We got interviewed for an article with Stereo Subversion about the Portland music scene.
Portland has become the nucleus for indie music despite the stereotype of stinky, dirty hippies listening to Phish and making acid-induced bluegrass music. Portlanders can take pride in the output of its local musicians since so many of them have had national and international success. By birth or by transplant, artists such as The Shins, Modest Mouse, The Decemberists, Stephen Malkmus, The Dandy Warhols, Viva Voce, Sleater-Kinney, Dave Allen (Gang of Four/Shriekback, now Pampelmoose records), and the late, great Elliot Smith have created a sought-out market conducive to DIY-indie music. Bands and artists of genuine aspirations are fleeing the big cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle where the scenes are saturated with desperate hack musicians trying to make it onto a major record label that will end up screwing them over anyway.
Portland as an entity is very supportive of buying local; it says so on almost every bumper: "Buy Local." So it makes sense that audiences, promoters and bookers in Portland are very supportive of local music. According to local experimentalists, The Friendly Skies, bookers are much more accessible for Portland bands than in the big cities and there are a lot more cool places to play. The Friendly Skies also say it is easier for bands to get write-ups in the local alternative newspapers like Willamette Weekly and The Portland Mercury. Jean-Paul from The Contestants, a native of San Diego—now Portlander, also says it is easier to get shows in Portland and the scene is a bit more organic: artists are more concerned with getting the right song than the right deal. (The bumpers in Portland also read, "Buy Organic.")
You might think if it’s easy to get a show in Portland there are a lot of crappy bands playing. Not true. While Portland does have a shallow end to its talent pool, the deep end is a bit more oceanic than other cities. The art scene as a whole is more art and less scene, which expands the parameters of artistic creativity. Artists are doing what they love whether the money follows or not.
The Portland scene has changed a bit over the past decade as transplants from the Northwest and Southwest have embedded themselves. Rene from Here Comes Everybody says the indie migration to Portland has brought diversity to the scene while embracing the communal spirit of existing musicians and artists. She also describes the scene as friendly and supportive. (I suppose bands aren’t having their cords and effects pedals stolen from back stage between sets.) Promoters such as PDX Pop Now! have met a need for supporting these up-and-coming acts. PDX Pop Now! hosts a yearly, free, all-ages, multi-day festival to showcase the fresh talent of Portland—good bands, really. You may even get to see bands like The Shins or The Decemberists headlining. PDX Pop Now! also puts out a compilation of the bands they showcase.
If you like to consistently see great, surprising, genuine music, Portland provides. But if you are an unsigned musician, there ain’t no gold here. Clubs rarely offer guarantees of pay and often don’t pay anything at all. Also, labels aren’t as supportive as the rest of the scene and how can they be? Music isn’t really a money-making industry anymore. If you move here, plan on making music and having a day-job - there are a ton of coffee shops and bars you can work at.
Venues in Portland range from The Crystal Ballroom, where you would see bands like Dinosaur Jr. or Nada Surf to Doug Fir, the most hipster-y of Portland venues. Then there’s Town Lounge where you would see your friend’s band play and Voodoo Doughnuts where willing bands play on top of a closet, hunched over in a four-by-seven room that serves up maple bacon bars and Pepto-Bismol glazed doughnuts (the latter is suspended pending FDA approval.)
Portland is evidently home to American indie rock. However, singer-songwriters as well as other genres thrive here. Maybe Portland is at its peak in talent or perhaps this is just the beginning of a city primed to follow suit with Manchester, Seattle and the like. The Portland music scene lends itself to being labeled an indie town. However, there is a feeling Portland musicians are free to experiment with and embrace varying genres. The audiences are open to the most unassuming acts and the possibilities of what can come from voices, instruments and laptops. Portland is ideal for genuine and honest musical endeavors giving one a sense meaningful music does indeed exist. 