The Commuter - August 2024

VOL. 56 EDITION 1

AUGUST

beyond the

classroom: with Michael LeBlanc

WHITESIDE THEATRE Business Spotlight

MARBLE Band Spotlight

2024

letter editor from the

J

uly really flew by, didn’t it?

And now we’re at the tail end of August.

There’s still around a month until fall term classes begin – they’ll still be here before you know it – but here at The Commuter, we’re already back to work. Keeping with tradition, we have a short and sweet August edition prepared to hold you over until Welcome Day. Don’t let the page count fool you. This edition might be half the usual length, but there’s still plenty of content we’re excited to share, from an insightful look into the Linn-Benton automotive program to spotlights on the arts. Our staff has been working hard over the summer to provide some quality articles for this issue, while Design Editor Kailyn McQuisten has been doing a great job revamping our website, LBCommuter.com.

This is also a special issue for me. This marks my first edition of The Commuter as its editor-in-chief, a position I was honored to be named to in early June. It’s the highlight of my journalism journey thus far, and I’m ecstatic to hit the ground running with

about us

The Commuter is the student-run magazine for LBCC, financed by student fees and advertising. Opinions expressed in The Commuter do not necessarily reflect those of the LBCC administration, faculty and students of LBCC. Editorials, columns, letters, and cartoons reflect the opinions of the authors.

LBCC is an equal opportunity educator and employer.

letters welcome

The Commuter encourages readers to use its “Opinion” section to express their views on campus, community, regional and national issues. The Commuter attempts to print all submissions received, but reserves the right to edit for grammar, length, libel, privacy concerns and taste. Opinions expressed by letter submitters do not represent the views of The Commuter staff or the college.

our first of many editions in the 2024-25 school year.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the many people who helped make The Commuter what it is today, especially Ryan Janowitz, who held this role before I did. Under his leadership, The Commuter expanded its page count and found its voice as a monthly newsmagazine. His support and organization, as well as the many incredible people returning on staff this year, has made my role as the incoming editor-in-chief remarkably stress-free.

The same goes for our fantastic advisor, Rob Priewe, who’s been an invaluable guide in helping point The Commuter in the right direction and navigate these yearly staff changes. The tank is filled with gas, the engine is fully serviced, and all I have to do is turn on the ignition.

There’s still more room on board, though – The Commuter’s slogan has long been “For the students, by the students,” and I take that seriously. This is your magazine, LBCC students, but it can’t adequately fill that role unless you participate.

We’re still looking for new staff members to fill out this year’s roster, but if that’s too much of a commitment, please know that every story lead, piece of feedback, and word of encouragement will be greatly appreciated. You can reach out at any time to commuter@linnbenton.edu. We look forward to hearing from you.

As for now, enjoy the summer before the beginning of the school year comes rushing in. If you need a break from the heat, sit down with a cold drink and give this issue of The Commuter a read while you’re at it. And if you feel inspired, start thinking about what could make our next edition even better.

Ryland Bickley Editor-in-Chief

join the team

Wanna get together? We’re really nice and fairly cool and we’d love to hear what you have to say. Not big on journalism but love to journal? Perfect. Are you a STEM major with major opinions?

Let’s hear ’em. Like writing about ’80s film? Local animals?

Snack hacks? Maybe you have a hefty folder of flash fiction on your laptop, just dying to be published and printed. Drop us a line. We’d love to meet you, read you, and support you. Think your ideas might be too weird or too niche for submission? Even better. The Commuter is an award-winning publication because of our wide range of contributions and our unique contributors.

So reach out. We’ll be staring at our email inbox in the meantime, not an ounce of chill to be had. cover photo by SARAH ROSE LARSON

editor-in-chief RYLAND BICKLEY

design editor

KAILYN MCQUISTEN

photo editor

SARAH ROSE LARSON

feature editor EMILY JIMERSON

sports editor

ETHAN BIRMINGHAM

marketing director

in this issue:

staff

04

beyond the classroom:

with Michael LeBlanc

09

hoop jam

Summer basketball at LBCC

CHRIS PATTERSON

reviews

STEVEN PRYOR

advisor

ROB PRIEWE

contributors

BRENDA AUTRY JESSICA REYNOLDS MICAH TEAGUE

10

whiteside theatre Business Spotlight

12

marble

Band Spotlight

14

movie review WANT TO SEE YOUR NAME HERE? JOIN THE TEAM!

