New England EP

Last week, I had the pleasure of spending time with my friend, Johnny Clay, lead singer of The Dimes, to preview new tracks from the band’s upcoming New England-themed second album, due early next year. By far, this is one of the coolest experiences I’ve had since getting involved with the Portland music scene. What a huge honor to be invited into the studio of one of your favorite bands and listen to music that the general public is still months from hearing. I can’t thank Johnny enough for the opportunity.

I had the chance to hear demos of songs that The Dimes have been playing at their shows the past spring/summer, including “Robert Goddard,” “Paul Revere,” and “Mary Dyer.” Johnny has also been working on some new material that has yet to be played live. “Celia’s Garden” is an up-tempo tune that gets its lyrics from the artwork of Childe Hassam. “Damrell’s Fire” tells the tale of the great Boston fire of 1872 a features some of Johnny’s best lyrical wordplay. And perhaps the prettiest song the band has written, “Trinkets” starts with a beautiful guitar melody that echoes Toad the Wet Sprocket’s “Windmills” while weaving imagery of New England inventors and authors. It is my new favorite Dimes tune and I can’t wait to hear it in its completed form.


Of course, The Dimes will be sharing with their fans a few of the new tracks on the New England EP, due out this Saturday. As mentioned previously here, the New England EP will feature a new mix of “The Liberator,” originally available on an EP released earlier this year, “The Ballad of Winslow Homer,” a newer demo, and the band’s cover of John Lennon’s “Watching The Wheels.” Most exciting about this release, at least to me, is the band’s decision to include “Clara” on the album. The song is about American Red Cross organizer Clara Barton and is one of my favorites from the new material. I had emailed Johnny last month about including the track on the CD and I’m glad he did (though I’m sure my begging had nothing to do with it).

The Dimes will celebrate the release of the EP with a show at the Doug Fir Lounge on Sat. Nov. 1. Derby and Matt Sheehy are also on the bill, ensuring an awesome night of music as you recover from the Halloween debauchery of the night prior. The NW Noise Boys will be there for an interview with Derby (excited about that) and to check out some of Portland’s best live music. See you at the show.

Weekend Recap

First, the low point of the weekend. I hate the NW part of Portland. Not so much the area itself; there are some nice shops, some great restaurants, and the Mission Theatre is close. No, what I really hate about NW is the parking, or lack thereof. Oh, how I loath the parking situation. I spent 45 minutes driving around looking for a spot, finally settling on one all the way out in the Pearl. I’m not gonna lie, there was a significant amount of cursing involved with my frustration. I also fear I may have scared my friend who called to find out where I was, as I was close to an hour late for our scheduled meet time. Luckily, the rest of the weekend was filled with highlights.


Friday was spent with Portland band Wow & Flutter, a "three-piece hot-shit rock combo" (as Tim likes to refer to them). The band met with us for an interview on the night of their show at the Towne Lounge and a couple weeks before their new album Golden Touch is released. It took me a couple of listens, but I’m digging on the album. Very Sonic Youth-esque, arguably a few touches of The Cure as well. These guys also had a sense of humor all their own. I’m interested in hearing how the interview turns out. In an hour and a half of drinks and conversation, there was not one honest answer that came from the band. Not one. I did, however, learn more about Italian Mormons than I ever thought I would.

Saturday we celebrated the day of birth of our good friend, Leslie. Leslie is a Guitar Hero master so we partied in style with a little Rock Band 2 (same difference). Between bottles of Sessions and St. Paulie Girl and blueberry-flavored shisha, Tim beat the skins like he was Phil Collins and the ladies sang their pretty little hearts out. It was an enjoyable evening and I hope Leslie had a special time; she deserves it.


After a day spent lying on the couch watching football (and sadly watching my Niners lose once again), Gus, Nikki, Paul, and I headed to the Mission Theatre for a showing of Tropic Thunder. The Mission is great for those kinds of movies: good food (well, my food was good; Gus ordered a Canadian bacon sandwich that he was not too impressed with), good beer, and a great atmosphere. The movie was enjoyable. Not great by any means, but worth the $3 admission. There were quite a few big names stars in it, certainly more than I was expecting. And it served as a good close to the weekend. Bonus, on a Sunday night, magically there is plenty of parking in NW. Oh parking, where were you on Friday when I needed you most?

I Won't Be Attending But...

If you haven't already made your Friday evening plans for this week, you really should consider heading over to McMenamins Mission Theatre for a performance from The Minus 5. Scott McCaughey, guitarist for R.E.M., leads a rotating cast of talented Northwest musicians, including the "other" guitarist from R.E.M., Mr. Peter Buck, who plays bass in The Minus 5.

I had the opportunity to interview Scott last April when he played as part of an amazing line-up of The Dimes, The Heavenly States, and his own band. Scott is a great guy, a huge fan of baseball, and just finished a world-wide tour with R.E.M. You can check out the interview here.

