Eugene Weekly

Colorado producer, DJ and electronic musician Michal Menert is called “the Godfather of Electro-Soul.”  “It’s a title the fans have given me,” Menert tells EW via email. He says his work with trendsetting artist Pretty Lights put him at the forefront of the white-hot EDM (electronic dance music) scene.  “It’s a flattering name that got placed on me, and I wear it with a smile,” Menert says. “I never refer to myself as that, but will gladly take it.” Continue reading →

There’s a new sound in the underground and it’s taking foothold in Eugene. The sound is called electro swing, or e-swing, a blending of modern techno, bass and house music with vintage jazz and swing music of the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s. For Eugene’s plentiful, dance-hungry audiences, this combo is a no-brainer. Continue reading →

Straight-edge bands get a bad rap. Often unfairly branded as a general crankiness toward all things fun, the straight-edge, or “sXe,” movement is largely anti bar, house party or any other place where drugs or alcohol might rear their ugly heads. It isn’t a scene particularly synonymous with “ragers.”  Continue reading →

If music is the universal language, the voice is the universal instrument. Continue reading →

“People won’t commit to your music if you don’t commit to it first,” says Sam Wartenbee, Eugene rapper and Crushkill Recordings artist. If you’ve paid attention to local music for any length of time, chances are you recognize Wartenbee (aka Sammy Warm Hands), whether from hardcore punk band This Day’s End or local hip-hop act The ILLusionists.  Ten years ago, Wartenbee started his own recording studio and record label, Take 92 Music.  Continue reading →

With a gender twist on the Adam and Eve story, Montreal’s experimental techno musician Marie Davidson offers us the apple of temptation.  This time, the apple is minimalist electronic beats and soundscapes that evoke danger, sexuality and darkness. And, frequently, her sound has an undeniably killer groove — like on the track “Excès de Vitesse” from Davidson’s upcoming release Un Autre Voyage (out April 15 on Holodeck Records). Continue reading →

In the early ’90s, drag star RuPaul was dazzling the club scenes in Atlanta and New York City and Jennie Livingston released her award-winning documentary Paris Is Burning, which captured the culture of New York drag balls.  In Eugene, the first Damsels, Divas & Dames drag show was performed at the Hult in 1992. In 2000, Imperial Sovereign Court of the Emerald Empire — one of Eugene’s oldest LGBTQ organizations — revived the show and it has continued to be an annual event benefitting HIV Alliance.  Continue reading →