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Getting Solange Igoa and Andrea Walker, the married couple at the helm of the folk-rock group Glitterfox, to sit still long enough to conduct an interview is no small feat. When I get the pair on the phone, I’m interrupting their preparations for a weeklong tour, packing up their belongings to move into a new apartment, putting the finishing touches on some merch designs, and, in Igoa’s case, gearing up for a surgical procedure.
“The Glitterfox way is to literally bite off more than you can chew every time and then just keep chewing and figure it out,” Walker says. “Our dreams are writing checks our asses then have to cash. We’re really kind of delusional.”
The eye of the current storm the couple is stirring up is Glitterfest VI, a two-day event on Oct. 11 and 12 at Green Anchors PDX, an outdoor creative space that sits in the shadow of the St. Johns Bridge. The Halloween-theme party will find Glitterfox headlining both nights with support from local friends like soul supergroup Ural Thomas & the Pain, a stripped-down version of Y La Bamba, and dream-pop duo Presidio.
The beefier lineup for this year’s iteration of Glitterfest is a solid indicator of Glitterfox’s place within a local indie scene that rewards a bit of hustle.
Since arriving in Portland from Long Beach, California, around 2019, Igoa and Walker have applied their indefatigable work ethic to songwriting and performing, polishing and honing every song they have released to date into a perfect jewel, and making every live show feel like an event. A loyal local fan base has dutifully grown around them (they were named one of WW’s Best New Bands in 2022) and, with the help of their manager (The Decemberists’ guitarist Chris Funk) and record label (Kill Rock Stars), continues to build around the country.
Glitterfox has been literally growing as a result. Started as a singer- songwriter duo back in 2012, the band is now a quartet with the arrivals of bassist Eric Stalker and drummer Blaine Heinonen. Like most everything to do with the group, the addition of a rhythm section happened organically, and once they were there, Igoa and Walker fully embraced this change. The group’s sound moved accordingly beyond the minimalist roots reverb of debut album Fringe to the heat-mirage psychedelia of recent singles like “La da da” and “Drive.”
“The four of us are way more integrated,” Walker says. “We’re like four legs of a table now. Before it was Solange and I doing all the work, taking all the risk. The guys were always down to help. It has been an evolving thing getting them more and more involved in the wildness that is Glitterfox.”
“But they’re, like, in in now,” Igoa insists.
And that includes the two men putting their all into supporting plans for Glitterfest VI. What began in 2019 as basically Igoa and Walker’s wedding reception is now a proper festival, complete with art installations, a haunted house, an arcade and, according to the group, some theatrical surprises. If that weren’t enough, the event is also a fundraiser for SMYRC, a resource center for queer and trans youth.
“We never get a year to be like, ‘OK, we’ve got the formula. Let’s rinse and repeat,’” Igoa says. “This thing reinvents itself every year.”
Though both she and Walker talk with the clipped determination of artists in the middle of a particularly active stretch, there are notes of calm in their voices. That could be because once Glitterfest and Igoa’s surgery are wrapped up, they will actually be taking some time off to close out 2024. Just don’t expect the downtime to last long.
“We’re recording more in December,” Igoa says. “Then once January hits, we really start touring. And there’s lots we don’t even know about. We’re always working.”
SEE IT: Glitterfest VI at Green Anchors PDX, 8940 N Bradford St., glitterfoxband.com. 7 pm Friday–Saturday, Oct. 11–12. $35 in advance, $45 at the door, two-day pass $60, 12 and under free.