Author: Sonia Lessuck
Less than a year ago, two kids from Portland, Oregon were attending house shows when it struck them: “Dude, we could this.” After circulating the house scene (shows held in private homes) as spectators for a couple of years, Austin Jackson and good friend Ross McLeron started throwing ideas around for a band of their own.
Jackson plays keyboard and McLeron plays guitar, leaving the boys looking for two more members to complete their homemade band. Soon after the plan was in action, Nicole Perry and Max Lilien joined the crew and thus Southern Belle was born.
The band began recording and circulating the Portland house scene, and on Aug. 31 self released its first album, Hurry Up and Thrill Me. Jackson credits Elliot Smith and Modest Mouse as he and McLeron’s biggest influences. The band also draws from Japanese influences; the first song on the album, “Oh Tokyo,” remains one of Jackson’s favorites.
The song opens with what sounds like an organ playing and goes into a duet between contrasting vocals. The hook of the song “Tokyo-oh-oh,” sung in a higher tone, accentuates the male raspy voice singing the rest of the song. Influences from Britain, and also thick-rimmed glasses wearing band Weezer can be picked out as well.
Jackson explains that Portland has a growing under-age music scene that is pulling kids of all ages into living rooms and basements to hear their peers. This scene is taking small local bands and giving them a voice for the greater music scene to hear. “We’ve gone from playing basements and living rooms to opening for some pretty big bands,” said Jackson.
Since coming together, Southern Belle has played nineteen house shows around Portland and opened for some credible bands such as Tilly and The Wall, Jaguar Love and Kickball. Among Jackson’s greatest experiences with another band was the time Southern Belle spent recording in the studio Starfucker. Since then the once local band has started to make a name for themselves.
Word of mouth seems to be key for such a music scene. The Weekly heard of Southern Belle from a student from Portland who recommended they be covered. The house scene is truly motored by students and teenagers, something underground for the under-twenty one crowd.
“Portland is a special place and time for young people in music,” explains Jackson. “There’s a feeling that anything can happen.”
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