The infamous “Seattle Sound”. The term itself is sinking…don’t go down with the ship.

 

City Heat is sending out an S.O.S.

While planning the April issue it was decided amongst our staff that we didn’t want to play favorites by featuring an unsigned band on the cover. So we thought it would be safe running with a recorded band signed to a major.

We had a couple of ideas going and then senior writer Shay McGraw had a flash of powerful insight. What if we presented a forum for the widely diversified Seattle bands to voice some opinions about the term, “Seattle Sound”?

What is it?

Why is it?

Is the term still relevant?

Was it ever?

What we came up with is an interesting collage of bands and an interesting collage of opinions.

We have accumulated here those opinions from the voices of Seattle, presenting them to you now as the Sounds of Seattle.

We asked each of the groups we interviewed to first describe their sound, whether they considered themselves part of the “Seattle Sound” and finally, if currently, the term “Seattle Sound” is more descriptive of a musical style or an attitude shared amongst musicians in the city?

1. Describe your musical sound.
2. Do you consider yourselves part of the “Seattle Sound”?
3. When you hear the term “Seattle Sound” does it more aptly describe a particular musical style or an attitude shared amongst the city’s musical tribe?

They replied:

Red Platinum

 

“Very upbeat, very energetic, but yet very heavy. We have a very funky bottom end, so to speak. We try to utilize some finesse and dynamics in our music. As compared to other bands, we’d be a hard one to pigeon hole. It’s pocket rock. It’s rock and roll with a groove.”

“Yeah, I’d say we’re part of the Seattle Sound because we’re doing something of our own. We’re original, you know? I believe the Seattle Sound is whatever anybody in Seattle is doing that’s different than anybody else in the country. You have bands like Soundgarden and Chains and Mudhoney which originally were considered the Seattle Sound, but I believe there are a lot of bands who consist of the Seattle Sound because everybody does their own thing and they don’t worry about what the next guy’s doing, you know? They just play their music. When somebody creates something [personal] it just makes everybody else more into what they’re doing because they realize that, originality pays up here.”

“It’s more of an attitude than a musical style. It originally started out as a musical style, don’t get me wrong, but I believe it’s evolved into an attitude because everybody just does their own thing. It’s unbarred rock and roll. It’s not censored. It doesn’t matter what you are doing, you can play in any club and do whatever you want because you are in Seattle and that’s what it’s about. It’s not being pigeon holed or stuck in one thing or cliche, you can basically just rip and do what you do, there is always going to be an audience and nobody’s going to care what you’re doing because that’s just the attitude, you know? Seattle is kind of like ‘Free For All’!”

Joe Superfisky – Guitar, Vocals

 

Bitter End

“Fast, hard, loud, brutal, thoughtful, high energy. Fusion of classic heavy metal and speed metal.”

“In as much as that we live and work and play here, yes. There are so many different components of the Seattle Sound, so many different bands. I refuse to lump a lot of bands together [stylistically] due to geography or something. But [stylistically] no, we sound like a heavy metal band. We don’t sound like we’re from anywhere [in particular].

“Kind of both. Seattle bands, for the most part, have a Seattle attitude which is that most people [here] want to have their own kind of sound. Also, there’s a level of cooperation that’s not necessarily there in the larger markets. We fall into the Seattle attitude although [ours is] not necessarily a stereotypical Seattle Sound.”

Matt Fox – Lead Vocals, Guitar

 

Pistol Moon

 

“It’s versatile, raw, funky, original, trashy rock. Everybody writes and everybody cuts their own style that’s unique. So it’s a really good unit.”

“I would say so. We’ve got a lot of sounds that seem to be influenced by what is going on right now and that are really grassroots and I think we fit right in with what’s happening today.”

“I suppose it’s both and the style I think was influenced from the 60’s movement; peace, paisley, freedom and everything. And the attitude’s that of ‘do what you feel, don’t sell out and just have fun and relaxxx’. I think that had something to do with it.”

