On Saturday, April 21, Atlanta rapper Nick Grant opened for Ab-Soul in front of a lively audience at WOW Hall. Grant is currently touring with Ab-Soul to promote his recently released EP “The Return of the Cool.”

Grant first gained mainstream attention after  freestyling on the popular radio talk show, “Sway in the Morning.” Sway, the show’s host, reacted by screaming, “You a wack motherfucker!” Not only did Grant earn the respect of the well-known radio personality, but he also established himself as one of the best up-and-coming lyricists in the rap game.

Although he discusses several topics on his EP, Grant flexes his rhyming skills on every track. The EP also has several standout features from guest artists. 2016 Grammy winner BJ the Chicago Kid is featured on the track “Gotta Be More.” The EP consists of 11 tracks that have a variety of beats that include everything from funk rhythms to classic hip-hop beats. While the production on the record is somewhat varied, Grant’s bars remain consistently impressive.

The Emerald spoke with Grant after his performance at WOW hall last Saturday about touring with Ab-Soul, “The Return of the Cool,” and his aspirations of directing horror movies.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and content.

E: I read that you started your rapping career by participating in rap battles in your hometown of Walterboro, South Carolina. What was that rap battle scene like?

NG: Atlanta too. I graduated high school in Atlanta and most of my ‘existence’ was in Atlanta. But I used to skip schools and go do the battles from age 13 up to when I was 17 or 18. That’s how I sharpened my sword.

E: So you’d just skip school and meet up with your friends to do rap battles? What was that scene like?

NG: In Atlanta, I would just skip class and walk up to [the Clark University campus]. I would challenge whoever I felt the dopest MC was and I would call them out or the person I was with would call them. They’d say ‘my guy’s better than your guy” and we’d battle it out. It’s an ego thing, ya know? There’s only one way to prove it so we’d engage in rap battles to show who’s the best.

E: Did that experience help shape your style and sound?

NG: It made me very witty. It made me very mindful because when you battle you gotta be mindful of the little things or of the flaws that the other person has and of your strengths. You gotta be a mindful person to be a battle rap person, but how that translates to my [recorded] music means that I have to be mindful in different ways. Like my everyday life and my everyday experience. If I keep that mentality of being mindful and knowing what’s going on in my world then I can try to find a clever or witty way to relay that to my fans.

E: Your freestyle on “Sway in the Morning” put you on the map as a premiere lyrical rapper. What was that experience like for you? How did it feel to perform so well on a national stage?

NG: That was the very first time that anybody ever really heard me do anything. So I’ll be forever grateful and indebted to Sway. Heather B and Tracy G too. They provided that platform for me, but I just felt like I had to go up there and do my thing. It could’ve went either way though. It could’ve been ‘oh that guy is wack. We don’t want him to ever come back or hear him again;’ or ‘That guy is great. I want to see him do more stuff.’ Fortunately, it went the latter of the two. That was my moment. You know when Eminem says ‘Lose yourself. You only get one shot.’ Not to be cheesy, but that was my shot.

E: Your debut album “Return of the cool” came out earlier this year. What was the writing and recording process like? Did you have those songs already written before recording or did you go into that process with a blank slate?

NG: A little bit of both. It was me sitting in the studio. It was me having some lyrics already and feeling like ‘OK, I have this topic and this idea, but finding which beat and which production fits each topic.’ For the most part ‘Return of the Cool’ wsa well balanced. It started out like a passion project. I wanted to contribute to what hip-hop was. It actually wasn’t supposed to be an album. It was supposed to be a mixtape that I was just going to throw out for free. It started sounding so good that the record label was like ‘it’s too good to just give away for free. So let’s just make people pay for it.’

E: Do you have any dates set for the release of your full-length debut album?

NG: I’m thinking end of 2017. Sometime in the fourth quarter. It’s titled ‘Sunday Dinner.’ I’ve worked with Usher on that project, hopefully Ab-Soul and a few other people. But I’m going to drop an appetizer before that record drops.

E: I know that you’re an avid Jazz listener. Was the album’s title a reference to Miles Davis’s “Birth of the Cool”? What does the phrase mean in the context of the release?

NG: To be honest I wasn’t thinking about Miles Davis, but that just shows you how the universe works. I did an interview with [hip-hop radio host] Ebro and he brought that to my attention and I thought that was genius in a way. It’s just crazy how it came full circle because I wasn’t even thinking that way, but it’s dope. Miles Davis is someone that I grew up listening to [along with] John Coltrane, Joe Sample. As I grew, it made its way into my subconscious so that when I make records now, all this stuff just pours out. I’m just grateful for all the people in my life who introduced me to that stuff and now I just can’t escape it, even if I wanted to.

E: Who got you into those records?

NG: Definitely my family. I was like 6 years old listening to that stuff. My grandmother raised me. She was born in 1919 so just had a long history of listening to stuff from that time. I would go to my grandfather’s house on the weekends and get those same musical and life lessons. His wife taught piano so that type of music was just around me all the time. My mother would play different stuff that was from her era as well. There was Luther Vandross,  Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, you know all of these people. My brother would be playing Tupac, Biggie, Jay-Z, Nas, Scarface, Outkast. So I really just couldn’t escape it.

I come from a small town where the only thing that goes on is going to school, selling drugs, killing people and listening to music. Music was just my life. I couldn’t escape it.

