The Bean Growers sprouted up in the Mediterranean isle of Malta and come forth with the fruition of catchy pop hooks and spacious keyboards whirling through the lips of a maiden.
Check out their new music video for “Not in a Million Lovers” featuring some intensive photo animation.
Listen while you read:
Hello from my new music writing headquarters! Though I have been m.i.a in my writing endeavors, I have been doing a ton of music research, buying records and finding out about all sorts of new music which will hopefully filter into the written form in the not too distant future…
My new room mate David turned me on to a French-Finnish duo called The Dø whom I bet will be the next hot shit on the indie street scene once they become known in the States.
The adorably clad Olivia B Merilahti and Dan Levy take their name from the first/last note of the famous singing scale popularized in by Julie Andrews in The Sound Of Music and have the potential to become the leading soldiers who will rejuvenate the mid 90′s femme alt-rock scene.
Merilahi’s girlish voice at times sounds broken as it winds atop grounded bar chord progressions – imagine Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino singing a tune off of PJ Harvey’s Stories Of The City, Stories Of The Sea. Meanwhile, Levy – whom has been credited working on film soundtracks – adds aerial orchestrations with his mad skillz.
Besides the storytelling of one lady’s lost love and inevitable resentments against the male species emotionally filtered through alt-ballads and minimalist folk arrangements, The Dø deviate into discotheque worthy jams such as the opening track off of their 2008 debut, A Mouthful, called “Playground Hustle”. The song contains a boisterous riot of school children which attempts to breakdown the gender roles of young children and permit boys to play with dolls and for girls to question the adult patriarchy.
Check out an incredible live version of The Dø’s Playground Hustle and hear more music !!!
Recommended if you dig: The Knife, Bjork, PJ Harvey, Liz Phair
A couple years ago a few friends and I went on a journey to Eastern Washington for the Sasquatch Festival to see Bjork. Besides seeing my favorite artist of all time it was one of the best experiences of the year. It was my first real music festival and we camped on the grounds, didn’t bathe, ate packed lunches and downed bottles of wine and rum amidst other vices. It was kind of like our own little music movie and we were all the stars. I would say the camping experience was more enriching than the actual music festival itself – a festival with NO re-entry, $10 24oz Coors cans and over priced fatty foods with thousands of people held captive to see their favorite artists. However, waiting inside the festival for 10 hours just to see Bjork was a bit trying on my patience.
That’s why when I saw this years lineup I was really excited since many of my favorite new artists are playing! (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Santogold, The Dodos, Grizzly Bear, Beach House)
However, Sasquatch was pretty smart evil when they arranged the lineup of the show as all of the main artists I would drive 5 hours to see play on separate days….FYI – festival tickets are over 70 bucks a day! After having moved across town and having friends who are getting laid off left and right it probably isn’t the most financially welcoming experience…so unfortunately, a girl will have to dream…if only we were all rich and could drop a few bills on this because it really is a wonderful time.
I guess I will just have to watch videos of The Dodos until they come through Portland on their own ride:
I am super excited to present my 15 minute documentary on Siren Nation.
Siren Nation is a festival that showcases the achievements made by women in art, music and film! This documentary shines light on the music portion of the festival and includes interviews with performers, organizers and incite from the audience members!
It also features live footage from Scout Niblett, Laura Veirs, Northern State, The Trucks and more! Check it out!
Piggy backing on Jon’s latest concept of “Tragic Zombies” (bands who break up before their time), I wanted to share my video montage of The Trucks from Siren Nation….Turns out their performance at Siren Nation was their last Portland show before they broke up last week!
So sad! I’m not really sure what caused the breakup but they were on their waaaay, man! The Trucks are sweethearts from Bellingham, WA. They blend cheeseball Casio beats with acoustic drums, dance worthy synths with plenty of tounge n cheek attitude combed over with a post riot grrrl vibe. It is such a shame they broke up before more little girls could look up to them and be inspired to rock out.
Anyways, here is the footage! If you look close you can see Kristin’s awesome feminist outfit tied together with tampons!!!
SCOUT NIBLETT :: LIVE AT SIREN NATION 2008 :: VIDEO BY EM BROWNLOWE
For those who miss early Cat Power, Kurt Cobain and PJ Harvey: Scout Niblett has arrived on her sadhorse to save the sincerity of music. Her grim howls make the hairs on my arm stand erect. Here is some video footage I took of her this past weekend at the second annual Siren Nation Festival here in Portland:
For the past few months, I have been using all of my music writing creativity for a local paper…. Recently, I attempted to write a semi-critical review of a local Portland artist, Mattress. Unfortunately, my words were edited in a way that made me sound like a big asshole in print. It certainly wasn’t my intention and half of my original piece was cut out….BOO!
Anyways, that is my “so so sorry note” and the original piece (half of which wasn’t even published):
“Watching Rex Marshall perform in his one man band, Mattress, sort of feels like watching someone try to pull off their favorite Joy Division tune at karaoke towards the brink of last call. This comparison isn’t to suggest that Marshall’s stage persona isn’t entertaining. His reckless flail certainly invites voyeuristic eyes. It’s just that occasionally the lines are blurred between his own innovation and paying musical homage to his idols and their legacy. Luckily, Marshall’s desperate baritone howl signals sincerity in his effective hair raising mantras. In a captivating tune called “El Dorado”, Marshall’s emotional authenticy reaches a resonant peak as he passionately blows into a discordant harmonica. Overall, I would definitely recommend a Mattress show over the karaoke underworld any day.”
