Issue 02 - Featuring Kendra Farber

SLOW

A KIDS & COBRAS MAGAZINE

KIDSandCOBRAS.com @kidsandcobras

ISSUE 002

SLOW

002

Mag

Collecting Stories about People who love motorcycles & Coffee.

Slow Mag is our unique way of inviting you to slow down and enjoy that brew. With a heavy emphasis on photography, each issue captures the sexuality, danger, rebellion, freedom, and adventure that motorcycles bring to our lives.

So pause.

Sip some coffee.

And enjoy.

Table of Contents Photographers: Sean Benesh Kendra Farber Sam Wake Ed Johnson Lanakila MacNaughton Clementine Hage Tyler Cobbs Eddie Rehfeldt

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Kendra Farber

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Pandemic In the Desert

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ARTIST HIGHLIGHT

Rider of the Month

The World Shut Down, So We Took Off

The Spoon Benders

COntributors: @samwake_ @dentistpdx @wild.and.restless @urthtrek @seanbenesh @kelsey.wake @womensmotoexhibit @clementine.hage @tylercobbsart @fatforhead @spoonbenders @kidsandcobras kidsandcobras.com

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ENRIQUE PARRILLA INTERVIEW /// SLOW MAG /// RIDER OF THE MONTH /// ISSUE 001

Rider of the Month Kendra Farber @Wild.and.restless

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ INterview BY Sam Wake PHOTOS Kendra Farber - @wild.and.restless Patrick Thomas - @coach_patrickthomas Sam Wake - @samwake_ Lanakila MacNaughton - @womensmotoexhibit

Kendra Farber

Motorcycles are great, but it’s the people who ride them that make the moto community a treasure on earth and Kendra Farber is no exception.

We were super stoked when Kendra agreed to be featured in this issue of the Slow Mag. If you follow her account @wild.and.restless you know all too well that this gal is an insanely talented human being. She is a photographer, musician, motorycle ridin’, powerlifting accountant and we love having her in the K&C family. Once upon a time we were all pulling out of our parking spaces to go on a ride when I accidently knocked my bike into second gear when I thought I had popped it into neutral. Without thinking I let go of the clutch, only for my bike to launch forward bucking me off the back like a dummy! I scrambled to catch my bike before it hit the ground, but I quickly knew I was in a losing battle as all 500lbs of my Triumph Thruxton was coming down on me. Then, all of the sudden to my left, Kendra grabbed my bike and deadlifted it back right up from the ground. I just sat in the road, staring at her with that surprised and dumfounded look one gets. She is a beast and truly one of the sweetest gals you will ever meet.

Here is her story.....

Let ’s start with an introduction! Who are you?Where are you from?

How did you end up in Portland ?

Hi! I’m Kendra Farber, and I’m all over the place - both literally with how many places I have lived and figuratively with how many interests I have. I was born and raised in Houston, Texas but always had a nagging feeling of wanting more.

After graduating high school, I went off to college in Ohio, spent a semester in France, took corporate jobs in Boston, Connecticut and Florida, spent a few brief years back home in Houston, and then finally landed in Portland for going

KENDRA FARBER /// SLOW MAG /// RIDER OF THE MONTH /// ISSUE 002

on 5 years now. I was always a little mystified by the West - I had never traveled beyond Colorado until my mid-twenties. I finally booked a trip to visit friends in Vancouver, BC, Seattle and Portland to see if any of those cities appealed to me, and Portland easily won me over with its quaint neighborhoods and easy access to everything nature can offer. During that visit, I had also met someone here through my friends, so that sealed the deal for Portland as well.

When did you start riding motorcycles? Why did you start ?

What was your first motorcycle?

