Sean Ongley interviews Daniel Johnston, reviews his show, and presents a live performance at KBOO of "Silly Love". Johnston is accompanied by Brett Hartenbach on guitar. The material is presented from cassette tape recordings as an ode to the DIY manner that Daniel became famous for in the 1980's.

No.Fest : Nu.Music.Arts St. Johns 2008> Saturday June 21st.10am-Midnight> Admission donations suggested>all ages.

Waterfront Blues Festival, 2008. This is an interview with old time blues player, Robert "Wofman" Belfour. Listen for his music bedded underneath the interview and following immediately after (hastily ended, the batteries died before I could wrap up the questions). Belfour goes in to growing up on a southern Mississippi Crop Share farm, his performance technique, and his first major success in the business.

Babies Got Rabies perform "Burning Things Fall' and "Babies Got Rabies" live on Plugged In.

Here is a very young but advanced player of contemporary electric guitar music. Combining vocals and looping devices, he blends sounds with subtleties quite uncommon to young "noise" players who are so wont to blast walls of mish mashed overdrive to a reluctant audience. This fellow has no such issues and his music reflects the intellectual and humble character he brings to the neighborhood of St. Johns.

Currently, StepMother is sowing his wild oats travelling the world, but we eagerly await his return so that we can continue pushing him toward his destiny as a prosperous sonic artist.

Zecki Am Sun is from Sacramento and here is a track he recorded late, after the show aired, May 15 2008, and he played drums for friend and collaborater, Pregnant. This is original, Zecki Am Sun material. Zecki likes to sing about reality. Zecki is from outer space. If Zecki travels to your realm, smile. He is on myspace.

From a PICA Press Release...  Oaks is acclaimed ambient electronic experimentalist Ethan Rose’s third full-length, following on the 2006 release Ceiling Songs and the 2007 release, Spinning Pieces. Ethan’s music was also featured in Gus Van Sant’s latest film, Paranoid Park. Ethan explains Oaks as follows: “Over the past year I’ve been coming out to the Oaks Park Roller Rink to play and record the Wurlitzer Theater Organ that is located there. The organ dates from the 1920s and was originally housed in the Broadway Theater in downtown Portland where it was used to accompany silent films. It is currently played and maintained by Keith Fortune who has been involved with the organ and the rink for the past fifteen years. I’ve had the privilege of assisting Keith with organ repairs, which has deepened my appreciation of the instrument. Musically speaking, my primary interest with this organ has been to bring its antiquated sounds into a modern context, essentially treating it with the same sense of sonic reinterpretation that I have brought to my previous works.” 

Why I Must Be Careful had been on KBOO twice within a year's time. First on the last day before John headed to India to seek a drum master, secondly as soon as possible when I learned they had composed a new live set. I wanted it on the air, and so they played this new set on November 28, 2008.

Drummer, John Niekrasz has performed on Unherd with a variety of projects about 1/2 dozen times over the course of these 6 months of my program. It just so happens he is quite active. Seth Brown has not returned to UnHerd yet, but that means very little. Seth plays the Fender Rhodes, which plays so much in to the WIMBC sound, not just for its antique, detuned disonance, but for Seth's chops and unusual technique.

Jef Brown is indeed a multi-talented player. He has performed and recorded electric guitar and repaired countless tube amplifiers. But he is, to me, among the best tenor saxophone players in Portland. Sure, he breezed through a minimalistic, semi improvisational set including acoustic guitar, soprano saxophone and tape delay, although he did this in a fluid piece lasting almost 50 minutes, I choose this saxophone solo for its undeniability.

Use Value is/was, the first ever guest to play Un-Herd. What you have here is a quartet that switches instruments depending on the motif for each tune. Somehow, a cross between pop and free jazz, more at post-punk post-jazz, Use Value is basically the pin point of the brink of progress, whether or not it makes any sense, that is what they do. Anyway, keep up with their next of kin project entitled, Dinner and the Main Course, because this is a troop that will pleasantly surprise you with each performance.  

Here is an interview with two artists: Fawn Krieger and Jesse Hayward, recorded during the construction of their respective installations at Time Based Arts Festival site for "The Works". For TBA '09, PICA (Portland Institute for Contemporary Arts) gained access to the defunct Washington High School. Using the old theater and two complete floors, artists set up a variety of installations in former classroom spaces. The artists interviewd here are only two of about a dozen different installations. Though TBA '09 events are over, the galleries are open at Washington High School through October. Visit PICA.ORG for more details.

