Walking down the street, we’ve all heard it at some point: the crash of symbols, the thump of a bass drum, the staccato rhythm of an intricate guitar solo.
Garage band takes on a whole new meaning in Portland. It’s no longer the simple branding of the amateur, teenage-angsty set but rather a moniker ascribed to anyone of any age who bangs drums or taps out a heavy bass line in their basement, living room, bedroom and, yes, garage. And it’s no longer about defining the band as genre-less or avant-garde, or the “newest” undefined sound. It’s about space—or the lack thereof.
Music is a big thing in Portland. Really big. There are so many bands, venues and music shops all around the city that music is ingrained in the city’s ambiance. If you aren’t a part of the music scene (listening to your iPod or downloading MP3s doesn’t count), you might be astonished at the numbers alone.
However, one pitfall of having such a prodigious and prolific music scene is that available practice space is disproportionately small compared to the number of bands. Finding gigs can be hard, but what goes on beyond playing out is what counts. That means practice. And practice means finding space.
Many bands face the major issue of where to practice. It does, after all, make perfect, right? But often many band members have other jobs (sometimes two or three), and so the band is forced to practice late at night or at random times throughout the day—or not at all. And banging your drums in your garage at 3 a.m. is bound to bring the cops to your door. Maybe you don’t even have a garage. Maybe none of your band members lives in a place conducive to foundation-shaking bass and Hendrix-style guitar wailing. So what do you do?
There are myths on both sides of the fence: Finding practice space is like finding a four-leaf clover; finding practice space is as easy as making a PB&J. Despite the myths, finding and booking a place to practice can be a fairly easy process if you know where and how to look. The Vanguard is here to help.
The Internet is usually the go-to source for everything, and a simple search can produce many resources for finding all sorts of practice spaces. Google, Yahoo!, Yelp, etc. all pop out enough results to have your head swimming with options.
Craigslist is another good strategy. Under the community heading, click on musicians and narrow the search down to rehearsal space. Often you’ll find at least a few different ads that offer practice space, and it all depends on your band’s needs.
Portland’s alternative print publications the Portland Mercury and Willamette Week often have ads for practice and rehearsal place, and both also list ads for spaces on their websites: portlandmercury.com and wweek.com.
Then there’s the brick-and-mortar places. Troubadour Studio, located in Southeast Portland just blocks off Hawthorne Boulevard, offers rehearsal spaces as well as recording studios. Troubadour’s Facebook page describes the studio as a “multi-use music venue with a stage, vaulted ceilings, ambient lighting, PA, spacious lockers and a 16 channel control room for recording.” You can also check out Troubadour’s website, reverbnation.com.
DiGRESS Studios, a Portland newbie, offers hourly as well as monthly rates. Located on Southeast Madison Street right near the river, DiGRESS offers a practice studio complete with a full backline. Check out the studio’s Facebook page at facebook.com/DiGRESS.Studios.
LionsRoehr Recording Studio has been in Portland since 1995, and bands can book the space for recording or rehearsing. The studio has a large amount of equipment available to users as well as a ton of recording experience. LionsRoehr is located in Southeast Portland, and its equipment list and rates are available online at lionsroehr.com
Studio Infinity Recording, located in Southwest Portland off Barber Boulevard offers recording services with or without an engineer but also offers rehearsal space. The studio furnishes its instruments and recording equipment for bands that need them, and the staff has a ton of professional experience. Their website is infinityrecording.com
Another major part of finding and booking practice space, as well as many other aspects of music, is word of mouth. Knowing someone that knows someone whose cousin works at a warehouse out in some unknown part of the Northwest industrial area is a great source for finding a space. Getting word out to friends and posting online is the smart thing to do. Attending shows at various local venues around town is something most bands do already, but feeling out the room and surreptitiously asking around while you’re there is a clever way to get info. Getting other audience members to disclose their practice space secret or picking the brains of the bar folk might be more fruitful than you’d expect.
So if your neighbor’s already filed noise complaints with the city or left flaming bags of poo on your doorstep, it might be time to get out of the garage. Who knows, with the right search, you might even be able to pull down the padded Styrofoam from your apartment walls.