Portland Special: Valet
Published 33 months ago
We speak to avant-psych powerhouse Honey Owens.
Honey Owens, a former member of Jackie-O Motherfucker, has been a lynchpin of the Portland experimental music scene for more than ten years. Her latest project is a solo album on the Kranky label, Blood is Clean, under the name Valet.
DazedDigital: How and why did you end up in Portland?
Honey Owens: It was pretty cosmic. I had never been here before in my life - except for maybe when my parents ran away in the summer of love... They stayed in a hotel here in Portland. I might have been conceived here. Anyway, a friend of mine who had just moved here wrote me a letter of how beautiful and amazing Portland was. I was in a travelling mood so I loaded up my car with whatever belongings would fit and have been here since. That was... oh, say, 11 years ago.
DD: What's the best thing about Portland?
HE: The landscape, the forests, the mountains, the ocean nearby - and I would venture to say that Portland has more free time than most cities. People literally invent their own jobs a lot of the time. Maybe it's the circles I run in. I mean have you seen the Dead Moon movie?
DD: What's the worst thing about Portland?
HE: The fact that so many people have caught on to its beauty.. I'm afraid that free time might run out any minute.
DD: What was your most memorable Portland gig?
HE: Oh geez, there have been SO MANY! Okay here's a short list:
1. Spiritualized at Berbatis - amazing light show at the height of shoegaze mania
2. Elliot Smith at Umbra Penumbra cafe - raw and weird and awesome
3. Tricky at La Luna - huge band, huge spliffs, Ben Stiller was there. Just totally old Portland weird with new Portland actors lamping.
DD: What's your favourite Portland spot?
HE: The Oak Street or Rad Summer.
DD: What are the best Portland bands that we haven't heard of?
HE: Rob Walmart, Ghosting, Malibu Falcon, Sun Circle, Paint and Copter, Privacy, Firefly Wreck, Inca Ore, Grand Junction Grand Therapy, Acre, Silentist.
Oak Street photos by Chloe Richard.
