Eugene weekly., January 13, 2005, Page 31, Image 31

BY SARA BRICKNER
BY EVAN CAEL
Keeping It Real
Stay true. Dance. See Fishbone.
T
Reignition Vol. 1 rocks the WOW Hall with Speedshift (pictured), Cap Gun Suicide, Sweater Club
and Unknown Horizons Friday at 7:30pm. Tickets are $5.
Rock Solid Eugene
Reignition showcases local talent.
F
riday the WOW Hall hosts the first
of what organizers hope will
become a monthly showcase of
rock in Eugene. The show, dubbed
Reignition , is an opportunity for local bands
to come together and create a strong culture
of local music. The masterminds behind
Reignition are the creators of www.eugene-
rockmusic.com (ERM), a new website fea-
turing more than 80 rock bands in Eugene.
“By creating a continuous, cheap,
monthly local rock music showcase to
attend,” said event coordinator Rei
Mastrogiovanni, “ERM aspires to unite
the local bands, fans and the scene. In
addition, all proceeds will go toward the
WOW Hall’s sound system and lights,
which will improve Eugene’s only all-ages
venue, benefiting the scene once again.”
He hopes the shows will work as a step-
ping stone for Eugene’s local music scene
by consistently bringing various local bands
together on one stage to perform for the
hungry music lovers in the community. The
idea is to get the music to the fans and, by
doing that, increase the fan base.
At the first show, check out Cap Gun
Suicide , a punk band out to have fun and to
let people know how they feel about poli-
tics, growing up, and beer. Speedshift has
a hard-driving modern rock sound mixed
with a healthy dose of all-American punk.
Sweater Club claims to defy genre-label-
ing and combines a potent combination of
the melodic horn lines of ska, the energy
and emotion of punk, the message and feel
of reggae, the improvisational abilities of
jazz and the power of rock. Finally,
Unknown Horizons is just a good old
native Eugene rock ‘n’ roll band void of
gimmick, but with a passionate, energized
sound that’s usually bass-heavy and loud.
Come and be a part of the growing
local music scene of Eugene.
ew
Telling Her Story
Kinnie Starr draws on the divine.
B
efore hip hop merged with trance to form trip
hop, before Luscious Jackson broke open the
genre to female musicians, before anyone else
was intertwining rich, silky melodies with urban grit
and groove, Kinnie Star was out there doing it.
By 1996 she had already been scooped up
by a major but quickly found her free flowing,
raw style didn’t mesh. Her most recent release,
Sun Again, taps into natural rhythms that dip and
flow, draws on the energy of reggae, harnesses
the bump of hip hop, and weaves together her
sultry, smooth voice with lyrics that contain an
unmistakably socio-political message.
he night before leaving on a three-
week tour, Angelo Moore, lead
vocalist and saxophonist for
Fishbone, is using his last bit of free time to
see Fahrenheit 9/11. With another tour on the
horizon, several new members, and a new
album in the works, Moore has just now
found the time to contemplate the production.
“I’ve been trying desperately to watch it,”
he said. “I think it’s right on the money.”
The band deals in what Angelo
Moore refers to as “realities,”
and Fishbone’s lyrics
often contain pointed
social and political
commentary paired
with a zany sense
of humor. But it’s
upbeat, chaotic
melodies contain-
ing ska, funk, reg-
gae, and punk rock
influences that have
helped Fishbone carve
out a name. “We get to
enjoy the jams,” said John
Norwood Fisher, bass player.
“They’re the peanuts in the turds.”
Throughout their 22-year career,
Fishbone has shared the stage with the Red
Hot Chili Peppers, the Stone Temple Pilots,
the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and No
Doubt. But unlike their peers, Fishbone did
not skyrocket to MTV-brand, teeny bopper
stardom. “A lot of what was underground
became mainstream throughout the years,”
said Fisher. “It got diluted a little bit, in
some cases. At least people are making
music and having fun and expressing opin-
ions. I recognize a lot of good in music.
There’s a lot of bullshit, but that always was
and always will be.”
Although Fishbone does receive more
recognition in Europe and Japan than in the
U.S., Moore believes that the American
industry often sets the entertainment standard
for the rest of the world. The result is what he
calls “musical segregation.”
“When you look at MTV and VH1, you
don’t see any black rock and roll bands
on there. You don’t see any
Japanese bands playing reg-
gae. What they don’t
show, ain’t nobody
gonna know. If
you’re black, then
the stereotype is to
play R&B, hip
hop, or reggae; if
you’re Spanish,
you play salsa;
and if you’re white,
you play rock and
roll. If you’re black
and play rock and roll,
that’s weird. We like to play
rock and roll, and that shouldn’t
hold us back, ‘cause it’s only music.”
Fisher still believes Fishbone has stayed
true to what the band stands for — “keeping
it honest” and “keeping people dancing.”
“The intention that I had playing music
when I was a teenager is still alive and well
and kicking, and this is the expression of it,”
Norwood said. “It changes, and we do
expand on what it means to be Fishbone, but
at the root of all that shit, it’s still right there.
It’s something that I can wake up every day
and be glad that I do.” Fishbone plays at The
Jungle Thursday, Jan. 13.
ew
It’s fresh like strawberries just picked from the field, cool like the ocean on a day so
hot the sand burns your feet. “These are my stories,” she said. “Not that I find my sto-
ries to be first and foremost important, but I think it’s important for people to tell their
stories; that people continue to speak out about their lives and what they experience.”
As we talked by phone, she sat in her car looking out across the slate gray line that
formed between the ocean and the sky, traveling from Vancouver to Sechelt, B.C., the
closest town to her home.
“I care about communication,” she said. “I’m a mixture of Mohawk, Irish, German
and British. For the last two generations, people who were of mixed roots changed their
names, registered their babies as white and never settled on a reserve. A lot of people
never identified themselves as native and lost their rights. Now that’s changing. There’s
more awareness, and native people have some good ideas for protecting both the crea-
tures that are living here and the people.”
She sees the world a little differently and glorifies in it. Her music is a celebration,
an offering, a vast exploration. “It’s all in my music,” she said, quoting a few of her
lyrics about the sun, the mountains and the sky. “It’s about a native perspective on
everything.” Kinnie Starr plays Sam Bond’s Thursday, Jan. 20. –MB
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attorney at law
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JANUARY 13, 2005 23