E: On the song “Gotta do more” you call out other rappers for not doing their due diligence when it comes to lyrics in their song. Why do you think rappers don’t focus on their lyrics as much anymore? What do you think of the current state of lyricism in the rap scene?

NG: I don’t know, man. That’s really a question for them and I’d really like to see their faces when you asked them that. I feel like people don’t really focus on what it was all about. Hip-hop started off in the parties, but it’s really about the message you put out there. People were living in these harsh conditions and their way out was to tell the world about them. Not that it has to be so depressing or that you have to look at it that way, but there’s so much going on in the world that you do these young kids injustice when you don’t speak about the pressing issues.

It’s cool to party, it’s cool to turn up, it’s cool to bounce, but you gotta have a message. For me, it’s like hiding the medicine in the candy. I wanna have fun, you know I’m still young and I still like to party, but for me it’s all about the message. I also don’t think a lot of MCs can be [lyrical rappers] with the exception of J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul and people like that. It’s gonna take a lot more than those guys. So I’m definitely going to contribute to what they’re doing and help lay the blueprint for the next generation. I want to help push the genre in the right direction.

Nick Grant finished his performance at WOW Hall by rapping an a capella freestyle. (@jmoe_graphic)

E: What do you hope to accomplish in your career?

NG: You know I want to do everything. I’d be a fool to sit here and say that I don’t do this for money or for material things, but I also want to help change people’s lives. I look to Tupac as my muse. If I don’t ever reach that then at least I’ll know that I was on the right path. He was a very versatile person, a very revolutionary person who was very honest about his life and I strive to be like that.

I look at that as the reason to be in this business. To be authentic, to tell stories that people can’t tell themselves because they don’t have a voice. I feel like that’s my job. To come in and say ‘this is wrong’ or ‘this is right.’ People might listen to be more because I can say it over a beat instead of just saying it in regular conversation. So I feel like the number one thing is for me to speak honesty and truth. But I also want to act and I also want to make movies. I also want direct movies and music videos. I want to do all sorts of things throughout my career.

E: Do you have any movie ideas in the works?

NG: I’m a horror movie kind of guy, so something along those lines.

E: What are some of your favorite horror movies?

NG: I’m old school so I’m a big fan of “Friday the 13th,” “Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Candyman,” “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” — not the older, older one, but the one that came out like ten years ago. Those are dope.

Check out the Emerald’s interview with Tame Impala bassist Cameron Avery here.

Follow Zach Price on Twitter: @zach_price24

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When DJ Kerosene took the stage at WOW Hall on Saturday night, he introduced himself then asked the crowd, “Eugene, are you ready for some real hip-hop tonight?” Only half the venue was full at that point, but those who arrived early were in for a treat.

Opening act Nick Grant took the stage after Kerosene energized the audience with a brief set. The up-and-coming rapper sported a black headband while wearing a Pedro Martinez Mets jersey. As he walked onstage, he grabbed the mic and threw its chord over his shoulder. Kerosene dropped the beat and Grant started rapping his song “Black Sinatra.”

Atlanta-based rapper Nick Grant impressed the audience at WOW hall with his freestyle skills. (CC: @jmoe_graphic)

After performing “Drug Lord Couture” — a song both lyrically and instrumentally reminiscent of ‘90s gangsta rap — Grant showed off his ability to flow over just about anything. He spit bars over the beat to Kanye West’s “Father Stretch My hand pt.1.” He then seamlessly transitioned to rapping over the beat to Kendrick Lamar’s “M.A.A.D. City.” This won over the crowd. He ended the remixes by rapping, “They don’t have to play my shit, tell the radio to suck my dick.”

The rest of Grant’s performance featured several tracks from his recently released EP “Return of the Cool.” Halfway through his set, Grant said, “This is by far one of the best cities I’ve performed at in a while.” Emphatically, the crowd responded with cheers.

Grant finished by showing off his freestyle abilities. He rapped several lines off the top of his head, then then thanked the crowd for its generosity.

An hour after Grant finished his set, the night’s headlining act Ab-Soul took the stage. His DJ and a fellow rapping MC joined him on stage. Wearing his signature sunglasses and holding a soon-to-be empty bottle of Hennessy to the sky, Ab-Soul asked the crowd “Y’all ready to turn the fuck up?”

The Los Angeles-based rapper implored the audience to chant the lyrics to his song “RAW” along with him. “RAW backwards on all these rappers. RAW backwards on all these rappers,” they chanted.

“Make some fucking noise if you love your mama,” Ab-Soul said

By the time Ab-Soul ended his first song, WOW Hall was bumping. A concentrated grouping of fans moshing near the front of the stage caused the side-stage speakers to shake. The sheer noise forced a security guard to dig through their pockets to find a pair of earplugs.

It was a rowdy night.

“You know how I know that God’s a girl?” Ab-Soul asked the audience just over halfway through his set. “Because life’s a bitch.” This queued his DJ to play the beat to Ab-Soul’s “Womanogomy.” The song is a dedication to all the women in his life.

“Make some fucking noise if you love your mama,” Ab-Soul said. “If you love your mama like I do, then you should love this song.” He continued to play his hit single “D.R.U.G.S.” The crowd sang every word with him.

Pressed for time, Ab-Soul informed the audience he would only be playing one more song and wouldn’t be doing an encore. He ended the night by playing “YMF,” the final track from his recently released album “Do What Thou Wilt.”

