No.Fest 2011: Pre-Festival Coverage

Doing pre-festival coverage for InterArts’ annual No.Fest isn’t always the easiest thing. Taking place in Portland’s northmost St. John’s neighborhood, No.Fest is a public event that asks you for a teeny tiny $1 donation for two days of music, art, film, dance, comedy, workshops, and more! No.Fest highlights multi-disciplinary practices and obscure acts to celebrate what it is to truly make art.

As a sponsor for this year’s No.Fest, REDEFINE has crafted our quick picks guide to the music and arts-related things we find most fascinating! It is highly recommended, though, that you head over to the No.Fest website or click here to download the program guide and see the full offerings of the festival.

CLICK HERE TO RSVP ON FACEBOOK!

No.Fest Festival Picks & Previews

alma brasileira

Say hello to Brazilian choro, also known as “chorinho”! This duo, on bandolim (Brazilian mandolin) and violao (nylon string guitar) combines European influences of polka, waltz, and chamber music with African rhythms.
Fri. June 24, 8:00pm @ Proper Eats
Fri. June 24, 9:00pm @ Proper Eats

annapaul and the bearded lady

Vintage, vintage, vintage jazz and big band vibes! This act speaks of the good ol’ 1920s and deserves your undivided attention! They are as pleasant as they look.
Sat. June 25, 1:00pm @ Town Square

betacrack

Decadent experiments in minimal electronic deconstructions, constructed into a combination of sounds that result in you, finding yourself in a maze of nauseatingmadness. (SOUNDCLOUD BELOW)
Sat. June 25, 5:00pm @ Legong

cliche au lait

Well, the images say enough about their type of performance art. The website images say even more.
Sat. June 25, 2:00pm @ Legong

if you were dead, how would you know? by betacrack

doug theriault

Truly not quite sure what Mr. Theriault’s deal is, but his “work is concerned with the development of live electronic music systems on custom made instruments of his own design.” For the gadget nerd, this might be a good show!
Sat. June 25, 8:00pm @ Legong

dead air fresheners

This will be the final performance of Dead Air Fresheners, an experimental and post-punk outfit, under the literary conduction of Jennifer Robin. She’ll prompt the group with code words that make them play and dismember their electronics… and indeed their very electrons…?!
Sat. June 25, 4:00pm @ Legong

fugue

“Holy fucking shit! Best band I’ve ever fucking heard. Shit blew my fucking mind” – The Portland Observer. Color us intrigued.
Sat. June 25, 7:30pm @ Slim’s

grand detour

Part installation and part workshop, this offering from Grand Detour and video artist Ben Popp will invite participants to create their own soundtracks, experiment with direct animation, and other fun things. Not to be missed.
Sat. June 25, 2:00pm – 6:00pm @ Salle Trois Arme

gulls

Jesse Munro Johnson of Gulls has been a fixture of Portland’s electronic music scene with his minimalist and dub-influenced soundscapes. Join him, right after White Rainbow, for dancing sways. (SOUNDCLOUD BELOW)
Sat. June 25, 8:30pm @ Towne Square

hoop dreams

In conjunction with REDEFINE’s MMMicrofestival event last year, we are reinstalling a multimedia project with Hoop Dreams that features work from video artists from around the world giving their interpretations of a Hoop Dreams track.
Installation @ The Yellow House

4v by Gulls

michael hurley

Singer-songwiter Michael Hurley might be almost 70, but that hasn’t stopped him musically. He’s still churning out albums and being as impish as ever.
Sat. June 25, 7:30pm @ Proper Eat’s

moodring

The phrase “what the heck” can be found in the music of moodring, perhaps one of the most pleasant surprises to be found at No.Fest! Dubby beats, echoing vocals, psychedelic jazziness? Oh, it’s multi-faceted, and too good, too good.
Sat. June 25, 10:00pm @ Slim’s

party killer

Party Killer probably do kill most parties they attend — unless, of course, the parties are contorted, twisted, and bizarre cake-in-your-face types.
Fri. June 24, 9:30pm @ The Yellow House

sndtrkr

The audio-visual film scoring project of Krist Krueger and Eli Jemison from Southerly, SNDTRKR put on top-notch cross-disciplinary performances.
Sat. June 25, 11:30pm @ Plews Brews

valkyrie rodeo

As though they really wanted to live up to their name, Valkyrie Rodeo thresh together all things heavy into a warbly-vocaled, spazzy mess of a listen.
Fri. June 24, 10:30pm @ The Yellow House

white Rrainbow

White Rainbow’s Adam Forkner gets flown around the world to show off his adeptness at crafting electronic music. You never know what you’ll get from his Portland performances, but when he’s behaving, his performances are skilled and truly enjoyable. (SOUNDCLOUD BELOW)
Sat. June 25, 8:00pm @ Towne Square

MAGIC MOUNTAINS by DRPZZA WHTRNBW SGTFORKNER

wishyunu

The beauty of daydreams is channeled into this duo’s drum-and-synth performances. Perfect summer music.
Sat. June 25, 5:00pm @ Towne Square

About InterArts

InterArts strives for the economic and social common good through curation, production, and education. We respond to the need for local community and art in our global society of the 21st Century. Firmly motivated to test the boundary of artist, audience, observer and observed, to encourage the adventurous, to rediscover what is universal, InterArts unites disparate forms by embracing tradition with experimentation, grounded by the belief that creativity and living is one movement.