Revel’s new shop site launches today with advance printed copies of the book for sale— makes for a really cool stocking stuffer gift. Interviews, pictorials and personal picks from some of Portland’s most interesting and multi-facted talent. 

Portlandia’s ‘Winter in Portland’ airs tonight. Coincidence? Maybe. We do love the attention Carrie and Fred have brought to our city, and yeah, Portlandia also recently published their own Portland(ia) guidebook for visitors— but Revel in Portland is an arts and culture guide about the city and its people—not the show. Personal interviews, pictorials, 72 recommendations on where to eat, drink, explore, and shop around town.

It was tough choosing only ten featured subjects for Volume1, but we hope you’ll like our selections. Keep checking back for added content, features and more personal picks from other interesting Portland characters. We’ll frequently be adding something new up here for locals and travelers alike.

Let’s start off by introducing you to filmmaker, Lance Bangs- also our cover subject. Heather Larimer interviews Lance. He credits Michael Stipe/REM with giving his career a kick start as a filmmaker. His incredibly diverse body of work includes music videos for indie rock luminaries such as Sonic Youth, Sleater-Kinney, Pavement, and The White Stripes. His documentarian work includes a Maurice Sendak film “Tell Them Anything You Want” (with Spike Jonze) and HBO’s “The Lazarus Effect”, about the radical health improvements brought to AIDS patients in sub-Saharan Africa.

He also launched a cultural phenomenon by capturing the crazy stunts of “Jackass”, and continues to explore work in comedy.  Lance is super intelligent with a great sense of humor-he  didn’t flinch when asked to where a gilly suit and walk around the supermarket.  

One of our favorite Portland picks by Lance: Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade. “Art Santana’s managerial style keeps the games glowing and thumbs blistering.”