Is the Seattle Music Scene Dead?
In short, no. (Duh.)
But, Paste magazine ran an article recently suggesting that, perhaps, it's on its way out. We thought the article made a lot of valid and interesting points, like this one:
“Mayor [Greg] Nickels and other city leaders don’t have a clue about the impact of their policies on this community,” says Tim Hatley, lobbyist for the Seattle Nightlife & Music Association. “If you’re Dan [Cowan, owner of Seattle fixture the Tractor Tavern], why would you invest in a booking person and upgrades like sprinklers and soundproofing when you could make more money as a pool hall for the yuppies in their brand-new condos right across the street?”
Being that we moved to Seattle to make music, and have spent the rest of our time here writing about the local scene, we have a few thoughts about what's going on with the Seattle music community--none of them involve any sort of demise. In fact, we think even entertaining a demise of the local music scene is attributing far too much sway to local politics, commerce, and development, rather than that of the artists. Music doesn't happen because of clubs. Music happens because of the artists, musicians, and songwriters who get up every day, rain or shine, and feel some level of inspiration. They put ads on Craigslist or in The Stranger seeking other like-minded artists with whom they can form a band. They find each other at bars and open mics, at parties, festivals, and even more often, on tour. They need clubs and venues to make part of their income, but not all of it; and, let's face it, even if those clubs start catering more to the condo-living folks than the artists, the local music scene will remain what it is: a place for artists to be inspired between tours.
Here in Seattle, we have killer hip-hop groups, country bands, folksingers, rock bands, honky tonk artists, loud metal bands that have been together forever, and fun rockabilly bands. We've got SubPop, KEXP, and any number of awesome indie labels. We've got some really great recording studios and other resources for artists. Plus, we have a very literate, socially conscious populace, beautiful scenery, and plenty of weather that makes you want to stay inside and do something with all that inspiration, like write songs and make great music. We can't speak for other artists, but when we're making music, we're not thinking about what ordinances are being discussed at City Hall. We're thinking about how much we love making music.
Newsflash: the entire music industry is changing. We've been in it long enough to know that it's not dying, and it never will. The artists, venues, record companies, promoters, and festivals that survive will be the ones who figure out ways to make a living that don't rely on the ways they've been making a living the past 50 years. If that means artists like us--who live in condos in a town where music venues are feeling the pressure to cater to condo-livers--need to saddle up to evolving technologies, giving our music away for free (as it should be), and making our income in other ways (touring, merchandise, advertising, a day job), that's the way it's got to be.
The Paste article raised some questions about whether artists have ever been able to survive in Seattle, citing the fact that Kurt Cobain netted a mere $33K when Nirvana first broke, and still couldn't afford his less-than $200/mo. rent. We don't make much more than Kurt did, and our share of the mortgage is nearly four times as much as his rent was. Go figure.
Being an artist in Seattle doesn't mean scraping the streets for rats for food, because The Man is holding carrots in front of the noses of the Tractor Tavern (and elsewhere). It means evolving along with an ever-changing industry, finding house concerts to play at, getting out of town now and then, and making friends with the variant new Web sites popping up everywhere to help artists get their work out there and make a living.
We're not saying we don't understand why so many gifted former Seattleites have departed for Portland's cheaper rents and more communal songwriter scene. We loved Portland the two years we lived there, back in the day. But we're in Seattle now, we're not the only ones, and we're pretty stoked about the music that's getting made here. In fact, we'd go so far as to say that something's in the air in the Seattle music scene, and that our time on the national stage didn't end ten years ago.
That fabulous shot of Thee Emergency comes to you courtesy of Seattlest Flickr Pool users, and blogfriend SoundontheSound. Are your photos in the pool? Jump in.
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