"After leaving San Diego in 2005, he lived in Portland, Oregon where he was the music editor for "The Portland Mercury" while his former partner, Jesse Duke, worked for Microcosm Publishing.In late 2005, Gnade signed to the California-based Loud + Clear Records, toured the US, and issued "Run Hide Retreat Surrender", his first official full-length record after a series of self-released, extremely limited edition CDs and cassettes.