Playlist and article by: Sadie Tresnit

It might sound a bit morbid, but I can confirm that the Eugene Pioneer Cemetery is one of the best spots on campus to hang out when the weather is nice. When I first came to UO, I was amazed at how quiet the cemetery was compared to every other part of the university. Rather than feeling oppressive, the silence is oddly comforting. When I’m nearby, I always take the opportunity to walk through the graveyard to read the names on the headstones and enjoy a break from the hubbub of campus life. Of course, every good graveyard walk needs a playlist, and I’m happy to share mine.

1. Cemetry Gates - The Smiths

No playlist about a graveyard, especially one put together by an English major, would be complete without this song. Morrissey’s line about a “dreaded sunny day” might particularly resonate with Eugene residents accustomed to year-round cold and rain. If you’re in the mood for a mini existential crisis, I…

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A Behind the Scenes look at what it was like to be a music manager for hip hop stars in the 90s.

Written By: Zoe Holguin

“My dad worked at a label growing up; he was in charge of creating the art that goes on the vinyls,” Artist manager Suzy “Doll” Lopez says. “Growing up I admired my dad and wanted to do what he did. He always encouraged my brother and I to do what we love.”

Lopez is an artist manager, currently independent, in Los Angeles, California. Her passion for the arts; both visual and audio opened up doors to the music industry. When asked what inspired her to pursue music, she said, “I’ve always been a creative person.”

Lopez grew up in South Central Los Angeles during the 1980s. At this time the seeds of hip-hop were starting to be sown; the graffiti scene was starting up, street fashion was just starting out, and the DJ scene was on the rise. She was involved with it all. Lopez reminisces about how her and her cousins…

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Local Bands Spotlights: Mommy and Common Koi at the Downpour

Written by: Jack Skidmore

On Saturday, May 13th, ASUO held their student focused concert, Downpour. This consisted of   three-acts featuring Portland-raised artist Aminé, as well as Eugene local bands, Mommy "and Common Koi at the Matthew Knight Arena. The university has not seen a show of this size from ASUO since 2012. This undoubtedly was a novel experience for the local bands especially as they have thus far been mostly akin to house shows and backyard concerts with a few smaller venue performances.  I had the pleasure of speaking to members of these two local bands and hearing them describe their subjective experiences. Patrick Walker from Mommy, as well as Kira Gelbaugh and Stephen Strong from Common Koi, relay their experiences from this unique opportunity. 

Expectations versus reality 

Mommy (Patrick Walker) 

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Written By: Codi Farmer

Hailing from the dirty streets of Eugene is a new artist that the world didn’t know we needed. An ethereal blend of indie rock, shoe gaze, post-rock, and folk-style singer-songwriting that boasts grandiose emotions with an addicting voice that will be stuck in your mind for months to come. This is 22-year-old Alex Podesta, or “Podesta,” to his listeners. 

Podesta grew up near San Fransisco and never quite knew what he wanted to do in the future. All he knew was that he loved music and performing with a heavy gravitation toward the dramatics. His first instrument was a toy keyboard clanging on the plastic keys until his mother decided it was time to get him started on a real piano in elementary school. In middle school he began playing the clarinet in his school band, eventually moving up to his high school orchestra. 

Toward the end of his high school career, he realized that music could be more than just a school project. It was…

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Written By: Lindy Rybloom

Slow Goat is a heavy metal band with a huge personality. Emerging in the Portland music scene in 2021, Gage Managhan, Eric Bloombaum, Rosie Peterson, and Dan Cuffe are the four rockers that make up this up-and-coming band.​ Each coming from small towns in Oregon and ultimately landing in Portland allowed them to unite, jam together, and begin making a name for themselves. Four people, all having their own coming of age within the music world, this local group provided me an inside look at the heavy music scene from a first-person perspective.

Slow Goat’s Origin Story

Lead singer, Rosie Peterson, grew up in Albany, Oregon but moved to Portland in 2016. Like a real rockstar, Peterson tells me that her interest in music began before she could even consciously recognize it.

