Portugal. The Man brings blues from up north

The Alaska-based trio will play at The Bottleneck on Friday.

By Joey Vergara

Published Nov. 6, 2007

A band, like a person, is shaped by of a series of events, influences and relationships with others.

For being such a young band, the appropriately named Portugal. The Man seems far wiser than its age with its refined, mature sound.

Formed by Alaska natives John Baldwin Gourley (vocals, guitar) and Zachary Scott Carothers (bass) in 2005, the band relocated to Portland to record their debut, Waiter: "You Vultures!" in 2006.

Drummer Jason Sechrist joined the band last year after the album was completed.

Waiter proved the band's abilities with its beat-driven post rock, but that was only a start.

While playing only short opening sets while touring in Germany, Portugal. The Man underwent a major change that altered the way the band now approaches songwriting.

"I think that was just one of those times that the band said, 'Fuck it, we're just going to go for it,'" Gourley said. "We had only opened for bands, so we had never had the opportunity to just jam. The first Germany trip was just a huge evolution for the band and our first practice time we had ever gotten with Jason."

It was this newfound freedom in writing and the tightening of the members' musical camaraderie that gave Church Mouth, the band's sophomore effort, its immense scope and mature sound.

In particular, Portugal. The Man's rhythm section saw a great improvement with the addition of Sechrist.

Church Mouth is driven by the combined power of the bass and drums, with vocals/guitars serving as secondary pieces to the blues-heavy music.

"I feel like that's one thing in rock music that has been missing since Rage Against the Machine and the Chili Peppers and bands like that," Gourley said. "That groove is so huge. That's the reason hip-hop got so huge. It's obviously not the lyrics or the flow that's happening on top for the most part, especially in mainstream hip-hop. There's really nothing overly appealing to me outside of that beat and that groove. The groove is always there and that hook is always there."

One of the more interesting elements found on Church Mouth are the chain-gang vocals, tributes to the blues performers of yesteryear that played such an influential role in Gourley's musical development.

"Directly after Waiter: 'You Vultures!' came out, we named the record, so I wanted to take it as my opportunity to get my thoughts out on religion," Gourley said. "Just that old blues and that music that came out of such hardship, if you listen to that stuff you can feel everything that was happening. So that was kind of the idea — give a mood and a setting to kind of back up where the lyrics were going."

Playing live offers Portugal. The Man a chance to build on the organic sound of the new record.

On any given night, tour mates can be found joining Portugal. The Man onstage for spontaneous collaboration.

"I think that's the way music should be," Gourley said. "It's not about being competitive and giving a shit whose fans are there."

Given the band's proclivity to this all-natural approach to music, Portugal. The Man jumped at the chance to play a random one-off show at a fan's apartment when a promoter mistakenly billed a show as all-ages but then denied access or refunds to minors.

"It was the coolest show we've played recently," Gourley said. "We just went in and played acoustic. All the chant parts were so fucking cool, all of us just singing along and stomping the shit out of this apartment."