Thanking the crowd and saying goodnight, Ab-Soul left the stage after an hour. A short set and no encore usually make for a bad show, but Ab-Soul and Nick Grant impressed the audience with their technical rapping skills and energetic performances.

Check out the Emerald’s review of Whitney’s performance in Eugene here

Follow Zach Price on Twitter: @zach_price24

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On Friday, the University of Oregon Students for Global Health Club is hosting a benefit concert to raise money for a rural Ugandan village. The club is working with a Ugandan organization called the Kigezi Healthcare Foundation to raise $5,000 for a motorcycle ambulance.

The concert will be held at 385 E 19th Ave. Its lineup consists of local Eugene bands Illaquips, The Sunday Bump, The Heads Up and Spiller. Raffle prizes include gift cards to Dutch Bros, Pegasus Pizza and Cafe Roma. A guided hike to the top of a desert tower in Utah is also included in the raffle.

The horn line of Sunday Bump performs at a recent show. (Courtesy of Charles DeMonnin)

The club first became involved with the Kigezi Foundation after club member and event organizer Camryn Long interned in Uganda with the foundation last year.

Long, a UO senior majoring in human physiology, met the organization’s medical director and founder, Dr. Geoffrey Anguyo. The doctor has worked closely with people in the region to help improve overall health. The staff has helped provide thousands with accessible medical, dental, maternal and child care.

“It’s truly an incredible organization,” Long said. “[It] has made a world of an impact on the general health of the Kigezi region.”

Anguyo came to the UO last year as a guest lecturer and spoke with the Global Health Club. His goal was to organize a fundraising event in Eugene to benefit the clinic. After hearing the doctor speak about the amazing ways his clinic helps the citizens of Southwest Uganda, Long and the rest of the club jumped on board.

“That region is very rural and is highly populated,” Long said. “Sometimes the nearest [hospital] is 18 miles away. This ambulance would really help them.”

Club member and concert co-organizer Lindsey Carmen loved the idea of a benefit concert because she says it’s easy for college students to forget that people are struggling around the world. She understands that it’s not always easy to find a way to help people who live on the other side of the globe.

“Our motto is think globally, act locally,” Carmen said.

Along with this benefit concert, the Global Health club has hosted several bake sales and started a Crowdfunding account to raise money.

“We didn’t have a huge turnout for the bake sale, so we need a big turnout this weekend,” Carmen said. “The villagers down there really need [the ambulance].”

The Ugandan benefit concert is currently the club’s main priority, but they are always working on some sort of fundraising event. Later this month the club is hosting a 5k run to raise awareness for a nonprofit called Partners in Health. The Boston-based organization provides affordable healthcare for low-income families around the world.

The run will take place on Sunday, April 30.

Long says work like this can often prove to be exhausting, but it’s also some of the most rewarding work she’s ever done.

“The more effort you put into it, the more you get out of it and the more opportunities you get to help people out,” she said.

Long’s mom — who worked with low-income families around the world — was the first to inspire her to think more globally about issues of poverty and health care. Since coming to UO, Long has spent time volunteering in India and Uganda. Joining the Global Health Club was a natural fit.

“Global health is something that I’m super passionate about,” Long said. “I just think that it’s really cool to take a step back from our personal problems here at UO and think about the entire globe for a second. It’s really awesome to be part of a community that has the same perspective.”

But as Long know’s, passion alone doesn’t save the world. Long’s club uses concerts and other events to fund their ambitious projects.

“This event is a smart way to raise money, raise awareness and raise spirits at the same time,” Sunday Bump’s alto saxophone player Lee Burlingame said. “It is important to support events like this, where the funds raised will be used wisely to make a real positive impact on a community in need. We can’t wait to rock it!”

A $3 donation via either Venmo or cash will grant people entrance to the concert. The donation also serves as an entry for the event’s raffle. Those who aren’t able to attend the event on Friday can still support the cause. Online donating is available under the Kigezi Healthcare Foundation page on youcaring.com.

Follow Zach on Twitter: @Zach_Price24

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Eugene-native Silas Baxter-Neal has spent more time on his skateboard than he has walking on the ground, or so he claims. The professional skater said that ever since his older brother gave him his first board as a 6-year-old, he hasn’t stopped skateboarding.

The first skatepark Baxter-Neal ever skated at was Amazon Park, which is minutes south of the University of Oregon campus. He immediately fell in love with the park and what he calls an alternative community of outcasts.

“Every free moment I had I was on my skateboard,” Baxter-Neal said. “As soon as I was done with my homework I would go to the park and stay there until dark.”

There he learned to ollie and landed his first kickflip, but it wasn’t long before he moved on to trying more complicated tricks like varial flips and 360 pop-shoves.

For people like Baxter-Neal and countless others around the world, skateboarding provides a positive and healthy outlet for a community usually excluded from mainstream society. For them, skateboarding is much more than just a hobby or pastime — it’s a way of life.

At age 16, Baxter-Neal earned his first sponsorship from a local skate shop called Boardsports and just six years later he went pro. He didn’t always want to be a pro skater though. He played traditional sports like soccer and basketball when he was younger, but he quickly lost interest as he grew older.

