Logo
Lovejoy Surgicenter
ISSUE #34.20 • MUSIC •
[MUSIC]

Stone By Stone


An Elder Statesman Of NW Moss-Rock Reps Hard, With Or Without You.

Social bookmarking | Permalink
Email | Print | Rate It! | 9 comments
Recently in "Music"

May 7th, 2008
Clublist Spotlight • Tiger Bar | Eye of the Tiger0 comments

April 30th, 2008
Clublist Spotlight • East Burn: A Whole New World0 comments

April 30th, 2008
Bike Lane To Yr Skull Interstellar Freak Out Ensemble, April 24 At The Kenton Club0 comments

April 30th, 2008
Fleshtone, Monday, May 50 comments

April 30th, 2008
Here Comes Your Fan • Soul Man? | Colin Meloy tries his hand, er, voice at Sam Cooke.1 comment

April 30th, 2008
Swan Songs | Two experimental giants—Inca Ore & Yellow Swans—bid Portland adieu.0 comments

April 23rd, 2008
PACIFIC UV, Longplay 2 (Warm Records) | ALBUM REVIEW0 comments

April 23rd, 2008
Jujuba, Saturday April 26 | Communication shakedown: Jujuba speaks a universal language.0 comments

April 16th, 2008
Scotland Barr & The Slow Drags, Friday, April 18 | Meet Portland’s gritty-voiced time traveler—of music and storytelling.0 comments

April 16th, 2008
DUSTY YORK TRIO, Thoughts Take Flight (Diatic) | ALBUM REVIEW0 comments


WITH THE FLOATER: Frontman Rob Wynia challenges WW to a staring contest.
BY CASEY JARMAN | cjarman at wweek dot com

[March 26th, 2008]

Floater has the kind of rock credentials even the snobbiest Northwest music fan should have a hard time sneering at. The Portland-via-Eugene hard-rock outfit has lasted 15 years without a single lineup change, major label deal, hit single or ska phase. Floater has kept complete control over everything from booking to album art along its trajectory from a long-haired, earthy Eugene metal outfit to eclectic and pop-conscious, clean-cut Portland rockers—with very little in the way of (ahem, positive) local press to fuel its fire. Still, Floater sports a large, devoted regional fanbase (which frequently sells out venues like the Aladdin Theater and the Crystal Ballroom) to prove its worthiness.

So, why can’t the most self-sufficient Oregon success since Dead Moon get any respect? WW asked 38-year-old frontman Rob Wynia via telephone.

WW: You were first embraced by the metal scene in Eugene; did that canonize what you were doing at the time?

Wynia: I felt legitimized, because all the bands out there that were getting signed and getting press and doing world tours had a very uniform, homogenous sound. I like hard rock and metal, but I don’t have a lot of tolerance for it. I think why we got embraced by a lot of those people is because they felt the same way I did. I like bands that don’t have a cool factor. I mean, you can tell when it’s camp, like the guitar-face guy and when it’s Joe Cocker. Joe Cocker doesn’t freak out because his manager tells him it’ll get him chicks, he’s just incredibly uncool. He doesn’t give a shit at all, and that speaks to me.

Where do the tribal and Middle Eastern influences in Floater’s sound come from?

Well, we all were weaned on 4AD [the label behind the Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, the Pixies, etc.] stuff. Dead Can Dance is always on the bus when we’re out on tour. A lot of it has come from that influence. It’s a strange recipe, because it seems like it works unbelievably well on a lot of levels on a lot of people, and it really doesn’t work on a lot of people, too. Not a lot of gray area. I’m a bit baffled at why.














icon Story continues below

advertisement

advertisement

Is it partly because there’s a contingent of your crowd that’s really intense?

I always felt like, if we’re doing what we’re here for, then the perfect Floater show is one in which things get completely out of hand. We want people to come and hate their father who beat them up, or take off their clothes and have sex with their girlfriend. We’ve played one show where people got ejected for actually doing it in the crowd, but we’ve played hundreds of shows where people have left with broken noses and ribs. We want to whip people into a frenzy, and when you whip humans into a frenzy, most of them just get violent. It’s unfortunate.

