Off the Cuff: With Dez and Zane

Lose Yr Mind is an independent music festival that supports local and national artists while teaming up with rad businesses to make it all possible. We spoke with the founder of the festival, Elizabeth Elder. Her goal is to cultivate community in an alternative venue setting while showcasing some of our favorite bands. Lose Yr Mind began as a series of house shows that graduated to warehouse parties in 2014. The festival has grown to become one of the larger annual music events in Portland + continue to throw shows year round at various venues in town. Elder talks with us in detail about the festival's origin story and about some of her plans for the future of Lose Yr Mind Fest.

Soft Kill is one of the bands defining the sound of 2010s post-punk. The band originally emerged from the post-punk scene in Portland, OR. They have released five albums and several singles and EPs. Their songs are based on drug addiction and many are about actual people who have passed away. Nicole from Soft Kill tells Dez and Zane about some wild stories about being on tour, about how Portland's music scene has changed over the years, and about how the band has become successful DIYing everything including the creation of their one-of-a-kind merchandise. Soft Kill is part of the 2022 Lose Yr Mind festival, which Off the Cuff will be covering live.

CatXScan is a Portland legend and musician first, and also a funny dude with some hilarious stories. He doesn't like to put himself or his music into a category, but his music is likened to hyper pop and Cloud Rap. CatXScan has inspired many local artists, and is ahead of his time. He has a very loyal following, and I would attribute that to his unique musical sound as well as his ability to include his fans on his musical journey.

Listen to Crush by CatXScan

Watch the music video for Angels & Demons by Bon Wavi and CATXSCAN

Echo the Savage is a musician who has been blowing up in Portland, OR. His charismatic stage presence and his ability to make screaming lyrics beautiful, has put him up in the ranks in the local music scene. Not only does Echo the Savage have epic style musically and aesthetically, but he has already accomplished so much in such a short time in his career. He has just released some new music videos and can be found performing and collaborating all around town at the moment, and he has plans for some major growth in the near future.

Listen to the song H.M.B by Echo the Savage

Watch the music video for Swag Ain't Dead by Mooky and Echo The Savage

FIYA is a vocalist, comedian,  event producer, and a healer in Portland, OR. She has a large family full of talented individuals who follow in her footsteps. FIYA has founded events such as Last Laugh Sunday and Slay Date. Her events are community-centered and are all inclusive. She is currently working on new music with other local artists such as Swiggle Mandela. 

Off the Cuff is show about everything music. Hosted by Carissa Dez and Zane Thomas out of Portland, OR. Our guests include music artists and producers from Portland and beyond.

On this week's episode of Off the Cuff, we talk with Kyler Fischer about his recording studio called Fortune Ave Studio. He also recently started a record label based out of his studio. Kyler talked with us about his new record lathe, and told us about all of his exciting upcoming projects. Kyler will be recording live music shows to vinyl at the actual venue during performances. Skyler will have the capability to produce double sided records, with one side that can play in a CD player. Skyler even helps some artists to add special designs to their albums/CDs. If you are an artist in the Portland, Oregon area, I suggest hitting up Kyler and Fortune Ave Studio for digital and analogue recording. 

On this episode of Off the Cuff we talked with Precious Child of Los Angeles, CA about her music, her inspiration for creating art, and we also talked a bit about activism. She creates sound and videos that are dark and artistic. Her music will shake you to the core, but it is also very easy to dance to.. Precious Child is inspired by injustice and it seems she uses her art as a form of protest against the system. Precious stands up for trans people, and expresses this with her music. 

Off the Cuff is show about everything music. Hosted by Carissa Dez and Zane Thomas out of Portland, OR. Our guests include music artists, producers, and anyone who is involved in music of all sorts.

On this week's episode of Off the Cuff, we talked with P!ll, OG Baby Blu Benz, & VIIDead about their recent collaborations that they have done together. P!ll is an amazing vocalist who hopes to work with all types of local artists. OG Baby Blu Benz is a vocalist/hip hop artist out of Portland who is working with P!ll and VIIDead to create a top tier venue that is inclusive to all at Rainbow City in Portland. VIIDead is heading this project, and also does some very impressive visual work. We were blown away by their talents, and are excited to see what is coming next for this crew.

This week on Off the Cuff, Dez and Zane talk with Still.s about their process of sound production, and also about the importance of community support in the music scene. Still.s is a multi-talented musician who produces romantic R&B/pop music. we are excited for his first full EP coming out soon!

Our guest Finsta talked with us about how the queer scene, to include the language, has evolved alongside music. Finsta is an India-born musician who has been inspired by disco, classical, and punk music. Finsta works hard to represent the queer community for her culture, and embraces an aggessively queer vibe while making music.