What made you want to start promoting?
I went to a really crappy show and decided I didn't like it, cause there were four bands that shouldn't have been together. I said, "I can do this," and my mom said, "Well, why don't you?" I want to help the music scene in Portland for teens because there isn't that much of a place for them. I'm tired of not having anything to do. I live in Lake Oswego, and I go to West Linn High School, and the only thing around here to do is black light bowling. When you do that every weekend, you're like, "This sucks."
How do you get in contact with bands?
Either they contact Todd (from Meow Meow) and say, "Hey, I wanna play a high school show," or I know, like, thirty-five bands personally. Some of the guys at school are getting creeped out cause I have connections for high school and college bands everywhere from Bellingham to San Francisco. One thing I think is really cool is that Amend is opening for No Use for a Name, this giant punk band, so I'm helping them to be exposed and get more gigs and stuff.
Also, this is all completely done by high school students; the posters are all done by high school kids. It's not some 45-year-old man who doesn't know what he's doing putting together shows.
Did you always want to do this type of thing?
Well, I got kicked off the baseball team. I used to play on the guy's baseball team, and there were some guys that didn't feel comfortable with having a girl on the boy's varsity team. I was wearing five inches of padding, and they called me a distraction. They decided they didn't want me there.
Isn't that a violation of your Title IX rights or something?
I don't know. I brought it up to my coach when I heard some guys talking, and the guys on the team basically "voted me off the island"--that's what my friends are saying. So I had to focus on music, my one true love. Well, that and then baseball. I'm definitely a big baseball freak.
Is punk music the only type of music you like?
I love all types of music. When I was nine, I went to the Grateful Dead concert in Eugene. My parents took me to that. My most memorable concert would be James Taylor. I love all kinds of music. I've come to punk recently; I find it fun. My friends started listening to it, and I didn't like it at first, but I realized that it takes talent to play music that fast, and it doesn't take talent to rap. I like some R&B and some hiphop but I'm not a fan of rap.
Who are your favorite bands?
MXPX is my favorite big band, but I like mostly a lot of local bands: New Hope, Spun, Waste Management Coalition, Cantus.
What's your favorite part about being a promoter?
I want to help people. I have a passion, in that I want to do this, but I don't have the talent for it, and so I want to help the people who do have talent. I think my favorite part of doing this, though, is the time after you have a bunch of concerts, and it's dying down, and you start talking to bands and getting everything going again. The excitement and anticipation is the best part. Kids don't even care who's playing; they just want to come to my concert.
