Let's Get Famous

« Up To Speed: a preparatory discourse | Main | From the Desk of Mike Merrill »

She's Got Class

(left to right: photographer chris hornbecker, yours dispassionately, and eric ducker)

With more stealth than any of us could have imagined, the hook has landed, and it has landed firm. And thus the Let's Get Famous blog begins to take shape in its proper form -- that of actual document.

For the last few days the extended Let's Get Famous consortium -- those willing and unwilling -- have been knee-deep in the trenches of career-making under the watchful eye of Fader Magazine's Eric Ducker.

It began with an email, escalated in telephone call, and finally, landed on the runway of a roundtrip flight between LAX to PDX. With initial contacts stemming from conversations with States Rights Records proprietor Steve Schroeder, Ducker decided to visit our fair city on the occasion of the OWN ZONE record release party. Though the exact scope of the exposure is yet to be determined, Ducker has recently taken an uncommon interest in the lo-ish fidelity faction of the "portland music scene", an opportunity ripe for exploitation by team LGF. With rolling wheels, unwilling operative Schroeder volleyed us an assist, and before two long, The Cupcake was a flurry of dictaphones and "Flash" photography.

Though personally absent from the OWN ZONE release (previous self-promotional engagements in Seattle), all reports suggest a resounding success for all concerned. Interview participants for the 6th of April report Ducker and photographic associate chris hornbecker to be amiable gentlemen, with particular affections lavished on mild-manner photographer's assistant Maori. Reactions ranged from "sort of weird" to "awesome dudes."

Returning home in the wee-est hours of April 7th, I met personally with Mister Ducker in the afternoon to inflate my (relatively limited) presence in the "Portland Music Scene."

REVIEW: The Fader threesome entered The Cupcake at approximately 4:45 pm roughly 45 minutes past our agreed meeting time. the photography team, familiar with the room from their visit with Jona the prior afternoon, began immediately manufacturing their "shots" rummaging through my things, tossing about the comforter on my bed, re-arranging my records, etc. with little regard for my sense of personal space... a calloused gumption I rather admired. As test flashes rattled, i sat down with Ducker.

Early-thirties, shaved head, face baring the subtle mark of the previous night's festivities. I found the man to be a rather pleasant fellow, though his demeanor bore a strikingly resemblance to a former reporter-ish co-worker of mine, a fact which may or may not have left an unfair ill-ease in our relations. none the less, i found his line of questioning to be perfectly reasoned, fair, and non-confrontational. his conservative agility with the cassette recorder's record/stop button was admirable. (My initial plan of recording the interview with my own cassette recorder was thwarted at the last minute in the absence of a spare cassette, a situation that will hopefully be rectified by the time we face another interview.)

The "Photo Shoot" was considerable more obtrusive, again, admirably so. Hornbecker manned his 2 1/4 format with staunch professionalism, a courtesy he demanded in return from his model. common complaints with my performance, masked as demands: "please close your mouth," "turn your chin like this [miming]. no, too far. no, not far enough," "I feel like your eyes are bugging out. could you please close your mouth?" If his tests are any indication, the product is sure to be stunning.

all in all, i rate this experience 7 of 10, a luke-warm rating based primarily on my personally tool-ish responses to Ducker's line of questioning. With any luck, I will be able to harangue him to engage in an interview about his perspective on the experience.

note to self: develop possible "interview persona" for future discussions. potential alternatives: "mad dog," "Archbishop O'Sullivan," "'and you know what else i got beef with?'," "Gerrill," "Sammy 'the bishop' Guggliatta," etc.

Comments