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One of the most astonishing revelations you can have as a young rock band: If you hit up your heroes, they might actually get back to you.
Portland three-piece Twistur has had an incredible run of luck so far: first recording at the Unknown studio co-owned by Northwest indie legend Phil Elverum, then having their album mixed by Jack Shirley (responsible for Gen Z cult classics like Deafheaven’s Sunbather and Jeff Rosenstock’s Worry). Their biggest flex yet, though, may be pulling in Joshua Chuquimia Crampton to perform with them at the release party for their new album, Blend Into New.
Crampton is a Bolivian American musician of the Pakajaqi nation of Aymara people and one of the most intriguing experimental guitarists to emerge in this young decade. His three albums thus far take an elemental and volcanic approach to the guitar, emphasizing his rugged chords as much as the static and feedback that crackles between and beneath them.
“I love weird experimental guitar music,” says Twistur singer-guitarist Santino Olguin-Vazquez, who reached out to Crampton over Instagram and whose more experimental solo project Sighr is heavily inspired by his work. “When it came time to do this release show, I wanted it to be special and thought that since he’s one of my favorite musicians it would be sick to get him up here.”
Olguin-Vazquez originally reached out to Crampton’s sibling Elly, who’s recorded as E+E, Elysia Crampton and Chuquimamani-Condori. The two Sacramento siblings perform together as Los Thuthanaka and have amassed a formidable body of experimental music both separately and together. Joshua’s playing can be heard on DJ E, Elly’s latest Chuquimamani-Condori album, which has become something of an underground phenomenon for its scorching sound.
Though only Joshua will accompany Twistur at their release show, his approach on his newest album, Profundo Amor, is strongly inspired by his collaborations with his sibling in Los Thuthanaka (not least his increasing use of lustrous effects that make his guitar sound as if it’s shimmering through a tunnel of gold).
Los Thutanaka “expanded my use of effects to create a wider variety of signature sounds,” Crampton says. “Since every song on Profundo Amor is arranged for three guitars, it gave me a chance to let them all shine.”
Twistur’s interest in Crampton’s music reflects the musical omnivorousness of the young Portland rock scene. Twistur is good friends with Rhododendron, who cite influences from prog rock and free jazz in their music and whose drummer Noah Mortola recorded most of their music before Blend Into New.
They’re not the only local band taking inspiration from outside the world of indie rock. Guitar, the project of Portland native Saia Kuli, has a collage aesthetic inspired by Kuli’s sideline as a hip-hop beatmaker. Growing Pains, another band Twistur met early on, often runs singer Kalia Storer’s vocals through Auto-Tune.
This scene seemed to emerge almost fully formed on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic, when restrictions on live shows began to loosen and it seemed a young new guitar band was popping up every few seconds.
The truth is a little more complicated. Twistur began as a group called Dial Carlos formed by Olguin-Vazquez and drummer Gabe Rosenfield. Dial Carlos parted ways with their prior bassist and fizzled out right before the pandemic after making connections with other young bands like Kill Michael, Common Girl and Growing Pains who would find more success on the other side of lockdown.
“There was not a scene, I would say, prior to quarantine that I was aware of,” Olguin-Vazquez says. “It was definitely a lot less organized. It was a lot of older millennial emo dudes—then after quarantine, it started to be a younger crowd.”
Olguin-Vazquez and Rosenfeld swooped bassist Carson Nitta from a jazz group Rosenfeld played in, and the lineup of Twistur was complete. After recording their first few scrappy EPs in Mortola’s basement, the final form of Twistur is ready to emerge—and between the songs on their new album and Crampton’s experimentations, their release show should be a testament to the wealth of great music in the West Coast underground right now.
SEE IT: Twistur’s album release show with Joshua Chuquimia Crampton is at Exchange Ballroom, 123 NE 3rd Ave., 503-334-8624, friendsofnoise.org. 8 pm Saturday, March 16. $12-$14.