INTERVIEW WITH JJ,

BOOKER OF “THE BEST

GODDAMN DIVE IN TOWN,”

THE BLUE MOON TAVERN

A University District landmark with a colorful past and an equally lurid present, the Blue Moon Tavern has always been a hotbed for the city’s counterculture. Since it opened in 1934, the Blue Moon’s eclectic, freethinking atmosphere has drawn poets like Stanley Kunitz, Theodore Roethke, Dylan Thomas and Allen Ginsberg to its stools, and now bands like The Moondoggies, Iceage Cobra, We Wrote the Book on Connectors, Thee Emergency and Wah Wah Exit Wound to its stage. Of the bar’s 75-year run, booker and soundman Jason Josephes, better known as JJ, has been around for five and is doing a mighty fine job cementing the Blue Moon’s reputation as a loveable dive and a place for artists to cultivate their local fanbase.

Q: Tell us about your approach to booking.

A: Our owner, Gus Hellthaler, gives me free reign to bring in bands regardless of genre or level of experience, and for the most part, we’re very happy with the results. I’ll give almost anyone a chance as long as they’re also willing to do the same for us. Booking bands is very much a parasite-host relationship – the venue needs the bands to sell booze, and the bands need the venue to sell merch and get laid.

Q: In a city where bookers are playing musical chairs between venues, what can be said about the merits of staying in one place?

A: I’m in a unique position where I book the shows but also run the sound, so I’m here for every show. Not only do I get to bring the artists in, but for better or for worse, I get to see how the crowd, or lack thereof, reacts. It’s not as impossible as it sounds since I only do three nights a week [Thursday/Friday/Saturday]. I really respect guys like Brian [Foss] at The Funhouse and Mike [Jaworski] at The Sunset who have to fill seven days a week while dealing with plenty of touring bands and minutiae like contracts regarding font sizes on posters. I just work at a dive – but it’s still the best goddamn dive in town.

Q: What makes the Blue Moon unique?

A: All the shows are free. Nobody in Seattle does that. Also, bands fall in love with this place. Structurally, the old wooden walls and concrete floor give the room a sound like no other in town.

www.myspace.com/bluemoonseattle

THE IMPACT OF FOURTHCITY,

“SEATTLE’S MOST LOVEABLE AND LONGEST-RUNNING

ELECTRONIC MUSIC AND HIP-HOP RECORD LABEL”

In 2001, Zach Huntting (AKA Zapan) was living in Paris across the street from a squat house. The abandoned warehouse evolved into an artist collective, underground gallery/venue and living space, hosting a MacGyver-like variety of characters from all over Europe. Inspired by the collective mindset and DIY activism, Huntting adopted this way of thinking and ran with it – to Japan. By the time he moved back to Seattle in July of 2002, he had developed a distance-defying web platform with the intention of uniting a collaborative of artists around the globe.

Fourthcity saw a rapid spurt of momentum in 2003 with the advent of Fourthcity Weekly, once-a-week events meshing visual and aural arts. “We booked pretty courageously,” Huntting told Performer. “Everything from singer/songwriters singing with an acoustic guitar and no microphone, to drum and bass, to hip-hop, break dancing, live art and photo exhibitions.” Also in 2003, Huntting and fellow Fourthcity-ite Kris Moon pioneered the laptop battle in Seattle, the concept spreading to the rest of the West Coast and around the world soon after. The sixth Northwest Laptop Battle took place last month at Nectar Lounge in Fremont, where hip-hop went head-to-head with electro, techno was paired against drum and bass and IDM sparred off with industrial in an attempt to expose audiences to new styles.

In addition to flyering the streets of Seattle for upcoming events, like the monthly “Trashy Trash” happenings at The Sunset, distributing goods from artists, labels and record stores on the site through Clock Strikes Gold Distribution and Brushed Golden Ltd., and functioning as a record label itself, releasing its own compilations and, most recently, Truckasauras’ Tea Parties, Guns and Valor, Fourthcity has become much more than a network of artists on a webpage. It has taken that community mentality and created a healthy Venn diagram of music and art services. According to Huntting, “I bring people together – basically that’s my specialty.”

www.fourthcity.net

IN THE NEWS

The Whore Moans have signed to Mt. Fuji Records and are readying their label debut, Hello from Radio Wasteland. Following their November 22 CD release party at King Cobra with The Hands and Wild Orchid Children, the Seattle rockers will kick off a West Coast tour in Medford, Ore. on November 28, which concludes in Las Vegas on December 5.

www.myspace.com/

thewhoremoanssuck

Suicide Squeeze Records recently announced the signing of Seattle’s Past Lives, a band comprised of former Blood Brothers, Jordan Blilie, Morgan Henderson and Mark Gajadhar, along with former Shoplifting guitarist, Devin Welch. Suicide Squeeze will release the band’s Strange Symmetry EP on November 4, and Past Lives will celebrate the release on November 8 with Talbot Tagora and Last Slice of Butter at The Holy Mountain.

www.suicidesqueeze.net

After a North American tour, which included a stop at Pop Montreal, Throw Me the Statue crossed the pond late last month to play their first UK/European dates. For the tour, the Seattle band released Purpleface, a tour-only EP that contains an updated version of Moonbeams hit, “Written in Heart Signs, Faintly” along with three new tracks. The tour is scheduled to wrap in Seattle on December 4 at Neumo’s.

www.myspace.com/t

hrowmethestatue

Three Northwest bands have called it quits: Young Sportsmen, The Pleasureboaters and The Trucks, the latter playing their final show last month. Young Sportsmen will play their final show on November 14 at The Sunset. Though Pleasureboaters have no final shows, they have a new video out for the song “Elliptical Realism” off their recent debut LP, ¡Gross!.

In better news, The Admiral Theatre has re-opened in West Seattle as a 400-seat live music venue. Formerly a place to see silent movies, one of the building’s two theaters has been renovated for music with lighting, a sound system and an extended stage. Brent Amaker and the Rodeo, The Hands and Panda and Angel helped break in the room last month.

www.myspace.com/t

headmiraltheater

On November 25, Supersuckers will release their first full-length album in five years, Get It Together. This will mark the tenth recording released by Supersuckers’ label, Mid Fi Recordings, and will coincide with the seminal band’s 20th anniversary. A release show with Mudhoney and Zeke is slated for November 29 at The Showbox at the Market.

www.supersuckers.com