, so we were interested in seeking writers who were more of the emerging kind. It was a way for us to learn about writing outside of our own scope, and our own friend groups, and we started developing new friends through getting to know their writing.

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LOCAL LITERARY EVENTS

Come experience Stacey Tran and Danielle Ross’s vision in person. Dancers Vanessa Vogel, Mike Barber, Erin Kraemer, Katie Longstreth and Ruth Nelson, and sound artist Jessie Mejia will be performing in this mixed media collaboration.

Rob Schlegel and Lisa Ciccarello read in this installment of the longstanding and well-loved INFK reading series.

Visit the Independent Publishing Resource Center, a place for all things DIY publishing, to hear west-coast poets Jamalieh Haley, Chris Ashby, and Mark Wallace.

Celebrate the Poor Claudia release of Sarah Galvin's The Three Einsteins with accompanying readings by James Gendron and Robert Duncan Gray.

TOGETHERNESS

IF NOT FOR KIDNAP

SWITCH READING SERIES

THE THREE EINSTEINS BOOK RELEASE

noVember 7 - 9 | bodYVoX - 1201 nw 17th aVe

NOVEMBER 7 | RISTRETTO ROASTERS - 555 NE COUCH ST

NOVEMBER 8 | IPRC - 1001 SE DIVISION ST

noVember 13 | Valentines - 232 sw anKenY st

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And now we have a full length book of poems series called Signature, and an experimental, shorter length book series called Folio.

11: I have a copy here of Matthew Dickman’s 24 Hours from the last reading at Church. How did you get involved with him?

ST: I met Matthew while he was on tour for All American Poem in 2008-2009, and actually had to go to a poetry reading for an assignment for a workshop that I was taking at the University of Oregon. I had three readings that were our options and waited until the last minute, so I had only one left. Luckily it was Matthew’s. It was my very first time going to a reading and I was very surprised by the power that I felt from his reading, and I had to go up to him and say something. We were both from Portland, and he drew the very meek skyline of Portland in the book for me. I knew that I wanted to keep talking with him and see what his work was all about. I moved back to Portland after spending a year in Eugene, and he was teaching at PSU, and so we’d bump into each other all the time and connected over poetry. We were both very busy, but I kept up with his work, became better friends, and he eventually approached us and asked if we wanted to read 24 Hours. He had published it in France, but wanted to publish it with a local press. It’s kind of scary to work with someone who’s very accomplished. I didn’t want to say no, and it was obvious that we wanted to publish him. It’s a very beautiful chapbook, with beautiful poems, and I really love Matthew’s new work and would do anything to support and share his work through Poor Claudia.

11: I recently was talking to someone at an event comparing the current lit scene to the era of the beat poets. What makes Portland so unique in that way?

ST: It’s funny, because after going to a reading a couple years ago at Donald Dunbar’s house for If Not for Kidnap, Travis and I went into a Safeway for a late night snack because we’d been drinking that night. And as we were walking through the aisles he asked, “Do you think people will talk about what’s happening right now in fifty years?" I didn’t really know how to respond because we were in it—we are in it. There are definitely moments that will be talked about, I’m sure, but that’s only marginally representative of what we’re all going through. And I think what we’re all doing is so awesome because it’s so easy. That’s why now we have three or four things happening in one night, whereas five years ago there was a thing happening every four weeks. So I think that’s really incredible in a practicable,

day-to-day, very straightforward way. I don’t know if we’re making history, but I think that we’re recognizing people who make things and write things and want to share them, and want to perform. That’s our daily bread. We all show up together, and I think that’s really cool. That’s a big reason why I do the things that I do, because I see people showing up, and being with each other, and getting to know each other, and working together. »

- Scott McHale

Photo by Robert Duncan Gray


4. COLORFUL DECOR AND GIFTS

1. GETTIN' BIDDY WIT IT

3. DEEP SPACE DISH

2. HOMESTYLE COOKIN'

8. YES WE CANNIBUS

6. SPORTS HOLE

10. MUY DELICIOSO

5. TRADITIONAL TATTOO

9. AFFORDABLE THERAPY

7. RIGHTEOUS CAFE

11. ALL OF THE THINGS

The Purple Pear - 6016 NE Glisan St

Biddy McGraw's - 6000 NE Glisan St

UFO Pizza - 6024 NE Glisan St

Sweet Cream Cafe - 6014 NE Glisan St

Electric City Tattoo - 6026 NE Glisan St

Urban Farmacy - 420 NE 60th Ave

Los Taquitos - 5832 NE Glisan St

Fred Meyer - 6615 NE Glisan St

Seven Virtues - 5936 NE Glisan St

A & L Tavern - 5933 NE Glisan St

Wise Counsel and Comfort - 423 NE 60th Ave

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1 Biddy's 2. Sweet Cream Café 3. UFO Pizza 4 The Purple Pear 5 Electric City Tattoo 6 A & L tavern 7 Seven Virtues 8 Urban Farmacy 9 Wise Counsel & Comfort 10 Los Taquitos11 Fred Meyer

Location photos by Mercy McNab

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VISUAL ARTSPortland artist Lenae Day

enae Day is a northwest artist currently living in Los Angeles. Her work is subversively feminist, using a mixture of graphic design and multimedia. This is the future of a new type of tangible performance art—a show where you don't know what to expect,

but you know you most likely won't be covered in human urine if you sit in the front row (like performance art has a reputation for doing to enthusiastic front row audience members). At the same time, you still get the benefit of being transported into the artist's world like only good performance art can do.

