Jonny’s Day Out, Pool Boys, Nate Way & the Soft Colors

Jonny's Day Out

"Jonny’s Day Out came out of a collaboration between singer-guitarist Avery Haines and multi-instrumentalist Eli Goldberg, who records ambient music at Ann Annie. The two made the album The House on the Hill together in 2021 and embarked on a small co-headlining tour.

After adding drummer Will Dowden, bassist Blu Midyett, and trumpet and keyboard player Jude Abare, the duo leaned into a sound that combined Haines’ folk rock and Goldberg’s soundscapes. While some of their songs (like “I Missed the Bus, Man”) descend from the sound of The House on the Hill, others (like “Intro Credits”) are ambient reveries that will appeal to anyone who knows the name Kranky Records.

Their debut EP, Please excuse our mess, was recorded by Graham Jonson, the onetime lo-fi hip-hop beatmaker who’s recently blossomed into something of a pop auteur under the name quickly, quickly."
- Willamette Week, Best New Bands 2023

Pool Boys
A reductionist view of Pool Boys’ music could claim four words: Loud guitars; pretty harmonies. Songwriters Emma Browne and Caroline Jackson weave their varied pedigrees together to form a unique sound in Portland music. Pool Boys thrive in dualities - they live in a space where soft and sensitive give way to grit and ire. Browne’s melodic guitar hooks and oft-spacey, oft-grungy textures are thoroughly supported by Jackson’s weaving bass lines and all four member’s strong voices. The four-piece feels equally at home with intricate art-pop outfits or with DIY punk bands. With additional harmonies, guitar, and drums from Annie Dillon and Monica Metzler, their live performances - always decked in all shades of blue - are a sight to behold.

Pool Boys has been named one of Willamette Week's Best New Bands, was featured as the opening track of PDX Pop Now's local compilation, shared stages with Jerry Paper, Tonstartssbandht, Vinyl Williams, and Diane Coffee, and were featured on KOIN 6 AM Extra News Show. Pool Boys is currently in production for their first full-length album with producer Cam Spies of Night Heron and Radiation City. 

Nate Wey & The Soft Colors

Still Adventures, out on Little Cloud Records, captures the daze and confusion that came as the Covid shut-down lifted – with unexpected flashes of country twang that make this collection of songs stand out from Wey’s previous shoegaze albums.

Thematically, the album represents the feeling of waking up from a long fog. Influences include David Lynch, Mazzy Star, NIN, and Velvet Underground. A prolific creative, Wey’s recent output includes a self-released solo album recorded during the pandemic lockdown, an ambient piece that plays on a 24 hour loop in a building lobby (The Fair Haired Dumbbell), and a music video in rotation at Hollywood Theater’s PDX Mini-plex (the only airport cinema in the country). 

Still Adventures was recorded at Trench Studios with Gregg Williams (co-producer of the Dandy Warhols’ 13 Tales of Urban Bohemia, engineer for Blitzen Trapper). It is the first album under the moniker Nate Wey and The Soft Colors.

Nate Wey and The Soft Colors include Erik Wisloff-Menteer (former Blitzen Trapper), Rhea Morais (The Black Doors, DJ Queen Amygdala), Leah Heuser, and Kyle Cregan (Smile Pile, James Jones and the Chupacabras).