Greg Sage and the Wipers continued releasing records throughout the ’80s and ’90s. The Power in One, released in 2001 on Sage’s Zeno Records label (www.zenorecords.com), is the latest, and last, Wipers record—a great one, and a fitting finale. Zeno has also released the excellent History of Portland Punk Vol. 1, featuring several of Portland’s earliest bands. But the real treasure is the Wipers Box Set, which contains those first three albums, remastered and restored to form by Greg Sage himself, plus the original “Alien Boy” EP, demos, outtakes, and songs that have never been heard before! This is great great great music—you must own it. If you claim any knowledge of Pacific Northwest rock heritage but you missed this, you don’t know squat, and now you can remedy that situation. If you are already hep, you will be born again; the results of Sage’s efforts to restore this material to his original “aural vision” are awe-inspiring.

It is no surprise, then, that such enduring and intense music would be made by an individual with a far-reaching mind and unique vision. Following are excerpts from a lengthy phone conversation with Greg Sage in January 2002. It has been edited for space constraints.