Spring Break Special: X in Portland

Even though Portland seems to be one of the epicenters of upcoming indie rock hitmakers, it would be blasphemous to ignore those older classic ensembles that act as precursors to new music today. One such predecessor to the music scene of the moment is Los Angeles-based punk rockers X, who are coming to Portland March 29 as part of their “13 x 31—31st Anniversary Tour.”

All four original members of the band, Exene Cervenka, John Doe, Billy Zoom and DJ Bonebrake, have signed on for the tour. The band, which was founded in 1971, began sporadically touring together again about 10 years ago. “This is just another year into our rebirth,” Cervenka said of the anniversary tour.

The Piolog had a chance to talk to the X leading lady before the tour began at SXSW last weekend.

Piolog: Does an anniversary tour mean a new record? Or is this anniversary more for celebrating the band at this time?
Exene Cervenka: I wish it would mean a new record. I’ve been working with John [Doe] on songs, but I am not sure if we are going to make a record. I want to. I don’t know, I don’t give up on that. So, yeah so I want to make a new record. It would be great.

PL: Is it refreshing to be back with your original band for a complete tour? 
X: Oh yeah, I love it. I think it’s the most fun in the world. And I am really lucky I can do it I’m really grateful I can do it and I’m so grateful people still want to come see us. I don’t really want to stop.

PL: How will this tour be different than the sporadic touring and performances in L.A. the band have done recently?
X: Not different at all. Why? Why change it? No, there’s nothing to change.

PL: John Doe just began his solo tour with Wilco. And you’ve done your own work recently with The Original Sinners. Do you feel that your respective projects add to X or are they separate entirely?
X: Yeah, he tours all the time. I think everything adds to everything else that you do. I think…I’m making art at home at night, while John’s on the road playing with Wilco adds to that. Yeah, I do. I don’t think other projects take away because you make room for them; you know I am juggling [The Original Sinners] and solo stuff. I think the more vibrant you are as a person, the more projects you have, the more people you know, the more interactions you have, the more art you do, makes you a better artist.

PL: In the preface of Magical Meteorite Songwriting Device, your collection of collages, Kristine McKenna said that your art has a “haunting power to evoke a childhood lost.” Is this childhood one that has lasted 31 years since X became a band? Or does the band feel 31 years old? 
X: Yes and no. You feel like you’ve been doing it for 31 years when you are backstage putting on your boots, but when you walk onstage it doesn’t feel like you’ve been doing it for 31 years. Once the people are there it doesn’t really matter if it’s been 10 years or 20 years or whatever.

PL: McKenna also says there is a “scent of longing and nostalgia” in these collages. Has this nostalgia always been around or is it more prevalent now, embarking on this anniversary tour?
X: Oh no, it’s always been around. I was dressing like it was the 1920s in the 1980s. I love the past. I love America’s past especially. If I could live in the past I would but I can’t. Wouldn’t you like to live in the ’20s, just for a while? When they were building the Chrysler building? Flappers and all that stuff…that would be so great. When alcohol was illegal and there were speakeasies. I do have a nostalgia for the past, but it’s not just my past, it’s the past in general.

X at the Crystal Ballroom March 29. 8:00 p.m. show.