Food for the soul and the body

It is no secret that the Portland community is a hub for good music and tasty food. With that in mind, Holocene is hosting an event that combines the Portland indie scene with delectable food. Local bands Wampire and St. Frankie Lee will be playing alongside tantalizing activities like cooking competitions, a local cooking series video screening and new recipes.

A highlight of tonight’s show will be a screening of Brennan Novak’s local food series Cooking with… In this show, Novak shot different bands cooking their favorite meals, while introducing the audience to their music as well. Novak produced his first video in the series last summer with Potlach Presents and has continued to produce the quirky series, with two new episodes airing this Thursday at Holocene.

“I’m really excited to see kind of how all the other things come together at this event,” Novak said. “I’ve never been to a music show where there’s…eating contests and random stuff like that…sort of reminds me of a renaissance fair.”

Novak has always had an interest in cooking, partially due to the influence of his father who had a knack at finding new and interesting recipes. Novak’s connection between music and food has also been escalated by his experience playing music with bands like St. Frankie Lee, who will be performing at the Thursday event.

St. Frankie Lee, who is currently searching for a bass player after a lineup change, is made up of Derrick Martin, Chelsea Campbell, Todd Liljegren, Cali Milena and Kay Sims. The band formed two years ago and has played one show at Holocone previous to this.

“We love Holocene in general and [booker] Gina [Altamura] in particular for setting up not only this show, but also the first show we played at Holocene last summer,” Martin said.

Sharing the stage with St. Frankie Lee is Wampire. The trio of Rocky Tinder, Eric Phipps and Cyrus Lampton has an electronic feel that fits Holocene’s reputation as a fun and interactive venue. The band is used to the Holocene stage, having graced it several times before.

“We’ve played at Holocene four times and it gets better every time,” Tinder said. “The thing that I like about Holocene is that they really care about the music and putting on a good show.  The booking is the best in town, the staff is hospitable, the bathrooms are clean, the sound system rules and they’re open to doing adventurous events like this food show.”

It is this adventurous attitude that will make tonight’s food and music event a can’t-miss activity. For $3, attendees will get a night of multifaceted enjoyment that exemplifies the kind of total community involvement which brings so much entertainment to this city.