120 SW Harvey Milk Street
The year was 2015.
In anticipation of some delicious curry stew, a 3-hour jam occurred on the porch of reggae/afrobeat singer Simba Tirima in Moscow, Idaho, the proggy jazzy, folksy 3-piece “@tlas,” was formed by Ben Walden, Machado Mijiga, and Ben Swanson— an off-shoot of the then-popular local reggae/afrobeat band: Simba and the Exception Africans (where Mijiga and Swanson played sax and trombone respectively)
Fast-forward nine years, three bassists, and two albums later, and @tlas has since relocated to Portland and gained the eclectic and wildly talented Matthew Holmes on bass and vocals.
@tlas is an opportunity to explore the sonic possibilities of a “garage band”— DIY collaborative songwriting covering a wide range of genres, modes of expressivity, and varying degrees of improvisation/structure across all songs.
@tlas is named thusly because they take the listener many places; @tlas is a collection of musical souls, waiting to be picked up off of the listener’s bookshelf, discovering uncharted territory, and putting language and meaning to the abstract and unknown.
Primarily known as a bassist with bands from the Pacific Northwest and beyond like Alvvays, Jonathan Wilson, and Wayne Horvitz; Abbey Blackwell (Seattle, WA) is focusing her energies on writing for solo guitar and voice. Her songwriting calls back to the lyrical, hanging melodies of Sibylle Baier and Linda Perhacs, with angular, geometric chord progressions that lean in satisfying directions. Rendered through a self-assured and distinctive musical vocabulary, her songs offer an inspired and idiosyncratic take on “personal” songwriting, with insights into the central pressure points of human experience that run deeper than transparently confessional.
website:
