Best New Bands 2023

Meet the local artists who are reshaping Portland’s music scene.

“We’ve had our heads in records and scenes for years and have an almost nerdy appreciation for foreign scales.”

“Everyone was talking to each other, and it was like, ‘Oh, she makes music, he makes music. You guys should make music!’”

“I didn’t intend to tackle any big issues. It just tends to happen.”

“The line between traditional and untraditional is where I like to live, experiment and push in my songwriting.”

“Now I feel like I’m at a really beautiful place with myself, where I feel like I can accept all the parts of me that are coming up.”

“Improv has always been a big part of our experience.”

“For someone who grew up incredibly shy, I feel safe to take up space onstage and share the most vulnerable sides of myself.”

“I would say a lot of our themes are pretty ethereal; stuff about life and death and just the nature of existing in the world and stuff.”

“We want to sound heavy, we want to get emotional and gritty, and we want to get to the rawness of everything.”