Rick Hopkins – Lead Guitar

 

Kristen Barry

“I guess it would be categorized as pop rock, but it’s not really like typical pop rock. It’s not straightforward rock. I guess people call it alternative, that’s what the record companies have classified it as, even if I don’t think it is all that alternative. I get a lot of my influence from the old jazz and blues singers. It’s more mainstream than a lot of stuff out there. It’s like accessible alternative, I guess you can say.”

“Actually, probably not. I don’t think so.”

“Well I’m having a hard time with that one right now because the Seattle Sound doesn’t mean, like, one thing anymore. It used to mean predominantly that grunge kind of thing but I think it is growing. What used to be called the Seattle Sound I think is still a major part but now there is a lot more beyond that too. A lot of different styles are coming out again. Some of the attitude of the region definitely contributes to the music because I think this region is really individualistic and the people up here are really artistic with their music. I think it’s expanding so the term doesn’t even fit any more. That was a term for two years ago. It’s outdated and I think it’s time for people to start looking at what that spawned. So let’s move on and find another term, shall we?

Kristen Barry – Vocalist

 

Paisley Sin

“I’d consider it traditional rock in the true sense of the phrase because it varies a little bit, but it all is rock and roll. Like if you listen to an old Zeppelin or Stones album the music will vary quite a bit. The feeling of each song is totally different from song to song. I think that we are kind of like that in a lot of ways. Most other bands have a style and a lot of their stuff is really similar. We’ve heard some people say that it’s what they call ‘lack of focus’ in the music industry now days. I consider it just playing what feels right. There was a guy in Vancouver at the Club Soda who said that all Seattle bands sound the same. I think that is absolute bullshit. I don’t think that all Seattle bands sound the same, at all.”

“In some cases, yes, and in some cases, no. It’s a really hard question because I think that our music could have been made in Cleveland or Chicago or Portland but probably not in Canada or L.A.”

“It’s a lot more, we’re not playing, not pushing one thing. Or one sound.”

Robert Middleton – Drums

 

Love Brother Nine

 

“Paranoid, neo-hippy dark funk is basically what we are. Another superego primadonna with delusions of paranoia. It’s kind of groovy dark funk stuff. It’s pretty heavy.”

“Considering we have a sound and we’re from Seattle. Yeah! But definitely we are no Soundgarden wannabes or anything like that. We’ve got our own sound. It’s heavy and raw which I guess is the trademark for Seattle.”

“I’d say it’s a style of music that comes from a desperate attitude. Rain and no money.”

Tony – Vocals

 

Reckless X

 

“Well, it’s a mixture of rock, funk and folk, pretty much. Did you want me to use one word describing it? It’s just diverse.”

Davis Chastain – Vocals, Bass

“I think the Seattle Sound has a distinctive grunge flavor to it that I think we, at the most, occasionally brush across. Bands that recently have made some commotion, there is a grunge there, and I don’t think we have that.”

“We’re part of the Seattle Sound because we’re from Seattle but we’re not a SubPop band. I think that the Seattle Sound is a lot broader than they portray it.”

“It depends on what you categorize the Seattle Sound as being. I would say yes, just in the sense that we’re striving to be the most unique that we can be.”

Mark Bushbeck – Guitar

Davis Chastain – Vocals, Bass

Duff Drew – Drums

“I would say that it’s probably a combination of both. It’s the way you play your instrument and it’s possibly the style of music that you are trying to emulate or create. It’s definitely a tone or tempo range in a sense, but it’s also an attitude. It’s the way you shake your head to something. It’s the way something dirges along. It’s also the way something comes together.”

“The Seattle Sound started with who? I mean with Jimi or with The Sonics or with Ann and Nancy or who? The [true] Seattle Sound is just progressively original music no matter what style you’re into.”

Duff Drew – Drums (previously of seminal My Eye)

Sanctuary

(Laughter) “I don’t know, I think that the music we make is kind of an expression of a lot of our inner anger about what is going on today (and our next record is going to be very angry). Yet, serene at the same time. Serenity and anger, that’s how I would describe it.”

