Meow
Meow
527
SE Pine St.
230-2111
Todd Fadel and
Amy Glenn say their landlord is a fan of all-ages music
and gave them "a hell of a good deal" on their Southeast
Pine Street digs.
BASIL CHILDERSEVERYONE IN ROCK AND ROLL CLAIMS TO BE DOING
IT FOR THE KIDS. ALMOST EVERYONE IS LYING.
WHILE ROCKERS FROM THE UNDERGROUND UP TO TOTAL REQUEST
LIVE PAY LIP SERVICE TO THE TEENAGED FLOWER OF FANDOM,
PRECIOUS FEW BACK UP ALL THAT TALK. IT'S EASIER TO KICK
BACK AND ENJOY THE DRINK TICKETS AND DELI TRAYS THAT ARE
EVERY UPPER-ECHELON SCENESTER'S BIRTHRIGHT.
AMY GLENN AND TODD FADEL DON'T SEE IT THAT WAY. BOTH SAY
MUSIC CHANGED THEIR LIVES BEFORE THEY WERE 21, WHEN THEY
STARTED HANGING OUT AT THE X-RAY CAFE, THE LONG-DEFUNCT,
LONG-LEGENDARY ALL-AGES CLUB ON EAST BURNSIDE STREET. NOW
THESE TWO FRIENDS ARE MIDWIFING PORTLAND'S LATEST ALL-AGES
HOPE, MEOW MEOW.
THE NEW ALL-AGES CLUB OPENS IN THE INNER SOUTHEAST DIGS
ONCE OCCUPIED BY STAGE FOUR AND THE CHRISTIAN CLUB SPIN
CYCLE WITH AN APRIL 28 SHOW BY INDIE DARLINGS PEDRO THE
LION.
Willamette Week: How did all-ages shows affect
you when you were younger?
TODD FADEL: A friend introduced me to fIREHOSE and Minor
Threat, and that was where I got introduced to indie music.
And about that time, Ben and Tres opened up the X-Ray, and
I was able to go to quite a few shows down there. Everybody
was allowed to just do what they did. No one was shooed
away, because, y'know, 'They sound like AC/DC, so we can't
have Dead Moon play.' There was none of that. I want to
see Portland come back into a family thing like that again.
AMY GLENN: Growing up as a teenager, there was a plethora
of all-ages venues. You could go check out anything, go
see anyone for three, four, five bucks.
Some people say that all-ages clubs keep kids from getting
into trouble. Did it work that way for you?
GLENN: It didn't keep me out of trouble, but at least instead
of wanting to be a groupie, I realized, 'Oh, I can play
music. I can totally have this creative integrity nurtured
in me.' I think there's a whole generation of people behind
us who need to be able to experience that tight musical
community, where they can grow up and work out their dreams.
FADEL: We want to encourage as much as we can--performance
art, visual art, anything. I think there's such a creative
diversity in this town, it's a real shame that people aren't
taking more advantage of that.
GLENN: I work with teenagers, teaching life skills, and
there's so much pain that they want to let out and there's
so much angst, that they're going to identify with anything
that's going to throw that back out at them. If it's really
loud, if it's pissing their parents off, then it's going
to touch that need in them. They just need to have an outlet
for something more positive.
FADEL: When something like this starts, more bands come
out. And they are performing because you're around, because
you make it worthwhile to be in a band. So in a way, I feel
like just opening our doors is going to start something.
What's the reaction been to the news about your plans?
GLENN: It's been amazing how quickly things have come together.
It's like people hadn't had a drink of water for a week.
We got weird e-mails--"You guys are my muse, the people
who are going to do the most wonderful thing for this earth."
God, we're just opening an all-ages club in Portland.
Is there a larger Northwest music scene, beyond Portland,
that you can tap?
FADEL: All you need is one person doing shows, and suddenly
they're the venue for that town. Bands are just trying to
get from Point A to Point B along I-5, so if you're doing
shows, they're going to call you up.
What's Meow Meow's atmosphere going to be like?
GLENN: We're getting three pinball machines.
FADEL: I've got these candy catalogs.
GLENN: We're not having any alcohol on the premises at
all. No beer garden, nothing. We're doing a total sugar
bar. We figure if you don't have alcohol, you've got to
have something.
FADEL: I looked into Slurpee machines today.
GLENN: God, I'll probably never leave that room. The thing
is, kids are just dying for something to do. If idle hands
are the devil's playthings--man. They're just so bored.
If you had a space open where everyone sat around picking
their nose, they would go. They just want to be with their
friends and have a good time.
I've read a lot about how young people tend to be criminalized,
to be viewed as an undifferentiated mass of Kid Rock or
gangsta rap fans. Do you see this going on?
GLENN: Maybe I'm immature, but I look forward to spending
time with them. I don't know what I would do without them.
They keep me a real person.
FADEL: I never really grew up. I did grown-up things, but
I never really grew up in my head. And so many things about
Portland have started getting so serious and so dark.
How do you mean?
Without getting all moralistic about it, it's just that
there was an innocence about things when I was younger that
has turned into a certain nihilism. If we hated what our
parents did to us, we should at least make something more
fun, something daring, something silly.
GLENN: It's harder when you're an adult. We have bills
to pay. Todd and his wife just had a baby, my daughter just
turned 1 last week, so it's kind of a scary thing, but at
the same time it's so exciting. We've had so much support
from people, the excitement is so contagious. We've found
ourselves just giggling sometimes. If it becomes like a
serious task, then we're going to stop doing it.
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Willamette Week | originally
published April 26,
2000
|