Deadpool & Wolverine

beyond the

classroom: interview by JESSICA REYNOLDS photos by SARAH ROSE LARSON

with Michael LeBlanc

H

e greeted me with a smile and a handshake.

When I first arrived for my appointment to interview Michael LeBlanc, he already had a question on his mind.

“So, why me? What made you guys choose me for an article?”

He explained that he’d read up on the Beyond the Classroom articles and understood that they highlighted an instructor. After a brief explanation about his name coming up in a Commuter meeting due to some of the great things he has been a part of at the Automotive Technology program, he offered me a tour of the facility.

I’m so glad he did – it’s a must see!

With spaces for classrooms and labs, a student lounge, an expansive area with bays for cars and lifts running the entire length of the building, a tool room, and an office area, there is much more than meets the eye. I have driven by the Advanced Transportation Technology Center (ATTC) building countless times in Lebanon, but never had the occasion to stop. It is located near the end of Oak Street before Denny School Road.

Mike seemed incredibly proud of his students and the programs that they are running at the ATTC. He shared his hopes and goals for the program and a little bit about himself, too.

M

ike: My name probably came up because I am doing a lot of things.

I’m trying to be involved in as much as I can, with the hours that are available in a 24-hour day. Most recently we’re really doing some things with the women in our program, auto and diesel.

Last year, or two years ago, we worked on a grant through the National Science Foundation, and I wrote and submitted a grant to really accelerate an electric vehicle training program.

We do automotive, we do heavy equipment diesel, we offer two-year degrees, we offer one-year certifications, but we don’t do anything with high voltage or electric vehicles. Since the industry was

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trending that way, it was like, “Alright, let’s try to get a little bit of money to kickstart a program.”

The National Science Foundation also wants you to have a component of your project that focuses on underserved populations. So, one thing that we’ve always found is that our industry is like 3% female. Well, our program is like 3% female, so if we’re not training women to be technicians, they’re not going to become technicians.

So, we wrote about some activities that promote female-focused recruitment, retention, and marketing over the terms of the grant...

Anything that is female-focused – I want to send our gals over there and do it.

Because we’re out here on a satellite campus. Not a lot of people come out here. Not a lot of people know we’re here. That’s been another big push of mine: to try to get more of the Albany college stuff out here. Whether it’s support from counselors, or Roadrunner Resources, or we’re trying to get student leadership out here. Again, just kind of awareness.

Getting our students more involved.

What was your journey to automotive?

Where did you start – did you have goals and aspirations in that direction?

I was always exposed to mechanics. My father and grandfather were both kind of mechanics.

So, growing up, I was around it. But I lived with my mom when my parents split early on, so I didn’t have a lot of it, but in high school, I took some auto shop classes. It was like junior or senior year and all my credits were done. All I had was sports and auto shop my senior year. I knew I didn’t really want to do a four-year path, but was just going to take the year off and see what happened. I worked at a restaurant, went to some community colleges in Southern California, and was actually on a waiting list for a nursing program. My mother was a nurse. It was a threeyear waiting list for the nursing program.

I ended up getting a job at a Jeep dealership and it just went from there. I was good at it. It made me happy and made some money. So

yeah, I worked in the automotive industry as a technician, worked my way up, and became certified as a master technician. And then most recently, I was the shop foreman at MercedesBenz of Salem before taking this position in 2019, right before COVID. My introduction to teaching was a term and a half of regular teaching and then a year of COVID! But yeah, I could have been a nurse in another life, I guess!

You switched from being a mechanic and working with customers and working on vehicles to teaching. What is the best part of teaching for you, and what was that switch like?

So for me, as you progress as a technician, you get to a point where you start training younger technician apprentices. That was always rewarding in industry. We weren’t really compensated to train people, but you did like to see people grow.