The concert celebrates the relaunch of NoDepression.com and also features the band Weinland. More info about the show can be found here.

I will not be at the Mission that night as I will be with my good friend, Leslie, hanging with Wow & Flutter before their show at the Towne Lounge. More info from that adventure to follow...

Crossroads

I generally don’t like to get too personal on my blog. It seems overly cheesy and cliché and just not something that I am a fan of doing. However, I’m finding that many of the people close to me don’t know a lot about the real me. This post is my attempt to remedy that somewhat, but I reserve the right to remove it at any time.

I wonder how many people can point to a specific moment in life when a decision needed to be made that would determine the rest of their life. Choosing one option would lead them down one path and the other option would take them on a completely different road. I know that one moment for me, at least as it relates to love and relationships.

About six years ago, I was head over heels for a girl. She was beautiful, smart, funny, and had the most stunning eyes I have ever seen. She quickly became my best friend. She was also unavailable, having been in a relationship for a couple of years. Despite that, we spent much of our free time together. My feelings for her grew stronger and I believe she felt the same for me.

After a night out, I walked her back to her place. I remember walking up the steps to her apartment and standing in front of her door. We embraced each other. Then she looked up at me with her beautiful green eyes and I knew she wanted me to kiss her. I did not.

I can’t say why I didn’t. Maybe I was scared. Maybe I knew I was too immature at the time to pursue something with her. Maybe it’s because her boyfriend was waiting for her inside the apartment while we had our moment outside. Whatever the reason, I made a decision. I’ve regretted it ever since.

Our friendship became less intense after that. I avoided her as much as I could. She ended up marrying her boyfriend, though they divorced later. I always knew he wasn’t the right person for her. She remarried. We saw each other for the first time in many years recently. It felt good to be around her again.

It’s her birthday today, which is probably why I’m thinking of her. I hope she’s happy. She really deserves it. She’s an amazing person and I have an incredible amount of respect for her.

Life is about making mistakes and learning from them. I regret my decision that night, but I hope to say I’ve learned from it and am able to move on. Of course, I found myself in an eerily similar situation last year and I can’t say I really handled it with the maturity of someone who has learned any sort of lesson. Hopefully by writing about it, I can put the issue to rest.

Thanks for reading.

Gus Greif at Vicinato

Some may not find the ukulele particularly sexy, but those people have not seen singer/songwriter Gus Greif, a musician that oozes sexuality from each of his pores while rocking a mean tiny lute (he ain't too shabby on the guitar either). Gus' music reflects the laid-back attitude of the small country town near Eugene where he grew up, with hints of Jack Johnson and John Mayer thrown in the mix. Recently relocating from Los Angeles to Portland, Gus brings his vocal stylings and guitar playing to the Vicinato Wine Bar on 46th and Freemont at 8PM. Come check out this talented artist in his second performance since moving back to the Northwest.

November EPs

Got news of a couple of EPs coming out next month that I am excited about and I wanted to pass the word along. I’m a fan of EPs; they are a good way to tide fans over between full-length albums. I always appreciate bands that get their music out to their fans as frequently as they can, without sacrificing the quality of the music. I wouldn’t expect any band to record a great full length album every year, but every two or three years, with an EP in-between is gold. Of course, these days there are a multitude of ways to get music out to fans. Ryan of Pet Marmoset recently wrote an excellent article on the benefits of bands releasing new music to their fans consistently, which you can read here.


On Nov. 1st The Dimes celebrate their EP release at the Doug Fir Lounge. The EP will reflect the New England-themed material the band has been working on for their second album, the follow-up to the delightful The Silent Generation, and is the second EP the band has released this year (I’m sure music marketing guru Ryan played some role in getting the band to release some new music as soon as it was recorded). Lead singer Johnny Clay has confirmed that “Winslow Homer” and a new mix of “The Liberator” will be on the release, as well as the band’s cover of John Lennon’s “Watching The Wheels” and at least one more track. I suggested to Johnny that “Clara Barton” make the cut, but we’ll see what the band ultimately decides. Of the new music Johnny has been writing the past year, the band really can’t go wrong whatever they put on the record; the material is even stronger than that of their debut album, an album that I love. Local band Derby and Matt Sheehy are also on the bill for the evening.

On the not-so-indie-music end of the spectrum, Coldplay will also release an eight song EP Prospekt’s March in November. The album will include six new songs, plus a new version of “Lost” featuring Jay-Z and a remix of “Lovers In Japan” (the original version of both songs appear on Coldplay’s latest album Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends). I’m not gonna lie, I’m a fan of Coldplay and am looking forward to some new material from them, even though their album was just released a few months ago. However, as much as I love the Jigga Man, I'm not so sure about the two artists on the same track. I will try to keep an open mind though.

Weekend Recap

In this busy past weekend of mine, let me express just how great it was. Certainly a good time was needed by myself to make up for the week I had leading up to the weekend. And the action and excitement thankfully did not disappoint.


