vonHummer

The concept was to launch an artist following, not by playing out, but via a TV series on cable access. Like “The Monkees,” decades before, “The vonHummer Hour” would feature some kind of comic sketches with new songs debuting in between. Therisno execs gambled that TV makes an artist more “real” than reality, thereby making him more famous/important than whoever the top band in town happened to be. This turned out to be the case, but with an ironic twist. As a “more real” artist, vonHummer was only important to the real people viewing the show in the hundreds, but not to the music press or music community of Portland, who mostly ignored him. This only fueled his ambition, however, driving vH ever-greater levels of bizarre originality, including an eventual feature film. By 2011, however, the Lobster Guy had had his run and hung up his seafood headpiece, painted suits and eyeball glasses.