Watching a young technician blossom into a technician and go work on their own and be productive and efficient. That was always really satisfying. And I want to say that’s very similar to what we get teaching, where we’re taking larger groups of students and watching them grow. There is always talk about the “aha” moment, obviously having that as an instructor, watching somebody get something, like really understanding it. That’s really, really what drives it.

Can you tell me a little bit about the program in general? It’s for automotive technology – what does that really entail?

So, we are a CTE, or career technical education program. We really focus on, at the end of your education, what career path you will be on. And the career path we focus on is that of the mechanic or the technician. So, an individual working in a shop fixing a vehicle for compensation. The majority of our students enter the program, they don’t really necessarily see themselves becoming a technician. They didn’t decide, “that’s my career.”

They just know they want to work with their hands. They like cars. They don’t want to sit at a desk. We have a lot of students that come here

with very little technical knowledge, mechanical knowledge, or automotive knowledge. And then we have a few that grew up on a farm and have been driving tractors since they were six and have been welding fences their whole lives. We have a pretty big variation in the students coming in.

To answer your question about, like, where do we start? Our first couple of classes are very much a base level knowledge. This is a tire. This is a wheel.

These are brakes. It’s a lot of introductions and component identification. And then throughout the entire process, we talk about, okay, what does it mean to transition into a career? How do you make this your job and then make it your career?

How do you make money to support a family as a technician? And there’s a lot of nuances about our industry that nobody realizes about technicians.

As technicians, you are paid by the job. It’s kind of piecework, and a lot of people don’t understand that. How productive you are impacts how much money you make. So, we’re also training them in how you move through the shop. Moving with purpose, being efficient. So, that’s a lot of the things that go into that first year.

When they come back for their second year, typically, they are employed in the industry by then. In the first year, we are trying to get them ready to go and get a job over the summer. What’s interesting about our program is that we have what is called a tool program. Because we work with Snap-on [tools], we built the tool set costs into the first-year course. It’s a starter set of tools and storage. As a technician, if you want to go get a job at a shop, the first question they ask you is, “do you own your own tools,” right? So, we were finding that many of our students weren’t employable, or they weren’t being hired, because they didn’t have tools. So, by putting that cost into the program, it makes our degree expensive, but it makes students more employable.

Actually, (June 5) will be our tool ceremony.

And we do a mini graduation. We’ll have 31 students standing behind 31 tool sets, friends and family will come, and we’ll announce their

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names. And then, immediately afterwards, we’re going to unbox their tools, load them up in their car, and then grab their student portfolios and go interview for a job. I’m hoping to have 10 or 15 of our industry partners lined up in our classrooms, ready to do almost speed dating-like interviews.

So, that’s the plan. Then we kick them out over summer. We say, “Go work.” Some of them get really good jobs and they don’t come back, which I would consider an okay form of attrition. We’ve actually structured the program in a way where the ones that don’t come back, they’ve automatically completed a one-year certificate and it’s ASE [Automotive Service Excellence] certified. ASE is the national accreditor for mechanics and technicians. We train to their standards.

If you go out and you find an awesome job, you start your career and you don’t come back, all you have to do is change your major to Automotive Maintenance and Light Repair, and you get your one-year certification. For those that come back, we go deeper into engines and transmissions, taking things apart and understanding the more complex things that are going on inside a vehicle. At the end of the year, they have an associate degree in applied science in Automotive Technology, and they have trained to go out in the industry and get their ASE certifications and credentials, which makes them more employable. And it just gets them on a really good career trajectory.

The new electric vehicle program adds another one-year option. It’s a one-year certificate in Electric Vehicle Technician. You could make the choice as a new student and say, “Hey, I’m gonna start with Maintenance and Light Repair,” and at the end of that year, you could transfer over to EV. A lot of our students finish the second year and then they go through a year of Heavy Equipment Diesel, and they get two associate degrees in three years. So, that’s another option we can do. You could do two years of auto and then a year of EV. Again, a stackable credential that gives our students options.

mechanical safety. So, there’s the “Don’t smash your finger with a hammer," but also, “Don’t spray yourself in the face with the brake cleaner.” But we do certify them in that very early on.

