Pacific Northwestern band Object Heavy performs at Whirled Pies restaurant located on 199 W 8th Ave, Eugene, Oregon. Band members Leo Plummer, Pete Ciotti, Jonny Woods, Brian Swislow, and Ian Taylor are based out of Arcata, California. Object Heavy’s music genre consists of Soul, Rock, Funk, Blues, R&B, and Hip Hop.
Object Heavy member Jonny Woods is the group’s primary vocalist, but every member contributes their own backup singing. The group mainly performs out of California, but will travel out of state to play at several different locations.
Keyboardist Brian Swislow came to California from Chicago in 1997 where he started his musical career. Swislow has played for a number of different bands in addition to Object Heavy, and works to produce/compose a variety of music genres.
Whirled Pies, located in Eugene, Oregon, is a restaurant and events venue based in the downtown area. Live music is a main attraction for Whirled Pies, and artists perform at the venue roughly three to four times a week throughout the year. For Object Heavy, it was the band’s first time performing at the Whirled Pies venue.
Brian Luptun, left, and Kris Cunningham, right, attend the Object Heavy performance at Whirled Pies in Eugene, Oregon. Cunningham, currently living in North Bend, was at the performance with her five other family members. Cunningham said Object Heavy is one of her family’s favorite bands, and they drove from Bend specifically to see the band’s performance.
The following photos were taken for a written article which was published in Ethos Magazine. The article, written by Renata S. Geraldo, can be read online here.
Melanee Ellis reaches to open the cage of one of her many ferrets. Ellis runs a ferret shelter out of her home in Eugene, Oregon, and cares for over 40 ferrets that are rescues or being temporarily housed for their owners.
Ellis refills the food dish for two of her ferrets. The food Ellis provides contains ingredients and nutrients specific to the sensitive diet of ferrets.
Ellis scruffs one of her ill ferrets to administer its medicine. Not all of the ferrets that Ellis rescues come in perfect health. Several of the ferrets have unique, costly-to-treat illnesses that Ellis tends to every day. Scruffing a ferret, similarly to cats and dogs, is neither harmful nor painful for the animal.
One of Ellis’s ferrets rests its nose through its cage bars. Ferrets have poor eyesight but an excellent sense of smell and hearing.
Ellis clips the nails of one of her ferrets while a shelter volunteer holds its rump. Ferrets are energetic animals and getting one to hold still can require an extra set of hands.
Ellis holds one of her ferrets for a portrait. Ellis loves and cares for her ferrets but her connection with them goes beyond their cute appearance. Ellis says the pet ferrets she had as a teenager acted as emotional support after her mom passed away. “If it wasn’t for ferrets, I probably wouldn’t be here today,” Ellis says.