Portland musician Leif Sherman Curtis heard about a national event a few years ago where people have 48 hours to make a film.

Curtis thought the idea could be adapted to bands. He thought throwing musicians together and giving them 48 hours to write and rehearse music would be a good way to build a sense of community in the Portland music scene.

Not to mention, it would be a blast to watch. Or be a part of.

Curtis called his creation the 48 Hour Music Festival, and launched the first one three years ago in Portland.

“From an audience perspective, I noticed that because of the energy and intensity the musicians needed to get this done, for a brief moment, they were the best bands in Portland,” said Ian Paige, events programmer at Space Gallery, where the festival is held.

“You get the wildest performances. Last year, there was a group with one guitarist and four drummers, and they were great.”

The third annual 48 Hour Music Festival will be held Saturday at Space, but it really begins today.

Sometime this afternoon, 30 artists from different Portland-area bands of all musical genres will have their names tossed into a hat. Names will be drawn to create six new groups, with the condition that none of the members have played together before.

Then they will have 48 hours to write original songs, rehearse and prepare to put on a 25-minute set Saturday night.

Curtis said the only rule is that if the assembled bands include people who have played together before, the names have to be drawn again. Other than that, there are no rules.

He “curates” the festivals, hand-picks the musicians, and asks them to be involved. He looks for a certain kind of person who can adapt to, and thrive under, deadline pressure.

Angus McFarland, 32, participated in the first festival three years ago. When he found out who his festival bandmates would be, they headed to some donated rehearsal space on Warren Avenue, got some beer, and started working.

They went to their homes at some point for a few hours, he said. But mostly, they wrote and rehearsed.

“We were all fairly like-minded. We were all guitarists primarily, but we switched around a little bit,” said McFarland. “It was a lot of fun, working with people you wouldn’t necessarily work with.”

There was another benefit. The festival brought McFarland together with Mike Bryant, and the two are now bandmates in a group called Hessian.

Participants in this year’s festival from a wide variety of Portland-area groups, including Huak, The Rattlesnakes, Covered in Bees, Planets Around the Sun, Falls of Rauros, The Travelling Trees, Antiseptic, Conifer, Sunset Hearts, Marie Stella, I Barbarian, Space vs. Speed, Corpse Pose, Shabti, Baltic Sea and The Mallett Brothers Band.

Styles range from acoustic music to heavy metal.

Curtis himself played in the first festival, but has not played since, because he wants to bring in new people every year.

Paige, who has been watching the festival as a venue organizer, will play this year. He says the festival is exactly the kind of creative, community-building event that Space loves to host.

“The music scene here is like a snow globe, and an event like this really shakes up the snow globe,” said McFarland. “People make new connections.

“I don’t know if it grows the scene, but it really shakes it up.” 

Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-7324 or at:

rrouthier@pressherald.com

 

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