Jonathan Nicholas

The Oregonian 6.30.2003

Big Burly was at the door, guarding the velvet rope. Scenesters crowded the street, hoping to Friday-night-fight their way into the hottest party in town. Upstairs, in the sweatbox home of the Overland Agency, Dave Allen, king of cool, was making it all look easy, herding hipsters with a branding iron in one hand and CD burner in the other.

Allen boasts Portland's hippest set of musical street creds. The English lad was a founding member of post-punk pioneers Gang of Four, then trailblazed a host of musical frontiers before coming to Portland to help steer Intel into the world of downloadable tunes.

He now runs the entertainment division at Overland, which Friday unveiled OEbase.com, a Web site affording developing artist's innovative ways to promote and sell their music. Hip-hopping Lifesavas headlined the house but too late. The buzz already had been stolen by Sophe Lux, fronted by Wendy Haynes, lyrical sister of Oscar-coated film director Todd Haynes.