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Small Million at The District

Puritanism is stupid. Try everything all the time, because you never know what you’ll accidentally be inspired by. I’m not one for indie rock. The music bores me and the aesthetic annoys me. That being said, I saw Portland based indie group Small Million at The District coffeeshop late on Sunday night- and loved it, dammit! Their set included the new singles The Overkill and FOMO, from the upcoming album Passenger due sometime this year via Tender Loving Empire records. This was my final Treefort show, and a beautiful conclusion to 5 days of stubborn partying.

The District is so indie that entering the store felt like being transported to an archetypal version of Portland that you would find in a dream. If you got there early enough you’d have a chance to sit at one of the IKEA tables; or maybe one of the colorful plastic chairs arranged reverently around the stage. I rolled in wearing a shift’s worth of grease on my work clothes, a proud working-class guy invading the sacred REI temple, and secured a spot by the trash can. The guy next to me was drinking $8 wine out of a 4oz solo cup. Behind me, a group of faux backpackers danced by the bookshelf. Across the room, a wannabe lumberjack in Chuck Taylors and a face mask grooved silently and passionately in his chair. Next to him, the trust-fund baby of a lumber mogul cuddled a Penthouse pet in his lap. I wasn’t a fish out of water at The District, I was a fish on the moon.

The four-piece band set up quickly. I recognized Ryan and Malachi, the songwriting core of the group, from an interview I had with them earlier that day. That interview went something like this:

S.U.: What can you tell me about the new album, Passenger?

Malachi: We are releasing new music with Tender Loving Empire records, which we are very excited about. We’ll be putting it out a little bit at a time, we have two singles out so far. The biggest development on it, I feel like, is the drummer and the bassist that have joined the band. Ryan and I have been writing together for years, but now we’ve expanded the sound, and that has been really fun. I feel like this record has more rock influences. We both play electric guitar now, which wasn’t the case before.

We’re just trying to make something, even if it’s coming out a little bit at a time, that still feels really cohesive. So we have all the art really collected…

Ryan: Yeah. We worked with an artist on the album artwork and stuff as well…

M: She’s a painter in the UK who’s really awesome. Kind of interpreting each of the songs into it’s own piece.

What changes when working as a four-piece instead of a two-piece?

M: Live, especially, it feels so much more vibrant to get to play that way. Singing with live harmonies feels so much better. We’ve evolved from a synth-pop duo into a proper four-piece..

R: Indie raawwwk

This is your first release with TLE Records. What does having a new label change?

M: The best part about it is having some support. We’ve just been, like a DIY band for the time we’ve been playing together and put out music ourselves. So much of the work making music isn’t just to write the songs and play the songs, it’s all of the legwork around putting music into the world and doing distribution and stuff.

R: Tender Loving Empire, they’re like a Portland staple, being able to work with them feels very much like a step up from where we were previously. It’s super exciting. I love the team, I love the artists.

M: I really like their aesthetic, and they’re really nice. Everyone we work with, I love it if people are friendly and collaborative. Working on things like design or photography with them, they support all kinds of artists in Portland. They even have retail stores, where they sell locally made art and locally made mugs, and candles, and t-shirts. All kinds of artists, which I feel is a little bit what we’ve tried to do with the band, like working on the album art and collaborating with an artists. Pulling in people with different visual tastes, and with a really great design aesthetic, that makes it fun and we feel like we can make better stuff just by having collaboration.

R: It’s like building a team.

Have you been to Boise before? What are your thoughts on Treefort?

M: Yes, this is our third time in Boise because this is our third time playing Treefort! We’ve only been here for Treefort. I’d love to come back at another time too, but I have a great time at Treefort.

R: I might have passed through here going to… how close are the Sawtooth Mountains to here? I’ve passed through here as well to do a backpacking trip through the Sawtooths. So this is my fourth time.

M: Because you came on the way out, and the way back. For me, I like hearing other bands, that’s the most fun about [Treefort]. The first time we played we came out for a show and had to get back to Portland for a show at Doug Fir. We were here for the fall one a year and a half ago, and getting a full day to be here and see other bands was so much fun. When you’re playing a show, that takes 100% of your focus. So the process of wandering around the festival… some of it is discovery, some of it is seeing your friends’ bands and finally seeing them play. That’s my favorite part about it- the wandering.

R: I agree. Just being at a festival is fun.

Did you see any bands that you saw that you were really impressed by?

M: My favorite one, last night we saw Son Rompe Pera, from Mexico City, which are like a punk/cumbia band. They were playing at [El Korah Shrine]. There was a marimba-

R: Three marimbas?

M: I couldn’t see how many marimbas there were. There was a lot of marimba. I was experiencing the marimba. I just went in knowing nothing, ugh, isn’t that the best way to see a show? You just go in like, I don’t know what this is gonna be… THE BEST!

R: All percussion, all of them sang, yeah it was really cool. We also got to see Cautious Clay. We made it in town just in time to see that.

M: We saw a little bit on the main stage, then a couple things inside venues, and we got some street food, which is a highlight. For us.

R: Definitely. Some street hot dog- woooo! It was really good.

Small Million remind me of Enya, which takes me back to riding in the car with my mom when I was a kid. Their songs are smooth and mellow. Malachi’s vocals are soothing, like a spa for the ears. I sipped my District coffee, leaned into that poetic trash can, and relaxed. I let the music carry me on a meditative journey through the past week. I had a chance afterwards to see some more drum-pounding, guitar-snarling rock n’ roll; but this was a perfect close to a hard-lived festival and I wanted to keep it that way. I went home with warm fuzzies in my soul and smile on my face. It was great.