Watch what I’m talking about:
Tragically Un-Heard Of:
Crazy For Jane
The only band pairing that is more disgustingly sweet than a hetero married couple is the brother and sister duo. Such a bond is acceptable only if the sibling duo makes interesting music. Similar to the Fiery Furnaces, the German based Crazy For Jane, push the boundaries of wordy pop music. Their music is always enchanting as they boldly make atypical pop structures work for those beholding short attention spans. Stringing together narrative stories atop of acoustic arrangements intertwined with a bit of jazz, classical and anti-folk, Crazy For Jane is a band for those who are desperately romantic at heart. Their stories are tales of the lovesick, playful romantic encounters, tongue twisted riddles and imaginative colorful imagery found in everyday life. They have released two albums, Desperate Serenade (2006) and Watermelon Cloud (2007) and have frequently toured the USA and Europe. As they prepare for an August tour of their homeland, Germany, Brother Phillipp Conrad and sister Josepha Conrad were kind enough to answer some questions for Tragically Unheard Of.
Listen: “Do You Have a Jane?”
What is the story behind your band name, Crazy for Jane?.
Phillipp: Josepha came up with the awesome band name, Crazy Jane Meets the Family… I said, that’s too long, how about Crazy for Jane. Josepha said, OK, that’s catchy!
Josepha: Philipp and I are both love Yeats and he has this character called Crazy Jane. So it started with Crazy Jane, but both of us soon realized that “when you start looking for Jane, she appears everywhere.”
Was there music in your family while growing up?
Phillipp: Our dad always played songs for us on his guitar. Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, never-ending Blues with improvised lyrics. This was our typically after-breakfast Sunday ritual. Josepha and I didn’t sing together much growing up, but we were both members of the same advanced choral ensemble (although years apart), so around Christmas, we’d always sing two-part harmonies to songs we learned.
When did you decide you would play music together as brother and sister?
Josepha: Crazy for Jane started when Phil asked me to play a show with him opening for Tony Decker from Great Lake Swimmers. We had never thought of ourselves as musicians or that we would form a band together. We had both written a few songs and when we played them on that first show of ours it felt really good even though we were shitting in our pants.
Is it easy, difficult or gray working together as siblings?
Josepha: Being siblings and having a project together, sharing a muse, that is Jane, is really an awesome thing. It is going on an adventure with my favorite person in the world. I know Philipp since the day he was born and he is amazing.
Sometimes I feel like we share one brain, or that we can tap into a common brain. Of course we also want to kill each other sometimes, but more than anything we are committed to each other.
Even tough fights have not rocked our Crazy for Jane boat. Right now Philipp is living in Vienna finishing his B.A. and I am sure if we weren’t siblings that would be the end of Crazy for Jane. But because we are tied in so many ways, it is not hard to imagine Crazy for Jane beyond this time.
Your songs are extremely complex stories that deal with the minute aspects of everyday life, fantasies and love. Do you collaborate on lyrics?
Phillipp: Josepha writes almost all the lyrics. Sometimes I’ll suggest a better word, or something…
Josepha: Even though I wrote most of the Crazy for Jane songs, they become totally transformed when Philipp absorbs them and takes them through his world of guitar playing and harmonies. I have tried to play some of these songs without Philipp and they simply don’t work without him.
Where do you write your lyrics? In your head? On paper?
Josepha: I do write lyrics on paper. Sometimes little frazes will come to me on a walk or while hanging out, but I never shape this stuff in my head. I usually get out pen and paper or the computer. I love writing on the computer. The clack clack clack always makes me feel very productive.
Are your words works of fiction or brush with reality? Has anyone ever thought a song was about them?
Josepha: Philipp often thinks songs are about him and there have also been friends that have thought certain songs are about them. But that probably has to do with that often songs are about particular people or particular events. I did write this song called “This song is about you” where I mixed many little details about different people I know to create a broad feeling of paranoia and sense that this song is in fact about you, I mean about them.
Do you have any songs you are particularly proud of? Why?
Josepha: Songs that I am particularly proud of are: The Circus and Memory: A Portrait. They are also songs that I always feel very transported by when we perform them.
Phillipp: I’m particularly proud of Everything Strange. I wrote all the music for that. Also The Ship. The song Desperate Serenade is also all mine (including lyrics)…. At the end of the day, we both shape the songs
Listen: “Meow, She’s a Black Cat”
Your music is quite eclectic in range, mood and instrumentation. Do you hire studio musicians to play the additional parts or are they friends?
Phillipp: Everybody who worked on the recordings are friends. The only people we hired were the studio/technicians. We do our best to pay our friends what we can, but we work with people with whom we have a connection.
Who are some of your musical inspirations? Any “Tragically UnHeard Of” favorites you have met in your travels?
Josepha: Tomi Simatupang and Ben Montgomery are Philipp and my big musical inspirations and we have been extremely lucky to play shows with these two amazing men and to record with them and to share a friendship with them. I am not sure if they are “tragically unheard of” but they are definitely musicians/songwriters to pay attention to because they are awesome. “Watermelon Cloud” was also recorded with them and with some very old friends from Chicago whom we grew up with.
Any plans to take additional members on tour or do you prefer to work closely as a duo?
Josepha: In a perfect Crazy for Jane world where the laws of geography do not apply, we would all be on stage together serenading you and Jane. Philipp and I also have an older sister, Anja, who is a wonderful musician and singer and we would also love to have her and all her lovely kids with us. Our dad also sings on both albums and whenever we can we drag him on stage. So in many ways we are not really a duo. We are simply the core.
Josepha, I have heard you say that you would prefer to be someone’s secret rather than have your music be famous. What makes you take this angle?
Josepha: A secret has a certain energy. Something that gets passed between friends, something that travels strange ways. Like the game telephone. Of course we want to reach people and we want to be out there sharing our music, but fame is something that can be a lot of hype and can take the energy out of your hands and into a strange consumer obstacle course. We have been lucky that we have been able to travel a lot and play a lot of shows and record and we have been able to make up our own rules as we go and hang out with friends. Philipp likes the idea of taking helicopters and I do hope that one day we get to be on a helicopter ride together. It would just be so fun to watch his face.
How would you both describe success as a band? As individuals?
Phillipp: We find the band a great success. People who come to our shows thank us for our work. People who listen to our songs get inspired. People have fun when they see our energy on stage. They get lost in the words, and take hold of the melodies. I wish we could play more.
