Brainstorm and Maggie Mo

Back on August 10th I made a point of going to See Maggie Morris as she came on tour through Salem, stopping to play with Ghosties and Brainstorm. I've been a Maggie Mo fan for a couple years and I was really excited for a chance to see her live again. Sadly, the turnout was pretty poor that night. I know it was a Monday, but it was pretty disappointing to be one of only two people there who weren't playing in one of the bands or working behind the bar. Still, Maggie Morris rocked it, playing with a band behind her.



Brainstorm actually opened the show. They're a Salem band I hadn't heard to much about but I really liked there stuff. They're a two piece act, but they work in a number of instruments including keyboards and a tuba. It's experiemental, but they're doing some interesting stuff. Here's a taste:



I've got a Ghosties video from that night, too, but I feel like that's all I've been posting here lately, so just go to my YouTube profile if you want to see it.

High Scores and Records

Devin Gallagher is not a big fan of being on stage. This is a strange thing to hear from someone who has played with over twenty bands and as many as nine at once in Salem and Portland. He’s a member of three bands now: Typhoon, the Black Black Black and Ghosties. But he’s happier when he can play on the floor—in the crowd. The Black Black Black famously set up their amps on the floor and play with the audience right on top of them. Gallagher made a similar choice on his most recent performance at The Space with his solo act, Ghosties.

The Space is looking really good these days. They knocked out the wall that once divided the interior. Now it’s a much wider, more inviting and open space. The elevated stage is new as well, but Devin didn’t use it.

He had just taken Ghosties on the road with a quick tour up to Canada to participate in the Music Waste festival in Vancouver, BC. At times he plays with a full band. Many of his talented friends from other bands will back him up to give his songs that layered, complex sound you hear on his many albums and EPs. Unfortunately the Canadian border agents can be touchy about letting visitors across with a bunch of instruments and no work permit. Devin’s solution was to strip down his act to the bare essentials and travel with just a ukulele.

The mini-tour included stops in Portland and Olympia where Devin has many connections to the local music scenes. He’s from Salem, but he has lived in Olympia and currently resides in Portland. Everywhere he goes he makes connections with local artists.

This comes in handy in his role as co-owner of Boy Gorilla Records. Founded in 2005 with Tyler Ferrin, another Salem native, they quickly became darlings of the Portland indie music scene. Boy Gorilla has since put out 23 releases featuring bands from Salem, Portland, Seattle, Olympia and San Francisco. The name Boy Gorilla has come to represent a collective of talented musicians as much as anything else.

On this night Devin was alone. He set up a chair in the middle of the floor out in front of the stage. He didn’t bother with a mic or any amplification. It was Tuesday, not the venue’s busiest night, but the laid back crowd lent to the intimate atmosphere. The audience sat around the room in a ring and listened to him strum on the uke and sing.

It was an auspicious time for this performance. Devin is in the middle of launching a new record label, High Scores and Records. Boy Gorilla is not the nimble venture it once was and at a certain point Devin felt he needed the freedom to try out some new ideas. But there’s no bad blood there. He describes High Scores and Records and Boy Gorilla as “sister labels”.

One of those new innovations is the digi-store at highscoresandrecords.com. A big influence on Devin has always been the independent labels that emerged in the late 80s. They were able to create buzz with small runs of cassettes that could be produced inexpensively in house. “Because of this, I’ve always romanticized tapes. But tapes are no longer the cheapest and easiest means of releasing music.”

MP3s are that new format. Once a recording has been made the songs can be distributed effectively for free online. His new digi-store reflects this. The new digital LPs by Ghosties and Guidance Counselor are sold for only $3.00 each. If you buy either right now you also get a free single by Masters and Johnson. The release of a new Ghosties EP is also imminent, to be priced at $2.00. They have a pretty impressive list of bands lined up as well: Typhoon, Support Force, el comé homé, The Last Slice of Butter, The Black Black Black, Total Bros, and Brainstorm.

Devin Gallagher’s tireless devotion to music is self evident. He is himself a prolific songwriter, performer and is now the founder of multiple indie labels. He is also a big supporter of the Salem music scene, of which he himself is a product. When I asked him about Salem music his greatest praise goes first to the venue he plays so regularly. “I cannot say how much I love The Space and want everyone in Salem to realize how lucky they are to have it.” I could not agree more.

Devin will be back in Salem on August 7th, playing The Space again as part of the big Boy Gorilla west coast tour this summer. It was planned as a Maggie Morris/Ghosties tour originally, but so many Boy Gorilla artists will be part of the entourage that it’s hard to say what band you’ll see on each date. You can be sure Devin will be there singing, drumming, playing guitar or on his ukulele, but whether he’ll be up on a stage remains an open question.


NOTE: This was an example article I wrote for a potential new arts and culture magazine based in Salem. I don't know that it will ever be printed due to various stalls in the process, but Devin was nice enough to grant me and interview and I wanted to share what I've written.