Chris Slusarenko is a modern day indie rock Zelig. Over the course of more than thirty five years Slusarenko has channeled his unstoppable verve and enthusiasm to propel him to remarkable places. Chris has played in Guided By Voices and in the Bob Pollard side project, Boston Spaceships. For more than 20 years, he owned Clinton Street Video, an independent video store in Portland, Oregon. Chris is now currently in the great power pop outfit Eyelids, a band he formed with fellow Portlander, John Moen of The Decemberists and The Jicks. And as if those accomplishments were not enough bona fides, Chris is also the host of the Revolutions Per Movie podcast where he discusses music documentaries with musicians and other creatives.
Love for rock and roll came early for Chris, and by his teenage years he had struck up a pen pal relationship with R.E.M., his favorite band. When the band came to play Portland for the first time, they even made sure to welcome Chris and his family to the show for free and invited the family to come backstage for a meet and greet with the band. The encounter only furthered Slusarenko’s deep and unabiding dedication to the power of rock and roll.
As a teenager, Chris was also soaking up independent and world cinema thanks to an amazingly generous bike shop owner who loaned out arthouse and foreign films to curious kids at no cost. This opened a window for Chris that led him to find and fall in love with great filmmakers like Tarkovsky, Herzog, and others. Eventually, that initial crush on cinema led to the opening of Clinton Street Video, a shop that Slusarenko ran for 22 years. At Clinton Street, Chris hoped to create a culture that was free of shame. Although the inventory at the shop was littered with obscure and often difficult to find films, Chris strove not to have clerks laden with esoteric knowledge and a series of harsh opinions, but rather cultivated employees at the shop who were simply excited about film.
In recent years, Chris has created a podcast empire through his terrific show, Revolutions Per Movie, a pod where he and a guest break down a music documentary. The show is both a deep dive into a musical film, and a wonderful ruse for deep and thought provoking discussions about art and life. The show is the anchor of a larger network of pods that Slusarenko and a host of contributors have created that are only available to Patreon subscribers. Much like yours truly, Chris Slusarenko is a man who is always making something.
As if all of that were not enough, Slusarenko is also a member of the great indie-rock/power pop band, Eyelids. Slusarenko formed the band a number of years ago with John Moen, a fellow Portlander known for his work in The Decemberists and Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks. Since 2014, the band have released a quintet of albums, including albums which were produced by Chris’ old pen pal, Peter Buck of R.E.M.
During the course of our chat, Chris and I manage to cover a surprisingly large amount of his resumè, which of course leads to some fascinating discussion. Chris shares his experience of being in Guided By Voices and working with Robert Pollard, a man who has been a huge influence on both of us. As we discuss Chris’ natural excitement for music and film, we cover the concept of bringing unabashed enthusiasm back to criticism and curation. Chris even talks a bit about how he got some of his favorite musicians, including Yoko Ono, Cyndi Lauper, and even Stephen Colbert to appear on his concept record.
This is a wild ride of an episode with a whirlwind of a human being, and I loved every second of it. Bring your enthusiasm and hold on to your hat. Here’s me with the one and only, Chris Slusarenko.
Cheers,
Matty C
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Thanks so much to Chris for joining me. You can find the Revolutions Per Movie pod wherever you get your podcasts or you can support RPM directly via their Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/cw/RevolutionsPerMovie
You can also find the Eyelids terrific catalog wherever you get your music.
The What Am I Making podcast is hosted, written, and produced by me, Matty C.
Our theme music was written and recorded by David J. Baldwin
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