Josepha: I never thought I would ever be in a band, make music, or even play an instrument, it seemed too far away to even have fantasies about, so when I think about success I feel like in many ways I am already way beyond anything that I would have dared to imagine for myself. I do hope Philipp and I keep being able to tour together and write songs together, that would be amazing.
You have toured all over Europe and America. What are your favorite countries/regions to play?
Phillipp: The Czech Republic was great fun. The people were very thankful for our presence, even if they didn’t understand the lyrics.
Josepha: England would be great because they speak English and it does feel really good when the audience actually understands all the words we sing. I particularly loved touring the States with Philipp even though these were our hardest tours also. Talk about sibling craziness. Some of those drives were very long and we didn’t always have cozy places to stay and often we would get very grumpy. But there were some shows that I will never forget like playing at High Energy Constructs in L.A., the Dearborn House in Seattle, or at a pizza place called The Rimrock Patio in Torrey Utah.
Where are some places you would like to travel to play music that you haven’t been to yet?.
Phillipp: We would love to travel to Japan, England, more of France, anywhere really….
Josepha: I would love to go the Japan with Philipp. We have always talked about how much fun that would be. We love everything Japanese.
Any plans for a new record? What’s next for Crazy for Jane?
Josepha: Our next goal is to work on our new album “Crazy Jane meets the Family”. We are playing some shows together this June and July and going on a mini tour in Germany in August and hopefully we will find time to work on some new songs.
Tragically UnHeard Of
Band O’ the Week….
Gaycondo’s very own…..
SWALLOWS
[DISCLAIMER :: I know, I know. It is awkward that I am doing a "Tragically UnHeard Of" spot on my own band...but it had to be done some time or another. Regular Tragically UnHeard Of features will resume shortly]
As we draw closer to the five year anniversary of Swallows being a band, here are some of the rad things that have been happening to Swallows recently.
Swallows has always been into reinventing their favorite pop songs. They most recently covered three Dolly Parton songs at the 3rd Annual Dolly Parton Hoot Night. Songs include “The Bargain Store”, “I’m In No Condition” and “The Seeker”. Check out a live video: which was held May 31st in Portland, Oregon to benefit a festival called Siren Nation, which celebrates music/art/film made by women.
WATCH A VIDEO MONTAGE:
Since the beginning, Swallows has taken a postmodern approach to music making. We tend to string together bits and pieces of music from different sub genres of rock, producing a newly contextualized sonic space. On Swallows debut full length, Me With Trees Towering we used this technique to reintroduce the Mamas and the Papas classic, “Words Of Love”.
Listen to the original version of “Words Of Love” sung by Mama Cass:
Listen to Swallows post-millennial rock revision, if you love it go buy the album:
Over the past year, Swallows has been collecting remixes to feature on an upcoming Swallows Remixed EP. Radio Sloan decided to rework Swallows “Words Of Love” cover into a sexy dance mix featuring the lovely ladies of Team Gina! Swallows loves post-postmodernism!
Listen:
THE KILLS AND MY JOURNEY THROUGH THE MIDNIGHT BOOM
For an xx/xy band that is allegedly platonic, The Kills certainly had a romantic formation. Almost a decade ago, Florida native, Alison Mosshart, was on a UK tour with her late 90′s power-pop band, Discount. The night before she was to return to the States, she felt the hotel floorboards shake to the death rattle of Jamie Hince’s guitar. The vibrations lured her downstairs where she would meet the man who would become her musical soul mate. Together they bonded over their similar tastes in art, music and literature. Both of them ditched their typical power punk bands to create something worth living for. Together, they were born again as The Kills. The next day, Alison returned to the States, only to pack up her belongings, and create a eulogy for her past life. Aftering crossing the Atlantic for a third time, she and Jamie moved into a dank, South London flat to live, breathe and create two critically acclaimed garage rock albums, Keep On Your Mean Side (2003) and No Wow (2005).
After a three year hiatus, the Kills challenged themselves to create a hybrid of artpunk-noir that is less reliant on their mutual appreciation of the Velvet Underground and more committed to redefining their own music. The result is Midnight Boom, a polished collection of songs for the night train featuring a brigade of disjointed drum programming, violent guitar grit and provocative vocal melodies. Midnight Boom was conceived in a nocturnal state and encloses us in an after hours affair. In this darkness, The Kills provoke us to trade love for lust, dance as if we don’t notice that our own hearts are raw and bleeding until we wake up feeling ill yet hopeful. Known for their explosive, sexed-up live performances, The Kills are sure to turn you on to their forward-thinking sound of 2008.
Seeing someone you only see on YouTube or in magazines and whose art you completely adore is quite surreal… It’s like a photograph that has come to life and you’re the photographer, capturing memories of what you are apart of. I try not to have expectations but my anticipation suggested the show would be nothing less than incredible…and it was. We were so close…Beth almost got hit in the head with Allison’s microphone. It was also the hottest day of Portland (90+) and everyone was swimming in each other’s perspiration. Despite the heat, the Kills pulled off a rapturous performance catering to their followers whom were uninhibited, unleashing passionate screams and singing along to the music…and dancing! In Portland’s typical “stand-and-nod” mark of approval, the audience’s reaction was quite a success.
WATCH A LIVE VIDEO (KISSY KISSY)
Watch More Live Video…
After the show, I went to check out The Kills’ afterparty at Dunes, where I heard they would be spinning records. I’m always interested in what my favorite artists are into and I had a feeling their music selection would be top shelf. The show was such a vampy energy suck. I didn’t leave the house until 1AM. Luckily, the weather was still warm and the scooter ride across town was reviving. Once I arrived at Dune’s discreet location, I finally realized what “Midnight Boom” was all about… It’s about being nocturnal and getting the party started after everyone else has retired for the evening. The bar’s atmosphere was dense with purple smoke from cigarettes and a smoke machine. Fancy, young hipsters were dancing to some incredible underground vibes I hadn’t heard before. The Kills were spinning records in the back, facing a mirror and dancing as they were filmed. I arrived alone, danced a bit and stood by the bar for the most part, just people watching. I did end up meeting Allison Mosshart at the bar but found myself extremely starstruck and couldn’t really translate the complete admiration and borderline obsession I have for her band into words. In such moments, when all else fails: talk about the weather.