“It started getting really competitive,” Baxter-Neal said. “I just wanted to have fun as a kid. So I was drawn more to skateboarding because it was challenging, but I wasn’t competing against anyone else. It was just me trying to get better at skateboarding and trying to learn new things. The only competition was with myself.”

Like Baxter-Neal, local skater Connor Robinson was first attracted to the sport because he could do it alone.

“You can do it all the time,” Robinson said. “You don’t need a group to [skateboard]. It’s nice to have a group to do it, but you can do it by yourself too.”

For many, skateboarding is a mode of individual expression that takes time and dedication to perfect.

In 2014, Eugene’s Parks and Recreation department opened the Washington-Jefferson Skatepark to the public under the I-105 bridge. The park — which at 23,000 square-feet is the largest undercover skatepark in the nation — was built by Dreamland Skateparks. Based in Lincoln City, Dreamland has built more than 100 parks worldwide. Some of its most famous parks include the Adriatic Bowl in Fano, Italy and the 2016 Van’s World Championship skatepark in Malmo, Sweden.

“It’s awesome to be on this end of skateboarding,” said Dreamland team member Joey Martin. “It’s amazing to help people achieve their own personal goals.”

Connor Robinson grinds the top of a bowl at the WJ Skatepark and Urban Plaza in Eugene, Ore. on March 22, 2017. (Aaron Nelson/Emerald)

Martin says that for any community to thrive, it needs a meeting place to do what it wants to do. A skateboarding community can’t be healthy without a skatepark.

“There’s a lot of good people who are sharing ideas together,” Martin added. “And a skatepark becomes a place where those ideas can be a reality.”

Skateparks often provide a sanctuary for many, but they also carry some negative assumptions. Baxter-Neal feels that they are widely known for attracting all kinds of illicit behaviors. Many skaters say that it’s almost never the people who are actually skating that are using drugs; usually it’s the people who are just hanging around the parks.

In Eugene, many skaters say that the Washington-Jefferson skatepark is routinely patrolled by local law enforcement due to a heightened risk of illegal activities such as vandalism, drug use and assault.

While skateparks might carry these associations, they have the same if not lower crime rates as other public parks.

In 2009, the Tony Hawk Foundation surveyed 102 law enforcement officers who frequently patrol skateparks in 37 states. The survey showed that almost half of the officers questioned cited a decrease in overall youth crime since a skatepark opened in their area.

Despite these negative assumptions, Baxter-Neal says that skateparks fill an important role in communities.

“A lot of the time the people who are attracted to skateboarding need a different sort of community that isn’t in the mainstream,” Baxter-Neal said. “Without having skateparks or a skateboarding community, a lot of those people will be drawn in a direction that isn’t so healthy. I think that by having skateparks and a skateboarding community, you’re including a group of people who isn’t usually included.”

Local skater Brody Petulla has been to the Washington-Jefferson Skatepark every dry day since he moved to Eugene. He’s familiar with the public’s assumptions about skateboarders. He doesn’t deny that some of them are true, but he says skaters are singled out.

Petulla says that there are criminals and drug addicts in all aspects of life, “but people just like to point out the fact that sometimes those people are the ones holding skateboards.”

Martin from Dreamland has been building skateparks for more than 15 years and he agrees with Petulla’s observation.

Brody Petulla attempts a one-footed grab at the WJ Skatepark and Urban Plaza in Eugene, Ore. on March 22, 2017. (Aaron Nelson/Emerald)

“There’s bad stuff that happens [in skateparks], but that same stuff happens at the tennis courts or other places in the park,” Martin said. “People don’t want to believe it or accept it, but it’s true.”

While perceptions are generally negative, Martin says people in Oregon are much more supportive of the skateboarding community. According to him, Oregon has some of the best skateparks in America. People travel from all over the nation to skate the parks that Oregon has to offer. Much of this is thanks to Dreamland, who has built a large portion of the parks across the state, including parks in Portland, Newberg, Astoria and Pendleton.

“Oregonians are very supportive of skatepark culture.” Martin said. “We just built a skatepark in Nebraska and it took them five to seven years before they raised enough to get it. And for them, there’s probably not another skatepark anywhere in the same vicinity. We’re super fortunate here in the Pacific Northwest.”

Martin says that Oregon supports skate culture better than other communities in the world, but not everybody feels that way. Petulla thinks that skateboarding still has a long way to go before it gets the respect that it deserves.

“It took us so fucking long to get [Washington-Jefferson] park,” Petulla said. “So I don’t think that many local governments or even this local government gives a shit about skateboarding. They just think it’s a nuisance.”  

Whether Eugene supports skateboarding enough is subjective, but the benefits of a community embracing the sport are not. Without the support of local governments to help build skateparks, this often outcasted community can be led down a path that perpetuates the stereotype that skaters are often perceived to be.  

“The Washington-Jefferson skatepark spent over a million dollars, but you go down there and see how many people use that park and it makes it all worth it,” Martin Said. “People try to put a dollar value on those things, but you just can’t.”

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Brad Quiseng waits outside the dance studio on the second floor of the Student Recreation Center, greeting his fellow team members with a smile as they arrive for practice on the quiet, rainy night in Eugene. As the rest of the team begins to warm up, he goes over the practice itinerary one last time. While most students are busy studying for finals, Quiseng and the rest of the University of Oregon Hip-Hop Dance Club are preparing for their most important competition of the year: the Unified Collegiate Breaking League’s (UCBL) 2017 National Championship.

