Punk band displays Mac talent

It is our duty at KSLC to provide you with a quality radio experience. Along with bringing you top-notch music and information around
the clock on 90.3 FM (listen to it, it’ll change your life), it is also our job to keep you up to date with new, rising and regional musical
artists through weekly music reviews.
Now, I know some of you are startled and, yes, may be even scared. Local music? Like, McMinnville? McMinnville, Ore.? No. Never.
Not possible! Music is a cultural thing, and the closest we get to culture here is 3rd Street, a statue of a deadbeat Ben Franklin and a
parade about UFOs.
Yes, this maybe true, but doesn’t Jack Ruby Presents count as a McMinnville band? Or how about current Linfield sensation, singer/
songwriter Jeremy Moll, a fine musician always eager to collaborate with musicians in the area?
To those of you who are still skeptical, today I prove you wrong. Good music can come from McMinnville. Today, it comes in the
form of Pete Deegan, who left the area more than a decade ago. But I promise you, ladies and gentlemen of Linfield College, tomorrow,
he’s coming back.
(Break for thunderous applause)
That’s right, folks, today’s CD review is not unlike the great vineyards of our area — got roots right here in Yamhill County.
The band is a female-fronted, melodic punk trio from Oakland, Calif., called Hooray For Everything (HFE) featuring singer and
guitarist Faith Gardiner, drummer Jamie Sanitate and McMinnville’s own Pete Deegan on bass. They will be playing at 8 p.m. Sept. 18
at the Deluxe Billiard Parlor on 3rd Street. (Told you, 3rd Street is happenin’.)
Our involvement with this band started about a week ago when KSLC was sent a CD, accompanied by a note describing the band’s
connection to the town and how it will soon be going out of its way to play the Mac (McMinnville not being the regular stop on punk
circuits). Included in the note was a request to do a bit of promoting for the CD and the upcoming show. So we did just that. Over the
past week, HFE has been getting some decent airplay on our dear radio station, and hopefully this article will shed some light on the
band and perhaps convince some of you more stubborn Linfield kids to get off your “tuckuses” (tucki?) and go out and see some stuff.
The CD in question is HFE’s 2009 self-titled debut. The band was created when Faith, Jamie and then-bassist Oscar joined forces
and combined their musical talents (and taste for quirky “Simpsons” jokes), resulting in the recording of their less-than-30-minute,
power-pop record.
Female-fronted punk acts always seem to have a leg up on the competition, and HFE is no exception. Faith’s voice conjures up
memories of Sleater-Kinney. Although cute, smug and comfortable (“I Don’t Agree With Me”), her voice also commands attention,
whether in the lethargically sultry pleadings of “Get A Life,” or in the strained shouts of “Cronander.” Although she may not have
the “Two-Pack-Of-Camels-a-Day-Brody-Armstrong” voice, she still has listeners’ full attention the whole way through the album.
While the guitar work may just be there to support the vocals and the music may be fairly standard punk, the drums are intricate and
imaginative and the bass does a stellar job moving the music onward in fun and exciting ways.
Although not the original bassist, Pete has had more than enough experience in rock music. He listened to KSLC growing up in
McMinnville, which is how he was first introduced to alternative rock acts such as The Cure and The Clash. He then attended Mac High
and started listening to punk, branching out to classics such as Minor Threat and Poison Idea. He graduated from McMinnville High
School with the class of ’92, but not before putting on one of the first punk shows in McMinnville.
After spending time in Portland, where he moved upon graduation, he moved down to California with his wife. It was there that he
heard HFE on the UC Berkeley radio station, KALX (see, isn’t college radio a beautiful thing?), and eventually was introduced to the
band. When Oscar left the band, Pete took up his mantle.
See Pete along with the rest of the band play Sept. 18 at the Deluxe Billiard Parlor. In fact, while you’re at it, pick up a CD. HFE’s more
than worth it, and that way, you can prove that, yes, good music can come from McMinnville.