Wednesday, August 10, 2011

The Local Artist Speaks: Stereovision

I met Nancy Hess a lifetime ago when I was a co-host of a show on KBOO called A Voice of Her Own. The program showcased music created by women and we dedicated one show a month to a local talent. One of those programs included a little chit chat with Nancy.

I haven't talked to her in YEARS. I think I bumped into her on Facebook while we were both back on the east coast. She's back in Portland these days and is busy on this great project, Stereovision.

I caught up with the other half of that band, Dave Camp, to talk about the band. You might want to check out their MySpace page and listen to some of their stuff while you read this interview - just click here.

Meet.....Stereovision!!!

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How long have you lived in the Portland area?
10 years

Give us a brief history of your band/project:
Nancy and I met playing a gig in New York in 1999 – she had flown out from Portland to do it
and I was living there at the time. We hit it off and she said if you ever want to do any recording
I have studio in Portland. About year later I literally showed up on her doorstep with a drum kit and a guitar. Nancy had just come out of a record deal with Warner Bros. with her band Seven Day Diary and I had dissolved my band in Austin recently and neither of us were anxious to
get back into trying to be rock stars. But after I went to Burning Man 2001 I got the idea
that there were lots of interesting freaky people doing cool things and started writing
with that in mind. We also wanted to approach what we were doing as more of an
integrated, sonic, visual experience rather than the traditional big rock bands we had been doing. Less focused on the singers and more on the total atmosphere.

What’s the first song you ever learned to play?
I think the first song I learned to play was "When the Saints Go Marching In" on my families
goofy Hammond organ. Now when I hear New Orleans bands play it I'm stoked that for whatever reason that's the one I picked out the book. I suppose it could've been Afternoon Delight!

What’s your favorite local venue to play? To see other bands?
There are lots of great places to play and I'd hate to overlook anyone but it would have to be
the Doug Fir. The sound on stage is always absolutely fantastic, it sounds great in the house,
it feels intimate without being too small, big without being too big.... I've just never had anything but an easy time and a good time playing the Doug Fir. That said, the Someday Lounge and the Alberta Rose Theatre have great onstage and house sound and we have a blast playing those venues as well. We will be playing every other Monday all summer 7 to 9 at Backspace so maybe that will be our favorite venue!

To see bands?:
As long as the band rocks– anyplace is good.

Speaking of other bands, who do you like on the Portland music scene?
Billygoat is awesome! I know they had to change their name- whenever their name their animation is unbelievable and the music is beautiful. Starfucker, Yacht, Climber, Solovox....
We are most often hidden away recording music (we have a business doing commercial and film music) so sometimes it's hard to keep up with everything else. We're going to get out and see everyone this year!

Tell us about a recent “Only in Portland” moment you might have had.
Last weekend I was at the Blue Monk watching some friends of mine The Saloon Ensemble
and it was somebody's birthday. In her honor, they started playing a song wherein
they encourage everyone to take off their clothes. In about 30 seconds the band is in their underwear, the birthday girl is topless, the audience is quickly disrobing, and I've managed to get my jacket and shirt off while banging away on the piano that's on the dance floor. As the song ends a friend of mine taps my shoulder and says, “Hey Dave, I want to introduce you to my brother-in-law he just got in from Missouri.” I stood up, politely looked him in the eye, and said nice to meet you. He cautiously took my hand, his eyes darting back and forth between me and a dance floor full of slightly more than half naked partygoers. In my instinctive rush to good manners it didn't occur to me that perhaps meeting a shirtless volunteer piano pounder in a crowd of stripping lunatics under the direction of a banjo-playing Nine Inch Nails cover band might not be the average Saturday night in Missouri. And I thought, “thank God I don't live in Missouri.”

Finish this sentence: “I cannot live without_____”
Blueberries and chips. Rice chips, potato chips, tortilla chips, whatever. I've got a pretty bad chip problem.

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Stereovision is performing at Music on Main Street TONIGHT - wish I could be there but I need to be on television! Details here.....

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