If you have ever flipped through a Portland weekly music section this past year, it ain’t no surprise that The Builders and the Butchers won the “Best New Band” poll ran by the Willamette Week. We all saw it coming…and I’m sure recent recording sessions with members of The Decemberists didn’t hurt much. I really should have put my money where my mouth was and bet on TBATB’s inevitable success. Not to say they don’t write good songs and put on a fun, interactive live show… In fact, I’m actually listening to them right now.
But…
I tend to root for the little guys/gals, anyways.
Here is how I voted:
(ps. read how the WWeek Best New Band poll works)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chores
Listen to “Wine Buzz (live at Holocene)”:
I was flabbergasted that Chores didn’t get an honorable mention in the polling. WTF? They have been pretty hot this past year and always put on a high energy live performance. They are also really smart as they proved in the Tragically UnHeard Of spot I did with them a few weeks ago.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Slutty Hearts
Listen to “Beep”:
Discovering Slutty Hearts is the best local music find this year! They are only two people but manage to play like a 3-4 piece band! Get this: live, they have two minimalist drum sets…one is just a kick drum and the other is a floor tom, crash and snare and they both play them together making the sound of a full kit WHILE they play guitar and keyboards and sing. With a platonic pairing of one guy and girl singing sweet melodies over anti-folk ballads, it is hard not to fall in love with them….and get an urge to do something slutty.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Autopilot is for Lovers
Listen to “No One Will Know”:
Featuring past/present members of The Builders and the Butchers and receiving a lot of attention from the WWeek over the past 6 months, I was shocked that Autopilot is for Lovers didn’t make the Top 10. Too bad, because this band is effing amazing and deserves all the admiral ears they can get! They play sullen, back woods folk music that is reminiscent of early, still drinking and agitated Cat Power. Guess what? Autopilot is for Lovers has a brilliant new album on Stereotype. NOW GIT AND GO GET IT!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
John Sutherland
Unfortunately, John Sutherland didn’t have a chance at winning WWeek’s “Best New Band” because well, he’s not a band. He’s just one guy that is severely talented at finger picking guitar. He makes insanely beautiful compositions that often span over 10 minutes. His style is perfect for a rainy day sitting on the porch drinking wine or used as a soundtrack while driving through the country with someone you love.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sick Sick Sister
Listen: “Devilfruit”
Sick Sick Sister has come a long way over the years and the current lineup is hot. Gnarly, girl-grunge-grit that flashes me back to the days when I LIVED for Hole’s “Live Through This”.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The WWeek only lets you vote for 5 bands tops but here are some others I would have voted for if I had more options and if I had known they existed at the time
1. Purple Rhinestone Eagle – Purple Rhinestone Eagle just moved to Portland not too long ago so they need to do more time before they get crowed “Best New Band”….but after that time is spent y’all better lay some money down!
2. Grandpa’s Ghost Stories – featuring an all star queer lineup, GGS, just played it’s first secret show…watch part of it here. They blend metal with catchy vocal melodies….think Pat Benetar meets Black Sabbath.
3. Porches – I so would have voted for this band if I had known they existed at the time! Porches makes covered-wagon pioneer music that will make young men cry into their beards:
A Tragically Un Heard Of
Band O The Week
Team Gina
Seattle’s hotties, Team Gina, come at ya with a fresh electro sound that is queer positive and dance worthy! They were also just featured in The Advocate as one of the top 5 queer groups to look out for! WOO!.
BAND O THE WEEK
(Portland, OR)
The first time I saw Purple Rhinestone Eagle they were signaling the cold spirits of Halloween in a very crowded humid basement…each member dressed as characters from Lord of the Rings. I went as a “gay-fetish” which of course meant handle bar mustache and extremely short shorts. Lucky for my bare legs, Purple Rhinestone Eagle filled the basement with their hot riffs and percussive thunderstorms. The trio moved from Philadelphia to Portland and have been heating up cold basements and venues ever since. PRE stir a black cauldron, mixing obscure psych bands from the 60′s with sexed up punk rock call and response vocals similar to The Third Sex or “The Woods” era of Sleater Kiney. Summer 2008 looks hot n heavy for the gals as they will embark on a bi-coastal tour and will release an album of hard hitting music.
How long have each of you been playing music? What inspired you to play music in the first place? How did the band form? When?
Andrea: I have been playing guitar for about 11 years. Before that it was a little piano and some woodwind. Mainly the music that was coming out of the Northwest (Bikini Kill, Heavens to Betsy, Sleater-Kinney, etc.) in the early to mid 90s is what inspired me the most to play guitar, those bands and Jimi Hendrix. The band formed in West Philly summer 2005. We were a lot different then. It’s taken us a couple of years to cultivate our sound and we’re pretty darn proud of it.
Morgan: Purple Rhinestone Eagle is my first band. I really only started playing bass when Andrea and Ashley and I started playing together. I started getting into punk when I was about 12, and it was the first thing I ever felt passionate about. I guess I wanted to be a part of whatever it was that inspired me so much as a kid, and continues to be one of the most important things in my life.
Ashley: I also started on piano, but I got sad and quit when my instructor gave me a hard time for not being able to read music. I started playing the drums when I was 18. I did not take it seriously for another few years when i got my first drum kit for my 20th birthday. Even then, I was moving around the county and didn’t really have a steady band until Purple Rhinestone Eagle started. I met Morgan at a potluck. She was wearing an All Girl Summer Fun Band Shirt. We decided it would probably make sense if we started a band together.