“No. I don’t believe in the Seattle Sound myself. I understand what [people think] it is, but no, we don’t consider ourselves any part of it.”

“I think it’s a combination of both of those.”

Warrell Dane – Lead Vocals

 

Metal Church

“It’s probably a thinking man’s metal, I guess. I wouldn’t really call it death metal, although some of our songs’ve had some gloomy moods to them, it’s only because that’s what we felt at the time. I can’t really [over] classify it because it’s just kind of metal to me.”

“I’m not really clear as to what the Seattle Sound is. I think that we definitely are a Seattle band, whether we are from Kent or Aberdeen, but I’m not really sure how we would fit into that because we don’t sound like anybody else around here.”

“I’m not sure to tell you the truth, just because I don’t know exactly what it is. I think some people get called that because they are the bands that the inner-city people like them and they term their friends in bands the Seattle Sound. I’m not sure.”

Craig Wells – Guitar

 

My Sister’s Machine

“The official term I guess we have been stuck using is alternative hard rock. Alternative, I guess, because it’s not your ‘normal’ approach, what we do.”

“Tough one. Basically yes, but I would say it’s not really a Seattle Sound. I would like to rephrase that to more like a Seattle attitude.”

“It’s both actually. The original Seattle Sound that people were talking about was most exemplified by bands like Soundgarden, Nirvana, Mudhoney and probably Green River. That’s where the real Seattle Sound thing came from but now I would call it a Seattle attitude because, loosely put, I still feel that The Posies have the Seattle Sound. The Accused have the Seattle Sound. I say that now because even The Posies, for instance, are not cliché pop. Not your ‘normal’ pop. It’s still got that Seattle feel to it – Seattle attitude. They are taking a different angle towards what they are doing. Whether it’s The Accused or anything like that, the attitude, the approach they are taking at whatever they write, whether it’s pop, grunge or garage, it’s still a little bit of a different angle than other bands [elsewhere] that are doing [the same genre]. I think that’s why the labels still think there is some promise in acts in Seattle. It’s still the band’s [originality] – not just because they are from Seattle.”

Chris Gohde – Bass

 

Queensryche

 

“Sonic portraits.”

“In as much as we are from Seattle, yes.”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s an oblique reference to the large body of water located west of First Avenue.”

Chris DeGarmo – Lead Guitar

 

Sedated Souls

 

“I’d describe our music as alternative, heavy, commercial and kind of gloomy. Even tho I play it, I don’t know how to describe it. I guess I would call it ‘feelings put to music’.”

Junior – Guitar

“I guess so, in a way and I guess in a way, no.”

Jeff Burns – Guitar

“I don’t know, I think the Seattle Sound [category] is a great thing, but I don’t think that since we live in a certain place that we have to play [a certain] kind of music to be successful.”

Junior – Guitar

 

Rhino Humpers

 

“Hip-hop, funk rock, groove.”

“We’re ’91 disco on drugs!”

Jeff Rouse –

Danny –

“No, because I think that the Seattle Sound is identified as grunge and we are not a grunge band.”

“The attitude is the sound and the sound is grunge.”

Brian Coloff –

 

Dirt Love Injection

 

“Love music straight from the dirt.”

“Grab the ball and beat your feet to the schizo-cosmic bittersweet and leave the driver in the back seat rock ‘n’ roll.”

Chris Selleck –

Don Carter –

“Yes, I consider us a Seattle band but I don’t know what the Seattle Sound is.”

“The attitude is what inspires the sound and the music from Seattle is motivated by emotion rather than teenyboppers’ allowances.”

Don Carter –

 

The Posies

 

“I don’t know. It’s funny, we always just say it’s rock and roll music, you know? Which is true because if there is one thing that all bands are sick of, it’s typecasting or being categorized or being compared to another band. But I suppose it’s inevitable ultimately. We always just say, ‘Just rock and roll’.”

“Sure, absolutely. As to what that means to somebody else, I may be totally wrong, but you know, in our vision, sure!”