The team is headed to San Francisco for the 12-team tournament that begins with a round-robin group stage. After each team has competed against each other in a series of dance-offs, a panel of judges picks a team to advance to the next round.

The University of Oregon Hip-Hop Dance Club pose during practice. (Aaron Nelson/Emerald)

“It’s a showcase of how a B-boy in college can balance school and breaking,” said club Vice President Lance Chau. “Like your passion versus your academics and I think that’s really cool. It shows that you can still do what you love while going to school.”

The team didn’t place when it participated in the competition for the first time last year, but with last year’s experience and a team full of senior members, both Quiseng and Chau feel good about the team’s chances at advancing past group stage this year. 

There were only five members when the team was unofficially founded over eight years ago. Since then the team has become an official university club and has seen its membership more than triple in size. Part of that is thanks to the club’s willingness to teach other students.

Read about fellow UO dance club the Duck Street Dancers here.

“We have an open door policy,” Chau said. “Anyone that walks in and wants to learn, we will teach them. Regardless of gender or age… You don’t even have to have dance experience. You can come in not knowing anything and then within two months you’ll know so much. We try to break it down so anyone can learn.”

While the club’s membership has grown recently, they often struggle to attract the right type of dancer. It’s difficult to see the differences between hip-hop and other forms of dancing.

Members of the University of Oregon Hip-Hop Dance Club watch as one member practices his individual routine. (Aaron Nelson/Emerald)

“When people think about hip-hop dance they think about the Jabbawockeez or the people they’ve seen on ‘America’s Best Dance Crew,’ which is more like choreography. That’s not actual hip-hop,” Quesing said. “Break dancing is people spinning on their heads, the footwork on the floor, doing the rocking standing up or the top-rocks and power moves like the crazy flares and freezes. That’s really the true hip-hop dance.”

The Hip-Hop Dance Club provides a unique experience for its members that Chau said is not often common in other sports due to the close community at dance competitions. 

“Usually you do your sport but then you go home after. You you don’t know the people you just competed against,” Chau said. “But with dancing you compete with these people and oftentimes you’ll go and get a drink later, go get food after and you get to know them, know where they’re from. It’s a very open community.”

Check out the Emerald’s Q&A with Tame Impala touring bassist Cameron Avery here.

Follow Zach Price on Twitter: @zach_price24

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On Saturday night, indie-pop band STRFKR will perform a hometown show in Portland at the Roseland Theater. Brooklyn duo Psychic Twins will open the show.

The band’s frontman, Joshua Hodges, originally founded the band as a solo project in 2007. Hodges added bassist/keyboardist Shawn Glassford and drummer Keil Corcoran after recording and releasing the band’s first EP alone. Since then, STRFKR has played several worldwide tours, released four full-length studio albums and accumulated a strong cult following.

The Portland-based trio is currently touring in support of its fifth studio album, titled “Vault Vol. 1.” The album is filled with 20 previously unheard tracks that didn’t make the final cut for its debut self-titled EP. With the exception of “Only Humans,” which clocks in at over six minutes in length, most of the songs only last for a minute or two. It is by no means a cohesive record, and the band knows it, too. The intention of releasing these tracks is to provide an insight into the band’s writing process. The record is just the first of three such albums that the band plans to release. 

After making their homecoming stop in Portland, STRFKR will continue the tour heading south. First to Boise then onto California, where they will play four cities in four nights.

Watch the video for “Open Your Eyes” below:

Check out the Emerald’s Q&A with Tame Impala touring bassist Cameron Avery here.

Follow Zach Price on Twitter: @zach_price24

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On Friday night, multi-instrumentalist Cameron Avery will perform at the Holocene in Portland in support of his first solo record, “Ripe Dreams, Pipe Dreams.” Avery is best known as the current touring bassist for Kevin Parker’s main project, Tame Impala, and as the former drummer of Australian psych-rock band POND.

Unlike his previous work — which mostly stayed within the psych-rock genre — this record takes an introspective step back. Filled with soft melodies and slow love ballads, Avery’s voice bellows over the record like a big band singer from the mid-1940s. While this album is much slower paced than anything listeners have heard from him in the past, Avery delivers a cohesive record that digs into his romantic endeavors. 

The Emerald spoke with Avery before his Portland show to discuss the new record and how working with Tame Impala and Pond have done little to influence his solo career.

Cameron Avery has toured with Tame Impala since 2013. His first solo album, ‘Ripe Dreams, Pipe Dreams’ is out now. (Zackery Michael)

Emerald: So you’re doing a solo tour right now. How does that compare to touring with your band POND, or Tame Impala? What are some differences and similarities?

Cameron Avery: Playing with Tame is obviously different. The music is different but it’s still fun playing the big shows, festivals and things like that. It’s a completely different style of music whereas my stuff, I do have my full band, but the music is so, so different. I’m playing my songs, which obviously have a different emotional weight to it. Playing your songs rather than playing bass on someone else’s is totally different.

E: I actually saw you play with Tame in Portland last August. You guys did the Waterfront show (Project Pabst) and it was a really great show. That tour you guys had a super crazy light show with trippy graphics. Have you incorporated any of those types of effects into this current tour or is it totally different?

