December 26, 2002
Support and Competition in Local Music
Now, I will admit that I had never heard of local musician Nicole Campbell prior to reading an interview with her in this past Monday's edition of dailyPDX. Then again, I'm not bringing it up to talk about her, but about something she says in the interview:
DAILYPDX: Let's talk about the local music scene -- as someone who's seen it from different perspectives, how has it changed or evolved in the last five or six years? Is it more supportive of certain types of music over others? Is it generally supportive or competitive?
CAMPBELL: The local music scene is thriving amongst the musicians as much or more than ever. The audiences have become a little more fickle and have turned to electronic music a little more than us live bands would like I think. It's both supportive and competitive based on who you're dealing with but for the most part I think Portland's music scene it pretty "familial" and we all want the best for each other.
I recently had two surreal experiences that are at least tangentially related to the above sentiments.
The first, and the far more minor, was overhearing someone at Bar of the Gods saying that Portland didn't have a music scene. He didn't appear from the rest of the conversation to be a stranger to Portland, so I can only assume that he has simply managed to avoid: looking at any of the local weeklies; noticing any of the telephone poles just on Hawthorne alone; and, well, actually speaking to anyone for any length of time.
On the other hand, the second experience was much more disturbing. A local musician friend of mine had one of her newly-instituted weekly gigs at a pub in Southeast Portland cancelled, and was notified of this when she walked in the door to start setting up. This in itself was, in the end, not the most irksome part. That honor instead goes to the first band on the later lineup which didn't begin for another three hours, who was in essence responsible for the situation by demanding a 30-minute sound check during what should have been my friend's timeslot.
Maybe I'm simply unclear on something (although so far everyone I've talked to about it has agreed with me), but it strikes me as a violation of some sort of musicians code of ethics to screw over a fellow musician that way.
To make matters worse, of course, the band in question was one of those uninspired and uninspiring hippie bands which come a dime a dozen in this town.
Now, I don't pretend that these two events are somehow demonstrative of the local music scene. For a time, once, I was a little more up on local music. These days, not so much. So I'll pass it off to any local musicians who might happen upon this item. Is the Portland music scene alive and well? Is it "familial"? Supportive? Competitive? Help bring me up to speed.
Comments (2)
The One True b!X on 26 Dec 2002
For what it's worth, here's a list of local bands that, at one time or another over my 5 1/2 years here, I've gone out of my way to see more than once, if not regularly: New Bad Things, The Crabs, Wasabi (do they even still exist?), Kaitlyn ni Donovan, The Helio Sequence, A Man Called Sun (they're gone now, yes?), The High Violets, The Prids, The Minders.
I'm sure to be spacing on someone. As I said, it's been awhile since I even attempted to be aware of even a small part of the local scene. To make matters worse, there are people I know whose bands I've simply never gotten around to seeing, such as The Swords Project and Hoary Poury. And then there are musicians like Fernando and Sunset Valley who I've never seen but have on CD.
Then there are bands I've seen once and, despite the people around me determining that they would seek to see them again, I will forever avoid, such as Rollerball and Operacycle (one of whom, I have no idea which one, sounded like a dead cat singing the theme song to the original Star Trek series). And bands I only got to see once and will never have the chance again, such as Carmina Piranha.
So, a small slice. Utterly not comprehensive in any sense of the word. But this at least provides some context for my own musical experience of Portland.
Barry Hogan on 14 Sep 2005
My name is Barry Hogan. I am from Chattanooga Tn. I will be moving to Portland within the next year or so to get a fresh start. That in itself is a long story, I won't bore you with. When I lived in Portland With an X before, I fell in love with the city the minute I stepped off the plane. I would love to get togather with some musicians that need a bass player. I have also produced and engineered a little as well. I just got back from Iraq with the 278th in wich I was injured and sent back home quickly. The experiance led me to believe that I have been put on this crazy planet for something and that might as well live off of spam sandwiches and cheese as a musician. I plan to take some classes at Potland State Community College. If you would like to talk about future possibilities or opportunities please contact me. Bhogan5976@aol.com