Dan Cuffe is the lead guitarist from Salem, Oregon. His interest in music similarly had an early start. Coming from a musical family, notes and…

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By: Jack Skidmore

It is pretty unusual for an entire crowd to immediately boo when the lights go down for a concert to begin. However, one could easily mishear this at the McDonald Theater in downtown Eugene as the entire room chanted an extended “Goooooose'' just before the band members took stage. Prior to the show on the night of the 25th of April, some eccentric fans made squawking 

noises at each other while others flapped their arms in excitement. One thing was for sure, this band meant something special to the attendees. 

For many in the jam band community, it has been a long time since they had the same admiration for a band quite like many hold for Goose. Hailing from Norwalk, Connecticut in 2014, what makes this band unique is their exceptional musical skill and attention to detail mixed with their boisterous youthful energy. Haze Moss, a Eugene resident and longtime frequent jam concert attendee described a highly positive experience seeing…

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By: Megan Lorich

The most anticipated film of 2023’s blockbuster season is undoubtedly Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. The first full length trailer for the film dropped in early April to the delight of fans everywhere. From the trailer’s iconic first shot of immovable doll feet to the blank stare behind Ryan Gosling’s eyes as Ken, it’s clear that Barbie will be an instant classic. 

But every classic film needs a classic soundtrack and Barbie is no exception. It’s obvious that songs like Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” will be on the tracklist, but what other songs might make the cut? Here are our picks for Barbie’s soundtrack! 

1 - Surfin’ U.S.A by the Beach Boys 

The last scene of the newly released Barbie trailer features various Ken dolls bickering over a “Beach Off''. The aesthetic of various scenes in Barbie Land are clearly referencing 60’s surf culture, and you can’t go wrong with the Beach…

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Omar Apollo graces McDonald Theater’s stage in Eugene, Or. on April 19th 2022.

Written and Photographed by Paige Rodriguez

Pop music makes people mad. Is it art? Is it real music? Are music lovers too pretentious for sticking their noses up in its face?  

I’d argue these questions are missing the point. Instead of controlling the pop narrative by comparing it to classical, jazz, or rock, it deserves a spotlight of its own. 

I’m not saying that pop shouldn’t be well-crafted, but I think many music lovers stray from the genre because they believe that’s impossible. It can be easy to fall into a pit of pretentious thinking. We want music to hold the same thought and care as we put into listening to it. The criticism of pop also stems from the claim that it is heavily commercialized and therefore inauthentic. 

What music lovers find to be inauthentic is often how pop music artists survive. Making music is still…

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Written By: Jack Skidmore

Favorites

● If I Ever Was a Child 

● Cry All Day

● Someone to Lose 

● Locator 

● We Aren’t the World (Safety Girl) 

For those looking for a more lighthearted Wilco album “Schmilco” is the one for you. Spearheaded by artist Jeff Tweedy, the Chicago-based alternative band, Wilco, delivers a whimsical folk and alt-country-focused track list on their 10th full-length album. I particularly enjoy the humorous and clever lyricism throughout the album. Each song is also tightly packaged and musically focused to be easily digestible and allow the album to flow through quite seamlessly. I would play this album during a laid-back morning in the comfort of my home or on a walk to the river on a sunny spring day. It is undoubtedly an instant…

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Written By: Codi Farmer

There’s nothing quite like getting home on a Friday night with muddy shoes, a light ringing in your ears, and a catchy chorus stuck in your head that you heard that kid in your 10 AM class sing just a few hours before. This is the closing of another successful night as an attendee at a house show here in Eugene. It’s something I know and love dearly, but what often goes overlooked is everything that goes into making all that magic happen – the orchestration of a backyard gig here in the Dirty Eug. 

It often starts on Instagram DM where local bands will often reach out to each other with a proposal to do a show together. These messages often consist of some pretty brief information – a weekend, a rough lineup of who they want on the bill, and if you’re lucky, a venue location that has already agreed to take on the liability of a couple hundred inebriated college students stomping in their yard. Once the show is in the books, it’s time to get…

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