Wax Fingers – August 15th @ Doug Fir
August 13, 2009 — PDXPIPELINEPosted by Nathalie Weinstein
Three dudes and a laptop
Portland musicians Wax Fingers will bring their aggressive, atmospheric math rock to the Doug Fir Lounge Saturday night with Experimental Dental School, Swim Swam Swun and Mighty Tiger.
If you have a hankering for live, melt-your-face-off indie rock this weekend, then this show is for you, and at only $7 for admission, it's a bargain.
Zack Jacobson (guitar), Tommy Franzen (drums) and Pete Bosack (guitar and vocals) met in 2006 on the virtual world of Craigslist.
"We are a Craiglist band," said Jacobson. "I moved here with the intention of finding like minded musicians, so the first thing I did was put out an ad on Craigslist."
Jacobson says he instantly clicked with Bosack and Franzen, and after repeated efforts at trying out bassists after the band's current bassist left, the group decided to leave the bass notes up their handy laptop, which is present at every show.
A Southeast Portlander, Jacobson's favorite bridge is the St. John's and when he needs a stiff drink, he heads to either Beulahland or Sidestreet Tavern for a freshly squeezed gin and juice. He was kind enough to chat with me after band rehearsal one night about Wax Finger's sound, what he's been reading, and the five albums he couldn't live without.
PDX Pipeline: How would you describe your sound?
Zach Jacobson: It's like math-y post-rock. It can be quirky at times. It's very aggressive and hurky jerky in one moment and atmospheric in the next. We try to harness tension at one moment and release it at the next. Our sound has changed from what is on our Myspace. The EP was more sensitive and subdued, longer, and more on the post-rock, atmospheric side. Now, the songs are slightly pop-ier and more aggressive.
PDXP: What musicians influenced your band's sound?
ZJ: Tortoise, Battles, Animal Collective ( although it doesn't sound like us, I think the spirit and the energy of that band has been a big influence on us), Radiohead, and any fore runners of math rock.
PDXP: If you could play onstage with any musician, dead or alive, who would it be?
ZJ: Tom Waits, Cornelius, and the French musician Colleen.
PDXP: What are the five albums you couldn't live without?
ZJ: Kid A, Portishead's Third (that was the first album that really impressed me), The Mullosk by Ween, XTC by Drums and Wire, and Tom Waits album, Rain Dogs.
PDXP: Who is on your iPod currently?
ZJ: Sound Garden, Super Unknown
PDXP: What are you reading?
ZJ: I just finished Under the Banner of Heaven and started Shutter Island. Scorcese is making a movie of Shutter Island, which is why I picked up the book. It looks like a straight up horror movie. The guy who did it wrote Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River.
WHAT: Wax Fingers
WHEN: Saturday, August 15th
WHERE: Doug Fir Lounge
HOW MUCH?: $7
_____________________________________________________________
Related Posts by Nathalie Weinstein
- Review: Grey Gardens at Portland Center Stage
- Commissioner Randy Leonard OMFG!!! | The Definitive Interview
- Review: The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa @ Miracle Theater
- Word To Your Mother @ Bagdad Theater
- Review: Wonderland Circus @ Bossanova
- Review: ‘El Grito del Bronx' at Miracle Theater
- Radish Underground in Pictures | Portland, Oregon
- Putting the "ass" in art class at Dr. Sketchy PDX
