music
The Postman
tune with the moment rather than strictly how the song
goes, Rich says.
Rich says Dylan Houser and Scott Bazer, friends as
well as fellow musicians and artists from outside Oregon,
inspired his postcard project.
“All my friends stuck at home waiting for the mail to
come: can’t play shows, can’t go out,” he says. The postcards
could be a way to get music to people without playing a
show or leaving the house, he thought.
“I was blown away because it was so
He’s still involved in several music
simple,” Rich continues. So simple, in fact,
projects in the Eugene area, namely
“We can’t be the only ones who landed on it.”
DEATH MUTATIONS, which is a found
But to the best of his knowledge, Rich might
sound collage and sampling project with
be among the few artists trying it, he says.
Eugene-based artist I Died, from local
Sending physical media in the mail that
Ghost House DJ nights. Some music fans
plays music has been tried before, in the
may also remember Rich from the Eugene
form of flexi-postcards with actual record
punk band Cathead, active in the ’90s.
grooves cut into them. Those postcards,
Last spring, Rich was slated to support
however, proved expensive to make and not
Negativland in Eugene at Old Nick’s, but
very durable. In the 1970s, the government
the concert was canceled on account
of Bhutan also issued miniature postage
AUSTIN RICH
of COVID. In the past, he’s toured with
stamp-sized 33 1/3 records that could be
Mark Hosler from the group, and next month, Rich will
played on a turntable and used as postage. The Bhutan
release a rock-based album under a project he calls
stamp records are now highly sought after by collectors.
ShotReverseShot.
Marc Time, a Eugene radio DJ, record collector and
His experimental, sound collage work isn’t explicitly
host of The Sunday Morning Hangover on KWVA, the
topical, but recent work features chopped-up Mike Pence
University of Oregon’s campus radio station, is on Rich’s
speeches; another reconfigures an old recording of Bing
mailing list.
Crosby reading The Emperor’s New Clothes to say “the
“Austin has been a fixture in the noise and experimental
swindler’s new clothes.”
scene here for years,” Time says. The postcard project
“I’ve always been attracted to things that are very
“is the perfect combination of old technology and new
political,” he says. Other interests include experimental
technology,” he continues. ■
performance art. “Often when you get involved in protests
Austin Rich’s postcards are free, though he does accept donations.
To get on the mailing list and to keep up-to-date on all of Rich’s many
or activism, the music ends up being performative and
projects, go to AustinRich.org.
abstract,” Rich explains. Instead, his work is more in
MULTI-FACETED SALEM ARTIST WITH CONNECTIONS TO EUGENE
SENDS CONCERTS TO YOUR MAILBOX
By Will Kennedy
T
he daily mail delivery has become a
comfort — thanks to the depths of
the pandemic and working from home,
and despite the U.S. Postal Service
becoming highly politicized in the 2020
presidential election.
Austin Rich, a Salem-based visual
artist, writer, internet-radio host and musician with
deep ties to the Eugene area, has turned the humble act
of sending and receiving mail into political protest and
a commentary on isolation.
As he put it to me the other day, simply sign up for Rich’s
mailing list and he’ll deliver “concerts to your mailbox,”
in the form of a monthly postcard with original art and a
QR code that unlocks digital music.
“We’re living in this climate where suddenly the mail is
this very politicized thing,” Rich tells me over the phone.
“I can use this thing that I already use to have concerts in
your mailbox, free of charge.”
In broad strokes, Rich’s music falls into two categories:
experimental sound collage and traditional rock ‘n’ roll-
based songwriting mixed with the Dadaist-tendencies of
The Residents and Negativland.
Rich went to high school in Cottage Grove and after
graduation lived in Eugene for a time in the mid-’90s.
books
Escaping the Future
EUGENE SCI-FI AUTHOR TOUCHES ON CLIMATE CHANGE, CORRUPT
GOVERNMENTS AND THE COMING APOCALYPSE IN THE SECOND BOOK
IN HIS FOUR-PART SERIES
By Will Kennedy
T
he Foreseeable Future, the second book
in the SEEDER series from Eugene-
based sci-fi author Howard Libes, is a
gripping and well-paced expansion of
the universe and characters created
in When All Else Fails, the first book in
his intergenerational saga.
With highly relevant themes of government corruption
and environmental collapse, the story picks up where the
first book leaves off: The planet Koda has been decimated
by an environmental catastrophe, and the majority of the
population lives in dome cities.
There was another option for the people of Koda to
escape their dying planet besides the faulty dome project,
but it was all covered up by an autocratic global regime.
As the story begins, Yorlik “Yor” Vanderlord, the heir
apparent of the world famous Vanderlord family, has
escaped Koda alongside the mysterious tech entrepreneur
Mado Prevor in a newly restored spaceship called When
All Else Fails. It’s all part of an elaborate plan to save the
planet, and the bold move sends Koda into chaos, inciting
a populist uprising.
12
J A N U A R Y
2 1 ,
2 0 2 1
Nevertheless, the media spins fake news, reporting
Yor has died as riots break out in the streets. Meanwhile,
Yor’s mother, Mar, is pushed into a position of power she
never could have anticipated.
Libes sat down with Eugene Weekly to talk about his
decision to center Mar in the storyline, current events,
and what it might take to solve our environmental crisis
before it’s too late.
I read the book in the midst of social unrest in
American streets, wildfires worsened by human-
caused global warming, a pandemic and an American
autocratic government. Were current events on your
mind while writing The Foreseeable Future?
HOWARD LIBES: Not really. I definitely have a clear idea
where the story is headed, but I’m never sure exactly
what’ll happen until I sit down and write.
I started writing this series in 2015, so back then there
weren’t headlines even close to today. Obviously, I had no
idea how things would pan out, but since then climate
change has accelerated, and this country has devolved
into crisis.
EW:
In Foreseeable Future there are moments that clearly
reflect the events of 2020, but the book was fully formed
last year. Maybe I’m projecting how I see things going in
a worst-case scenario, and here we are.
Can you talk a bit about the decision to center Yor’s
mother, Mar, in the story?
The story in Foreseeable Future tells Mar's journey
as a reluctant hero. Foreseeable Future shows the
transformation of an individual who is resistant to involve
herself in tackling societal issues into a person who is
energized to make a difference. That story intrigued me.
With tech billionaires like Elon Musk building rocket
ships to escape the planet while Earth’s governments
bicker and flounder, there are additional parallels in
the book to Mado Prevor and the spacecraft, When
All Else Fails. Do our hopes lie with private billionaires,
or will the people of Earth be able to solve our climate
emergency through representative government?
Foreseeable Future spotlights the darker side of Kodan
society and what motivates the people who are working
to suppress the population, whether it's greed, power,
loyalty to an idea or all of the above. I think it’s important
to understand these people in the saga — and in real life.
I’m cautiously optimistic that nations around the world
and our country will pull ourselves together and deal with
the climate change reality that we face.
Unfortunately, I think in many parts of the environment
the damage is done and there is no turning back. Long
story short, I think we need to fight for our planet. ■
The Foreseeable Future and When All Else Fails are available in
paperback and eBook through Amazon.com. Read the first chapter
and buy the new book in paperback at HowardLibes.com.
E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M