Watch PRE live:
Purple Rhinestone Eagle moved to Portland not so long ago yet seem to have dived right into a nicely knit scene. That is awesome you moved here together. Why did you all decide to move to Portland? What was your first impressions of Portland? How does the Northwest compare to the Northeast?. How does Purple Rhinestone Eagle experience the house show mecca of Portland and the queer scene?
Andrea: We went on an east coast tour with New Bloods. Adee was a friend of mine from before that tour. Ashely, Morgan and I were all suffering from varying degrees of stress and anxiety living in Philadelphia (for a multitude of reasons). New Bloods came down from above like angels, stroked our heads and beckoned us to the land of chill out. I personally like Portland a lot. It’s not as ethnically diverse as I would like it to be but outside my band I have really strong friendships with other people of color here, a lot of whom are in bands as well (which rules). The Northwest is a completely different culture than back east. As far as the show scene, it’s really friendly here and people are willing to help you out more. As far as queer issues go, I’m the only gay person in the band. We try to make our music accessible to people of all identities. We all come from very different backgrounds (race, class, sexuality, geographical locations, etc.) and we want to be as inclusive as possible to honor all of those varying identities. We don’t want to portray ourselves as anything but.
Has being a woman affected your music experience? Why or why not? Who are some of your lady heroes?
Andrea: Most definitely it has affected my music experience. When I was younger I was denied being able to play guitar in this one band I was in. It was a band of all dudes besides me. They were just intimidated that I was a better musician than them. Then I quit that crappy band and made a conscious decision that if I was going to be in any more serious music projects, it was only going to be with other ladies. My lady music heroes include: Carrie Brownstein, Etta James, Nina Simone, Odetta, Alice Coltrane, Grace Slick, Yoko Ono, and Kate Bush among many others.
Morgan: It’s strange to me that so many people still see it as a novelty of some kind for women to play music. I like playing in Portland because it’s less of an issue here than it was in Philly. Personally, I love Kim Shattuck, she is definitely one of my musical lady heroes. She has a great, not at all pretty voice and completely holds her own in a male dominated genre. And Joan Jett. She’s pretty great.
Ashley: Being a woman has had an affect on my musical experience for sure. People have some dumb, macho things to say sometimes when they see an all female band, but for the most part people are pumped to see our band because they are into the music. Right now, living in Portland and being able to play shows with so many great female (as well as male) musicians is wonderful. Some of my personal favorite female musicians include: Moe Tucker, Janet Wiess, Palmolive, Yoko, Slant 6, Kim Gordon, Amy Farina, Satomi Matsuzaki, Mary Timony, Tina Turner.
While your music is very heavy, I can’t help thinking you have a bit of a sense of humor! What is the story behind the name Purple Rhinestone Eagle?
Andrea: I’ll let someone else answer our name question.
Morgan: I think it’s important to maintain a sense of humor, about yourself and the world, but at the same time we are generally pretty sincere. Everyone always asks about the band name… sometimes certain images or phrases need to be recaptured and owned anew, casting aside preconceptions and arbitrary values… why should the eagle be resigned to a cartoonish emblem for capitalism, or rhinestones seen as worthless? The eagle is majestic and fierce, and I’ll take a rhinestone over a diamond any day.
What inspires your music and lyrics?
Andrea: As the main lyric writer, a lot of things inspire my writing. Lately my lyrics have been getting more witchy (e.g. casting circles, calling upon natural forces, prophetic dreaming). I like writing/singing about mental health as it’s related to the health of the planet, friendships, fun times, shitty times, political/social struggle, and of course sex. Musically we are inspired a lot by the music that came out of the 60s and 70s, especially music that came out of what can be labeled the more “obscure” scenes and bands.
How would you describe your own music?
Andrea: Our music is rock-n-roll-pyschedelic-garage-stoner fury.
What else is coming up for Purple Rhinestone Eagle?. What do you hope to be your legacy?
Andrea: We want to put out our recording on vinyl so we’re doing a little record label shopping right now. After our two summer tours we want to follow it up with one in the fall. Other than that we’re trying to do a lot of song writing. Legacy? Hmm. One day when I’m old and gray, I’d love to pass the torch on to some young girls who want to make rock n roll (or whatever kind of music) too. I want to be as inspiring to young kids as my music heroes have been to me.
TRAGICALLY UNHEARD OF
SHOW OF THE WEEK
Grandpa’s Ghost Stories
Last weekend was awesome! For weeks I had anticipated to see this hot queer mess emerge from their dark lair. Grandpa’s Ghost Stories features Kayla (the Ovulators), Radio Sloan, Jen Agosta, Bob (Swan Island) and Metal Nikki. Needless to say, I was blown away. Grandpa’s Ghost Stories played their first show ever to a (intimate invite only) crowd in their own living room…or rather, the foyer of a fortress complete with a disco ball and mechanical singing skeleton heads. I was lucky enough to get close enough to film part of it:
Tragically UnHeard Of
Band O The Week
(from left to right: Matthew White (drums), Eric Mellor (bass), Jada Pierce (guitar/vocals), Lou Thomas (guitar/vocals)
CHORES are fun. Or at least the band, Chores, attempts to transform the mediocre aspects of everyday life into a elated indie rock sound that will hopefully make your day a little easier. Portland, Oregon brought the four members together from various pinpoints of the States. Chores have an eclectic sound that ranges from working class jam band to art rock funk nostalgic to Television or Yo La Tengo. The past year has been quite successful as they self released a 5 song EP, Life Is Hard, have gained a noteworthy collection of local press clips, ventured out of lush Oregon into California and most importantly, have inspired people to dance! Lucky for us, Chores hasn’t let all the excitement inflate their ego and spent a great deal of time providing tragic answers to tragic questions.
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
You all have moved to Portland, Oregon from other regions of the United States. What brought you to the fair city of roses?
Lou: I moved here for a dream of cheap rent and good busses.
