Diving Into the Portland DIY Scene
Meet music major Ava Burge.
Hometown: Ojai, California
Thesis adviser: Professor Maria Fantinato G. Siqueira [music]
Thesis: “‘I’m Not Pretty’: An Ethnographic Study on Inclusion in the Portland DIY Music Scene”
What it’s about: How gender and inclusion shape participation, creativity, and space making in the Portland DIY scene. Through interviews, ethnography, and music analysis, I explore whether DIY truly resists mainstream exclusions or reproduces them in new forms—raising broader questions about what it means to build an equitable community.
What it’s really about: Queer artists in the Portland DIY scene.
In high school: I was continuously putting on a new experiment with my body and my dress. Dyeing my hair or cutting it short, or experimenting with punk fashions and trends—and the more normative trends of my high school years. I was the girl who was experimenting with who I wanted to be. I think I’m still that person in many ways—experimenting with gender, experimenting with personality, experimenting with music.
Influential class: Cultural Study of Music, taught by Professor Morgan Luker [music], was very influential and made me realize, “I can write about music. I can write about it and I can study it and I can think about it in new ways.” And I don’t think I would have written the thesis I wrote without the influence of that class and the ways that we looked at ethnomusicology.
Outside the classroom: Tea Club, open mics at the Paradox Café, working in the Cooley Art Gallery, organizing Reed Arts Weekend (RAW).
Influential media: LCD Soundsystem’s “Dance Yourself Clean.” I remember hearing that song in the pool hall my freshman year during Renn Fayre. Every time I hear that song, I feel so happy and feel like I’m a part of something. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to hear that song again and not think about Reed and think about my time here.
Concept that blew my mind: When I took a conducting class from Professor Shohei Kobayashi [music], we learned to lead with our bodies, lead with our emotions. A lot of the time, you’re supposed to hide those things, act as if you’re okay. When you’re conducting, you really listen to the music and think, “How can I express these emotions?” That concept has been so influential in my music learning here—it carries through, no matter what subject I’m looking at. There’s always that power of emotion and that power of the self.
Awards, fellowships, grants: The President’s Summer Fellowship. My project was starting a music blog called The Nova Journal. I created it as a collaborative and refreshing space for exploring how we listen to and write about music. I still write for it today!
What’s next? I plan to stay in Portland and keep participating and contributing to the local music scene. Whether I’m in the front row, on stage, or behind the scenes!