I assume that in something hands-on like this, you guys are really ingraining safety, and that’s a big part of the culture.

If you could impart one thing to the readers, what would it be? In whatever topic.

Yeah, in all of the first classes. … The majority of students come in, and in the first two weeks of every class is basic safety stuff. We’re getting certified with some lifts, like vehicle lifts. Lift It Right is a national certification for lift safety training. All the students get lift certified on all of our vehicle lifts products. And then we also have pollution prevention and chemical safety, and then

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I bet! Alright, switching to just about you.

What do you like to do when you’re not here?

What are your hobbies?

Well, I have a wife and two kids and they’re teenagers, so they don’t want a whole lot to do with me anymore. But I do like going home and just being with my family. We would be homebodies, I would say. We do Friday Night Magic. We play Magic the Gathering, Kitchen Table Commander. So, that’s kind of our big thing. We watch a lot of stuff, streaming stuff.

But as far as activities go, I do enjoy exercising as much as I can. And golfing. Actually, my wife and I golf up in Salem at these little, tiny municipalities whenever we can, so those would be my hobbies. But most of the time I’m thinking about working, answering emails and doing that kind of stuff.

Have you ever had a mentor who helped you in some way? Do you see value in mentorship?

Yeah, actually. I think one of the things that’s driven me to help, or actually focus, on the female technician aspect of our grant was that I worked at an independent shop in California that was a European car specialty shop. And early on in my career, I worked with a lady named Martha Flohr.

And she was a Mercedes-Benz master technician in the Bay Area in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

I worked pretty closely with her, and she was a really good resource. That was kind of awesome, I mean, she was a rock star in the shop. She was the only female I’ve ever worked with in the industry, and that really had that impression on me of just like, “Man, she knows her stuff.” She was a good resource to go to, so yeah, definitely – mentorship is huge in our industry. We learn a lot going into programs like this, but we learn so much more out in the industry working with other technicians who have done it.

Be the best human you can be and do the best you can do in whatever it is. Just want to do your best, and that comes through. If you are genuine and try hard – they say hard work pays off, and I’m a really big believer in that. But, I think also, being just a genuine, positive person that wants to be successful is a huge one for me.

Read the full interview on lbcommuter.com

Fun, Free Events!

Sponsored by the Student Leadership Council

Stress Management Workshop

Blood Drive

Feeling stressed? Learn some tips to ease your worries at the Stress Management Workshop on Tuesday, October 1st from 1-3PM in the Fireside Room.

Want to give back to the community?

GIVE BLOOD! Wednesday, October 16th and Thursday, October 17th from 10-3pm in the Fireside Room.

Inside Out 2 Film Screening

Waverly Park Clean Up

Accessibility Resources is sponsoring Inside Out 2 for disability awareness month. Join us on Thursday, October 17th at 2pm in the Tripp Theatre.

Want to give back to your community? Volunteer at the park clean up on Saturday, October 26th from 10am to 2pm. Coffee and donuts provided.

Scream (1996) Film Screening

Halloween Costume Party

Do you like scary movies?

Come watch this 90s slasher classic on Thursday, October 24th at 2pm in the Tripp Theatre.

Are you ready to show off your Halloween costume?

Join us in the Commons Cafeteria on Thursday, October 31st from 2-4pm for tricks, treats, and more!

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Drive Your Career Toward Success

CDL TRAINING ENTRY-LEVEL DRIVER | OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Linn-Benton Community College has partnered with the Knife River Training Center to provide a comprehensive learning experience, to get you on the road with your CDL!

Invest in your future today

Program highlights

• FMCSA-compliant CDL training • Tuition cost: $6,499 • Comprehensive training materials • Daily catered lunches included • Third-party DOT skills test • Unrestricted licenses

• Just over 3 weeks, Monday-Friday, 7:30 am 4 pm • Manual transmission trucks • 3:1 student-to-instructor ratio, resulting in a high first-time pass rate • Students train on 1.5 miles of closed circuit training roads before driving on public roads

Why choose LBCC?

