WE ATTENDED PORTLAND'S FIRST ANNUAL MUSICIANS MARKET

We spent yesterday at Musicians Market, put on by Five Star Guitars here in Portland, supporting SpellcasterFX at their booth and doing what we like best: standing around guitar pedals, hanging with music gear makers, talking shop, talking shit, and reconnecting with the people who actually make stuff.

It felt important to be there. Not as spectators. Not as “marketing dudes.” Just present.

Supporting SpellcasterFX

SpellcasterFX held it down all day, letting people plug in, twist knobs, and take their time. No rush. No pitch. Just sound, feel, and curiosity. That’s the right way to do it, and it’s why we wanted to support them at this event in the first place.

Watching players react in real time—finding their sound, smiling when something clicks—was a reminder of why we’re building QUALITY DRUGS around gear culture specifically. This stuff lives and breathes in rooms like that.

Good hangs, good people

One of the best parts of the day was simply running into friends.

We got quality hangs with Benson Amps, who somehow always manage to be both world-class and completely unpretentious at the same time. We also spent time with the folks from Strymon Engineering, whose pedals somehow keep ending up on everyone’s boards—including ours.

Beyond that, it was all Portland energy: builders, players, engineers, artists, lifers. People who care deeply about what they’re making, even when the margins are thin and the hours are long.

Thank you, Five Star Guitars

Huge gratitude to Five Star Guitars for organizing Musicians Market and creating space for this community to gather. Events like this don’t just happen. They take work, intention, and trust—and it showed.

For us, this wasn’t about lead gen or exposure. It was about showing up early in the life of Quality Drugs, putting faces to names, and being part of the ecosystem we say we care about.

We left tired, a little hoarse, and very grateful.

More soon.