Two days before the big opening reception for Time Based Arts Festival 2009, the "big three" curators of TBA joined guest host of Art Focus, Sean Ongley, for a special program discussing the event. Erin Boberg and Kristan Kennedy were live in the studio, while guest artistic director Cathy Edwards joined us from New Haven by telephone. Special guest and TBA '08 performer, Mike Daisey also joined us by phone.

Un|Herd.May 25th 2009.Hexlove/Everybody/Chant Oh's

Produced by Sean Ongley

Engineering Assistance by Devon

Un|Herd Archive Episode #2

Original Live Performance on September 7th, 2009

Produced and Engineered by Sean Ongley at KBOO Studios

Live Musical Guests: Moth and Abusive/Consumer

Morales left, sculpture by Moth right, photos by Moth

 Fair Trade Music is a movement to level the economic playing field at clubs, bars, and all venues for music in Portland. This is a program co-sponsored by the Musicians Union. Representatives are interviewed by avante-garde performer and host of KBOO's Un|Herd, Sean Ongley. For more information on the subject, visit http://fairtrademusicpdx.org.

Welcome to Un|Herd Archive episode number three. This time you’ll be hearing one of my earliest programs, dated back to October 16th, 2008. This features an improvisation between two New York based players, Ed Chang on electric guitar, percussive and vocal sounds, with MoToko Shimizu using her voice and children’s toys, and two Portland based players, Doug Theriault on electric guitar and John Niekrasz on drums. This will be a consistent, hour-long improvisation with no edits.

Produced by Sean Ongley at KBOO

Engineering Assistance from Devin

This is a 30 minute discussion on the subject of homemade energy: hydrogen or HHO hybriding in cars and in the house. The possibilities of homemade hydrogen fuel are introduced in this discussion. The guest is "Tater Waynes", who has much to say about his own designs. We go in to what he has learned with two years of building and installing units, mostly for internal combustion. He produces a series of videos at youtube.com/wayneman1234. The interviewer is Sean Ongley.

 View the playlist for this program at http://kboo.fm/node/17239 or just below. This was a special episode featuring the music of my collection. Thank you to all who gave me this music.

Portland was honored with the privilege of hosting the West Coast premiere of Orphee, a relatively new opera composed by Philip Glass. Orphee is a 2 Act story of mysterious death in juxtaposition of two worlds --– driven by a score from Philip Glass. The music itself worthy of a concert, beautifully composed, demonstrating the characteristic hypnotism of polyrhythm mixed in a rich palette, patterned by blocks and cycles; the kind of stuff that Glass is venerated for. And the Portland Opera Orchestra performs the score by Glass beautifully.

February 2nd, 2009

Un|Herd Archive #9 

Jefrey Leighton Brown

Branic Howard is a Composer, so recognized by Portland State University upon recent completion of his Bachelor’s Degree. Currently, he attends Syracuse, where he is on track to a PHD. Most classical music lovers assume that to be recognized as a composer by a major university means traditional, standardized conceptions of sound. Not so! Branic is indeed part of a new generation of composers. In this “composition”, Branic electronically mixes live strings and clarinet simultaneously performing isolated rooms. Each performer is unaware of what the other is doing, but they each have a “score” based upon fragments of time described by squarish shapes.

Welcome to Un|Herd Archive episode #7.

Un|Herd Archive #8

2.1.10

Infiltration Lab

Welcome to episode 11, and the first 30-minute edition of Un-Herd archives. This one goes all the way back to January 26, 2009, featuring the spazz-jazz duet called Thicket. This band features the most frequently appearing guest of Un-Herd, drummer John Niekrasz, of notables such as Naked Future and Why I Must Be Careful. On alto saxophone we have Ben Kates, a long time collaborator with Niekrasz, in bands like Fly Fly Fly Fly Fly, and Naked Future. Ben is missed in the Portland avant-garde scene as of this retrospective while teaching elementary students in Alaska. With that, please enjoy, Thicket.
 

Alas we have arrived at Un | Herd Archive Episode number 13. This one includes two performances, the main show being that of an improvisational duet entitled, Deeds. And they are Brian Mumford on electric guitar and Un | Herd veteran, John Niekrasz on drums. The second portion of the show will be a 6 minute clip from one of my earliest programs featuring John again on drums and Seth Brown on Fender Rhodes piano, performing as Why I Must Be Careful. The prior goes back to November 23, 2009, and the latter goes back to November 24, 2008. I believe they were both debut performances; the prior was totally new and improvised; the latter was freshly composed. So please enjoy Deeds and Why I Must Be Careful.