I ended up dating that guy for a few years, and he had a Sportster that I rode as a passenger on some great rides. It turned out that his brother had a 2012 Triumph Bonneville sitting in his garage unridden for over a year, and everytime I saw it I swooned a little. Back in Houston I had dated a guy with almost the exact same bike - same year and everything - so I already had a soft spot for Triumphs and the whole cafe racer look. It finally dawned on me one day that hey - maybe I could learn how to ride a bike myself! For whatever reason, that thought had never crossed my mind before. Maybe it was a lack of confidence or the fact that I’m mechanically illiterate from growing up in a house full of women with no interest in that sort of thing, but one day I decided to just register for the Team Oregon endorsement class and see how I liked it. I ended up acing the class and was immediately hooked. And lucky enough for me, my boyfriend’s brother ended up selling me that Triumph for a great price, and I’ve had it for 2 years now. It had a road hog of a first owner and has over 30,000 miles on it, but it was meticulously maintained by him and barely ridden since then until I got it..

Tell us about the rebuild you are working on right now.

This winter as I was facing the higher-mileage maintenance that needed to be done on the bike, I had to make a decision - do I put money into this bike or buy a new one? And as appealing as the newer bikes are, I just have an unshakeable soft spot for this bike. So I decided to give it a worthy makeover, both as a testament to the bike itself and to push myself to learn more about motorcycle maintenance in general. I knew that I was really drawn to the “brat style” bikes - very little chrome, black tracker bars, no rear fender and a small front one, short exhaust, flat seat - and just started gathering the parts. Legion has been a lifesaver for the custom exhaust fabrication and just generally guiding me during DIY time so I don’t completely break anything, so I was able to change out the handlebars and front fender and do a little of the maintenance. The bike has these great honey brown leather details, which will pair nicely with the matte black and silver paint

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job on the tank and matte black exhaust and side panels. I’m most excited to hear the new exhaust - the stock pipes were so quiet I was sometimes scared I would get sideswiped riding at night.

What ’s the most memorable ride you have been on?

I admittedly have only been on a few longer rides so far, but the ride to Astoria that I did with the Ride More Talk Less guys was really fun. It was also my first ride with more seasoned riders, so I was hyper focused on not looking like too much of a newbie. It ended up being a great ride on some really fun twisty roads, and I felt like all of the skills I had been working on came together during that ride.

When you look back on the chapters of your life, what was a defining moment for you?

The past 2 years have been the greatest growth period in my entire life. Up until that point, I don’t think I really knew who I was throughout my twenties. I had let so many things determine my course for me. The recession hit in the middle of my time in college, so I changed my degree to Finance so I could get a job afterwards.

After graduating college, I ended up getting engaged to my hometown sweetheart (because that’s what you do in the South) and followed him to Florida. I think after that fell apart, I really started to examine who it was that I wanted to be. And it wasn’t until I relocated to Portland that I really felt comfortable enough to start making big changes - from simple ones like getting more tattoos to big ones like becoming a competitive powerlifter or riding motorcycles or dabbling in entrepreneurship. Portland has definitely been the fertile land on which I could finally build the life that I had wanted but didn’t know how to get.

Hobbies and Passions?

Like I said, I’m all over the place! I work in data analytics by day (turns out that finance degree led to a lucrative-but-tough-to-leave career path), but all of my free time is spread across training for powerlifting meets, riding motorcycles, taking photos, writing and playing music, paddleboarding, or spending time with my two dogs and cat and boyfriend.

What is something you would like to accomplish?

I’ve known for a long while that I wanted to start my own business. I’ve worked for corporations for ten years now and am in management, so I know at this point how to efficiently run a business. I also know how awful it is to work for most corporations, at least for me. If I’ve learned anything over the past few years, it’s the value of time and where I truly want to spend it. Originally I started thinking I could just do business consulting and bookkeeping. But as I got closer and closer to taking on clients, I started dreading it. It felt way too “safe” and similar to my current career. Fortunately, photography has unexpectedly taken off for me as a side business in the last few weeks, and I’m just trying to ride that momentum into creating a viable business out of this creative hobby that has been present in my life for almost 15 years.

Can you share a quote or idea that has helped guide you?

