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ture I’ll] conceive the visuals first, or I make
little films for myself that I can score with a
song,” says Waller, who has a degree from
Yale in art, specializing in video installation.
“I love that idea as a method o f writing.”
Dark Unknown, according to Waller, was
written from a “lonely, dark, visual-less place.”
But that doesn’t take away from the richly
spacious imagery the music evokes. “Shallow,”
for instance, showcases Waller’s lyrical apex
by bemoaning futile lunges at post-idealistic
spiritual awakening. His characteristically
acrobatic voice flutters over anxious, white-
noise cellos and plaintive acoustic guitar, like
someone coming to terms with the limits of
his lightbulb life.
“I think that’s maybe an experience a lot of
people have who are my age,” says Waller in
reference to the track. “I feel like the late
twenties and early thirties are rife with of
fensive awakening and great connections, and
it actually kind o f goes away and you’re left
there with these memories o f great inspira
tion and epiphany. I’m not so able to recreate
those anymore.”
Whereas Waller’s last full-length endeavor,
Troubled Times — also released through his
own Napoleon Records label— traversed a
politically charged diatribe against the Bush
era with yins o f governmental admonishing
and yangs o f love-is-crazy entitlement, Dark
Unknown focuses more on introspection.
“It has a kind o f campfire, shamanic vibe,”
Waller offers o f the album. “It sounds very
much like a conjuring o f a kind o f magical,
introspective space where maybe you’re in a
melancholy state but you’re still in touch with
the kind o f ephemeral, magical vitality o f be
ing alive.”
Certainly the fact that five o f the album’s
12 tracks are live— taken from recordings o f
“The Hope Chest” tour— cements that vital
ity, especially on “Q u’Appelle Valley, Sas
katchewan,” a rendition o f Buffy Sainte-Ma-
rie’s tribalesque stomper.The remaining seven
tracks were recorded live-in-studio in single
passes to further augment the immediacy o f
the album.
“There’s certainly a lot about loss and rela
tionships and search for love in the album,”
continues Waller. “The overarching theme in
my mind is really about being at an age that’s
Give It Up
Portland’s LGBTQ arts
community embraces
online fundraising
BY RYAN J. PRADO
Holcombe Waller performs at HRC's
Bridges to Equality brunch
somewhere between being young and being
old and seeing both sides o f that and continu
ing forward.”
And move forward, no doubt, Waller will.
In typical gangbusters fashion, “Surfacing”
will see a quick premiere run in Seattle in
June, then in New York in October, and here
in Portland sometime in the fall. H e’s also
trying to figure out how to tour in April fol
lowing a trio o f album release shows: Febru
ary 20 in Portland at the Alberta Rose The
atre; February 24 in New York City; and
March 2 in San Francisco. All in all, it’s an
other busy year for the troubadour.
“There are certain touchstones, and there
is a lot o f positioning going around,” says
Waller. “I guess it’s planned— that’s one way
to look at it.” J * ]
Take a walk up and down Southeast Haw
thorne on any given weekend, and you’ll see
at least a few different musical acts sardined
onto a sidewalk street corner, busking their
craft to the delight o f passersby and nearby
businesses alike. This seemingly yesteryear
approach to generating some much-needed
cash to the artists involved is both a way to
raise funds and an opportunity for an audi
ence to greet performers in an intimate way.
And while busking is still a viable method
for artists to drum up publicity and funds
for upcoming projects— as is utilizing Satur
day Market booths, pedestrian cold-sell
techniques, etc.— more and more artists are
turning to the Internet to raise money and
to provide donation incentives.
Cover boy Holcombe Waller isn’t the only
one in Portland’s LGBTQ_creative commu-
“You want something for your
money! You at least want a copy
of the finished product, but lots of
people want other little pieces of
the artistic process, too, or to be
Celebrate the release o / T n to t h e D ark U n
known with Holcombe Waller and the Healers
Sunday, February 20 at 7:30 p. m. at the Al
berta Rose Theatre (3000 N E Alberta). Tickets
are $20 in advance, $25 at the door and can be
purchased via albertarosetheatre.com. Special
guests will include Storm Large, China Forbes
and M att Sheehy. For all things Waller, visit
holcombewaller. com.
acknowledged for their support. One
or two of my backers didn’t want
anything, but most people want a
token— an artifact to show they are a
part of something.”
i--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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nity to take to this approach. Filmmakers,
comics writers, musicians and others have
sought the supportive solace o f sites like
Kickstarter, GOFundM e and even good ol’
Facebook to give their projects that extra
push to completion. Kickstarter, in particu
lar, has ballooned in the last year and a half
into a must-use fundraising outlet.
By incentivizing the donation process,
Kickstarter secures a place for those seeking
funds for their projects and enables artists to
give back to those who’re helping them real
ize that sometimes flickering light at the
end o f the tunnel. The site requires an ac
companying video presentation o f your proj
ect, and users allocate increasingly tempting
rewards for those who contribute to make
TIFFANY TALBOTT
OREGON S LGBTO NEWSMAGAZINE
Maloy s offers a fabulous selection o f antique
and fine custom jewelry, as well as restoration and repair services.
—ARIEL GORE, AUTHOR
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