Thank you for tuning in to Un-Herd Archive series episode 14. This show dates to Nov 23 2009. This program was originally shared with episode 13 featured performance Deeds. Now its time for something totally different, the artist we call Soup Purse. Todd Dickerson, a performer and scholar of noise, a seer of visions, he is the man behind Soup Purse. He is nothing less than a fixture of the Portland noise scene and a respected fellow for that matter. His performance is more than sound, its divination. He borrows from the early surrealists in terms of method but not necessarily form. He also incorporates some spoken theatrical performance in to each show, but not in this program, oddly, perhaps he prefers an audience to feed from.

Un|Herd Archives 

Episode #15 

February 22nd, 2010 

Un|Herd Archives 

Episode #16

March 22nd, 2010 

Moodring graced the studio with their upbeat noise and indie style funk. I wrote my own take on the band, and while browsing their label's website, I read a review almost identical to mine, confirming my perspective. 

Un|Herd Archives 

Episode #18

April 5, 2010 

MIAZMA

Un|Herd Archives 

Episode #17

April 5, 2010 

Abusive/Consumer

Hosted by Sean Ongley

Today's guest is Douglas Mallette, author of "Turning Point," How Space Exploration and Development Will Determine the Rise or Fall of Humanity

Turning Point breaks down how space exploration and development can solve many of the key issues we face today in America, such as employment, education, the environment, energy, and international relations. The future of humanity is its exploration of the stars. 

No.Fest 2010 is looking to be bigger, better, more diverse and cross-disciplinary than ever. For the first time we are kicking off the night of June 25th with an Art Walk with 10 exhibitions and 8 galleries, plus the Bangin! International Urban Folk Dance featuring the Incredible Kid. The main program follows traditionally at 10am on Saturday June 26th with the Early Bird Children's Show! This year we'll be joined by The Lions of Batucada, David Ornette Cherry with Impressions of Energy, Blue Cranes and many more wonderful performers.

This is a Time Based Art Festival 2010 special program produced and hosted by Sean Ongley. Live guests are Noelle Stiles and Danielle Kelly in discussion of their work on the piece, "Blanket", featured on the cover of the festival program guide. Plus, some joking around with Woolly Mammoth Comes to Dinner.

This is a special program featuring Harrell Fletcher and Jens Hoffman, curators of the People's Bienniel, a featured exhibition of the Time Based Art Festival 2010. Filling in for Eva, host and producer Sean Ongley.

Un|Herd #20

6-7-11

Trawler Bycatch

Un | Herd Archive Episode #21: Daniel Menche Recorded August 23rd, 2010 Daniel was a great guest. He showed up on time with only a handful of CD’s. On the CD’s, various field recordings from hikes on Mt. Hood and other pacific northwest natural areas. The sounds are amazing, the blends are surreal. It was one of the easiest, best shows I’ve presented. So enjoy live mixing of field recordings by Daniel Menche. That was Daniel Menche, live on Un | Herd, KBOO, August 23rd, 2010 playing a collection of field recordings from the pacific northwest. This program was produced by Me, Sean Ongley.

Un|Herd Archives #22: Activity Universal (Associates)

Recorded July 5^th, 2010

Un | Herd Archive Episode #21.5: Frontol Lobe Development

Recorded August 30^th, 2010

This is a special 15 minute program, connected to the previous show with Daniel Menche. This band is comprised of teenagers from Roosevelt High School. They could not perform at my 10pm show time due to school, so we had to put them on Desolo Luna Vox Theatrum. But, for the spirit of it, I include this within the archives. Now, Frontol Lobe Development with Daniel Menche.

Un|Herd Archives #29: Danbert Nobacon

Recorded October 4th, 2010‏

This program was the best I’ve ever had that hap-hazardly fell in to my lap. It was a humbling experience to interview a founding frontman of the famous anarchist pop band, Chumbawamba. The man sits for a full hour and goes in to 25 years of music making, it’s a treat folks. And he reads from his new book, “Three Dead Princes”. I offer this program in its live, unedited imperfection. Specifically please excuse the buzzing. I’ve alerted the station engineer. Anyhow, please enjoy this special hour-long program.