Gorge local bands Antonyms and The West Goats to play The Ruins

Antonyms started playing in Hood River in 2015. Their current iteration, featuring Doug Stepina, Tim Decker, Dustin Nilsen, and Joe Siliman, began playing shows in 2021, with two of their members, Stepina and Siliman, also playing for local band Greenneck Daredevils.

Stepina said that this upcoming show will be a key moment for the band, since much of their material hasn’t been released in a studio form, to capture new songs they have been rehearsing. This show, with a live recording, will “encapsulate all of what’s really going on live,” he said. The band’s got a bit of a jam band flair which Stepina describes as influenced by “Cosmic country,” a genre influenced by the ‘60s psychedelic movement and American roots.

“We’re really looking forward to it,” Stepina said. The show also marks what Stepina is calling the second phase of a music project centered around Music Underground, an up-and-coming artistic hub in the Gorge which provides musicians space to rehearse, record, do post-production work on recordings, and teach music. Music Underground, headed by Tim Snyder, has a core group of four people connected to the music scene, including Stepina, who hopes that with the show it will inspire more bands connected to the Underground to record more shows and bring in video production to add visual elements to the music they create.

Stepina and the band are looking to put the recording of the upcoming show on a streaming platform, details to be determined. He said he is looking forward to performing with The West Goats. “It’s a good meshing of bands,” he said,

This isn’t their first time playing The Ruins — last year they played a show in the summer at their outdoor venue — but this time around they will be performing at the venue’s indoor location with The West Goats, a four-piece band also based in the Gorge.

Nick Orr, the guitarist for The West Goats, said the band is preparing to play five new songs, plus a few covers, during their set at The Ruins. The band, formed in 2018, demonstrates their versatility with acoustic sets and electric sets, depending on the space.

“The band is made up of professional musicians and have very creative minds. They can just react and play,” Orr said. The members are Nick Orr, Roman Fey, Pat Mulvihill, and Steve May. “They’re all really invested in what we do,” he said.

This will be the fourth show at The Ruins for The West Goats. They primarily play rock and indie rock.

Orr said he was first blown away by Antonyms when he first heard them, “not just by how good they are, but how passionate they are as performers … The Antonyms are amazing and I’m excited to share the stage with those guys.”

Stepina said the show also marks an expansion of The Ruins’ winter catalog, with their show as well as many others this February; they’re bringing in The Builders and The Butchers with Kelli Scheafer this Thursday, Feb. 16, Scott Pemberton O Theory and Chris Couch on Feb. 18, Garrett Brennan and The Salt Licks with Billy Sheeley on the 23rd.

“Personally as someone who moved back in 2021, I love everything that goes on in Hood River. It’s a really good place for musicians being creative. This is why I think Hood River needs to be on the map for music,” Stepina said.

Orr echoed that sentiment, saying that the music scene has grown exponentially in recent years.”There are a lot of really great performers out here in the Gorge,” he said.