About two years ago when I started making major changes in my life, it dawned on me that in my twenties I wanted to date guys who rode motorcycles, got tattoos, lifted heavy weights and made music. But now in my thirties, I want to ride my own motorcycles, get tattoos, lift heavy weights and make music. So the quote “become the person you want to attract” took on a whole new meaning for me - I was so attracted to these people who lived for their passions and carved their own paths, but I kept holding myself back from doing the same thing. And that quote continues to inspire me as I jump into the world of entrepreneurship.

What advice would you give people who want to start riding but don’t know where to start ?

Don’t be afraid to just take a class and try something out - this applies to literally anything, but especially to riding motorcycles. I think we build it up in our minds that things are too dangerous or too scary or too difficult, but you never know if they are truly any of those things, or to what degree, until you try them yourself.

The worst thing that could happen is you paid for a class and spent a day or two learning something new. The best thing that could happen is that your entire outlook on life could change. I think that makes it worth the risk.

Rider of the Month

There is truly something to be said about the motorcycle community. The people who find commonality on two wheels share a mythical sort of solidarity. Motorcycle history is riddled with tales of adventure and exploration.

Lifelong friendships have been formed between complete strangers who happened to randomly find themselves sitting at the same bar at an unexpected time. The passion for the open road and raw experience of your body cruising down the pavement with no roll cage is special. It brings people together. We reached out to Enrique about collaborating with Kids & Cobras because we were inspired by his creative work. We were super honored when he agreed, and we are grateful he was willing to share some of his story with us. We wanted to take a moment and highlight some of his tale for you, so that you can enjoy the Enrique Parrilla Blend in context. He is an incredible creative and a good friend.

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In March of 2020, the world shut down. Busy Portland streets emptied, a curfew was put into effect, people were losing their jobs, and an eerie quiet permeated the city. On the first night of shelter in place, my neighbor Ed and I sat outside our apartments next to our parked motorcycles reminiscing on the cultural moment. Our generation had never experienced something like this before and there was much to talk about. Every now and then a neighbor would be walking down the street so we would offer them a beer and because they had nothing else to do, and the beer was free, they would pull up a chair. It was a holy night.

You could see the stars through the luminous glow of the city lights and it was warm underneath a heavy sweatshirt. The conversation traveled a diverse spectrum. We laughed, we reflected, we listened to each other, and friendships were forged. I think that was one of the cool things that came from the shut down.

I actually had time to get to know my neighbors. Every time we finished a beer we would hang the can on the tree nearby and now that tree will forever be known as the beer tree.

Somewhere in those early pandemic conversations a group of us decided we needed to get out of the city. So for one month we loaded up a trailer with camping gear (and a bunch of stuff we did not need), and we took off to find open spaces. We traveled back roads from Portland, to Salt Lake City, to Phoenix, and back up through California to Oregon. Along the way, Ed snagged photos with an old film camera that once belonged to his grandpa who took it all over the world on missionary journeys. In the pages that follow, you will get the chance to peer into our journey of weathering the pandemic in the desert.

PHOTOS BY: @samwake_ @dentistpdx

Photographers: Sam Wake - @samwake_ Tyler Cobbs - @tylercobbsart Eddie Rehfeldt - @fatforhead Clementine Hage - @clementine.hage

ARTIST HIG

GHLIGHT

Spoon Benders

We were super stoked when Spoon Benders (a Portland local band) agreed to be featured in this issue. Before COVID, you could often bump into Katy and AJ at a local favorite coffee shop just of the Ladd’s addition in Inner SE Portland called Cellar Door.

In this article, Spoon Benders tell their tale and share a bit about how they have weathered COVID as a band. @spoonbenders

Lets start with an introduction! Who are the Spoon Benders?

Spoon Benders are Katy Black (Vox/Guitar), Buffy Pastor (Vox/Guitar), Aj Herald (Vox, Drums), and Velvet (Bass).

As a whole we are a psych-punk band based out of Portland, OR; as people we are an amalgamation of bad jokes, riffs, friendship, and have a general appreciation of jazz and all things heavy.

