Kyle Abraham’s hit parade leaves space for provocative bursts of static.
Posted by: Anne Adams on Sep 11, 2011 at 08:00PM2 Comments
Stick your radio on “scan,” and you unleash a gamut of personal and universal emotions. Motown makes you swagger and smile, AM soft-rock leaves you longing for a lost lover. Hiphop hits inspire you to front, or get low, or get jiggy. Then the talk shows come on. Some caller makes a fool of herself, and you laugh. Some host makes a sexist remark, and you’re offended.
But between all that “something,” there is ever the static—the incomprehensible fuzz of nothingness that fills the crevices, and when it’s not carrying words and songs, it rasps unbound into the empty frequencies between the receivable stations.
When he’s not responding to the bursts of Top-40 and talk, Kyle Abraham wears the static with a trembling hand, a troubled brow, and a searching gaze that breaches the crowd’s comfortable detachment. And then, mercifully, the next frequency is found, and Abraham and his dancers bound back into action, shrugging the next song onto their soulful shoulders and manifesting its mood through their innovative choreography. But the naked urgency of the static isn’t easily suppressed. It resurfaces from time to time, adding challenging layers of anxiety and suspense to the Radio Show playlist.
Perk up your ears for a few sounds from The Future Will Destroy You, the latest from Portland psych-pop maestros Viva Voce.
Posted by: Anne Adams on Jun 21, 2011 at 05:00AM2 Comments
Those of you who read regularly may remember that we made Viva Voce the subject of our usual Monday Fun just a couple weeks ago—little realizing that they were on the cusp of a new release. Vanguard records was quick on the tip, following up with a sneak preview of the beloved husband-and-wife band’s latest work, and reminding us of their upcoming free show at Music Millennium at 6pm on June 21.
Sallie Ford talks about writing, singing, and the hometown she gradually grew to love.
Posted by: Aaron Scott and Anne Adams on Jun 01, 2011 at 06:00AM1 Comments
Sallie Ford with bandmates Jeffrey Munger, Tyler Tornfelt, and Ford Tennis.
Last Tuesday Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside welcomed a respectable crowd to east-side record hub Music Millenium, playing a short set and signing copies of their debut full-length release, Dirty Radio. Despite their undeniably tight playing, the juke-rock revivalists kept a casual vibe. “I’m the boss!” Sallie blurted as the group debated song selection. Guitarist Jeff Munger snatched off his trucker cap and playfully swatted her.
But she has a point: Rising quickly from South Carolinian obscurity to Portland name-recognition, and now taking flight for international fame, Sallie Ford has become the master of her domain. Culturephile checks in with her on the cusp of a two-night stint at Doug Fir that will kick off her North American tour.
Three years ago, you were working as a server at a Thai restaurant on Hawthorne and having a hard time getting local bands to return your emails. Since then, you’ve acquired a tight band (The Sound Outside), a great label (Partisan), and the chance to tour the world. How does that feel? It was a Vietnamese restaurant, and I’m very glad I’m not working there anymore! It’s great that music is my job now, but that also means it can be a lot of work. Any unexpected challenges? Some unexpected challenges have been learning about the business side of things and learning to be patient and make good choices.
Your music has been described a few different ways. I’m inclined to call it “Rockabilly,” because that’s a classic form and a fun word—but what do you call it? My easy answer about how to describe my music is: “Rock n Roll.”
Fair enough. Tell us about your songwriting process. Lately, I usually will come up with a melody, and then lyrics, and then I add guitar chords. But I’ve also written guitar chords, then a melody, then lyrics. And occasionally I’ve written lyrics, then fit them to music. I mostly like to just see what comes out, and I never overthink things….I hope that makes sense.
You were already singing in South Carolina before you moved here. How did Portland influence your musicianship (or did it?) I had done some singing in North Carolina before I moved to Portland, but I didn’t start writing my own music ’til i moved to portland. I think it was nice to have a fresh start and not know anyone in Portland.
When you sing, “You may think I’m a clown/ Who gives a sh- t about this town,” which town are you singing about? “Who gives a sh-t about this town” was somewhat about how frustrated I was initially with the music scene in Portland, but I wrote that song because I dreamt about it. I woke up with the melody and words still in my head. Looking back, maybe it was a prayer to find my own “scene.”
Now that I have met more people in the music scene here (and there are many many bands as you know) I have a totally different view on that. I think people are very supportive here and it feels like a great scene to be in. So, which town were you thinking of when you wrote, “I kinda like it here?” The “I like it here” song is called “This Crew,” and it’s the counterpart to “This Town.” It’s about my love of Portland, and of course no city is perfect. That song is mostly about the things I’ve seen and people I’ve met on Hawthorne Boulevard, which has been my “hood” for a while now.
What do you think is most unique/essential to your act: your voice, your songs, or your instrumentation?
I guess my voice is the most important. I love singing more than writing or playing music.
Tell us about your semi-famous freelance puppeteer dad. What great inside tips has he given you about how to manage a creative project? Puppeteer Hobey Ford is my dad. He definitely has been my hero and role model. He has done a lot of touring with his puppet shows and gives great advice for performers on the road. He never finished college and has always been supportive and inspired me to be self-employed.
You’re (22? 23?) and, obviously, a woman. Do people ever tell you you’re "great for a girl,” or better than they thought you’d be? Do you think the pop music climate, and the touring circuit, are getting more female-friendly? I’m 23. I haven’t heard that before, but I guess maybe I have heard people be surprised that my music is more rockin’ then they expected. I think people are very supportive to touring women musicians, but I don’t have much to compare that to.
Where are you most excited to travel and why?
I’m excited to go to Charleston, SC because we’re gonna go to the beach while we’re there. I grew up going to Folly Beach, and it’s nice to have a paid vacation there! I’m also excited to go to New Orleans and Montreal. I’ve wanted to go to both those places for a while.