Jada: When I was a college kid in Indiana, my friend found an arial-view poster of Portland hidden in an apartment she moved into. We both thought it was some kind of message, that we had to be there someday. Now I’m here and she’s working on a funny farm making instruments in Eugene. It also helped when a friend of mine who ran for office on the Socialist ticket here gave me a politically-inspired tour of the place during my first visit seven years ago.
Eric: I moved here for a lady and the slightly misguided notion that I could be a freelance film and video editor.
Matthew: I grew up in Houston, was living in NYC, and first visited Portland for a job. I fell in love with the character of the city and the beauty of the surrounding areas. I was fast becoming a New Yorker with a chip on my shoulder and didn’t want that to happen.
Chores has excellent chemistry on-stage. This musical excitement translates well to your record, Life is Hard. How was this record written + recorded? Was it totally collaborative or was there any sort of leadership throughout the writing process? How was the recording released?
Lou: The on-stage chemistry comes from the fact that we’re all good friends and are on stage primarily because that’s what we do to have fun. I also think that if the band is having a good time on stage the audience can see that, and that good feeling is contagious. It can turn into a feedback loop and just keep growing too.
Jada: I think we all are equally committed to the music emotionally. I know that for me, at least, our music is also very political. I think Lou and I as front people relate in that way, so that probably helps with the chemistry onstage as well.
Lou: We write and arrange collaboratively. Sometimes someone will present an almost finished song, or a part, and then we all mess with it and change it as a band until it starts to feel like Chores song. With the recording, Sam “Humans” Schauer of Modernstate (and Plants) was definitely in charge and did a really good job of capturing our live feeling.
Jada: I think it’s very rare that someone brings in a song that’s completely done; in fact I know I can count on one hand, without thumbs, how many times that’s been the case. And even the few times that has happened, we’ve all re-written the idea. Our music comes from the communal experience of our different minds and ears working together. I take pride in that because it’s an indescribable experience of compromise, but it’s certainly something that’s only possible through the medium of music played in the moment.
I embrace music as an opportunity to take art back to its purest form. – Jada Pierce
Chores play “New New Deal” live April 3rd at Backspace (Portland, OR)
Eric: We’re really into- it’s not exactly jamming, but we often play a part over and over again to see where it goes. For me, through repetition, I start to hear the different ways the parts interlock and then can modify my bass parts accordingly. The album was completely and totally self-released. CD Baby was instrumental in getting the music out to the digital services and playing shows has helped as well. We learned a lot during the whole process.
This next question is all about words! Why the name Chores? Why the name ‘Life is Hard’? Are there notes of sarcasm or should we take the title seriously? Your lyrics seem to be pretty down to earth and tell the tale of the average working class. How do you all write the lyrics?. Are your lyrics derived from real life or do you incorporate your own imaginations?
Lou: The truth is most often spoken in jest. I think there is a way to laugh at yourself and still be honest and completely serious. And goddamnit, life is hard a lot of the time. A lot of the time it feels like the day is taken up but just getting stupid shit done, like chores. When we formed this band and were coming up with a name we had all just moved here and were trying to figure out what the hell we were doing in our late twenties. Was it time to give up on your dreams and just work at your job?
Jada: Chores, they’re what the working class, the middle class, do all of the time. For better or worse we’re married to work. Growing up with the middle class, Midwest work ethic, I have to equate my art with work in order to feel justified doing it. Also, I think there’s a sad beauty in that work ethic, the sad beauty of the mundane.
Eric: At the time the band formed, Lou and Jada and I were struggling with the sort of mundane bullshit that seems to permeate “adult” life and we were wondering how our hopes and dreams had managed to lead us to this point. The name Chores speaks to the mundane realities that we and the rest of the working world have to deal with. “Life is Hard” comes from that same place and is kind of a rebuke to feeling sorry for yourself because you have to deal with all the same bullshit that everyone else does.
Lou: Lyrics tend to be written by either Jada or I, but maybe that will change. We all come from working class backgrounds. My grandfather was a bus driver, my mom worked at the Pepsi plant in Baltimore, and I work at a coffee-shop, so I am writing from that perspective.
I do pull a lot of my lyrics from real life, but I think that peoples fantasies are part of reality, and that to capture a “real” feeling, you got to combine the reality with the fantasies that allow people to make it through the everyday. – Lou Thomas
A good example is the Velvet Underground’s “Rock and Roll” where it’s a very realistic observation of someone listening to the radio, but its the rock and roll that “saves” them, which is pure fantasy. When Lou Reed sings “and it was alright” you just know that it’s not, nothing is alright, Jenny’s life still sucks, and that’s what makes it a powerful line. Rock and Roll can’t save your life, but it sure feels like it can, and it’s that tension and transcendence that makes art so powerful.
Jada: My lyrics ultimately come from a desire to bridge the gap between reality and the imagination; I love surrealism, but I’m married to reality. I’m a realist with an imagination—my lyrics come from that truth. I tend to not like cliché, which probably makes me a terrible lyricist. I went to grad school for an MFA in poetry, but I definitely see the act of writing lyrics as something completely separate from the act of writing a poem. I can write a damn fine poem; I’m still not convinced I can write good lyrics to a song though.
In your bio you have stated that you are a band without pretensions. Why do you feel it is important to note? What type of person do you hope to appeal to? Do you think there are too many artistic facades in indie rock music?
Jada: As an artist I think it’s pretentious to ignore the world around you when you create. If you want to write about birds and flowers, and there’s a homeless woman standing outside gathering discarded beer bottles from your trash, then dammit, that bird better be singing the ugly sound of the empty beer bottle, opened and whistling in the cold wind of her neglected hand. I love, value, and tend to my imagination, but no more than I would the people who occupy this same space and time with me. I like irony as much as the next gal, but to risk sentimentality takes real guts.
Lou: “What type of person do you hope to appeal to” is an uneasy question for me. I tend to like people and hope they’ll like our music, but I don’t really expect them to, even my friends, and then here’s the Marxist axiom, “I wouldn’t want to belong to any organization that would accept me as a member”.
