Seattle gay newS pride '07

Bend-It Festival at the Vera Project
Gay Pride Weekend, Sunday, June 24th,
w/Tender Forever, Your Heart Breaks, Chris Riffle, Lucy Bland
Bend-It, the Vera Project,
& Antarctic Records present:
“The Bend-It Festival”
w/Tender Forever,
Your Heart Breaks,
Chris Riffle, Lucy Bland!
June 24th, 2007
@ The Vera Project,
Warren Ave N & Republican St
Seattle Center (Northwest Rooms)
Doors @ 12PM
Programming begins at 1PM
and ends at 7PM
Bend-It Festival is All-Ages
Bend-It is FREE to All
Donations are welcome
www.theveraproject.org
www.myspace.com/bend_it
www.antarcticrecords.com
www.myspace.com/antarcticrecords
Workshops include:
Punk Rock Silk Screening
Poetry
Break dancing
Zine Archive and Publishing Project
Vegan Cooking
Stitch and Bitch
THE HEADLINERS
Tender Forever:
Melanie Valera is the throbbing heart
and head philosopher of the solo band,
Tender Forever. She cut her performance
teeth on the street of her hometown of
Bordeaux, France, covering sixties girl
bands standards for money for a whole
year as part of the Bonnies. Along with this
enriching, character-building experience,
this hyperactive lady started a long-distance
electro-pop project with an American
friend she had met on the very last day
of her trip to S.F., CA. Garrison Rocks,
a spontaneous love-at-first-sight band,
endured and evolved, up until becoming
a Franco-American orchestra including 3
new members. The team performed about
40 shows in 7 months, notably with Little
Wings (K recs.) and Ted Leo (Lookout).
Melanie keeps the world updated on
all Tender Forever activities here: www.
takemybreathaway.net
Your Heart Breaks:
The short bio:
A bunch of dolphins playing instruments.
The longer story:
Your Heart Breaks began in Bellingham,
Washington in 1999. The project has spread
throughout the country, but resides in Seattle
when not on tour. At this point we have
over 50 members and seven albums. We
are on five record labels: Plan-it-x, MASA,
KELP!, and Don’t Stop Believing, and Do
It for the Girls Productions. It’s getting a
little excessive, but the band is super tight
right now. Steady members include Clyde
Petersen, Karl Blau, and Steve Moore.
The music is guitars and drums and
werlitzer piano and bass. Lots of singing,
a lot of stories to be told. That’s the main
point, I think. To tell stories.
Other [current and past] projects of YHB
members include:
The Milkcrate Rustlers
The Pipe Makes a Tight Bong
This Dyke is a Pipebomb
Do it for the girls productions
In Your Room (zine)
Plan-it-x anniversary documentary
Chris Riffle:
Evidently, I wasn’t the only one enamored
of Chris. Through my incessant phone calls
to KUGS to demand they play one or the
other of the two songs they had in their
rotation, I found out that his songs were
among the most requested.”
Carey Ross – What’s Up Magazine. . . .
Starting out opening for high profile acts
like Death Cab for Cutie, Mary Lou Lord
and Dub Narcotic Sound System Chris
Riffle made a splash on the Bellingham
music scene. A favorite of Bellingham
radio stations, he got signed and recorded
his first album but the record label went
under before they ever released it. He has
now released his own album independently
and been resurfacing around local Seattle
clubs. . . .
Acoustic folk pop with nods to Ben Lee
and Elliott Smith with catchy vocals that
carry the listener through all the ups and
downs of life.
www.myspace.com/chrisriffle
Lucy Bland:
The band’s name might be Lucy Bland,
but their music is anything but. Hailing
from the rain capital of the country, Seattle,
June 22, 2007 PRIDE ‘07 Celebrations
Washington, they let the rain inspire their
music rather than drown them out. Seattle
is so intimately connected to water, its
influence seeps into every aspect of life.
We channel those long winters, the rainy
days, and the ocean into our music. The
band describes their self sound as indie
with a splash of folktronic. Never heard of
folktronic; never believed it could ever be
combined with indie? All you have to do is
give Lucy Bland a listen and all the burning
questions in your heart will be answered. In
songs like Brown Sky the band combines
the lyrical qualities of indie with the beats of
electronic. The result is a lush combination
of genres that creates a world and keeps the
listener hooked.
www.lucybland.com
www.myspace.com/lucybland
BEND-IT!
Bend-It is a Seattle festival celebrating
our queer youth community. We stand
for social justice, and liberal values that
celebrate the diversity of life. We are about
the deconstruction of social norms, and we
live to further our progressive and loud
culture. The Bend-It Festival highlights the
artistic endeavors of local queer youth and
hosts workshops to teach people more ways
to express themselves. This yearly event
has consistently created a hip, healthy, and
productive options for people of any age
around pride. www.myspace.com/bend_it
ANTARCTIC RECoRDS
Antarctic Records initially formed in
2002 as an offshoot to a publishing project
of a young Michael Yuasa who had spent the
summer hitchhiking around the rural south
and residing in Texas. Initially naming the
project Antarctic Records to keep entries
of lonely travelers’ highway shanties and
three-day Greyhound journeys the project
began to include music when a love for
basement shows and pop culture was found
in the many cites he traveled thru.
Based in Seattle Antarctic Records also
includes a promotional arm and runs Rock-
Hustle.com, a music site that includes
commentary, news, and artist interviews.
Current Antarctic projects include Club
Pop Seattle’s now long running indie smash
and roll dance night, Bang Bang Seattle’s
only go-go boy rock and roll night, tour
managing in the UK and vinyl releases by
the “Holy Ghost Revival,” “(1965/SONY
UK)
www.myspace.com/antarcticrecords
www.antarcticrecords.com
Seattle Gay News
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