Texan transplants

Texas and Oregon couldn’t be more different. Whether classified by size, weather, sports, politics or diversity the two regions are separated by a series of social and cultural dichotomies. But even the strongest differences between the antonymous states haven’t kept the Portland indie trio Blood Beach from finding a passion and local northwest flavor in their new home of Portland.

The band features Shane Wright on guitar and vocals, Camella Weedon on saxophone, mandolin, theremin and drone and Cody Seals on drums and vocals.

Wright, who initially performed solo after his trek to Oregon, says Portland has more support not only between local bands, but also from the community in general.
“Camella and I actually moved up here together with the intent of starting a new band,” Wright said. “It wasn’t until Cody moved up…that we really got going as a band because for a while I was playing solo shows. Last September was when we really started getting things going.”

Seals and Wright played music together in Texas, which made Seals an obvious fit for the band once they got connected again in Portland. Portland has been good for Blood Beach, which has found an array of local bands that influence and support the group including Mattress and Magic Johnson, who will also be performing with the band tonight at Ella Street Social Club.

“The community itself seems very supportive not necessarily just the bands…neighbors and stuff here, if you are having a house venue, are more supportive,” Wright said. “When you tell people you are in a band, [they] are more supportive than they would be in Texas. And I think the house show circuit and stuff like that is so cool and such a good thing for being in a band.

A theme often uttered by Portland bands, the supportive music community has given Blood Beach motivation as they look forward to tonight’s show and beyond. Blood Beach hopes to begin producing music, as they have yet to release anything to the public.

On the band’s MySpace page there are three tracks produced in Wright’s home studio. With that in mind, Wright says there are many differences between the currently posted tracks and many of the songs performed in a live Blood Beach performance.

“Those songs that we have on [MySpace] right now are just home recorded, demo type songs,” Wright said. “They actually I guess are kind of different from our live show. Our live show is more indicative of what future recordings will be like…I think our best songs haven’t been recorded yet.”

After tonight’s show Blood Beach will take time to consider producing some tracks and possibly looking for a bass player. The band briefly incorporated bass into its act and Wright said he thinks the addition allowed the band to be more energetic on stage.

“We don’t have any shows lined up after this,” Wright said. “We might take that time to find a new bass player, because I did like having the dynamic of that.”

According to Wright, adding the element of a bassist will allow the band to rely less on looping and layering and more on a full comprehensive band sound. Tonight, Blood Beach will be joined at Ella Street Social Club by Mattress and Magic Johnson. This is the time to check out Blood Beach, as it is a matter of time until shows and albums make them a local highlight of Portland indie music.