Jada: I hope to appeal to anyone who understands.
Matthew: We’re not a band that’s about to die of ennui. As uninteresting as this may sound, I want to appeal to the people that like our music. I listened to an interview with David Lynch who responded to the question “how do you make your films?” He said that he stays true to his vision of what the film should be. And most importantly he doesn’t second guess the audience. People are finicky and if you start a film (or album) that takes a year to produce, you aren’t going to know how the audience’s tastes will change over the course of that year. So we play music we love to play and hope that it resonates with the folks that are listening.
Eric: It’s a marketing ploy. We actually have tons of pretensions that we keep chained to a radiator in the basement.
Listen to “Shopping” off of Life is Hard
To me, your music is an interesting marriage between avant-guard artrock and a rowdy jam band. What influences you musically? How would you classify your own sound?
Eric: I think that’s the best description of us that I’ve heard so far. I mean, when you look at the kinds of stuff we’re all into, either as individuals or as a whole, they all seep to the surface of the music we end up making. I think it’s safe to say that Matthew and I both have an affinity for moodier, spacier and highly produced stuff like My Bloody Valentine whereas Jada and Lou come from more folk-influenced background. That’s a totally generalized statement of which 20% to 80% may not be true.
Jada: That’s the best description of our music I’ve ever heard. I was strongly influenced by Throwing Muses in my formative years. It’s just dumb luck that Kristin Hersh happens to live here now. I really like New Wave punk sounds on the guitar combined with “committed vocals.” I’m borrowing that last term from a review of our own EP; I like that term though. I learned to play music listening to folk songs, but I learned to feel music listening to rock-n-roll.
Matthew: Seriously though, that has to be one of the most concise descriptions of our music. For me I would say that Yo La Tengo is a pretty big influence, just in thematic terms. I don’t think we sound like YLT, but their music is very diverse, like ours.
What is the best thing about rock n roll? Care to tell us about what is next for Chores?.
Lou: We’re recording soon and hopefully will have a full length out by the end of the year. The best thing about rock and roll is that it can save you.
Eric: Rock ‘n roll is like a caged beast, angry and sweaty and hungry for more, more, MORE! Kind of like that girl that Billy Idol sings about. Anyway, it’s that hunger that I like best.
Jada: The best thing about rock-n-roll is that it can be everything, every emotion—sad, happy, sincere, ironic, angry, sarcastic, etc. It’s universal because it can carry every one of those emotions through its sound.
Matthew: The best thing about rock and roll (and music in general) is that it is a way to escape from everyday life. Rock and roll, in particular, provides visceral and immediate experience, uncluttered by theory or strict formalism. It’s instant gratification! (note to editors: maybe this is a bit pretentious. I won’t be sad if my answer is edited out)
Jada: I can’t wait to record our next album. The material is ready; we just all need some sugar mama to come pay for it all…get us the time off work. You know anyone like that?
Tragically UnHeard Of
Band O’ The Week
SICK SICK SISTER
Listen: “OCTOBER” [Sick Sick Sister: My Friend My Enemy :: BUY]
Back in the early 90′s, the Northwest region of the States was booming with music that defied the mainstream. Perhaps you have heard of a teeny band who spawned out of Seattle creating revolution on the radio, rebelling against hair metal glamour and soft rock ballads with a fierce sound later deemed grunge. Nearby in Olympia, women and queers were developing their own scene with the Riot Grrrl Movement. This sound had forward thinking punk rock influence and challenged racism, homophobia and sexism while empowering themselves through community and radical politics.
Now, one decade later mainstream music has reverted back into oppressive, image based sonic mediocrity. In spite of being “Tragically UnHeard Of”, the Northwest underground music scene continues to harbor some of the best music in the country.
One of these bands include Sick Sick Sister, a three piece “menace to society”, hailing from the City Of Roses (Portland, OR). The trio is fronted by Ruth Yoder who has performed under the name, Sick Sick Sister, for years with various lineups. Their fierce sound is fuzz soaked with angst that has been tainted with an intuitive pop structure. They just released a new record, My Friend My Enemy, and you should BUY IT. The initial tracks burn through a catalog of music Ruth Yoder has carried with her throughout the years. Diving right into a heavy crashing fury, “The Deader The Better”, recounting past friends turning sour, following up with a grunge-pop tantrum, “I Hate It”. As the album develops it is clear her collaboration with current members, Melissa and Adrianne, has developed her songwriting and matured her temper. “Devilfruit” features some incomprehensible vocal chantings reminding me of a more accessible Scout Niblett followed by emotional yelps in “October” which are chilling with a profound sincerity.
My Friend My Enemy is a strong first release and I am excited to have them untampered with by the Hot Topic generation so I could interview them for Tragically UnHeard Of.
Sick Sick Sister has undergone several lineup changes the past couple of years. This new one seems to click pretty well and has good chemistry together. From the band’s perspective, what makes this lineup so awesome? How did y’all hook up?
Ruthie: I met Melissa at a show. It was mutual admiration of each other’s Hello Kitty accessories. When we exchanged email addresses, hers was a Babes in Toyland song. So basically, love at first sight. After we’d jammed a few times Melissa said she knew the perfect drummer for us. Then the stork brought Adrianne.
Melissa: It was definitely mutual admiration of each other’s hello kitty accessories…I mean Ruthie had a HELLO KITTY GUITAR GIGBAG!!! It was just great to meet another person who likes playing heavy, angry music and also happens to like great toys from the 80s. Fate, a.k.a. craigslist’s musician listings brought Adrianne and I together ^_^
Adrianne: I had just moved to Portland that summer and was finding life without a band to be pretty bleak. I put a pretty specific ad on craig’s list and got the phone call from heaven…we were instant friends. That night I passed out on their couch.
How does the writing process work with the new lineup?