What are your names?

Katy Black - Santa Cruz, CA Buffy Pastor - Tampa, FL Velvet - Sacramento, CA Aj Herald - Santa Barbara, CA

How did you end up in Portland ?

Katy - Somebody in my high school said I’d like it and so I moved without visiting.

Aj - I had to get out of Los Angeles.

Buffy - I was living in Olympia, WA and wanted to live in a bigger city and my partner and I shared the feeling to move to Portland. Was definitely inspired to move to Portland for the music scene.

Velvet - My family moved here when I was a young Velvet.

How did you meet ?

KT & Aj met while Aj was working as a dog walker in Portland. Aj would stop into the coffee shop that kt was working at. They exchanged numbers but didn’t reach out to one another until serendipitously they ran into one another at a bar and decided there was something bigger than them pulling them together. Kt met Buffy at a house show that Buffy was hosting and performing in, in Olympia, WA. Kt met Velvet through working together at a local music store

Do any of you ride motorcycles?

Aj - nope, lol. Been on the back of a motorcycle once in my life, rode around the grassy countryside in Gainesville, GA. kt - Grew up on the back of my Dad’s Harley.

Buffy - I do not but I am very much looking forward to having a motorcycle someday. I love the movie Easy Rider.

Velvet - I’ve spent a lot of time on the back of them.

How did the band get started ?

Unofficially, the band started when Aj asked Katy if she wanted to jam sometime in late 2018.

Officially our first show was in May 2019

Where did the name come from?

The name comes from an acquaintance Katy had made who let her in to know that she was a Spoon Bender. She told Katy that she felt Katy had the ability to bend spoons as well.

It was weird but felt right, she still hasn’t tried to bend a spoon though. She also refuses to watch The Matrix because everyone thinks that’s where the name came from.

What are some of your inspirations?

Kt - Books make me write; neuroscience - shows me how metal nature is and how important (and how unimportant) life is.

Jazz reminds me that I’ll never be a “professional” musician and the Pleasure Seekers remind me that I have no excuse.

Aj - meditation and the larger connection and musical language I can tap into while playing the drums. Breath. Books.

Love. Gospel and Jazz drummers. R&B singers. Human resilience. Grit. Growth made through challenges.

Buffy - The maelstrom of the 60’s. Music, thing about it is so inspiring. Comparing tics to today and reflecting on the things and what has remained the same. Traveling places. The Simpsons.

movies - everylate 60’s polithat have changed and living in new

Velvet - Music, obviously. Films, and specifically special effects. I’m a huge horror nerd, and really good/so bad that they are really good horror movies with low budgets are a huge inspiration of mine. Injustice always inspires my music, and me, to do better. And also cute animals and beautiful women.

What was 2020 like for you? How did you find a way forward when there was nowhere to play?

Taking a moment to think back on 2020, as an individual and collectively as artists - brings up a lot of stark thoughts and with those come complex emotions; and further, each of our own reactions to the emotions.

(Aj) In 2020 I woke up thinking about living in a country with a leader whose ethics, beliefs, global policies I dissent from. It brought up fear and anger to be living in my homeland with a leader who, to me, seemed to cherish discord over connection. Which led us as a band to be closer and love each other more.

I think about waking up to watch our community and communities beyond ours falling apart.

Waking up and having to make the heartbreaking decision to cancel our first tour as a band…

(Aj) One of my initial thoughts about being a live performer during a time of Shelter-in-Place and quarantine was - ok, take pause. there’s a massive metaphorical boulder that was just thrown in my path; now how do I move around it? I came at the predicament with curiosity. I pitched pre-recording a live set and streaming that on the web, however as a band we did not want to participate on the open social media platforms that were available during the beginning of 2020. There were a handful of show offers thrown our way but we felt it was too risky to call a group of people to gather and possibly contribute to the spread of COVID-19. So we went inward.

At the beginning of 2020 we had some lineup changes to the band that also added struggle. There were definitely moments that felt like everything was slipping through our fingers.

