When Emma Boster, singer of Portland-grown metalcore giants Dying Wish, told her family she would be talking to the Mercury, her grandmother responded, “Tell them you’re a fifth-generation Portlander!” Though she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, three years ago, the pull of Rip City is inescapable—an inevitable fact when your family has been part of it for so long. “I’m actively trying to make my way back, but we're so busy, so it's hard to find a sliver of time to move across the country again.”Â
She might not be with us in the flesh anymore, but for the second year in a row, Dying Wish’s holiday heaviness extravaganza, Dying Wishmas, will be taking over the Roseland Theater. Born of the fact that bands often skimp hometown shows when on tour (and a strong love for Christmas itself), the micro-festival promises a nine-band bill, stacked with bands from all over the West Coast and beyond, for a truly reasonable $50 (before fees, naturally).Â
You probably shouldn’t count on Dying Wish to play any Christmas songs during their set (though, when asked what song she’d pick, Boster was quick to choose “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”). What you should probably expect, though, is a set jam-packed with songs from their killer new album, Flesh Stays Together. Ahead of the big day, I chatted with Boster about the embarrassment of punk riches they’ve booked for this year’s shin-dig, her holiday family traditions, and the Ghost of Dying Wishmas Future.Â
Metal musicians can often seem intimidating from the outside, but like the best Portlanders, Boster’s a grade-A chatterbox who graciously answered more questions than could fit into one piece. As such, this interview has been edited for length and clarity.
MERCURY: Now that you’ve been in Nashville for a while, what do you miss the most about Portland?
EMMA BOSTER: I miss Blazers games. I miss being around for Ducks games and stuff like that—I’m a huge sports fan, and I think the pride that we have in our teams is so unique. I also miss the local DIY hardcore scene probably the most. Nashville has a cool scene, but maybe because of the relationship I have to Portland, it isn’t the same. I just think there’s something so special about Portland.
It feels that a festival like Dying Wishmas could only work in a city like Portland. Do you agree with that?
There are some holiday shows in other parts of the country, but I think that the hometown pride of being in Portland is so special that it's definitely made it a lot easier, and it's definitely unique to our city.
Take us through the thought process of starting this micro-festival you've created.
When you reach a certain level as a band, you [start playing] other places more than you play your own hometown—and we didn't want to just never play Portland. So, we thought it would be a good idea if we planned to play Portland once a year, and I think before the holiday season is a really good time for it. Touring schedules slow down a little bit, and it's easier for us to fly out bands from other parts of the country and stuff. We wanted to make sure that we weren't leaving Portland out of our busy schedule!
This is only the second year, but we have a lot of ideas once we [get established] more and more. We plan on really elaborating and expanding on it to make it a real event.
You’re playing with eight other bands—that sounds like “an event” to me!
Absolutely. We're trying to do other things, too, like a photo booth and special merch items. We’re going to do a canned food drive, too, and a bunch of other stuff, so it’s not just a show. Last year, we did a raffle and donated the money, because we want to make sure that it’s also community-based and not just live music.
What’s your relationship with the holiday season? Are you a Christmas lover or a Christmas hater?
Huge Christmas lover! In my family, the day after Thanksgiving, you go get your tree, and you do all the rituals. My family celebrates Christmas Eve just as much as Christmas, so it's like we make a whole month out of it, basically. I’m a huge Christmas fan.
How does your family feel about Dying Wish celebrating Christmas in such an un-Christmas-y way?
They love it! My mom came last year with her best friend and my aunt. I think they're also at the point where they fully understand what we're doing as a band, and so they're excited about it. I keep asking my mom if she wants to get involved.Â
That's very cute. What would she do?
We talked about having a Santa Claus at Wishmas to introduce us and take photos with people. If we do it, we want to have a bunch of wrapped gift boxes and have elves throw them out into the crowd, and my mom is going to be an elf!
It would be so easy to lean away from the Christmas-ness and be an antidote for the season, but leaning into it like this is a much more fun way to go about things.
Yeah, I think as adults too, you just kind of disconnect from it more and more, so I think that's something that I've been actively trying to do: Just connect with that child wonder of the holiday season, especially after the grueling touring schedule we've had and everything. So, for us, it's just all about fun at this point.
Take us through the other bands this year! How locally-minded is the lineup?
Misery Whip is from Portland and put out one of my favorite albums of the year! A few of the members of Gouge Away live in Portland, too; they’re from South Florida originally, but Christina and Tommy moved to Portland during the pandemic, and we've worked together. I’ve been a fan of that band for a long time. We picked End of Dayz because we wanted a Seattle/Tacoma band, so there’s some PNW representation. Big Boy is from the Bay Area, so they're not too far away, either. Gridiron is from the East Coast, and we've been wanting to play shows with them for a long time, so I’m really excited about that. The other bands are on the tour we’re currently on: Boltcutter from Eugene and Orthodox from here in Nashville, and Static Dress are from England.
Who are you the most excited to play with?
Honestly, I'm really excited to see Misery Whip at the Roseland. They’ve been grinding really hard. They headlined Hawthorne Theatre not too long ago. They play a lot, and Portland loves them, so it'll be kind of similar to a band called Slime that played last year. People were really excited about that, just because it's like a DIY band from Portland playing one of its biggest stages.
What does the future of Dying Wishmas look like? It might lend itself easily to a two-day festival.
You’re reading my mind! I would love to do two days. I don't know if we're there yet. I was hoping this year would sell out, and then we could be like, “Okay, well this year sold out, let's do two days next year!” and then ideally we would play a different set each night, but it'll be interesting to see how it wraps. The economy is really tough right now. People have a hard time paying $50 plus fees for tickets.
We've tried to do what we can to make it affordable, but the ticket fees are just killing everything, and people are just having a hard time financially. I don't want to put a burden on people by making it two days and making it too expensive if it's not completely fair and accessible.
It’s a real bang-for-your-buck thing, though. If it were cheaper, there might be worry about everyone getting paid. Regardless, it's probably the most economical way to see some really great, talented acts.
Yeah, exactly, and that's definitely what we're going for, and I understand that $50 is a lot for people. But, when it comes down to it, you're supporting bands, you're supporting an independent music venue, you're supporting your local community, and your scenes, so it's not like we're just asking people to pay a bunch of money for nothing. It's going back into everyone's pockets and helping all of us keep doing what we're doing.
Before I let you go, what should people who haven’t bought tickets yet know about Dying Wishmas?
I think that it’s just such a cool mixed bill. Portland is so unique, where people will go and see a band like Gouge Away, Big Boy, and Static Dress all on the same bill. It’s super diverse, so it’s not going to be fatiguing, where every band sounds the same. It’s going to be a very exciting lineup, and if I weren’t going, I would have massive FOMO, just because it’s going to be an awesome night of bands and activities. I think you were right for saying you get a lot of bang for your buck!
Dying Wishmas pops off this year on December 12 at Roseland Theater. Bands on the bill include Dying Wish, Static Dress, Big Boy, Gridiron, Gouge Away, Orthodox, Boltcutter, Misery Whip, End of Dayz. Tickets and more info here.Â