Simple application process

• Real-world experience delivered at the Knife River Training Center in Albany, OR • Professionally trained and highly experienced instructors • Start driving and backing the first day of class • We don’t rely on simulators

• Complete the Application at: www.linnbenton.edu/CDL • Email it to CDL@linnbenton.edu • LBCC Coordinator will contact you within 2 days

WWW.LINNBENTON.EDU/CDL

Contact the CDL Coordinator

541-917-4961

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Extended Learning

Anthem of the Month Monthly music recommendations to keep you inspired.

1612 Vulfpeck

HOOP JAM T words and photo by ETHAN BIRMINGHAM

he north parking lot of LinnBenton's main campus underwent quite a makeover.

What had previously been an area for hundreds of parking spaces was transformed into 24 half-sized basketball courts. The change took place August 10-11 to host Albany's 17th annual Hoop Jam, a street basketball tournament organized by the Boys & Girls Club of Albany.

"This is the fourth location that we've run it, but it's our favorite," said Ryan Lamm, the athletic director of the Boys & Girls Club of Albany. "We love it out here."

As one of the event's main coordinators, Lamm has witnessed firsthand the evolution and expansion of Hoop Jam over the years.

In previous years, the tournament operated in the parking lots of North Albany IGA and the Heritage Mall. However, the increase in the competition's popularity forced the need for a larger venue.

Since 2019, Linn-Benton's northside parking lot has been a suitable host for the ever-expanding tournament. With more space available, Hoop Jam has welcomed additions to the event, such as adult brackets and a skills competition.

"It's a great opportunity to get everyone together in a good environment for some competitive basketball," said Lamm.

A whopping 218 teams combined across multiple age divisions and skill levels registered for this year's Hoop Jam. With each team featuring between three to five players and most teams having families in attendance, an estimated 2,500-plus people attended over the weekend.

To put on an event of that size, it takes a team. Luckily, The Boys & Girls Club of Albany came prepared.

Thanks to the help of volunteers and all the available employees at The Boys & Girls Club of Albany, a group of over a hundred staff members came together to help set up, organize, and officiate this year's tournament.

"We're just working our hardest," said Carrie Harrington, one of the event's volunteer coordinators. "The players understand we're

just out here to have fun and a good time."

Harrington, who manages athletic sponsorships and coaching development for the Boys & Girls Club, played an integral part in organizing the tournament's sponsors. She also worked as part of the crew that helped set up the event, a task that required hundreds of helping hands and about three days to complete.

On the day of Hoop Jam, Harrington was underneath the volunteer tent, lending a hand again by checking in on staff members and answering questions from players or attendees.

"There's always going to be some flared tempers," she said, "but the majority of the people know that we're all out here doing our best."

Participants appeared to be in good spirits with the overall display of the event.

In the downtime between games, players could re-energize by stopping by the food truck area or filling up their water bottles at a hydration station. Players could also check in on their team's specific bracket by visiting a large TradeWinds Transportation trailer in the corner of the lot that displayed scores.

Several vendor booths sold basketballrelated merchandise, while a DJ booth in the center of the lot made it so players could hoop and jam simultaneously.

"It's always good to come out here, have fun, and meet people," said Nick Webb, a forklift driver at ATI. “There's a lot of people I met that I didn't know before."

Webb, who played in a 4-on-4 basketball league over the summer at the Boys & Girls Club, was invited by one of his teammates to play in this year's Hoop Jam. During the tournament, Webb, his teammate, and some friends joined forces to compete in the 30-39 men's moderate bracket.

Despite being a lifelong citizen of Albany and an avid hooper, this year's tournament marked just the second Hoop Jam that Webb had been a part of. However, with a different venue from the last time he attended, Webb had nothing but positive remarks about this year's version.

"I like it at LB. I feel like there's a lot more room, the food trucks are pretty cool, and the tournament's been good," said Webb.

This groovy, light-hearted track from Vulfpeck is one of the best funk songs of the past… decade?