But we kept getting together. We were a “pod.” Our own little Spoon Benders ecosystem. We continued meeting twice a week to rehearse. We continued to create and release new merchandise. We shot our first music video and recorded three new singles. All of these things done together collectively, connecting our creativity and building the hivemind that Spoon Benders is.

Our first year as a band was a whirlwind, sometimes playing out as much as 4 times a week. Our second year we were forced to stay underground, but that didn’t stop us from working. We feel like we’re being wound back on a catapult and are fucking ready to soar.

Pre-Covid-19 what was your favorite show to play?

Kt - Bunk bar with Mr. Elevator, Bellingham Gross Fest, Firkin when Matt Pike put a shot of Tequila on my amp. Liquor Store was always a fun show. Our NYE house show that went fully awry - we were booked to play a house show that approx 300 people showed up to; when the cops were called to address a situation. We made a quick call, rolled up to the DP house and played into the new year.

Aj - American Legion was surprisingly fun; Bellingham Gross fest was amazing, had the opportunity to meet and play with great bands. Liquor Store was ALWAYS great. Anarchy Beach birthday show was beautiful, playing drums and looking out to the Willamette River Buffy - NYE 2020 - having our set be cancelled then end up playing at the DP House as the ball dropped was a magical night. Killingsworth Dynasty was a perfect size and great turn out.

What is your favorite venue you have played in?

Favorite venue that’s not a venue: Anarchy Beach.

Favorite venue that is a venue: The Karate Church in Bellingham, WA for Gross Fest. Firkin will always have my heart.

What are your favorite songs to play?

Kt - Cut Behind Aj - No Exit Buffy - Croaker Velvet - Cut Behind

Tell us about the music video you filmed ?

(Buffy) Quite the learning experience, I’d never done a music video until that. It was so cool to work with Ed (dentist) and have his vision to help us and not confuse us while making this. Certain challenges like having to do the same makeup for each day of shooting, which the quality definitely went down by the last day. All-in-all it made me want to shoot more music videos, I didn’t want it to end.

Spoon Benders

Tell us about your latest album.?

Dura Mater in Latin means “Tough Mother.” aj originally pitched this as a band name idea, was inspired by this name while studying about the brain; Dura Mater is the name for the cells that create a tough, outer layer around the brain.

Dura Mater is a collection of the very first songs the Spoon Benders wrote, recorded, and performed together.

Kt: This album was the first time that I ever processed a lot of heavy stuff that happened to me during my childhood. The name Dura Mater is symbolic of my decision to become my own tough mother, you can take that however you want to. Making music has been my pathway through processing experiences I went through as a child. When performing this album my intentions were to open a portal of empathy between me and the listener. I handed off harbored emotions that can live inside other people now as what hopefully will be a good experience or at least something they can relate to. Without doing much, the people who have listened to this album have helped me more than they know, and all I can hope for is to be able to help them a little in return.

Aj: Making this album with Katy, Buffy, and our then bass player Phoebe was an amazing, self-challenging experience. Being the oldest member in the band I felt humbled to play with such talented and brutally tenacious musicians and friends. Following in the steps of Prog Rock, Jazz and classical music, we took the chance to deconstruct the traditional pop song structure for every tune on Dura Mater.

Everyone in this band is a self-starter and is eager to have their paws in every creative endeavor we approach, which made this album even more fun to work on. Working with our engineer Hadrian Kindt and the rest of the bandmates to live record, mix, and master was so fulfilling. The struggle to “get it right” or play your part “perfectly” versus accepting the human condition of being imperfect and accepting those imperfections into your art can be expanded into so many regions of my everyday life.

Buffy: It was the first album I’ve ever recorded to tape all the way though, and made it in 3 consecutive days. There was something classic about going into the studio and busting out the entire album in 3 days. It was my first experience recording with someone who was recording a full album for the first time and observing them going through that experience. Was a reminder how important it is to be patient and not rush a recording process.

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