byproxy did not plan to sound like this, and it rules

Bri of Portland’s byproxy asked me the difference between the scenes in Chicago and their hometown. Both are incredible, but in Portland, you never have to seek it out. It’s everywhere. You float in it throughout the city, which is what helps make bands like byproxy happen here. It’s a primordial soup of creativity that spawns a seemingly boundless art punk band like this one.

Inside Mad Hanna—a neighborhood dive bar home to pinball machines, a DJ booth with a chalkboard announcing that week’s eclectic lineup, and a peaceful woodchip-lined outdoor patio—we met for their first interview as a band. The four-piece is made up of Bri (vocals), Andy (drums), Scott (guitar), and Kyle (bass). Bri is also a member of Launderette, Andy plays in Besotten, and Kyle is in Cherry Cheeks. While byproxy is just getting started, the collective’s experience runs deep and wide. With a fresh demo tape, byproxy are moving fast through the soup.

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You formed recently—when did you all come together?

Bri: I’m terrible about time. Three of us started jamming first, and then Kyle really made it happen.

Andy: Two Halloweens ago, Bri did a Fall cover band with Scott’s girlfriend. So that’s when we met Scott, and I don’t think we knew if you played guitar.

Bri: We talked about it over quesadillas, and then I was like, “Let’s jam.”

Scott: That’s true. That’s kind of how our connection started.

Andy: That was, like the initial rumblings. Then we started jamming summer last year.

Scott: The three of us.

Bri: And then with Kyle for about 6 months.

You guys are sort of a supergroup of a few Portland bands.

Andy: I think Kyle can get the super group moniker, the rest of us less super.

Kyle: [laughs] I don’t know about that.

What’s that been like? Bringing bits and pieces from all the other band experiences together to create something new.

Scott: Honestly, I feel like that’s it. That’s kind of our thing. We’re all coming at this from sufficiently different angles that the mix that happens is sort of surprising to me. Sounds like it’s surprising to other folks as well.

Andy: I don’t know about your previous band stuff.

Scott: I haven’t been in one. I’ve been playing guitar most of my life, and I’ve been in bands here and there with friends, but like one-off kind of stuff.

Bri: It’s been kind of cool because we all have pretty broad taste. We are coming from different angles. Like Andy is still a metal drummer, so that kind of gets in there. I feel like me and Kyle, we very much nerd out on a lot of the same stuff, like pretty underground ’70s stuff from Georgia or the Bay. You get my references. But yeah, it kind of comes together in a weird way. I feel, personally, really comfortable being a free cat and just making sounds and coming up with things in a really safe way because we’re all just throwing stuff together and seeing what lands.

Andy: So we’re married, and for a while we were like, “Can we do a band together? Is it gonna be weird dynamic, or is it gonna be cool?” And initially, before we started talking to Scott, we were like, “Let’s do like a death rock gothy band. And that was our initial vision. Then we got Scott, and then pretty quickly that wasn’t the sound. And then we got Kyle, and that changed again very quickly into something else. So it’s not at all what we had in mind, but it’s much cooler and more fun.

Bri: I wanted to be like, you know, kind of a specific thing. I’m happy that we’ve moved beyond that because I don’t want to feel limited.

You had your first show in February. How’d that go? What was it like performing together for the first time?

Scott: Well, first off, it was at Turn! Turn! Turn!, which is my favorite small venue in town. A lot of friends at that show. So it was a lot of love. It was a benefit for the Independent Portland Publishing Resource.

Andy: We were real sloppy, but it was fun.

Bri: It was with all the buds, right? If it wasn’t with all the buds, it might have been like, “Let’s wait a little bit before today’s show.” But it’s a benefit show, it’s with our friends, it’s gonna be a good time. You gotta get out there sometime, you know?

Kyle: It was the impetus for us to get the four songs that we have down. Then we just recorded the demo like the week before in a day so that we would have something for the show.

byproxy, photo by Kyle Harms

You looking to record anything else soon?

Bri: We sure are.

Kyle: Get more songs finished.

Bri: Yeah, I feel like we’re going pretty fast. So, yeah, we’’re trying to do a full-length. We’re trying in that direction.