CA: My stuff couldn’t be further from Tame Impala music. This is just, a drummer, bass player, another guitarist and a keys player. My stuff is really quite and stripped back. It’s more like barroom kind of style rather than festival and stadium style if you know what I mean.

E: What are some of the pros and cons of going from headlining a festival to playing some of these smaller shows?

CA: I don’t know. Like I said, Tame lends itself to those big festival shows and things like that. With my stuff, maybe not so much. I played a show in London a couple weeks ago to 20 people, a private thing, it was like a press thing. It was fun. I liked it because you can see everyone. The energy: You can talk to the audience. You can focus on a different side of, I guess me, or anyone. It’s a lot more conversational. 

Cover artwork for Cameron Avery’s ‘Ripe Dreams, Pipe Dreams.’ The album was released Feb. 13 through Anti Records. (Via cameronavery.com)

E: Speaking of your new album, I love the title ‘Ripe Dreams, Pipe Dreams’ by the way, but can you tell me a little bit about the album.

CA: I played most of everything, drums, bass, guitar, piano and all the singing. And I did some of it in a tiny little studio in L.A. near my house in my friend’s garage. And then I met Owen Pallett. He’s a string arranger, and so he put strings on one of the tunes and then I was like this could be it, the theme that ties it all together.

Then I kept moving. Next we went to Electro Vox Studio, right down there on Melrose in Hollywood. I did a bunch of recording there. Like two or three days there. And I also went out to a studio in Santa Monica. It was sort of like over a couple years, whenever I got time off from my touring schedule I was recording for the sake of it just because I wanted to do something.

E: So are these songs that you’ve written over the past several years and have had piling up or did you just sit down to write all these in the studio?

CA: I wrote them one by one as they came out. It’s all pretty autobiographical, kind of exactly what happened. It was just literally as they were coming out I was recording so I did this album over like two-and-a-half years.

E: What were you trying to accomplish with this album? What would you say the concept of it is?

Avery: I don’t know. I originally started this recording thinking I’ll make another Growl album. There was no way I was going to have a world-conquering career with this album that sounds like this. I mean, there’s no trap beats in sight or anything like that (laughs).

It’s a very self-indulgent album. I was humoring every indulgence and desire and everything I wanted to make. Lyrically and musically it’s the most self-indulgent thing I’ve ever done. I just wanted to see if I could make an album that sounds like this and sounded good. That was really the main thing. I was trying to be as honest with myself as possible. That was really one of the main realizations. ‘Come on Cameron. Let’s make something totally uncompromising.’

E: Do you think that was easier or more difficult to try and do that while touring and making this music on the road?

CA: It came out pretty natural. Like I said, I didn’t have so much pressure on myself. I just recorded when I had time. I definitely worked a lot during this album. You know? Sometimes you confront yourself with something and you want to change it… I wanted to be honest with myself and let it be and do instinctively what came naturally to me.

E: You started touring with Tame Impala in late 2013. Do you think that experience has changed your musical style at all, and did it affect the making of this album at all?

CA: No. Kevin (Parker) has been one of my closest friends for years. Musically we couldn’t be further apart at the moment, but I guess I’ve always looked up to him and he will go down as one of the great songwriters, musicians, innovators in music. That’s what’s rubbed off on me is his ambition and attention to detail; he’s forever surgical. That’s probably the only thing that’s changed where I’m playing in Tame a lot more.

Me and Kevin lived together before I was in the band. It allowed me to move to the States, and moving to the States, being in L.A. had a massive effect on the sonic landscape of this album. Being able to record in those old Hollywood soundstages is pretty amazing.

E: You’ve kind of been a “journeyman” of a musician, if you will. You’ve been in several bands touring all over the place. Have you always wanted a career like that, or would you consider settling down with a single band at some point, or do you like being all over the place?

CA: I don’t know. I guess I’ve kind of just gone with it and done what’s made me happy everyday. I feel like I’ll never stop playing with Tame I don’t think because I love those guys, and Kevin, I think in other ways, rather than musically, is responsible for inspiring me to make music, and I will always respect that in him. I’ll always play in Tame, and I will always make my music.

It’s just going to be Tame and my stuff for a while. I might work on some other — not music, like other creativity, writing stuff. I don’t really have a plan. I kind of just do what I want to do when I want to do it and that’s a nice luxury to have.

Tickets for Avery’s performance on Friday, March 24 at Holocene are available from Ticketfly.

Follow Zach on Twitter: @Zach_Price24

The post Q&A: Cameron Avery, Tame Impala touring bassist, is ‘totally uncompromising’ on first solo record appeared first on Emerald Media.

The legendary Los Angeles-based group the Red Hot Chili Peppers are currently touring in support of their 11th studio album “The Gateway.” This is the second album that the band has released since guitarist Josh Klinghoffer replaced long-time member John Frusciante in 2009. Many fans worried that the band’s material would decline after Frusciante quit. That suspicion seemed to be confirmed when the Chili Pepper’s 2011 record “I’m With You” tanked in the charts.

The band took a five-year hiatus before releasing “The Gateway” last year, but the wait was well worth it. The band’s latest record shows a clear maturation of Klinghoffer’s musical style. His progression fits perfectly with the band’s new, more modern musical direction. The album topped the charts, finishing at number 2 on Billboard’s top 200, trailing only Drake’s album “Views.”

