Portland’s Huak making all the right moves

Sometimes, the universe gives you what you need. You don’t have to ask for it. It just happens.

Take, for example, the Portland-based post-punk band Huak, who are set to play at the Solidarity Center on Friday, June 20, along with a bunch of other groups. While it’s not as though they haven’t worked hard to make music, things have fallen into place for them that have made it seem almost easy. Call it luck, or chance, or fate, whatever – sometimes, it just works out.

Huak (pronounced “hue-ack”) started with Jake Lowry and Stefan Hanson, who met at the First Congregational Church in Scarborough, where Lowry’s father is a minister. Actually, Huak started as Surrender Dorothy, a garage punk band the two started when both were in grade school, first in Presque Isle and then in Scarborough. Lowry was 13-ish and playing Nirvana covers in his bedroom; Hanson was in fifth grade and had picked up bass.

“There was this little, funny-lookin’ kid named Stefan who played bass. He was in fifth grade. I was just getting into punk rock, and I wanted to jam,” said Lowry, who is now 21 and a student at the University of Southern Maine. “And there was Stefan. We’ve pretty much been together ever since.”

Upon moving to Portland, Lowry and Hanson posted fliers around town, looking for a drummer for a punk band that played more than just three chords. Here’s where fate starts to enter into the picture: Eric Loren answered the call. If you’ve had the opportunity to see Huak live, you know that Loren is pretty much a flat-out incredible drummer. He plays in time signatures that may not even actually exist. And for the experimentally minded Lowry and Hanson, it was a perfect match.

“Eric really helped us find our sound. He wanted to push it in different directions, especially with the time signatures,” he said. “I had a hard time playing in seven at first. But once we started doing that, it gave me more motivation to make my guitar parts more complex and different.”

This year, Huak added a fourth member, guitarist and keyboard player Joel Glidden, adding further depth to a band that plays jagged, angular, and yet oddly melodic punk rock. If you know the scene, think Mission of Burma, the Minutemen and any band on Dischord Records. If you don’t, think about a very complex mechanical item like a watch or an engine. And then think about that watch or engine bursting into flame.

“I’ve described it as agitated guitar music, which is not a term I coined. I heard that in a Fugazi interview,” said Lowry. “But I think it’s sort of a good way to describe the post-hard-core sound. I don’t know if everyone in the band would agree with that, but I think it works.”

The now-defunct Fugazi, Lowry’s favorite band (and, coincidentally, one of the all-time favorites of the writer of this column), is a major touchstone for Huak, both musically and ethically. So when the band had the opportunity to open up for Fugazi drummer Joe Lally when he played at the Space Gallery in Portland last month, it was a dream come true. And another example of the universe coming through for them.

“Fugazi has had a lasting influence on the way I conduct my life with their politics and their resistance to the status quo. It was really exciting and nerve-wracking to open up for him. We practiced every day for a month prior to the show,” said Lowry. “Though, of course, Joe is a totally relaxed, nice guy. He let Eric borrow his kick pedal when his broke during the show.”

Huak is no stranger to the Bangor area – the band played a show last summer for Bangor nonprofit organization Ofelia’s, where, in another example of fate working in their favor, they met a guy who would again change their future. Local musician Tony Bitetti heard the band and after one set offered up his basement recording studio and his services as a producer.

“Tony offered to bring us up and record us after hearing us play once,” said Lowry. “That’s pretty cool. He didn’t know us. We could have been real jerks.”

Over the winter, Huak recorded an EP with Bitetti titled “Trajectory,” tentatively set to be released in August on Peapod Recordings, a Portland-based label. Lowry is understandably excited about it – not least because Huak fans will finally get to hear Lowry’s lyrics, which live are often overshadowed by the intense guitar interplay. And that’s something he feels strongly about, as his lyrics deal with issues that are very important to him and the rest of the band.

“Our lyrics focus on things that we feel need to change within our society. Homelessness, media, people wasting away in front of the television,” he said. “I think it’s important for musicians to say something with their music. Not necessarily using the music as a stage or a soapbox, but as a means of opening up dialogue. I think it’s a very powerful tool.”

Huak will play with Mt. Moon, Rotundo Sealeg, Full Contact Kitty, Dead End Armory, Boris the Reject and Ryan Page at the Solidarity Center on 20 Ives St. in Brewer. $7, all ages, doors open at 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/

huak. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@

bangordailynews.net.