Not too long ago, I got the chance to head over to the K-Rock studios and sit down for a chat with Andy Savage and Tavis Lemay about their Seattle Sounds project. After checking out their website (www.seattlesounds.com), I was a bit surprised. No where on their site is there any mission statement, or any kind of information about the brains behind this endeavor. In fact, the only info I was able to find was only related to music. There are about 45 bands on the site with bio's, purchasable discographies, playable tracks, and a list of upcoming shows. Need to find a place to rehearse or record? That's all there as well. Frankly, the whole thing reeked of altruism and I was determined to get to the bottom of it.

I asked Andy how this all came about, and he told me a story that anyone with some background in the area probably remembers. In the mid to late 1990's, the major record labels came to the conclusion that they'd squeezed every last penny possible from grunge. So, in an effort to maintain the bottom line, wholesale layoffs were the order of the day. If your CD wasn't moving millions of units, your band was gone. Not to expose my Eastern Washington roots, but it was a little bit like the hunter who guts his kill right there on the side of the road, then leaves the entrails to cook on the pavement. Andy said the whole thing made him angry and he decided he wanted to do something about it, so that's how it began. It's all about bringing the community together," I was told, and getting local bands that are worth a listen some needed exposure."

I was curious as to how bands were chosen to be showcased on the site - Andy and Tavis broke it down for me. Seeing how Andy has a morning radio show, he can't be out clubbing all night, so it falls on Tavis to go out each night and scout bands. Bands can also submit music to them through their website. When I asked what they were looking for in submissions, they told me - all that matters is good production. If the recording isn't clean enough for radio play, then there isn't much they can do with it.

Before the end of the interview, I asked them a couple questions hoping to get some nuggets of insight for people trying to get into the music industry, and for people out there looking for some local up and comers. The biggest thing," I was told, if you're trying to break into music is - be persistent. Don't be annoying, and no stalking, but don't give up." As far as bands to look out for - they mentioned Redlightmusic, Point One, Outtasite, East of the Equator, The Glasses, Reed, and Edisyn. A happy sounding Elliot Smith was how Tavis described the latter two.

To all of you out there, "get 'er done fer rock n' roll." Go check out the website, listen to some bands, find something you like, and get your ass out there and show some love. This is an incredible service that is being provided to our city, so make use of it.