Former Chili Pepper and Pearl Jam drummer Jack Irons and New Orleans-based jazz/funk group Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue opened the show. Shorty brought the crowd to their feet with his cover of Green Day’s “Maggot Brain.” His engaging, energetic performance ended just before 9 p.m. on Wednesday night.

Just 20 minutes after Shorty and his band left the stage, Chili Pepper drummer — and Will Ferrell look-alike — Chad Smith took the stage. The band’s percussionist was sporting his usual bright-red jumpsuit. World-renowned bassist Flea joined smith on stage along with Klinghoffer. The trio kicked off the show with an improvisational jam session.

Once their jam resolved, Smith started beating his drums with increasing speed and volume. Klinghoffer followed suit by teasing the intro riff to the band’s hyperactive-hit “Can’t Stop.”Just as Smith queued him to start singing, lead singer Anthony Kiedis danced on stage and grabbed the mic.

After cruising through their first three songs, the band finally addressed the crowd. “Hello, Portland. We’re happy you showed up.”  Kiedis Said, “Now let’s dance. Let’s dance! What the fuck!” This prompted Klinghoffer to start playing the intro from the album’s lead single “Dark Necessities.”

Throughout the night the entire band performed with full energy. Each member seemed genuinely excited to be there as if there was no other place they’d want to be than in Portland, Oregon on a rainy Wednesday night. While each member was on their A-game, Flea absolutely stole the show.

Although he only stands at 5 foot 6, Flea is truly larger than life. The way he aggressively plucks his instrument’s strings and holds its neck with such authority is unlike any other performer. When he settles the bass’s strap over his shoulder, it’s no longer an external entity. It becomes an extension of him, like a third arm or extra hand.

“Hello, Portland. We’re happy you showed up. Now let’s dance. Let’s dance! What the fuck!”

When the band finished their set with the title track off their 2001 album “By the Way” and Flea handed his bass to a stage tech, he looked naked without it. There has never been a man more destined to play the bass than this 54-year-old bald man with a gap in his front teeth.

The Chilies came out for a two-song encore shortly after finishing their initial set. While the rest of the band headed straight for the instruments, Flea reappeared on stage in a perfectly formed handstand. He then made his way across the entirety of the stage before dismounting to play the encore.

After the set was completely over and the band had left the stage, Flea thanked the audience in his usual Flea exuberance. “Peace and love,” he said. “Goodnight!”

Setlist:

“Intro Jam”
“Can’t Stop”
“Dani California” 
“Zephyr Song”
“Dark Necessities”
“She’s Only 18”
“Right on time”
“Go Robot”
“Flea and Josh Jam”
“Californiacation”
“The Longest Wave”
“Tell Me Baby”
“Dreams of a Samurai” 
“Suck my Kiss”
“Under the Bridge”
“By the way”

Encore:

“Chad Drum solo”
“Goodbye Angels”
“Give it away”

The post Flea steals the show at the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Portland concert appeared first on Emerald Media.

As winter term’s stress-filled dead week comes to a close, many students are looking for any type of distraction they can to relieve them from their school-induced anxiety. Thankfully, there’s good news. St. Patrick’s day is this Friday. Although there may not be the usual wild party atmosphere you’d expect due to upcoming finals, there’s still plenty of time for celebration. Here’s everything you’ll need to ensure that this year’s St. Patty’s Day is one to remember. 

History

Everyone claims that they’re Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. In fact, there are actually more Irish Americans than actual Irish citizens — a lot more. According to a Census Bureau study, there are 34.7 million Americans who claim to have Irish ancestry. That’s seven times more than the actual population of Ireland, but not everyone has the Celtic knowledge to back it up. Here’s a few facts that will make you seem like a true Irelander, whether or not you actually are.

• St. Patrick (385-461) wasn’t actually Irish. The man who is known as the “Apostle of Ireland” was actually born in the U.K.  After becoming a Bishop, Patrick popularized Catholicism in the Emerald Isle as a missionary.
• St. Patrick is celebrated for ridding Ireland of all snakes, but according to National Geographic, snakes haven’t inhabited Ireland since the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago. The snakes are believed to be a thinly veiled metaphor for pagans.
• The holiday is celebrated annually on the anniversary of St. Patrick’s death, March 17. While it’s a national holiday in Ireland and an official feast day for the Catholic Church, countries across the world participate in St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
• The popular shamrock imagery derives from his explanation of the holy trinity to the Irish people using its leaves. Since then, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated with decorations of shamrocks and the plant’s color.

Wear

Don’t be the one person who doesn’t wear any green on St. Patrick’s Day. Whether it’s just a four leaf clover sticker or a full on leprechaun outfit or somewhere in between, find something that will keep pinching fingers away. For those who are looking to really up their St. Patty’s wear and support the Ducks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, check out the officially licensed Irish themed sports gear at the Duck Store.

Eat

The Irish don’t have the greatest culinary reputation. Their diet is mostly comprised of dishes that feature boiled, baked, mashed and any other possible forms of bland  potatoes. Don’t let that keep you from eating well on Friday. There are plenty of tasty Irish recipes that will hit the spot too.

For people who are looking to commit to a traditional Irish dinner, corned beef with cabbage is the answer. Nothing is more Irish than this traditional meal. Slowly roast the corned beef in a sea of cabbage and other assorted vegetables for a tender, juicy meal.