Andy: We have two-ish more songs already.

Scott: Honestly, it’s one of my favorite things about the band so far. There is this real serendipitous element to all this. We just made friends, talked about doing something, started doing it, and it kind of started happening. So as Kyle was saying, for that first show, when we committed to doing the show, we didn’t even have all the songs written.

Kyle: We had zero songs.

Scott: We kind of agreed we’re going to do this show, and so I’m motivated to get those songs done. And we did. And they’re really good. I love these songs. With recording, it’s the same thing, we’re sort of pulling everything together, but it’s really come together. The writing process for me has been kind of a surprise. This has been so collaborative. With the shows, we can show up and jam, and then we pick parts we want and kind of iterate until things come together. The whole project has kind of gone that way and landed in this really cool way. So I myself am curious to see how this, the rest of this forthcoming potential album goes.

Andy: Yeah, and we played a show last week in a buddy’s basement, and we’re like, “Let’s have one more song finished for that,” and we have, like a song and a half finished for that. So I think we just keep doing that, and we can just write fast.

Bri: So let’s overcome it ourselves before we got the goods. And that will just be our system.

Kyle: Put the cart right in front of the horse.

So three albums ready by your next show?

Kyle: Yeah, when we walk out of here today, we will definitely have two more done.

Do you have any ambitions for the band overall, or just sort of enjoying the ride?

Andy: We want to play Gonerfest.

Bri: I want to tour in general.

Kyle: And then we run for some party. byproxy for President.

Andy: I think we have a personal goal of playing Thee Stork in Oakland.

Scott: So yeah, we got these little tiny goals. But, I mean, the album is a goal, definitely would like to do a tour, and play our favorite spots.

Kyle: And then top of the Bass Pro Pyramid in Memphis.

Scott: We’re going to do a mystical ritual. When that ritual happens, the bass that’s on the side of the pyramid starts flipping around and singing “Day-O.”

Bri: Maybe we can get our songs in the Billy Bass.

Andy: We’ve been in a bunch of bands, but never gotten vinyl. So vinyl is always a goal.

Scott: It is a little appropriate in our interview here giving a shout out to Cherry Cheeks, not just for being a fabulous band, but also Kyle Harms’ roommate here in town, that's where we recorded our demo. I don't remember who said it, but my favorite phrase was, "This sounds better than a demo." Because it really does.

Andy: And we did that in like three hours. Very great punk basement recording area and then just a nice toilet with no door. It’s perfect.

Bri: And the sweetest dog, Bella, cheering us on. We were like, “This is too loud for your ears, little one,” but she wanted to hang for sure.

Chester with the byproxy tape, photo via byproxy’s Instagram

Who is the orange cat in your demo tape photo?

Bri: Yeah, that’s Chester. Got two boys, Mac and Cheese. Chester Cheese and Macaroni.

Andy: Macaroni would not allow a cassette picture, but Chester was all for it.

I also have two orange cats, Charlie and Malort.

Bri: I had an orange cat named Charlie. I have his skull on my mantle now, because he just wanted to live forever. He tried.

Kyle: We also have an orange cat. Orange cat’s name is Nora. Then we have another guy named Clementine, not orange.

I was thinking about your band name byproxy. And I really want to know: What do you want to do by proxy?

Bri: Or, what I don’t want to do by proxy. Those were some thoughts I was having at the beginning. I mean...this is gonna be so fucking dorky, but I’m gonna say it anyway. I was really a late bloomer to playing music. I didn’t even start playing music until my thirties, and I was just like, I’m gonna go to every show. I’m gonna just watch everybody. And I was just soaking that up. And like... I don’t know. It took me a really long time to be like, No, I can play music myself or switch into that. Just fucking do it. It doesn’t matter. My first band was called Phony. It was a mess. It was so fun. Portland is so supportive with that kind of thing. Let’s all just keep on being weirdos and let’s all just make music. Just inspire people just to be creative. That’s what it’s all about, you know?

Kyle: I had this fun idea for doing this interview by proxy, just like an iPad on FaceTime we were sitting like over there telling them what to say. It would have been great, but I had the idea earlier today. In the chat I was like, “We got two hours. Can we find anybody?”

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