Dark/Light
1. What are your top five albums that were released in 2017? (In order 1-5)
- Mr Wrong - Babes in Boyland
- Public Eye - Relaxing Favorites
- Dead Moon - What A Way To See The Old Girl Go
- Kendrick Lamar - DAMN
- SZA - ctrl
2. What band did you discover in 2017 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? What made them significant?
Well, we are all really into music, so we're each constantly discovering new and old stuff and digging into old stuff we knew about but maybe hadn't sunk our teeth into in a while...It's a non-stop adventure of of finding something, getting hyped, zoning out on it, and then hearing something else to get psyched on - it's been a really great and inspiring year for that. It's all significant, each in their own ways, but largely because of killer songs and pure emotional and sonic impact. Here are some that have affected us this year: C.O.M.A., William Onyeabor, Irreversible Entanglements, Roxy Music, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Green River demos, The Raincoats, Younger Lovers, VOG, Macho Boys, Gag, VHS, Pere Ubu, Alice Bag...on and on and on...
3. How will you remember 2017? (In terms of music)
2017 was a great year for live music, both locally in Portland, and for us traveling (our bassist flew to Australia just to see shows!). Seeing amazing live performances by the classic artists who inspired us: Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Television, Pere Ubu...There were some great fucking local reunion gigs put together to benefit our good buddy Jonnycat, who is battling cancer - The Spits, The Observers, Sleepwalkers R.I.P., Defect Defect, the Minds, The Epoxies...all total ragers. It was great to see the local music scene evolve, both in terms of bands taking their art/craft to a new level, and just the atmosphere in general at shows. Felt like every show we played there were bands that blew our minds, rooms full of friends and soon-to-be-friends, and just an intensity - or urgency, that has maybe been building up for a while.
Plus It also seems like there weren't quite as many boring yuppie fucks staring at their phones this year, which is a total bonus.
4. What can we look forward to from you in 2018?
We will be releasing a 4-song 7" EP on Dirt Cult Records, hopefully by summer, and will be doing lots of touring up and down the west coast! Can't wait!
5. What records are you looking forward to most in 2018?
Roxy Music first LP reissue, A TON of local releases by bands we love:The Stops (2nd LP), Cool Flowers, Mannequin Hand, Remnants, Era Bleak demo...
6. For most, 2017 will be remembered as a year of political and social conflict. How does that cultural atmosphere influence your own music or artistic life?
LOTS of benefit shows!
