I often say that Portland is the best city in the world for music, but I’m not talking the same Portland most people are when they say that. I have never seen the Decemberists or Horsefeathers or the Stars of Track and Field play. Don’t get me wrong—I don’t have anything against those bands—I just haven’t found time for them. Punk and metal are my passions and there are hundreds of great local and touring bands to see in that scene. But we’ll get to that.

First, WW–not the impenetrable fortress you think it is.
For my first couple of years in Portland (2002 and 2003) punk and metal here were invisible to me. It wasn’t until I joined a local music radio show on KPSU that I found the Rhythm of ’84 and Plan R, the first two Portland bands I really loved. During 2004 I went out to live music about three times a week—which is amazing considering I was under age.

I discovered house shows and it took me a minute to realize that these bands I was seeing at houses, like the Observers and Tragedy, were well known nationally and abroad. I didn’t read the weeklies, but it donned on me that they probably weren’t covering all these bands I had discovered.

In September 2005, Willamette Week’s music section went all local. Coincidentally, that was when I first pitched then-editor Mark Baumgarten some story ideas. I had no experience, but he could tell I was tapped into something he had no one else to write about. Over the next two years, my name appeared in almost every issue of Willamette Week.

I am taking this opportunity as my last action as the sometimes-wanted, sometimes-unwanted scribe of these scenes to share my thoughts on them upon hanging up my WW byline. An exclusivity agreement with another local publication, as well as increasing national commitments spell the end for this chapter of my career.

So anyway, it’s really not that hard to get to write for this paper (or any paper, really). All you gotta do is know something about something, be able to put a sentence together, and keep convincing the editor of the section you want to write for that you’re great without being obnoxious. WW needs you, writers of Portland, because the pay is shit and the turnover is high. Seriously. There’s an opening for a punk and metal guy or gal right now. Someone please try to fill it.

Why Can’t We Be Friends?
When I wrote this story on Tragedy and “Friendly” Dave told me that since moving to Portland, the number of shows he went to increased by 8 times, it verified what I already knew—Portland’s punk scene is broad and amazing.

I’d really like to see the scene here get the credit it deserves from the community. So as I set out to chronicle it in WW, I also set out to argue for its importance and vibrancy to a town where “rock” can be a bad word if not preceded by “indie.”

I think, to some degree, I made a dent. But there was a certain level of misunderstanding between the bands I was covering and myself. I’ve identified three common misconceptions about the roll of the alt-weekly music writer. I present exhibit A, an audio clip from local rocker’s Coldbringer’s show at Slabtown on July 15, 2007.

Download audio file (heckle.mp3)

Note Coldbringer vocalist John Wilkerson’s claim that I have “all the fuckin’ possibility to say that this fucking town is rad as shit.” See, a lot of people seem to be under the impression that it’s a local music critic’s job to promote bands and events. But a good critic’s job is be critical. I’ve only ever been interested in saying why a band (or this town) is “rad as shit” or bad as it.

And, as it turns out, 90% of the time, I found myself defending the very claim that Wilkerson accuses me of not ever making. Therein lies the second fallacy. One mustn’t judge the music section based on the reviews of your band alone (of lack thereof). Sure, I found fault with Coldbringer’s album, but I also defended the greatness of quite a few bands around them, including Drunken Boat, who mere hours before Coldbringer that night, as well as Warcy, Criminal Damage, and Autistic Youth, to name a few.

Earlier that night, when Sleepwalker’s RIP was playing, they called me out too.

Download audio file (heckle2.mp3)

This represents a third misunderstanding between the punk scene and the alt weekly. From time to time, I find that bands get upset with what any sane person would regard as a positive write up. Here’s what I wrote about the show:

[PUNK] Ex-Triggers and current Sleepwalkers RIP vocalist, Candy, has the exaggerated intensity with a hint of goofball that endeared less-inhibited early punk bands like Penetration. Though these four bands are from the roughly the same scene, it’s rare to see Sleepwalkers paired with downbeat rock n rollers Coldbringer. But this benefit for a punker who’s down two organs and is up several G’s of debt, proves just how small the scene really is. JASON SIMMS.

Now, call me crazy, but that seems like a pretty flattering little blurb. When it comes to alt weeklies—especially WW, which is the *only* all local music section in the country—writers are not know-it-all snobs trying to backhanded compliment you when they say something nice (well some are, read: Zac Penington). Some of us, like me, Casey Jarman, Amy McCullough, and Michael Byrne are primarily fans. Your music speaks to us. Portland’s records are the soundtrack to my life and her basements are the setting. For God’s sake, give us the benefit of the doubt and don’t try find a fault in anything anyone says about you. Accept a compliment.

Interestingly enough, I found that, overall, Portland’s garage rock and metal scenes had a better time avoiding these fallacies than the punk scene (though most of the punks do a great job too). While I grew up listening to punk and feel really confident writing about it, metal was something I only got into a few years ago, and the metal community was pretty forgiving of my newness (no even teased me for confusing members of Carcass in this El Cerdo profile). In fact, bands that I flat out love—like Agalloch, the Hunches and JonnyX and the Groadies, have been really appreciative of what I wrote about them which made me feel really good.

Thank You Thank You Thank You
The Portland metal scene is also majorly on the up and up thanks in large part to Nathan Carson. Now there are some really good bookers in this town, but Nate is only person who is utterly consistent. If you like one of the shows he books, you will like them all. I don’t know how he does it, but he brings some phenomenal underground touring acts to his nights at Tube and Ground Kontrol. I feel safe going to a Nate Carson show knowing nothing about the bands at all and that’s an amazing thing.

Another hero of my beat, in addition to, of course, Colin Grigson and Arya Imig who manage to be friends with and are rightfully admired by just about everyone they meet and work with, is Sam Soule. Formerly as a writer for this paper, and now as the co-owner/booker of Slabtown, Sam helps keep Portland’s rich music history (as well as thriving garage rock scene) alive. I did my best, keeping tabs on Dead Moon and Monica Nelson, but the best link to the hazy, whiskey-soaked past of this town is on Sam’s stage, right beside the best of the hazy, whiskey-soaked present.

And there’s all kinds of other people, like the DMUG, Green and Pink Houses, and Brainstains House and people who run the labels and bartend and clean up and make flyers and take pictures. There are so many people that make the music scenes I’ve come to know here work and they work together so well. I’d just love to see the scenes recognize each other more and work together more (like Arya’s booking of PRF at the Hammer and Sickle House…brilliant). And don’t forget that more often than not the local writers are someone you can work with too. Casey and Amy and Michael want nothing better than to tell your story or spend a couple of hours grappling with your album.

Frontiers
A lot of bands I interviewed, especially Clorox Girls, Tragedy and Dead Moon, spoke of a global community of friends they’d made through touring. I’m branching out to national and regional publications and trying to embrace that community, both as a writer and traveling musician. If you wish to keep track of those activities, you can follow them at www.simmantics.blogspot.com. I’ll also be writing local news and teaching English to people in China via the Internet.

So please keep me up to date about your band, bands you like, and things that are happening anywhere. But give me a lot more notice (like 3 months).

Thanks for letting me interview you and thanks for sending those photos on time and thanks for welcoming me into your homes and lives and thanks for reading. See you at the show.

Jason

Photo: By Molly Oakes.