L O C A L S O N LY
Eric Jensen
THE CASE OF THE
DISAPPEARING
MUSICIANS
Did they really vanish – or just move
to Portland? BY AMANDA BURHOP
I
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thought it was just me. Well, at least I did until others started bringing up the
same topic: The Eugene music scene and its lack of indie rock bands. This is a
college town, right? Don’t college kids fall head over heels for this stuff?
Then it occurred to me: There used to be really great bands creating interesting
stuff. A whole community of artists, musicians and their supportive friends gave
Eugene something to wrap its arms around, something to remove them from their
entertainment rut. Bands like Chevron, Mine Thirty Seven, Pellet Gun, The Little
Twos and Dragging An Ox Through Water dominated the music scene just a few
years ago. So what happened? It’s as if they disappeared, taking the music with
them. But they didn’t really — most just relocated to Portland.
Not long before some of the major players in this music scene left us for bigger
and better things, Halle Williams, Jevon Cutler and Adam Newton produced a com-
pilation on their Schapendoes Records. The Last Thing We Ever Did compiled some
of the Northwest’s best: Dutch Flat, Black Darts, Mood Area 52 and Animal Beard.
In an Oregon Daily Emerald article, Williams said: “There’s a lot of good bands in
Eugene that would get more coverage in a bigger city where there is a more estab-
lished music scene and a bigger chance of a label being interested in wanting to help
out a band. But in a small city like Eugene, there is not the same opportunity.”
So that’s the cause: coverage and opportunities. Well, not exactly. Eric Jensen,
of Pellet Gun and Tractor Operator, says, “Eugene is such a transitory place. It’s a
college town, so a majority of people are there to get something and then leave.
That’s why the music scene ebbs and flows so drastically.” Jensen’s been focusing
most of his efforts on Tractor Operator but also plays drums in Ferocious Eagle.
Jensen, who just finished recording his second full-length album on Jealous Butcher
Records, says being a musician is difficult in any town, not just Eugene. “If you do
it because it’s what you do, Portland is a great town to be a musician,” says Jensen.
Brian Mumford — of Chevron, Dragging an Ox through Water and Iodil — has,
since leaving Eugene, lived on a farm in Hood River with llamas, moved to Portland,
then New York and then Portland again. “Portland’s very good. I just got back and
feel like getting acquainted with it all over again,” says Mumford.
Mumford says he left Eugene simply because it was time: “I love Eugene and
don’t think anyone has to leave it.” But he also believes Portland to be more of a
cultural megaphone than Eugene. In Portland, Mumford is able to dabble in a little
of everything. His focus is on Dragging an Ox Through Water, but he still plays in
Chevron, Animal Beard and Ghost Money. His most recent collaboration is with
Haiku Ambulance, one of his favorite Portland bands.
So we shouldn’t be upset with them for leaving us, and we shouldn’t take it per-
sonally. It’s not us; it’s them. And if you love something, you should set it free.
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APRIL 12, 2007 39