ELEVEN: Please describe your medium.

Lenae Day: I was a painting major in art school, and I was painting myself into all of these old 1950's ads. I thought that it didn't make any sense to paint and have it also be a photograph, so I wanted it to be like an artifact instead of a painting—more like an interpretation of an artifact. So I started restaging these ads I was obsessed with. I wanted to write about them in some way. I stage all my own photographs, but they are usually based on exisiting images. Sometimes I make them up. They are usually historical

Photo by Mercy McNab

vintage photographs. I have an imaginary hollywood family called the Prescott Sisters. Instead of the Warner Brothers it's the Prescott Sisters. I play 100 percent of all the characers. All of the characters are based on actual historical actors and actresses.

11: Why are you drawn to the ads?

LD: The color and the printing quality. Also the messages in the ads. I don't think they are as antiquated as we might think. I think we have the same messages being given to us in today's women's magazines and in the media. Everything I do is very subconcious. I get obsessed with something and follow it. I try to get to the bottom of why I'm obsessed with it in the first place. I guess through the years I figured out that's kind of what it is with the ads. As ridiculous as the ads seem, or the images seem, now they're not antiquated at all. They are all still relevant.

11: So what's your current obsession?

LD: Well, the Prescott family. My imaginary Hollywood family that spans from the 1920's through the 1980's. Doing shows in LA.

11: Any recent noteworthy shows?

LD: I had a show at Mark Moore Gallery in January. I was invited to do a solo show after participating in a group show called Imaginary Movies where I made six movie posters that kind of

L



told the story of this family through the movie posters. The movies that they are in reflect what's happening in their real lives. For example, in one of the posters the main movie star's husband leaves her for her daughter and that's the same as what's happening in her real life. It was really fun to come up with the plots and it gave me a lot more material. I had enough material to create a museum in homage to the Prescott family. Like the Hollywood Museum. The Hollywood Museum is fascinating, too, because it's in the old Max Factor building. I made movie posters, portraits, costumes, and a whole set of mannequins' crown molding and display cases. My magazine is the mass-produced way that I present the material.

11: Tell me about Max Factor.

LD: That's where all the old movie stars would go to have their makeup done by him, but also to have their looks defined. So in the 1930's, you would come in and be a starlet, and then if you were going to become a really big star you would get sent to see Max Factor and he would decide what your look was going to be. For example, Joan Crawford's Caterpillar eyebrows or the shape of the lips, which were totally fake. You know, everything. . . Gina Harlow, her dyed blonde hair. Lucille Ball—bright red hair. They all changed so much, and their defined looks were all created by Max Factor.

"Priscilla Prescott in Gossip Garden" "Tiffany Prescott-Day"

"Victoria Prescott as Dolores Revere""Norma Prescott"



11: So you consider yourself a feminist then?

LD: Yes, very much. I get frustrated with the way contemporary women are portrayed. They are written for, and for the most part very affected in their voice and manner. They aren't really written as smart characters. If you look at the old movies from the '30s, '40s, or even into the '50s, women were allowed to be the agent of their own lives. Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford—they were such badasses. The sexist roles did exist too, but I would say for the most part when I watch old movies I'm just like, "What?!" It was normal to have the strong smart independent woman. People paid money to go see those movies. Now women's pictures aren't made anymore. A lot of it may have to do with the studio system collapsing, too. In a way that's a good thing. There was a monopoly and the studios couldn't own the movie houses anymore. The studios had a vested interest in developing their stars and a wide array of things they provided to the public. But also TV didn't exist either, so it's kind of complicated. The main thing I guess is that I'm trying to pull out these moments in history where womanhood was expansive. I'm trying to remind myself, too—remind myself how I want to be in the world. I don't have the same kind of role models today like these women were to the women of their generations. Once Marilyn came on the screen, women were back into girdles and in the kitchen.

11: What era do you think women actually had the most power?

LD: I kind of always go back to the 1940's. Pantsuits with giant shoulders. . . but even the 1920's when people were happy to have survived WW I. You read Dorothy Parker and you're like, "Wow!" Bette Davis and Katherine Hepburn came out of that culture of the '20s. Joan Crawford was described by F. Scott Fitzgerald as the ideal flapper. People often forget this part of her career.

11: What artists inspire you?

LD: Eleanor Antin, Cindy Sherman, all the movie stars I've referenced, Dorothy Parker, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler. There are so many more.

11: Current work or future work?

LD: Finishing the Prescott story and making a feature-length documentary. The youngest character Tiffany is still alive, so what is she doing? I am developing Phyllis, my historian, to help tell the Prescott family story. Some of the characters are really starting to take on a life of their own. Focusing on themes of narcissism and voyeurism. A web series, an audio show with a fake radio station. Making fun of things that make me mad. » - Veronica Greene

Please enjoy Lenae's Modern Screen Magazine cover decorating our inside back cover this month.

Find more from Lenae at www.lenaeday.com

eleven pdx magazine november 2014

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