Wow, 2014 was 10 years ago!

With a head-bopping bassline and nonsensical references to various Ford models, “1612” is the perfect soundtrack for your summer drives.

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WHITESIDE theatre Business Spotlight:

t

words and photo by MICAH TEAGUE

he Whiteside Theatre, located on Madison Ave. in Corvallis, Oregon, is a long-standing fixture in the community. It was originally opened in November of 1922 and was one of the grandest movie theatres in Oregon at the time.

It features Italian Renaissance architecture and still maintains the original brickwork and many of the interior design features from the 1920's restorations. The theatre was originally owned and operated by Sam and George Whiteside, two brothers who pioneered the theatre business in Corvallis. The Whiteside family was involved in the operations of the theatre for 63 years, after which it changed ownership several times. Regal Entertainment group closed the theatre doors in 2002 due to financial loss and costs to maintain the needed renovations.

However, the theatre would not remain closed for long. Regal Entertainment donated it in 2008 to Friends of the Whiteside Theatre and the Whiteside Theatre Foundation, two nonprofit organizations who worked to convert the theatre into a performing arts center. Through community support, they were able to make the necessary restorations and repairs to reopen the theatre’s doors in 2013.

Not only does Whiteside Theatre host impressive local history, it is also said to have multiple ghosts in residence, the more well

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known spirit being the ghost of Lillian McElroy Taylor, a famous vaudeville performer who played accompaniments on the organ and was said to have had great talent.

It is said that Lillian was very attached to the Whiteside Theatre. However, she was fired in 1931 when the theatre managers decided to cut certain expenses. Shortly after being fired, Lillian discovered her husband was having an affair. In response to this discovery, she shot and killed her husband before shooting herself.

Many believe that she began haunting the theatre when the original organ was returned for display at the Whiteside.

The second ghost that haunts the theatre is a member of the Whiteside family. Charles Whiteside, the younger brother of the founders Sam and George Whiteside, frequently attended shows at the theatre. He sat in the balcony to enjoy movies and performances. Charles was particularly fond of the seat BH11, where he can still be seen enjoying shows to this day. Many performers have claimed to have seen a man in a pinstriped suit and fedora hat standing in the balcony right where Charles preferred to sit. We can only hope Charles enjoyed the show.

The Whiteside Theatre now hosts a variety of events. On Wednesdays they play a different movie each week; August featured the movies

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Jaws, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and Raising Arizona.The theatre continues their operations through donations and the funding they receive from the events hosted at Whiteside. During each showing, Dennis Stillwaggon, a volunteer, will change out the marquee sign letters.

There are only two spots to display upcoming events, so this keeps the sign always up to date on upcoming events.

Along with movie showings, the theatre hosts concerts for local performers.

Patrons can purchase tickets for events through the Whiteside’s website or purchase them in-person at the box office.

The Whiteside Theatre still maintains many aspects from its original conception, from various pieces of architecture and murals to the original ticket machine. While they no longer use the machine for dispensing tickets, it is still completely functional, making it a great historical treasure.

The theatre maintains its operations through a minimal staff and mostly volunteers. Working the concessions counter is Charlie Curtis, who is one of the house managers. He also runs the theatre’s Tuesday drop-ins, an event that creates a safe space for unhoused people in the community to get snacks and enjoy a movie. Other employees include Steve Hunter, the director of operations,

and Luis Carillo as the assistant of operations, front of house manager, and volunteer coordinator. Rhonda Jameson is their movie technician. She also helps with other operations within the theatre. Finally, there’s Matt Khellam, who manages their website as well as the ticket system. With so much required to run the theatre, all the employees work multiple jobs at the Whiteside, and the theatre’s volunteers are invaluable.

The Whiteside is also the location where local theatrical group Erotic Nightmare Shadow Players puts on their annual shadow cast performance of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. They had a one night performance on June 1 to kick off Pride Month celebrations. Erotic Nightmare Shadow Players will be back again in October for their annual performances of Rocky Horror at the Whiteside.