Friday night was the Oh Darling CD Release at the Doug Fir Lounge. My friend, Bryan, describes the Doug Fir as "Twin Peaks meets The Jetsons." Being a huge Twin Peaks fan, that probably explains why I love the place so much (though admittedly, I never really got into The Jetsons). The show was incredible, as is the debut CD from the Darlings, Nice Nice. Oh Darling truly represents some of the best talent Portland has to offer and this concert proved it once again. As an added bonus, I got to hang with lead singer Jasmine Ash after the show, which made my weekend. Fellow Noise Boy Tim wrote a brief review on the Northwest Noise website about the show that you can view here.

Saturday night I attended my first Soju Party. Many of you may not know what soju is, so let me enlighten you as I recently received my honorary Asian card (which is totally legit since it was given to me by real Asians!). Soju is a Korean distilled beverage made from rice or some other starch (or so Wikipedia tells me...) that is traditionally drank in a group. The taste is similar to vodka, meaning I really didn't enjoy it, even when mixed with fruit and yogurt, resulting in a sort of alcohol smoothie taken as a shot. The etiquette regarding drinking it is quite complicated, though our group neglected to observe most of those rules. It certainly was an interesting experience to say the least and a different way to watch the Ducks get killed by USC in football (the low point of the weekend).


After the soju, I headed out to watch my friends, Tea For Julie (who also opened for the Oh Darling CD Release Show) at a house party. Their set was being filmed for a Live From Portland concert DVD featuring about 30 local bands. Who exactly was filming the DVD or what exactly it was for, I cannot tell you. I can, however, tell you that the bands were filmed in a room with banana yellow walls and a bright pink hardwood floor. It looked like something out of a Bjork video. I'm curious to see how it turns out. While they were crammed into the filming room and had to deal with lackluster acoustics, Tea For Julie had a great set, playing seven songs, mostly from their latest release, The Sense In Tying Knots.

Sunday I attended a going away BBQ for my friend Amanda, who is heading back East to Washington DC. I wish her all the best in her latest adventure. Also, Debra Arlyn's feature on PDXposed aired, with me in a very brief appearance. The actual interview that took place was significantly longer, but watching the segment, I realized that John, the host, asked myself and Debra almost identical questions and becoming such close friends with Debra over the past year, we had nearly identical answers. And let's be honest, Debra is going to be far more entertaining to watch and listen to than me. Paul Creighton, the lead singer from Intervision, was also interviewed for the piece. You can watch the show below; Debra's segment is the last few minutes of the clip.

Shameless Self Promotion

There was a lot of me to be found this week in the local media, which is fine by me since, as my good friend, Matt, puts it, I have a gigantic ego.

First, I was interviewed for the Flying V and the Lost Secretarial Arts website. I had the opportunity to discuss topics such as my involvement with Northwest Noise and my rabbit, Petey. Here is just a taste from the interview:

So JP, I hear you have a super cute bunny named Petey. Would you care to tell me more about your precious little guy and how he came to love the ladies so much?

You heard correctly, my bunny is super cute. Petey is definitely his father's son: he has big ears, no chin, is kind of hairy, and he loves beautiful women. Of course, he has a much easier time getting them to rub his belly. He certainly has good taste in ladies; he adores my friend, Clarissa, and is a big fan of singer/songwriter Jasmine Ash. I feel very blessed to have the little guy in my life, though I had to promise him that I would cease to eat rabbit meat. He really hates when I joke about throwing him in a crock pot, which I tease him about often. That little guy always puts a smile on my face.

If you want to read more (and I know that you do) , you can check the rest of the interview here.


I was also interviewed for a segment featuring my good friend, singer/songwriter Debra Arlyn, for the show PDXposed, filmed at the Bite of Oregon over the summer. PDXposed is a local arts, travel and entertainment TV show, featuring the Portland metropolitan area and beyond and was recently nominated for two Northwest Regional Emmy Awards by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

You can catch the show on KGW Newschannel 8 (local NBC affiliate) on Sat. Oct. 4 at 7PM and again Sun. Oct. 5 at 9:30PM. You can also watch at their website here and as soon as the clip is online, I will post it on here.

Finally, I was invited to participate in the filming of a Live From PDX DVD tonight featuring my friends, Tea For Julie. TFJ put on a great set last night for the Oh Darling CD Release show (the Darlings were, needless to say, amazing as well). If you are interested in joining me this evening, please send me a message so I can get you all the details.

Have a great rest of the weekend, everyone, and Go Ducks!

Oh Darling CD Release Tonight

I really dropped the ball on posting this earlier, but should anyone read this within the next few hours, I highly recommend you get yourself to the Doug Fir Lounge this evening for Oh Darling's CD release. Any avid reader of my blog knows that I am a huge fan of Oh Darling and their debut album Nice Nice. I have been looking forward to this show for awhile, not only for Oh Darling, but for our friends Tea For Julie. UHF is also on the bill and I hear they are solid. Cover is only $8; show starts at 9PM.