Melissa: The old songs were already written by Ruthie but I added my own bass lines to them…and now that we’re working on a new set we just jam at practice and make stuff up on the spot.
Adrianne: We trust each other to come up with a creative sound, so we all write our own parts. Ruthie will show us something she’s been fiddling with and then we just jam. The new stuff we’re working on sounds much more musically creative I think. We’ve really become comfortable with how the rest play.
What were some of your favorite bands growing up?
Melissa: Bikini Kill, Babes in Toyland, Hole, L7, Nirvana, Mudhoney…
Adrianne: The Smashing Pumpkins. Seriously, I wanted to be Jimmy Chamberlin, but my muscles weren’t big enough. Nirvana, Soundgarden, Rob Zombie, No Doubt, Bush…and Sheryl Crow.
Back in the day, did women in rock or the riot grrrl movement affect you?
Melissa: I found out about riot grrrl a little late in the game…my senior year in highschool. I finally felt I had found something I could truly be a part of. It was sad tho, cos I went around all of my friends and asked if they would want to start a riot grrrl chapter with me (in Beaverton, Oregon) and only one girl thought it was an awesome idea…a lot of other girls said it sounded scary and just didn’t get it. But it was still nice to know I wasn’t alone in my beliefs…i just had to get out of the burbs!
Ruthie: Growing up in the Christian-American Midwest, I was never going to be affected by the riot grrrl movement. Luckily, in eighth grade we got a top of the line, 14.4 kbps dial-up modem and the accompanying 15 free hours of America Online. Through looking up my favorite bands, R.E.M., The Doors, The Chili Peppers, and especially Hole, I found this guy Dangerous Dan’s 7 Year Bitch page. That’s when I discovered that there were rad women out there making technically proficient rock music that was better, or at least meant more to me, than what was made by all-man groups. I didn’t read about the riot grrrl movement itself until I was a senior in high school. I blame slow data transfer.
Adrianne: **see Ruthie’s response** We both grew up in cornfields.
Do you think underground music has changed for women? For yourselves?
Ruthie: It seems more gender-integrated than it did to me when I first started going to shows. There’s less and less bands that are female-fronted for image reasons. I don’t see as many bands where it’s a boyfriend-girlfriend duo. I hope that is because things are getting more gay.
Tell us about this EP, where and how was it recorded? How is it released? Do you choose to be a DIY band or do you seek outside assistance from a label? Why or why not?
Ruthie: Our album was recorded by *winner* of Pom Pom Meltdown at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls’ space. We put it out in a limited run ourselves so we can keep all the money for now. Maybe a label will be interested in it and pick it up.
Melissa: Finding a label that had cool ideals would be nice. I think finding good distribution is more important though.
Adrianne: Having a label would be neat, however, it’s important that they do have good ideas for us.
What is the most important thing you hope Sick Sick Sister will accomplish?
Adrianne: World domination. Seriously, can you imagine it? Only bikes on the streets, plush green forests all over the world, a never ending source of women musicians, and kittens…lots of kittens.
What are some of your accomplishments you’ve already made?.
Melissa: We recorded an album that I’m proud of…We’ve played a lot of great shows with bands that I respect and that totally rock! We’ve helped out friends and parts of our community that I want to support by playing benefit shows.
Adrianne: We’re involved in such an amazing and supportive music scene. We love being a part of that. I think playing the benefit shows are a really important part of being in this community as well. It’s awesome to have so many musicians come together for a cause. We’ve played with musicians who I am constantly inspired by, and we’re recorded an album that I’m still not tired of.
Assuming you have a magic crystal ball, what does the next year hold for the band?.
Adrianne: We’ve got several songs in the works for the next album. Plenty more shows in PDX and hopefully some in the neighboring states.
Melissa: I’d like to also play out of state shows. Hello Washington and California!
Tragically Un-Heard Of
Band O’ The Week
AGENT RIBBONS
Listen: “Obituary”
Jon and I often discuss bands that would be in our musical family (where genre/creative postmodern pop music = family blood). In this sort of family dynamic, Agent Ribbons would be our second country cousins once removed but they still come over to family reunions anyways and get drunk off of jug wine and eat cherry pie.
I says it before but I’ll say it again: If you like catchy as all hell, sweet, alto voiced gals singing stories over simply strummed serenades, Agent Ribbons is the band for you. After listening to their debut record, On Time Travel and Romance, my biggest regret in life is that I didn’t go to theater school. If I had, I would’ve adapted the album’s music into a Broadway musical. Take their vagrant Saloon tale found within “Strangers” : ‘When he came to his gun was gone, his shirt was in a twist / Dog tired and hungry with no money the blood boiled in his face / He saw a whore and asked her how he came to have such luck / She said “You don’t look at those hard workin’ women that way when you don’t got a buck” / “I’m sorry miss, I tell ya, but old bastards like me are so hung on living life we don’t meditate on courtesies / So go ahead and shoot me I ain’t got nowhere to go / I’ll have myself a whiskey with the devil down below” / Ain’t it funny how strangers find home in the strangest places’.
Now if that doesn’t scream Broadway musical meets Johnny Cash then I just don’t know what to say to you little reader!
Agent Ribbons have been busy over the past year. They went on a national tour as the opening act for Cake, released a limited edition 7″, the Star Crossed Doppelganger, which features two haunting songs and artwork by Dame Darcy, were photographed for a fashion magazine wearing adorably fancy hats (woven by their friend, Naik Fur), filmed a video at the Dandy Warhol’s Odditorium, went on a mini Bay area tour with Swallows and are already planning their spring outing.
PART ONE: “The World is a Cigarette” // “Buried With You” // “That’s Not Edgar’s Heart”
WATCH MORE (PARTS 2-4)
Here are some Tragically UnHeard Of sneak peaks that I simply cannot hold back:
Agent Ribbons
“The World Is A Cigarette” filmed at The Odditorium by Razor Tree Films
Kusikia
performing “Something About a Heart” at the Experience Music Project SoundOff! 2008
