Sound Stories & Interviews

Something about that cloud is slightly troubling.It's been about nine months since they last dropped into Bend, but
Seattle's Flowmotion is returning once again for another high-energy,
multi-genre rock and roll explosion.

It's been fun to watch
Flowmotion grow over the past two-plus years of playing in Bend. A
jam-packed show at the Annex in late 2007 (which was capped with a
cover of Zeppelin's "The Song Remains the Same") led to a laser-lighted
4 Peaks preview show, which then brought them to the actual 4 Peaks
main stage. At that performance, the band woke up the campgrounds,
bringing the music fans to the stage early for an early afternoon
performance that showcased how big the band's sound can spread when it
has the room.

Raise your freak flag…"We're huge in Holland," says Tyson Maulhardt, the guitarist for the San Francisco band Diego's Umbrella, adding a quick laugh.

Every internationally touring band has some out-of-the way country
where they claim to be "huge," so this isn't necessarily a strange
comment…but Holland? Really? We've heard Japan more than enough times
and Spain also gets tossed around, but this is a first for Holland. But
with a sound that encompasses the music of at least three different
continents, why wouldn't Hollanders go crazy when this quirky yet
musically solid band lights up their local stages?

The Hollanders go nuts for them, but the Germans? Not so much, says
Maulhardt, as he and fiddler Jason Kleinberg discuss the band's third
European tour, which kicks off in September.

"The Germans like to sit there and listen with their hand on their
chins and then they'll come up to you after the show and share their
in-depth observations," says Maulhardt.

Since beginning with Mexicali ambitions in Santa Cruz in 2001, Diego's
Umbrella has prided itself on melting together a mish-mash of world
influences into a surprisingly modern sound. The band's instrumentation
includes a fiddle and accordion and at times their product is that of a
wandering Eastern-European band of minstrels who were abducted by
flamenco masters, and yeah, it's weird, but incredibly accessible. Call
it world music for beginners, if you will. And this is how Maulhardt
says the band has always operated.

Nershi's been letting it grow long since SCI.One of the best things about the scheduled String Cheese Incident
reunion this July at the Rothbury Festival in Michigan is that we no
longer have to refer to Bill Nershi as the "former String Cheese
Incident front man." Well, of course there are some ancillary benefits
like, well, the fact that SCI is back together, albeit for one show,
but together nonetheless.

You'll have to fly out to Michigan to see
the real-deal SCI in 2009, but Nershi is bringing his fast-picking
guitar and trademark folksy vocal stylings to Bend when he teams up
with Portland's Piano Throwers, an all-star cross-genre Americana
troupe. The Piano Throwers are comprised of guitar hero Scott Law (who
plays guitar and mandolin in Nershi's other, other band Honkeytonk
Homeslice), former Leftover Salmon bassist Tye North and Carlton
Jackson, a revered Northwest drummer. So yeah, there's plenty of skill
to be had in that camp.

Lindsey, you forgot your glasses.About a story underground and lounging amongst scattered drum cases and
other instruments, the entirety of Empty Space Orchestra is gathered in
silence while a surging whirlwind of an instrumental rock song thunders
through the room. Lindsey Elias is tapping her feet with the rapidity
of the last bounces of a ping-pong ball, matching the complex rhythms
booming from the computer speakers, which makes sense, because she's
the drummer.

Leaning back in a chair in front of a computer supplying
the aforementioned song, Shane Thomas unleashes a grin from the side of
his mouth as a heavily distorted guitar melts into the song, which
makes sense because he's the guitarist. Bassist, and the band's newest
member, Patrick Pearsall and keyboardist Keith O'Dell stare at the
floor, taking in the song, which they tell me is called "Clouds."
This
is a live recording of a recent rehearsal in the underground practice
space that they share with a number of other local bands, but the new
sound of Empty Space Orchestra comes through clear. It's a tougher,
bigger, beefier, faster sound than on the exclusively instrumental
debut disc, Big Bang, which it should be mentioned, won't hit the
streets until the band's McMenamins show on May 6. A band starkly
changing its sound after only a year in existence isn't typical, and
perhaps not particularly wise, but for Empty Space, a staggeringly
unique rock/jazz/everything else band that's achieved almost un-rivaled
popularity in Bend, it's all understandable.

Emma Hill: Always up for a good disguise.The last time Emma Hill played Bend, she told us about touring the West
Coast by bus - Greyhound bus that is. We caught up with Hill on the eve
of the release of her new record and a release party at the Tower
Theatre and learned that she still plans on touring by bus this summer.

But this time it's her own bus - a "short bus" she bought from a
church group in Arizona and plans to outfit with some personal touches
before she and her band crisscross the country…after finishing up the
school year at Portland State, of course. Transportation changes are
not the only shift for Hill since she packed the Silver Moon in January
of 2008, as evidenced by her new album, Clumsy Seduction. The record
showcases the 21-year-old's gradual shift from songwriting darling to
folk powerhouse. On Clumsy Seduction, Hill is backed by a six-piece
band, thus changing the name of her act to Emma Hill and Her Gentleman
Callers, and also allowing her to push her style closer to that of Neko
Case (and sometimes Jenny Lewis) and away from the whimsical folkie she
played (and played well) on her earlier release, Just Me.

Take a look at that trimmed up Vince Herman. Never a bad time to polish up a taxi.

Sunshine, lollipops and plenty of feedback.The last time the Pink Snowflakes played in Bend, they brought their
bubble machine madness to Players Bar and Grill for a set of the
Portland band's quirky and loud-as-hell psychedelic rock. Back in town
this weekend, the band has covered some new ground since the last
visit, mainly in the form of a trek down to Austin, Texas where they
added their name to the list of 1,800 some bands that performed at the
storied South by Southwest festival.

For a band that seems to pride
itself on weirdness, the Pink Snowflakes kept it true to form at SXSW -
where guitarist Tom McGregor admits the band had "no idea what we were
getting ourselves into" - playing a show at a venue that professed a
"clothing-optional" policy.
"We figured it out a week or two
before we left and thought it would be perfect because we're all about
the slightly weird and thought it would be great to be listening to
this loud, crazy psychedelic rock and freaking out to it," says
McGregor over the phone from his Portland home, "But there only ended
up being one guy naked and it was the guy in charge."