aprii 16.2004 *
MUSIC
W
hen Southeast Portland rock venue
The Blackbird closed last fall, indepen
dent artists with a penchant for experi-
mentalism lost their landing pad. And
listeners looking for an alternative to the soul
less downtown haunts found themselves staring
at a gaping hole in the PDX music community.
So thank goodness for Nocturnal, an inti
mate East Burnside all-ages venue with a
downstairs bar. The always queer-friendly spot
goes girl crazy this month with Atlanta
singer/songwriter Michelle Malone on April 23
and recent Portland transplant Tara Jane
O ’Neil (formerly of Rodan, Retsin and The
Sonora Pine) on April 29.
Both artists have built fiercely independent
careers, releasing records on their own labels
and making music solely to feed their muses.
Sonically, O ’Neil is all over the map. Her
solo material often submerges deep below the
surface, quietly searching, offering few answers.
But for the better part of last year, she played
bass in King Cobra, a twisted prog-metal trio.
“It’s good for me to exercise as many musi
cal muscles as 1 can,” she tells Just Out. “1 make
beauty music, but I also need to rock and play
more jagged stuff.”
O ’Neil (known as T JO to her fans) is carv
ing her own path as an independent artist. Her
music is widely variant, and her home base is a
moving target (Portland via N YC via
Louisville, Ky.). Sometimes she’s the studio
whiz (Antietam), sometimes she’s the sideman
(Papa M). Sometimes she’s a solo performer,
and sometimes she’s a collaborator.
Then, when she’s not writing/producing/
recording music, O ’Neil focuses on visual
media. In 2003, Japanese publisher Map Press
released her collection of drawings and writ
eatififfout
S
erving
She’ll only come out at night
Queer girl rockers take root at Nocturnal
by
C ori T aratoot
ings, Who Takes a Feather —
but she didn’t expect much.
Now you can find it at any
number of Portland book
and record stores.
“I’m surprised that I ever
got to make a book,” she
shares. “I'm really lucky that
my friends in Japan are fans
of my art stuff.. .I’m happy
that people like it...I
Tara Jane O ’Neil
kind of thought it would
recently moved
be distributed in Japan
to Portland and
only, but it’s spread
around, and that’s surpris married her
sweetheart
ing— and good.”
Recently taking
advantage of Multnomah
County’s legalized same-sex marriage, O ’Neil
exudes freedom and joy when asked how it
feels to be queer and married.
“Portland feels like a good place to be gay.
And in love.... With King Cobra, it’s been really
great to be an out queer onstage in a way that I
wasn’t before. In my own mind, I was always out
onstage, but it hasn’t always come across to the
audience. It isn’t the reason I take the stage, but
it’s important to me to have that in the mix.”
ortland will also likely give a hearty les-
bionic welcome to Malone, who’s no
stranger to the Rose City. A stubbornly
eatingout
eatingout
eatingout
independent artist, she is an activist (“right
now I’m focusing on getting the vote out”) and
an openly queer musician. So it makes sense
eatingout
eatingout
that something about Portland resonates with
the bluesy rockin’ singer/songwriter.
“I love Portland. I’ve actually written some
of my best songs there," she says. “I wrote a
bunch of songs off the new record [Stompin’
Ground]...in Portland last summer. I was sort of
on a roll I guess. Every time I come there,
there’s some big political something going on
in the street down below my hotel. Portland’s a
very creative place, and I can see why.”
But don’t expect to hear Malone proselytiz
ing in her music or in interviews. She’s mostly
interested in the simple things: electric guitars,
Marshall stacks and the Rolling Stones.
“Exile on Main Street and Let It Bleed are
two of my favorite albums,” she admits. “I’m
stuck there. That stuff came out when I was
an infant, but I just love it. T h at’s what turns
me on, that’s the kind of music I like to
make. I decided with this record I was gonna
make the record that 1 wanted to listen to,
and fuck everybody else. I don’t care what
they’re playing on the radio, I don’t care
what’s happening on M T V ...o r what people
are writing or playing— this is what I want to
do. And I’m pretty happy with it.”
Put your concerns away for
the night— and bring your
earplugs. | H
All-ages N o c t u r n a l , 1800 E.
Burnside St . , plays host to Michelle
Malone at 8 p.m. April 23.
Portland queer musician Ashleigh Flynn opens.
Tickets are $10 at the door. Tara Jane O ’Neil plays
at 8 p.m. April 29. Antietam and Davies vs
Dresch open. Tickets are $6 at the door.
CORI T a r a t o o t is a Portland free-lance unter.
ea
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