Sallie Ford and The Sound Outside will be at the Doug Fir Lounge June 3 and 4, promoting new album Dirty Radio. Sneak a listen here:
Learn more about OPB’s latest feature series, and meet the blue-haired host who “does it herself.”
Posted by: Anne Adams on Mar 03, 2011 at 07:45AM0 Comments
Photo by Cameron Browne
Well, it’s a small world here in Portland arts—small enough that occasionally, a press release comes across my “writer” desk, promoting some project that I’ve actually contributed to in my off-hours “artist” role. Should I shun these projects in the press? Sometimes I do, on principle. But sometimes the same thing that drives me to participate in something, also compels me to promote it: it’s pretty good stuff.
In this case, the latter principle prevails, and I’m going to go ahead and alert you to an excellent local radio show. It’s called Destination DIY , and it’s been around for ages, springing up through KBOO grassroots, and recently reaching the limelight of OPB. As Portlandia calls the world’s attention to Portland’s thriving DIY subculture with sketches like “Put A Bird On It,” OPB has appropriately rewarded Destination DIY , a trendspotter of the real thing, with air-dates throughout March .
HOSTJULIESABATIEREXPLAINSMORE:
What inspired you to put radio and DIY together to form this show?
About five years ago, I had a lot more time on my hands and I was just getting into radio production. There was a half-hour monthly slot open in KBOO’s schedule, and I thought it would be a great way to discipline myself to really hone the craft of radio. (The production values of the early shows are pretty awful as a result.) The topic of DIY seemed like a great umbrella to discuss a lot of things I find really intriguing: people who apply their own creativity to all aspects of life, whether they’re artists, inventors, urban farmers or even economists! And I figured in a place like Portland, I’d never run out of material. So far, that’s been true.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever heard tales of people “doing themselves?”
I heard that the actor James Franco is teaching a master class on himself and his work—that’s pretty weird. And there was a crazy article in Wired Magazine recently about a woman who does surgery on herself to “extend her senses” by putting magnets under her skin and stuff like that. Yikes! I’m planning a show on DIY Disasters, which should yield some interesting results on this topic.
Why DIY, when someone else could “DIFY?”
I think a big driver behind DIY is the sense of pride that people feel when they try something that might be outside their comfort zone and they’re excited to share the results. And that applies to all kinds of projects, whether it’s something really personal like planning a DIY memorial service or just fixing your garbage disposal. Doing something — or at least trying something — yourself rather than having someone just “DIFY,” is always a more enriching, enlightening, and empowering experience.
You also work on Think Out Loud; how do the two shows compare?
Well, for one thing, they have a completely different relationship with OPB. Think Out Loud is produced at OPB with a full staff (which includes me) employed by the station and Destination DIY is an independent entity and is produced by me as well as some volunteers, freelance producers in other parts of the country, and an engineer that I contract with. The show is licensed to OPB for a very small fee. Of course, the formats are also widely different. TOL is a daily, live call-in show focused on news and culture statewide and Destination DIY is an occasional series of documentary-style shows for which all the material is pre-recorded and is not focused solely on Oregon. Destination DIY is a self-directed project, which reflects my own particular way of looking at things, while Think Out Loud is much more of a collaborative effort.
Walk us through your process. How much raw audio do you capture? How do you edit and for how long? How often do you work on it, and how much do you do yourself?
My short answer is that a minute of Destination DIY translates into roughly an hour of work. That includes recording, editing, writing and mixing. It averages out to about 10 hours of work per week (on top of my 40 hour/week job) in a 6-8 week production cycle. If it’s just a simple back-and-forth interview, I’ll usually record between a half hour and an hour with a subject, and then cut it down to 5 or 10 minutes. If it’s a feature with lots of different voices and scenes, I might record as much as 8 hours’ worth of material and cut that down into little chunks. I transcribe the chunks and choose among them to start building a script. I like the story to really grow out of the audio, rather than writing something and trying to wedge the voices in afterward. I also work with other producers around the country, who pitch ideas to me. Once I accept a pitch and they’ve recorded their material, we might go through 7 or 8 drafts of a script before we do what’s called an “ear edit,” where they read the script to me over the phone and I play the clips from my computer to simulate what the finished piece will sound like. Once I have my entire show script recorded and edited and the whole show cut to time, my awesome engineer, Clark Salisbury goes over it with a fine-toothed comb, tweaking the volume, fixing bad edits, and making sure the musical interludes sound good. Clark and I work together to make small adjustments to the timing to get it just right. I probably listen to the full hour 4 or 5 times before it airs.
Posted by: Anne Adams on Aug 20, 2010 at 10:59AM0 Comments
Reggie Watts will wow Live Wire with his loop-music stylings and superb comic timing.
Live Wire! Summer Spectacular
Always an extravaganza brimming with local and national talent, this edition of OPB’s Live Wire hosts Portland super-band Menomena, playing tracks from their latest album Mines ; musician, comedian and loop-pedal legend Reggie Watts; and irreverent chamber combo 3Leg Torso. Also, in case you haven’t yet had the pleasure, lovable fried-pie entrepreneur Gregg Abbot, of Whiffies Pie Cart, will pop in for a chat!
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Arts and Culture Editor Aaron Scott has reported for Radiolab, This American Life, OPB, and others. He loves getting lost and finding his way out again.
Events Editor Anne Adams has spent 12 years in Portland and roughly 2 at Portland Monthly magazine. An avid arts appreciator who can zero in on a detail of gesture or craft, she’s also a major softie for music, humor, and philosophy.
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Culturephile chronicles the vibrant world of Portland arts & culture, along with its movers and makers.
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