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David Yow has kept active in retirement.
There have been reunion concerts (or "re-enactments," as he calls them) for his legendary noise-rock band the Jesus Lizard, which initially dissolved at the turn of the millennium, along with his pioneering Austin troupe Scratch Acid. He toured with veteran Bay Area punk group Flipper and Los Angeles experimentalists Qui. Gallery shows in New York and Berlin have exhibited his mixed-media pieces, and a pun-laden collection of his cat illustrations was published by Akashic Books. For 2013 solo debut Tonight You Look Like a Spider, the challenging soundscapes were released on special-edition vinyl inside concrete sculptures handmade by the artist.
Mostly, though, the iconic post-hardcore provocateur has embraced a second career of supporting roles.
"I don't have much interest in music," he admits. "It takes so much time. All I wanna do is act."
Although Yow had acted sporadically in high school and college, his current spate of film work was largely sparked by appearances in the micro-budgeted shorts of indie director Jim Sikora. Moving to Los Angeles following the dissolution of his primary gig, he began taking classes and devoted himself to the craft. In many ways, of course, the dramatic life seems a natural progression for a balls-out showman whose notoriously unhinged live shows depended as much on theatrical physicality as sheer vocal prowess. But Yow insists the varying strains of performance remain discrete.
"When I was onstage with the band, that was not a character," he says. "With the Jesus Lizard, I could, at any time, do anything I wanted to do. I could make up new lyrics or fuck 'em up or jump in the crowd or punch a guy or kick somebody. It was complete freedom. But with acting, there are certain parameters, you know?"
To play the miserable title character of director Peter Bolte's short Walden Pink, screening this weekend alongside another Bolte-Yow feature, 2013's All Roads Lead, Yow incorporates little of the caustic raconteur persona he has cultivated for public life. Although he did ask old friend Gibby Haynes to serve as his co-star, and likely helped convince Trevor Dunn of Mr. Bungle to compose the score, the hallowed alt-rock poster boys otherwise disappear into their roles absent vanity or smugness.
Walden Pink Official Trailer (2016) from Silk Wasp Media on Vimeo.
Most recently, Yow was cast as the primary antagonist of an original Netflix feature helmed by Green Room and Blue Ruin actor Macon Blair. The as-yet-untitled film, also starring Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood, was shot in Western Oregon this spring, bringing him back through Portland. Some 29 years after a Scratch Acid tour first brought him to town, Yow noted signs of a similarly unexpected rebirth.
"Portland's changed a whole lot," he says. "Where Satyricon was back then, Old Town and the Pearl District, I remember thinking, 'That's where junkies come from. Portland is where junkies come from.' And now, the area over there is really nice—new restaurants, new bars. I think Portland should be proud of itself. I think it kind of kicks ass. I like its attitude."
SEE IT: Walden Pink and All Roads Lead screen at Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., on Saturday, May 14. 7 pm. $10 general admission, $25 VIP. Q&A with David Yow and director Peter Bolte will follow the films.
Willamette Week