By Fiona McMeekin

Eugene should prepare for a whole new paradigm of rock and roll as Dogs By Desgn enters the music scene. The all-transfemme band from the deserts of Utah is here to shake up expectations of eccentricity with nothing short of theatrics. Bonnie Donnaville, the lead singer and bassist, gives us a taste of what to look out for, saying:

“For the people around here, they can look out their window, they can look out any window of their choice, and they'll see trees and green and rain. Little bits of dew cling to the leaves even now. And maybe their whole life, all they've ever heard is forest music and forest songs. But this band, this band is from the desert, where there are cactuses and little green things running around the sand, which is what we call the ground around there. So maybe this might be the first time they ever hear a desert song.”

Alongside what one could only describe as swamp funk or eclectic torture music – although classifying this…

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By Sadie Tresnit

When I got my first guitar at the age of five, I had no notions of being a songwriter. I was much more concerned with securing a job as a princess or veterinarian, thank you very much. As the years went by, I steadily got more interested in music, growing my collection, if not my expertise. The start of the pandemic inspired me to pick up my childhood guitar again, and I spent days learning how to play my favorite songs. Now that I’m an adult, I have the much more mature dream of becoming a rockstar.

But according to Jeff Tweedy in his 2020 book How to Write One Song, maybe I should take a step back. As he puts it, if you want to be a star, “don’t bother. You’re going to lose. Even if you make it, you’ll lose.” Instead, he suggests emphasizing doing over being. When it comes down to it, what I really want to do is make music people like. When I began this article, I just had no idea how to get started. Based on the book’s title, I found myself…

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By Savannah Brown

It was the summer of 1965. The birds were chirping. The sun was shining, the wheat fields waving. The Kinks, a British Invasion band from Northern London, had just hit it big in the States (and everywhere else) with the rock earworm, “You Really Got Me,” peaking at #7 on the US rock charts and #1 in the UK. They were embarking on their first-ever American tour, almost one year after The Beatles and The Rolling Stones had crossed the pond. Back in those days, when an English band was doing great in the UK, there was only one more place to go to cement their legacy: The US of A.

However, this tour would not turn out to be the career-defining barrier-breaker that it was expected to be. While it had all of the potential to raise the Kinks up alongside their legendary contemporaries (The Beatles and the Stones), it instead…

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By Sadie Tresnit

“Drivin’ On 9”

Originally by Ed’s Redeeming Qualities, famously covered by the Breeders.

The first time I found out that the Breeders’ version of this song was a cover, I was live on air. Somehow in my years of loving the song, I had failed to pay any attention to the writing credits. As soon as I was done with my show for the day, I set about finding and listening to the original. Unlike the easy airiness of the Breeders’ cover (it’s one of my favorite road trip songs for a reason!), Ed’s Redeeming Qualities gives the song a darker and more sardonic tone. The 1989 original centers on the story of a man wondering if a child is his. Lyrics like “wondering if you took your pill, wondering if it's mine” are cut from the Breeders’ rendition. If the violin sounds the same to you in both tracks, you’ve got a sharp ear.…

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By Samantha Lozano

In the drug-fueled haze that was the 60s, certain songs shined through highlighting the exciting nature of love and the ambiguity surrounding youth, some of which were inspired by the photographer and model, Pattie Boyd. Boyd, who entered a strenuous relationship with former Beatles member George Harrison when she was 19 years old, was the inspiration for songs such as “Something,”  “I Need You,” and “For You Blue.” The model moved to London in ‘69 to attend a covenant boarding school where she got her first role as a schoolgirl in the band's music video for “A Hard Day's Night.” Boyd said, “ On first impressions, John seemed more cynical and brash than the others, Ringo the most endearing, Paul was cute and George, with velvet-brown eyes and…

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By Fiona McMeekin

Those of us familiar with Azealia Banks know that if it’s not her hit singles like “212” and “Miss Camaraderie” she’s notorious for, it's her extensive list of online feuds she’s participated in (often one-sided) over the years. The list is so extensive that there’s been a list of every supposed Banks Beef that has circulated around Twitter/ X, Reddit and the likes, which is comical due to its sheer length.

Initially, I wanted to see which of these names on this iconic list could be substantiated and create a timeline of every Azealia Banks Beef to have graced the internet. After week two and only being halfway through the list I decided to reroute my thesis. Instead, I present to you, a compiled list of the more niche Azealia Banks Beefs- namely politicians, airline companies and countries.

Amanda Brunker August 2012…

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By Samantha Lozano

Fiona Apple's journey as an artist, as beautifully captured in the New York Times article, showcases the transformative power of creativity intertwined with personal experiences. At the tender age of 16, she channeled her inner turmoil and vulnerability into her music, laying bare her soul through her demos "Criminal" and "Shadowboxer." These early expressions of pain and resilience not only marked the inception of her musical career but also set the tone for her distinctive style characterized by raw emotion and introspection. The art of radical sensitivity, a term coined in the New York Times article “Fiona Apple’s Art of Radical Sensitivity,” is used to describe Apple as the once distressed and emotional artist that was portrayed heavily during her prime time in music. Apple, who was 16 at the time took her journal writing of sexual trauma and…

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By Maddy Yen

Who is Verb8im?

The 4-piece Eugene rock band consists of Lucas Vega (vocals and guitar), Aidan Wright (bass), Will Martin (lead guitar), and Tripp Repp (drums), who started playing together in October of 2022. Vega and Wright were in a band together in high school and came to Eugene intending to form a band at UO. Wright met Repp during rush and Martin in a business class they had together. Wright was looking at guitars online, and Martin sparked a conversation about playing. Wright told me, “I asked Will if he was looking to play in a band and to send me some videos of what he’s played, and he sent me my favorite Red Hot Chili Peppers song of all time.” Their first show was a frat date dash in January of their freshmen year. They didn’t play another show until St. Patrick’s Day weekend two months later — their first “proper show and when we got introduced to the scene and hung out with other bands,” Vega says.…

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By Maddy Yen

The Eugene house show scene goes way back, and recently the shows are back to the caliber they were at pre-pandemic. In honor of this, I wanted to start “The Eugene Scene,” a series highlighting local bands who have released an album or EP this year, getting insight into their creative process and playing shows. First up is the band Mommy, composed of Martina Hemstreet (lead singer), Patrick Walker (lead guitar), Sam Galyen (guitar), Milo Brosamer (bass), and Asher Loewenstern (drums).

 

Who is Mommy?

Local Eugene band Mommy has been playing since 2021, becoming one of the scene’s most well-known house show bands. “I met Asher before school even started freshman year,” said Galyen “and two guys who lived two doors down from me in Bean knew Milo.”  The band began to fall into place late their freshman year and Galyen met Walker through a mutual friend since they were both trying to start a band. After some Hamilton…

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By Maddy Yen

Bendigo Fletcher is a Kentucky-based band that embarked on their 33-stop U.S. tour this year. Initially formed in 2016, the band signed with Elektra Records for their debut album, Fits of Laughter in 2021. Their sophomore album, Two Things At Once, “unfolds like a storybook where the surreal and the ordinary become beautifully entangled.” Their music feels like a melting pot for folk, indie, country, and rock infringing on the conventional norms of artists' sticking to a genre. I got to sit down with Ryan Anderson – a triple threat of lead vocals, guitar, and banjo – in Portland, Oregon before their set to talk about their new album, influences, and touring. 

Q: You guys have released quite a lot of music with your first EP dropping in 2018, how has your…

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