Pushing the boundaries of what we call music, Bay-area musician Chris Portka has emerged with a new genre called “trash music.” Porta has released an album with the same name. The project came from Portka channeling his lifelong struggles and anxieties into music. Instead of letting these things scare him, they fueled him. He went from Instagram live performances to local gigs, to now touring alongside the AI Harper Band. On top of that, this is Portka’s first album to be pressed on vinyl, available for listeners to purchase now!
The record is extremely diverse in theme and production. It starts with the songs, “to burn him up, is it too much to bear?,” this might scare a top 40 fan away, however if they take the time to listen it opens up a conversation. Knowing the inspiration for this album was rooted in anxiety and escapism, the track simulates all the daily noise that runs through a persons’ head. This bleeds through to the “wildlife” track. Portka experiences a lot with how the songs flow and their lengths, which adds a lot of intrigue and elements of surprise. Portka is able to make distortion and clashing feel uncomfortable and relatable. It opens a lot in terms of interpretation not only with lyrics but how a person’s body reacts to hearing these kinds of sounds and dissonance.
From all this loudness and chaos, the noise fades into the soft picking of an acoustic guitar and a comforting voice. The song is “the sky is blue in hell,” this song feels more like a traditional singer/songwriter song and less experimental. However, it gives the lyrics a chance to shine and is an interesting concept to think about because Portka says the sky is blue in hell without directly pointing out our sky is blue. It is poetry in the way that each note and word can be dissected and looked at with a magnify glass.
Overall, this album is very exciting and personal. With a name like “trash music,” you can never be too sure what to expect. While the title of the album and the genre is “trash music,” the collection of songs is anything but. I encourage you to go in with an open mind and rock out to the unique and intricate work Portka put into this project. This album is available on vinyl and purchasing it will help support artists like Portka to make new and different independent music for years to come!
Written by Katie Power
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