This Irish soda bread recipe is a great way for people to put something in their stomach before going out for a long night of drinking. It’s quick and easy, but surprisingly full of flavor. Just toss eggs, flour and sugar into a pan then put it in the oven on low heat for an hour and it’ll be ready for consumption.

Like chocolate cake? Then finish off the night with a Irish cream chocolate cheesecake that is guaranteed to hit the spot. This recipe is a traditional Irish dessert that combines Bailey’s Irish Cream with a cookie crumb-filled crust to make a rich and filling dessert.

Drinks

If there’s one thing that the Irish take more seriously than drinking, it’s drinking Guinness on St. Patrick’s Day. What would St Patrick’s Day be without Ireland’s world-famous beer? For over 250 years, this traditional stout has been brewed from slow-roasted hops that give it a smooth, dark flavor. When preparing for the holiday, just be aware that people’s eyes might be bigger than their stomachs when it comes to drinking Guinness. College students often aren’t able to down these dark brews quite as easily as the light beer they’re used to drinking. If the dark tones of Guinness are too much, then try a pint of Murphy’s Irish Stout. It has a light and sweet flavor, but it still packs the same Irish authenticity.

Many people want to celebrate the Irish’s tradition of drinking on this holiday but don’t want all the calories that come with drinking beer. Bailey’s Irish Cream and Jameson’s Irish Whiskey are great substitutes. Mix either Bailey’s or Jameson’s with strong coffee and top it with whipped cream to make Irish Coffee. For those who don’t want to spend their Friday sipping on coffee, try taking a shot of an Irish Flag: Just combine Bailey’s with creme de menthe and Licor 43 to form a green-orange-white colored shot.

Can’t decide between drinking beer and mixed drinks? No need to decide. Try an Irish Car Bomb. Just drop a shot of Bailey’s and Jameson’s into a pint of Guinness and chug. Most people decide to chug the drink as quickly as possible because the Bailey’s will curdle if left sitting for too long.

Be mindful of Irish stereotypes and drink responsibly.

For more drinking tips, check out the Emerald’s do’s and dont’s of campus barhopping  

Follow Zach Price on Twitter: @zach_price24

The post St. Patrick’s Day starter kit: Everything you’ll need to feel the luck of the Irish appeared first on Emerald Media.

Before he took the stage, audience members discussed what outfit Ty Segall would be sporting Sunday night: “What do you think he’s going to wear tonight? That crazy cape, again?” This type of conversation is typical for a Ty Segall performance.

After releasing his second self-titled record earlier this year, Ty Segall stopped in Eugene for the second date of his 22-city US tour.

Along with his flashy attire that often features David Bowie-esque makeup and distractingly bright-red shirts, the psych-rock guitarist is best known for creating a sound that better fits in the 1970s than the late 2010s. The crowd reflected styles from that era too. Heads were bobbing and bodies were bumping like they were seeing The Doors at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles, rather than a Hi-Fi Music Hall show in Eugene, Oregon.

Local funk doo-wop group Pancho + The Factory — who were featured at last year’s Willamette Music Festival — opened the show for Ty Segall with an energetic performance filled with up-tempo tunes that even had the guy in the back nodding and twisting in rhythm. Lead singer Pancho — a large man with a thick handlebar mustache — sounded in the same vein as Fred Schneider from the B-52’s. Local acts are often a toss up between unbearable and really good, but Pancho + The Factory were most certainly the latter.

Once Pancho and his band had finished their hour long set, Segall casually took the stage to help set up equipment with his stage techs. He wore a bright red, Western-style long sleeve shirt, of course. Just before the rest of his band joined him on stage he gave the audience the indication that this was going to be one loud show by strumming his guitar on full volume.

Segall opened the show by playing the hit “Break a Guitar” from his recently released album. The song’s screeching guitars are accompanied by chopping rhythms from the drums and bass. Audience members began crowd surfing during the very first song.

After playing three straight songs to kick off the concert, Segall greeted the crowd and thanked them for attending his band’s first Eugene performance in five years. He introduced the next song by saying, “This song’s about my dog,” then proceeded to sing about his one and only sunshine.  

Before playing a chaotic version of his single “Warm Hands (Freedom Returned)” Segall introduced his band as the Freedom Band. Each member played a lick as their frontman announced their names individually. Segall’s longtime friend and collaborator Mikal Cronin played bass and provided backing vocals for the five-piece group.

Check out the Emerald’s coverage of Vince Staples’s performance at the Roseland Theater on March 1 here.

Following their performance of Fuzz’s early hit, Segall and his Freedom Band broke into a mostly instrumental jam session that consisted of only five lines of lyrics during a 15-minute period. After the admirably disorientating breakdown, the band broke into the intro to The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” as both Segall and lead guitarist Emmett Kelly picked the solo simultaneously.

After introducing his sister — who was welcomed by the crowd with chants of “Alex! Alex!” — and playing a combination of his older material and music from his new album, Segall finished his set and high-fived a single audience member before leaving the stage.

Chants of “one more song” from the audience led to Segall and his band’s return to the stage for a brief but epic encore that perfectly capped off his hour-and-a-half-long set.

Between Pancho and Segall’s bands, the performances at Hi-Fi on Sunday night made for a fun, energetic night of punk music.

Follow Zach on Twitter: @zach_price24

Update: An earlier version of this article referred to Segall’s sister as Alice. Her name is actually Alex. 

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