With so much local history and a passionate, dedicated staff, the Whiteside Theatre is both an interesting place to visit as well as a fun way to experience some classic films. They are a huge supporter of the local scene – not only hosting fundraisers and providing resources to different groups of people, but they also provide a stage and clientele for local musicians in the Corvallis area.

At nearly 102 years old, the Whiteside Theatre plays a large part in what makes Corvallis special.

▲ This couple enjoyed a showing of Labyrinth, a movie

that always draws a big crowd to the Whiteside Theatre.

▲ Sabrina Evans prepares for her performance as Columbia in The Rocky Horror

Picture Show shadow cast.

MARBLE Band Spotlight:

words by RYLAND BICKLEY photos by KRISTINA DAWN via MARBLE

I

t’s a busy life as a musician. I caught up with MARBLE via phone call as they drove down I-5 from Portland to Eugene for a July concert. A self-described “bi-city” band with members in both Portland and Seattle, the group noted how touring and recording together takes some additional effort and planning.

“Today we all met up here in Portland, which means a bunch of the guys drove three hours early this morning to get to the studio at 10 a.m.,” said guitarist Matthew Blount.

“Similarly, with writing and collaborating, we have to be really intentional about that.”

The band’s 2022 debut record, “the shadow of me,” is a haunting 36 minutes, pinned down by a brooding ambience and cavernous guitar tones. Frontwoman Chantel Bailey is at the center of it all – a powerful vocal performer with a rich timbre that has shades of Evanescence's Amy Lee. The sound of the album is mature, cohesive, and instantly enrapturing. It’s an utter surprise to learn that the expertly curated experience is the band’s first effort, and furthermore, it was recorded in basements amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That was, I guess, a unique time to be recording,” said Blount. “But we didn't know anything. We didn't know how to record at the time. So that process taught us a lot.”

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These days, MARBLE is a fine-tuned rock outfit. The sixmember group includes Bailey on vocals and guitar, Blount and Matt Wade on guitar, Jonny Wade on bass, TJ Grant on synthesizer, and William Mapp on drums. Sam Veatch takes over on percussion live.

MARBLE’s latest effort is July 2024’s “beautiful things disappoint,” a four-song EP written by Bailey and Blount that marked the group’s first time recording all together in the studio. Compared to “shadow of me,” the EP feels bigger and more confident, with larger indie rock influences and massive hooks that demand attention.

“Everyone came up with their own parts and was really able to make the song their own. And so if there's any change in the music, I would attribute a lot of it to that,” said Blount.

“All really good friends in a studio environment for the first time – something's gonna happen. There's some magic to that.”

Still, the music is as intense and thought-provoking as the band’s past material.

“I was rereading ‘Slaughterhouse-Five’ … any time in the book, any time death is mentioned, which is mentioned a lot, he follows it up with this phrase: ‘so it goes,’” Bailey said of a new track, “the monster.”

“And basically it’s like, ‘it is dead, and we move on.’ And

that became something that I ended up really anchoring to in that song. Just that idea of life and death and moving forward, accepting it. You know, all aspects of life and grief in transitional times in your life and friendships and family dynamics. … Not incredibly specific, but I would say those are some of the biggest themes in the EP.” The band’s guitar tones, one of MARBLE’s most striking traits, are as enveloping as ever, sketching gorgeous countermelodies to Bailey’s powerful choruses.

“Something that Matt [Wade] and I share is an unreasonable obsession with our guitar tones,” said Blount. “We focus on it, probably an extreme amount. Probably to a fault.”

“I find myself just kind of hearing something that seems like it'll sound cool in my head and then I’ll go try to figure it out,” added Wade. “That's mostly what we did on the EP, stuff that complements each other. I think it worked out pretty well.”

MARBLE teamed up with Seattle-based producer Andy D. Park for the first time to produce “beautiful things disappoint.” Park’s credits include bands such as Deftones and​​ Death Cab for Cutie. His guidance helped push another one of MARBLE’s standout characteristics, the one-of-a-kind, fast-paced tremolo often heard on Bailey’s vocals, into a more prominent place on the EP. I asked about it, assuming it was some sort of effect.

