Host: The Great Pain of Space (Alternate Mondays, 8-10 p.m. PST) Tuesday 2 p.m.-4 p.m. PST)
On Freeform Portland Since: 2016
Instagram: @sleepingwiththeearth
Tell me about the role that music plays in your life and why it’s important to you.
My entire life revolves around music. I’ve loved music since I was very little, and I’ve realized over the years that every hobby and activity I’ve chosen, and every job I’ve actually enjoyed, has been something I can do while listening to or making music. No music = no life.
How did you discover Freeform Portland and why did you decide to volunteer with us?
I did community radio in college, and for a couple of years after at KDVS at UC Davis. Old friends that were still there let me know that some KDVS DJs had moved to Portland and were starting a station here, and that I should reach out to them and see about doing a show. I hadn’t done radio in 15 years at that point, and the second I walked into my first volunteer meeting I realized I had missed radio tremendously–I knew I had found my new family.
Tell me about your show.
The Great Pain of Space is a melting pot of atmospheric, dark, and emotional music from a variety of genres. The focus tends to be on electronic music in the ambient/industrial/noise realms, but there is often a healthy dose of techno, shoegaze, folk, whatever is grabbing my ear at the time. I always try to blend lots of different kinds of music over the course of two hours rather than sticking to one sound or theme every show.
Finish this sentence: “Freeform Portland is…”
Freeform Portland is a place where music lovers are free to explore their obsessions with an audience seeking fresh sounds and new experiences.
Three songs you’re digging right now?
Chimehours: “Underneath the Earth”
Can you share a favorite musical memory (could be a song from childhood, a show, a transition that you killed)?
It’s kind of grim, but I was DJing a house party for New Year’s Eve 2017 right after Trump won the election. I went hard and the folks there–mostly parents and teachers in their mid-late 30s and early 40s trying to make sense of what was happening in America–gave all their energy right back and raged until the early morning. An absolute unexpected ripper of a party we all needed at a dark time.
Tell me about some musical artists that inspire you.
Ben Chasny of Six Organs of Admittance and Comets on Fire–and a grip of other bands and collaborations–never compromised vision or stayed in a single lane for his long and prolific career. A true artist and inspiration.
Daniel Menche is a local noise artist and legend in the global scene. After an absolutely blistering set in front of maybe 20 people, the first time I had ever seen him perform, he declared “This Is Folk Music”, something primitive, that anyone can participate in and share with their community. Changed my life, probably.
Zola Jesus, who lives in the woods in the middle of nowhere and makes incredible, emotional music. Living the dream…
If you could create your own personal concert, including artists who have passed, who would be some of the headliners and why?
It’s impossible to pick just a few, but let’s go with Pentagle, Dead Can Dance, Novy Svět, Bariṣ Manço, and DJ Krush.
Why is Freeform Portland, community radio important to you? To your community?
Freeform Portland provides a local, in-person space for a community of all manner of Portlanders to celebrate music in all it’s forms, and then broadcasts the joy of that celebration to the city at large. It’s an offline space for music nerds and fanatics to be themselves, as well as a source of fresh or forgotten music for radio listeners everywhere devoid of the algorithms and outside influences that drive other music discovery spaces. The world needs more people-powered creative and media spaces to avoid devolving into a fascist tech-fueled dystopia, and Freeform Portland is a proud part of that effort.
What is a genre/artist/record that some might be surprised to find in your collection?
I collect birdsong LPs, anything I can get my hands on with birds singing. One of my most treasured records is a set of five lathe-cut singles in a little book, each one a recording of an extinct bird species.
Given everything happening in the world today, what’s one song you turn to for comfort or inspiration?
Ian William Craig’s “Contain” is one of the greatest songs ever recorded and I have been listening to it a lot lately. There are three versions, all excellent. I would like the 10-minute “Astoria Version” played in full at my funeral.
Tips for aspiring DJs?
Worry less about what other people want you to play, find your own voice and niche and audience no matter how small or large that may be, and you’ll have more fun.
