Nathan Langston and Jonathan Andersen, the Portland duo that comprises The Maybe Happening, have been playing together for a long time.
“We started off playing video games,” Langston said. “Now we play in a band.”
The two have been close since Langston was 2 and Andersen was 3, and they eventually decided to form a band. But this is not to say they were completely alike.
“I was classically trained,” Langston said. “I was playing Bach, Rachmaninoff, etc. Jon, on the other hand, took a few lessons, but mostly was playing the Pixies and Nirvana.”
Combining their disparate musical influences, along with Langston’s interest in poetry, The Maybe Happening do not resemble many other bands. Mixing spoken word poetry with Andersen’s distorted guitar and Langston’s violin, the band creates a sound that Andersen describes as “Mozart meets Metallica.”
“Many of our songs are like classical compositions,” Andersen said. “Some of them are just standard verse/chorus/verse, but many of them are classical in the way they move through many different areas.”
With a new self-titled album, the band is ready to expand beyond the few Eugene and Portland clubs where they have been able to score gigs. Filling out their sound on the album with trumpets, drums and cellos, they recorded many songs that Langston and Andersen had been playing for a while, as well as a few new tunes. In regards to the songwriting, the band uses a simple and collaborative process.
“One of us will come up with a riff or an idea and we’ll play around with it until we come up with something,” said Andersen.
The newly recorded work might mean the band could find a larger audience. That audience will be able to watch the band Saturday night at Foolscap Books, where the Happening will be having their CD release party. But publicity isn’t all the band has in mind for the event.
“It’s going to be a multimedia event,” Foolscap owner Marietta Bonaventure said. “There will be other bands from Portland, like Broken Prophylaxis and the Binary Dolls. There will be local poets, including Jerry Wagner and Doug Jerome, some interactive art and maybe film.”
The show is the latest in a series of “experiment shows” that Langston has put on at the bookstore.
“The idea is to get in as many forms of expression as possible,” Langston said. “We try to get everything that we can involved in it. We’re even getting a stand-up comic.”
Langston has a long history with Foolscap. While an English major at the University last year, he won the Foolscap-hosted Eugene Poetry Slam and was a member of the Eugene Slam team. But after graduating, Langston decided to move to Portland.
“I think I did all I could do in Eugene,” Langston said. “Anyway, my girlfriend lives here.”
After their new album is released to the public, the Happening aren’t exactly sure what their next move will be.
“Sound wise, I think we might become more extreme in the way of dynamics, switching from really soft to really loud,” Andersen said. “Beyond that I really don’t know where we’ll go.”
For the moment, the band is simply looking forward to the upcoming show.
“It’s going to be great,” Langston said. “This party is going to be of comic book proportions.”
Foolscap Books is located at 780 Blair Blvd. The Maybe Happening CD release party begins at 9 p.m., with tickets available for $5 at the door. The Happening’s new CD will be on sale for $8.