Oregon Music News

Matt Harmon and Kali Giaritta are original Junkies.  These two Junkies are connected at the hip.  They do everything together and now they’re engaged.

But as the two Junkies have grown closer together, they’ve also allowed others to sneak into The Ascetic Junkies–a band that started as two in Boston but has organically swelled to five in Portland.

Matt and Kali arrived in Portland two years ago with an indie-folk album written and recorded in Kali’s bedroom.  Two thousand eight’s One Shoe Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was “almost entirely Kali and I,” says Matt, adding that they often had to coax friends to fill in the instrumental gaps on stage as there was no fixed line up for the East Coast Junkies.

Listen to “Dracula” (from their first album), which was written on All Hallows’ Eve during a train ride in Romania approaching the home of Vlad the Impaler.

Beginning a new stretch on the West Coast, their sound has filled out to pack the room with their distinct blend of pop, country, folk, bluegrass, and indie–it’s a boot clompin’ hoedown driven by rock’n'roll with harmonies and lyrics that will meander your mind for days.  Any attempt to whistle or hum will automatically reveal a Junkie tune stuck in your subconscious.

Kali and Matt are more than happy to try as much as possible, especially with the steady additions of bass, banjo and drums in the form of Ryan Hilton, Graham Houser and Stephen Colvin, respectively.

“The band is much more collaborative now,” states Matt.

“We still write the core of the songs (lyrics, melodies, harmonies),” says Kali, “but we all work together to come up with the final version of the song.  The Ascetic Junkies are all five of us.”

The Junkies are letting their sound evolve as well; their first release featured electric guitar, which Matt says he doesn’t even play anymore.  But the most important growth has come from the new Junkies, like drummer Stephen.

“He’s much more of a rock drummer and he puts an energy in the songs, something rougher,” says Matt.  “We still write what we want but then arrange it with the band.”

Much of the old material was influenced by old bluegrass and folk music and written with a duo in mind, which ultimately limited the final output.  “We didn’t have a band and the old songs were written specifically for the two of us,” explains Matt.  “But now we’ve realized we can make a lot of noise.”

Kali says the songs are still “lyrically folksy” but the Junkies now have an “urge to rock” as a complete band.

Their latest EP Don’t Wait for the Rescue Squad features two new tracks, written for two old friends back in Boston, and two remixes by two new musician friends in Portland (Cars & Trains’ Tom Filepp and Leigh Marble).  Matt and Kali didn’t plan a theme for this EP but “we realized a theme after the fact,” says Kali, and “it worked out more cohesively than we realized,” adds Matt.

They’ve also been influenced by exploring new genres like electro, rock and jazz while experimenting and discovering “how to transfer the music to banjo and bass,” says Matt.

“People go crazy over the banjo,” Kali smiles, “asking Graham to take his shirt off.”

“He hasn’t done it yet,” laments Matt.  “But I’ve been trying to convince him lately.”

Most importantly, The Ascetic Junkies’ music is intrinsically fun.  Kali leans toward calling it “whiskey stomp” and their live sets feature both.  They love to bring people on stage to stomp and sing along, especially during their vehemently demanded closer “French Girls,” off the new EP.  (Listen below.)

Matt claims the “newer stuff is what we sound like live” which is “louder than you think,” while still “danceable and clap-able” adds Kali.

“My very favorite thing is having people dance and stomp around,” proclaims Matt.  “We love to make noise and share that.”

The band is busy sharing their noise with Portland during February beginning with their Wednesday, happy hour residency at the LaurelThrist Public House where they’ll collaborate with a new artist every week.  All the Junkies will be there playing originals, traditional bluegrass, covers, and trying out some new material.  With two hours of stage time (6 to 8 PM), you can expect experimentation, backing, and solos from Sam Cooper of Horse Feathers (2/10), The Glyptodons (2/17), and Leigh Marble and Ezra Carey (2/24).

The Ascetic Junkies also signed with Timber Carnival Records and Pet Marmoset (literally just signed the papers before our interview) to help them do “the stuff we’ve been doing on our own,” says Kali, which means promoting their music to press and radio, booking gigs, and “hopefully we can play shows together,” says Kali.

Which is exactly what’s happening on Friday night at Holocene.  The Ascetic Junkies share the bill with history laden, new label mates The Dimes as well as openers Goldfinch (minimalist folk rock) and singer/songwriter Kelli Schaefer.

Gigs like this are exactly why Kali loves Portland.  “On any night of the week, you can see seven different bands, really talented local bands,” exclaims Kali.

“So what’s next for The Ascetic Junkies?” I asked.  “Touring?  Full length?  Wedding?”

“It will be a really busy, fun year doing all of that,” says Kali, including more local touring with stops in Eugene and Seattle in the coming months.  But for now the original Junkies are writing and playing music, allowing new Junkies to grow right alongside them.

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Download : Don’t Wait for the Rescue Squad EP for free on Bandcamp.  “These songs are like gifts to friends, so we felt silly charging for them.  Enjoy!” says Kali.

See : Friday, February 5, 2010 at Holocene with The Dimes, Goldfinch, and Kelli Schaefer.  Doors at 7:30 PM, $8 day of show.