“I don’t think the attitude amongst Seattle musicians really has anything to do with it or really ever did. That’s the funny part. But I guess everybody kind of inspired each other about the same time. All of a sudden there was this big flood of bands, new bands cropping up everywhere and I think everybody would agree now, that’s kind of over. That big rush that got all the hype around the world. So it’s funny now when people say the Seattle Sound, it’s like it’s just reaching some parts [globally]. It’s just not like it was or anything. I think it’s also just a term described in the press and especially to people outside of Seattle. You know, I never really thought there was like a Seattle Sound, but there certainly was one in the minds of journalists in other parts of the country who were looking for the heavy stuff and, I don’t know, that’s what it became obviously. No, there isn’t really a Seattle Sound at all. There is more of a reputation that I think just about every band would be sick of having to live up to. I know we certainly are.”

Rick Roberts – Bass

 

Pearl Jam

 

“What kind of music do we make? We make some good music. I don’t know, we make our own music. We make whatever all our combined influences make, and we make rock and roll I guess.”

“Well yeah, we’re from Seattle. Definitely.”

“I think it’s a little bit of both. The grunge factor of it is definitely prevalent, but there is also The Posies, who are totally pop sounding and great and what we are doing is definitely not grunge but it’s a Seattle Sound because we are from Seattle.”

Mike McCready – Lead Guitar

 

Ministry Of Love

 

“The kind of music we play is kind of art rock-based with very rich harmonic structures. No power chords, but a lot of stuff going on harmonically and arrangement-wise. It’s kind of a rock with a lot of fusion and psychedelic and classical influences thrown in.”

“With the Seattle Sound relating to grunge and SubPop and stuff like that; we are diametrically opposed to it. I think the Seattle Sound is changing actually.”

“I think it’s both. There is the attitude of ‘here we are and we’re just doing our own thing’, I also think the Seattle Sound is changing. And what it’s changing to is something that requires a little more attention from the listener’s perspective. I think it is changing to things that are more experimental in terms of dynamics. People that are not afraid to play quietly as well as playing loud. I think people are going to explore more, different kinds of ideas.”

Ken Sorenson – Lead Guitar

 

Sweet Water

 

“It’s hard ‘rawk’. I would say it’s rock but I would also say it’s got a lot of hooks in it. It’s meant to be a clean sound so that you can hear everything and it’s catchy. I don’t want to call it pop because we’re not aiming for that. But it’s like, when I hear a song I’d like to have something hook in my head. There’s a lot of bands out there who get these cheap kind of sayings, that just mean nothing. But when I’m writing lyrics I think I’m trying to go for something that sticks in your head but won’t be cheesy. You know what I mean? It’s a fine line.”

“I wouldn’t consider ourselves to be part of the Seattle Sound necessarily. When we started out, we used to be Shot Gun Mama. Now we got a new guitarist and he added a whole other dimension to the sound. He knows a lot about music and we sort of fell we’re playing what we’ve always wanted to play. At least what I’ve always wanted to play since high school. No, I wouldn’t consider us part of the Seattle Sound because, ‘what is the Seattle Sound?’ It’s just kind of like a SubPop, grungy, one riff played over and over again. It’s great live and everything but I don’t listen to that kind of music all the time. You know what I mean?”

1. “I think the attitude is where it’s at because…definitely…every band in Seattle I’ve been around, it’s like everyone kind of helps each other out. Which I think is pretty rare for a city, you know what I mean? It’s still competitive, but in a good way. Everyone just tries to better themselves and you kind of feed off each other. There is a lot of things happening in Seattle and I feel the music is a little bit more real up here than in other places like L.A. or something,”

Adam Cziesler – Vocals

I think we’d all have to agree with that.

Thank you, musicians of Seattle.

All of you!

 

 

 

 

Bad Company & Damn Yankees at Seattle Center Coliseum
Precious Metal at Parkers
Posies, Bathtub Gin & Sweetwater at The Backstage
Aurora – On The Edge
Flesh Cafe – Demo
Bob Rivers – Industry Profile