by Andrew D. Jankowski
When I realized I was (finally!!!!) old and irrelevant to youth culture, I thought I didn’t know how to find new music anymore. The last time I tried to go back to MySpace, the login process was a jumbled mess, like an outdated HTML fantasy layout. What do straight people listen to, and why? How do you say FKA twigs? Why do people make fun of Grimes? My tastes have grown from riot grrrl offshoot projects to black and queer vogue ball music, and things between. Aaron Osborn, the Portland State Vanguard’s current creative director, has good taste in music, as do my other friends and coworkers, but I don’t necessarily have time to pilfer all their libraries.
I can pick my way through press releases and Facebook event invites. But there are more ways than downloading albums off Limewire (RIP) to find new music, and even support your classmates and alumni on and off campus. Here are a few ways to find new music:
Parkway North: The northwest lounge on Smith Memorial Student Union’s first floor has daily programming, hosting everything from community events to free concerts by some of Portland’s best emerging and established musical artists. Check out their website to stay updated on their programming.
Lincoln Performance & Recital Hall: Host to concerts, plays, musicals, recitals, lectures, film screenings and more. Every floor of Lincoln Hall has poster boards, which are popular locations for poster hangers promoting events on and off campus.
Event Calendars: Sure, I bet some of you hate “the liberal media.” That’s okay**, I’m not a fan of their music either. But you can’t deny that Portland’s event calendars are consistently packed with some of the city’s best culture & entertainment, and I’m not just saying that because I curate the Vanguard’s event calendar. Willamette Week and Portland Mercury’s event calendars are what inspired me as a deeply confused heterosexual Christian teen from Vancouver (which is totally its own town and “not” the New Jersey of Portland) to get into arts and culture journalism. They were how I learned about what are now Portland institutions like Sinferno Cabaret, Blow Pony and STRFKR.
The internet / apps: Venues across town also have event calendars. Subscribe to your favorite venues’ social media pages & mailing lists, and if you aren’t -actually- financially struggling, then please stop complaining about cover fees because that’s how bands and venues make their living. Also, sometimes I forget that stuff like Pandora, Spotify Radio, Soundcloud, and Bandcamp exist because I’m secretly a techphobe who needs an intern to do stuff like make Snapchat make sense as a time investment.
**Disclaimer: It is okay to critique media and press workers’ work, but it is not okay to bully us or defame our profession, especially when we are acting within ethical guidelines.