But there are thousands and thousands of Floater fans out there that are just amazing. I’m agog at how educated and interesting and questioning and passionate and just cool Floater fans are. There were solidly a thousand amazing people [at the last Crystal Ballroom show]. And there might have been a hundred that were dipshits, but the only way you avoid that is by having 45 people come to your show that are all your friends.

Why was Floater never signed to a major label?

If we were to obtain some degree of celebrity, it would definitely be in spite of ourselves. We don’t have any problem with [success]. There’s a misconception that we don’t want to get signed or that we’re fiercely defensive about our indie status. We’re not. The bottom line is that if you want to be Art Alexakis you have to really want to be Art Alexakis. You have to work really hard to have everybody pay attention to you. And we’ve never worked very hard at it.

SEE IT: Floater plays an acoustic set Saturday, March 29, at Dante’s. 9:30 pm. $15 advance, $18 day of show. 21+.

 

Rate This Story
5 average/15 votes

Comment on this article

Faith  writes on Mar 26th, 2008 1:11pm

Great article on an incredible band! Thanks for giving Floater some well-deserved kudos.

Leitmotiv  writes on Mar 26th, 2008 1:41pm

Fantastic read! Willamette Weekly, you're doing a great job. Now all we need is Floater on the cover some day....

Rowan Ashe  writes on Mar 26th, 2008 5:42pm

Thanks for the kind words about Portland's best kept musical secret....kudos to you, Willamette Week

Justin W.  writes on Mar 26th, 2008 7:08pm

Finally a paper who's musical head isn't up their ass. Thank you for your support, I as a staunch Floater fan can say that they need more public support. It's hard for the world to see the passion if it's all inside a venue. Much kudos.

Logosgnosis  writes on Mar 26th, 2008 8:01pm

Nice to see a hometown rag giving two shits about a band that put Oregon on the map.

DebraKadabra  writes on Mar 27th, 2008 1:08am

It's hard for me to be half a country away from one of my favorite bands and articles like this one help to cushion that pain. Thanks for the good reading!

tavialynn  writes on Mar 27th, 2008 7:55am

This was really great! I always like to hear what any of the talented and amazing guys from Floater has to say. I am happy to see that the band is getting some recognition. Thanks for the opportunity for the read!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TheOutlawJesseJames  writes on Mar 28th, 2008 1:35am

Floater is, always has,and always will be my greatest musical influence, obsession and frustration.

the frustration comes from people who don't like them.. and should. which, is everyone who doesn't like them.

great review and interview guys!

wvince  writes on Mar 30th, 2008 10:20pm

Thank you Willamette Weekly! Floater has been an influential band for years. It's nice to see Floater getting positive recognition from local word journals.

Keep kicking ass Floater!!

Comment on the "Stone By Stone" article



Ad
Stereotypes
Ad
Basic Rights Oregon
Ad

Sponsored Links: WW Personals
Musician's Market
Snowboard Jackets


Recently in Willamette Week
May 9th 2008Best New Band 2008 | Portland music insiders take our local scene to the chopping block—and come out with 10 new faves.
May 9th 2008For The Love of Politics | WW’s endorsement page-turner has all the candidates worth falling for this election.
May 9th 2008Say Amen, Somebody | African-American ministers struggle to make their voices heard in America’s whitest city.
May 9th 2008Green With Envy | Seven things Portland should do if we’re serious about being green.
May 9th 2008Kvetch Fest | 27 things we hate about the city we love.
May 9th 2008Bitter Pill | A Portland doc flips on big pharma and reveals its “dirty little secret.”
May 9th 2008Gunfight at the OR Corral | A crusader who fought the Mob or a long-established Oregonian? Inside the shootout to become the next attorney general.
May 9th 2008Lean Cuisine | Has Portland lost its insatiable appetite for its restaurant scene?
May 9th 2008Barack In The Day | Long before Obama ran for president, he was a state senator in Illinois. Here’s what he did.
May 9th 2008The Adventures of Zetaman | Portland’s superhero bunks in the ’burbs and drives a minivan—when he’s not keeping our streets safe.