“That's just the way my voice is,” said Bailey. “Working with our producer Andy was really transformative. With that, I mean, it's present on our LP as well, but he really encouraged me to just lean into the weirdness of my voice. He was like, ‘Stop trying to think pretty, just get weird with it.’”

It’s a choice that more than pays off – some bands fall to the wayside as you couldn’t pick their vocalist out of a lineup. In MARBLE, Bailey’s shuddering vocals in a track’s most

intense moments are a standout, showing the “weird” can still be plenty pretty.

One of the difficulties of having such a unique sound can be genre classifications.

Terms like shoegaze, doomgaze, dreampop, goth-rock, and heavy pop swirl around the music of MARBLE, but none really pin it down.

I discussed it with the band, doing my best to classify their sound but falling well short myself.

“I feel like the theme is combining two subgenres together. … We truly do not know.

I rely on what other people say because it's hard to categorize your own music,” said Blount, adding, “We don't think about that when a song comes out. You know, the song kind of happens and comes out.”

On their way to play in Eugene’s WOW Hall, which Bailey described as one of her “favorite stages,” I had to ask the question, would MARBLE ever come to the Corvallis/ Albany area for a show?

“I think we can make that happen,” said Blount, immediately asking about possible venues.

However, any plans for the Linn-Benton area will have to wait until a future year, as MARBLE will be heading out of the United States this winter on their first-ever European tour, playing shows in Germany, France and Austria.

“I think every single part of it is just really exciting and it's just new. It's something we've never done before. A lot of unknowns, which is scary and exciting at the same time,” said Blount.

“We’re all pretty theatrical. We really try to get people into a bit of a trance,” said Bailey of the group’s live shows. “I mean, I'd say it kind of depends on the night. Sometimes we get a little bit doomier with it. It really depends on the crowd, depends on the night, but I don’t know – come out and find out.”

Read the full interview on lbcommuter.com.

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MOVIE: Deadpool & Wolverine DIRECTOR: Shawn Levy STARRING: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Morena Baccarin, Karan Soni, Leslie Uggams and Emma Corrin RATED: R OVERALL RATING: ★★★★★

Deadpool & Wolverine is the latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Following the previous hit films to feature the title characters, director Shawn Levy has made the ideal movie to formally introduce mutants into the MCU. The main story takes place six years after the events of Deadpool 2. As the Time Variance Authority (who feature prominently in the Loki series) seeks to hold Deadpool accountable for the changes made to the timeline, he must form a reluctant alliance with Wolverine to prevent the collapse of their respective worlds.

This film marks a number of firsts for the franchise. On top of officially bringing Deadpool, the X-Men and numerous other Marvel characters previously under the 20th Century Fox banner to

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the MCU, it’s this continuity’s first movie to have an R rating (with a reboot of the Blade franchise set to follow in the near future). As such, not only will fans of the characters’ previous films get more of the gloriously over-the-top violence and profane, tongue-in-cheek humor they’ve come to expect, but it marks a great way to bridge the past, present and future of Marvel on film. Levy is a director that knows how to play to the strengths of both Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman as actors; the film’s blend of both comedy and surprising dramatic weight was heavily influenced by the classic Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

On a budget of $200 million, the film does not disappoint as the first R-rated entry in the MCU. Though an accomplished cast and crew does make for an entertaining display of spectacular effects-driven action and clever banter, it’s the simplest things that make the biggest impact, such

as a comic-accurate Wolverine costume in live action for the first time. The soundtrack boasts a wide variety of songs from multiple genres and decades, featuring everything from the Platters’ “Only You” to “Bye Bye Bye” from N-SYNC. Without any spoilers, the climactic scene to save Deadpool’s timeline from Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) is set to a masterful arrangement of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.”

While the Multiverse Saga of the MCU has certainly had its ups and downs, Deadpool & Wolverine has carved a place for mutants to join the Marvel legend. With its opening weekend ranking among the biggest to date (with $205 million domestically as of the writing), it’s highly recommended as the ideal welcome for the X-Men to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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