Original subtitles

It is, for better or worse, the birthplace of grunge.

Seattle-based bands...

Have topped the rock charts for the past few years.

Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden...

have sold millions of records.

Independent releases to a major label debut...

A musical movement centered around Seattle...

and a sound and style that became known as grunge.

A month before that album came out, they were...

The basis of the generation...

A... X society.

Part of the grunge movement, as I understand it...

is the fact that these kids have the ability to say...

anything they want to say...

express anything they want to express...

any anger, any pain, any anguish, any torment...

and they feel a kinship, a oneness...

that this young man has been through tragedy...

Thanks a lot. This is gonna be the last song.

Enough of your doctrines

Your manifestos

I'm a simple man

And I speak with simple words

Talk about inclusion, not exclusion

I sing my song

Across these rivers and valleys

Mountains, seas

Fields and oceans

I am a teacher

You're a teacher, too

I am a pencil pusher

I am a ditch digger

I am a loser

Oh

Let's start a riot

Walk in the night air

Remember those big bubbles that used to...

Float through the middle of town?

Yeah!

These big... like, bubbles, man.

They still do.

Yeah. You see them once in a while.

They've got this big pit out in the bay...

that's like, all... like, this weird shit...

that comes out of the process, and the way...

the bubbles, they're, like, this big...

and they would float around, and they're bad, toxic things.

So, the way to get rid of it...

Is they got these big water sprinklers...

and they just, like, run sprinklers over it...

A bubble still gets out once in a while.

- They're huge. They're like... - The bubble of death.

I went to Bothell High School...

which is a suburban hell hole.

There's a sign as you enter town.

It says, "Welcome to Bothell, for a day or a lifetime."

And someone... I wish I had've done it...

but someone erased the B-O-T at one time...

so it was, "Welcome to hell for a day or a lifetime."

The northwest is where "flying saucers"...

the term "flying saucers" Was coined.

The northwest is where "Louie, Louie" is from.

The northwest is where...

it's the serial killer capital of the world.

We have more unsolved serial killings up here...

than any other place in the United States.

I mean, the Manson family used to vacation up this way.

This place is weird. Lot of occult stuff.

All this stuff is a factor in what happened in the music.

I mean, when the weather is crappy...

you don't want to go outside.

You know, you basically feel like staying in the house.

And, it's a very logical thing...

to want to go down into your basement...

and make noise to take out your frustrations...

because you can't go outside...

and do anything when it's raining all the time.

Don't get off the bus

'Cause there ain't nothing for you here

In my hometown

Is Seattle a nice place to live? It's the best place to live.

And I've traveled all over the place...

and I honestly wouldn't live anywhere else.

It has all the amenities of a big city.

But, you know, there's nothing you're missing out on...

by being in Seattle as opposed to another city.

And it's pretty, you know?

There's hills and mountains and trees and water.

So all these people come here...

and then there's all this publicity...

and "Northern Exposure" and "Twin Peaks."

And everybody wants to come up here...

and live the good yuppie lifestyle...

but all that time, there's all these people...

that are underneath that were here first...

and are just starving, and they're all crazy.

I mean, it's like one of those end-of-the-world places.

You can't go no further and still be in the U.S.

Oh yeah

Since fourteen years ago

I saw you out my door

Can't you see me in that, so

Oh, baby, it's one night, so

And I watch outside

And I see you there

And I wonder where

And I take a stare

I say, I watch outside

Watch outside

I watch outside

Watch outside, yeah

I watch outside

I see you there

I wonder where

I take a stare

I say I watch outside

Watch outside

I watch outside

Watch outside

I watch outside, I see you ride

I watch outside and I see you ride

I watch outside, I want outside

I watch outside, I take a ride

I watch outside

In 1980... I think bands stopped coming to Seattle.

Bands never used to come here...

'cause they'd go as far as San Francisco...

and then not come all the way up to Seattle...

because it wasn't worth it to play one show.

There were 2, maybe 21/2 clubs where you could play...

if you were playing your own music.

Some people used to rent halls...

just put their whole show on themselves.

Take tickets, run up, do the music...

and at the end, pick up the broom and clean it up.

Let me call you about it

Woke up this morning

Well, Seattle was really lame.

You know, specifically in the early eighties...

I mean, Seattle was like a million second cities.

It had a fake Talking Heads, it had a fake Pere Ubu...

it had a fake Killing Joke...

it had all the fake Ramones you could shake a stick at.

And people from Bellevue singing with English accents.

There was this big poodle metal scene...

bands with big, fancy guitars...

and just tons and tons of hairspray, eyeliner.

See, all the extra-sleazy punk rockers...

used to hang out on First Avenue.

There's a donut shop right there...

which is right next to the Showbox...

which is right there... it's a comedy club now.

And that was, like, the big punk rock venue.

Opening Night, the very first punk club in Seattle.

This is probably worth... you know, 3, 400 bucks.

Solid

Action

Nobody was too worried about success...

because we knew we were living in Seattle.

It wasn't L.A. Nobody was gonna come and sign us.

We played a show, some small club.

The audience consisted of...

members of the other dozen or so bands...

that were playing similar bills and similar clubs.

Say goodnight, then take a bite

Then dig it a hole

Take a light, then take a bite

Then dig it a hole

The bands that stuck it out...

did it because they really, really, really enjoyed...

playing their music.

And that was really the only positive reinforcement...

that anybody got.

We really started playing music 'cause it's fun...

which probably most people say, but with us, it's true.

- Yeah, everybody else is lying. - Everybody else is lying.

After all the trouble has come and gone

It was here for so long

Now I've got this sinking feeling

Everyone seems to be leaving

Oh, whoa

I can't believe how Ionely it is here on K Street

There's no one like me here on K Street

How Ionely it is here on K Street today

Today

Today, today

I've never been in any other spot in the country...

where so many people play, you know?

You know, there's tons of shitty bands...

but there's, like, tons of great bands, too.

The most interesting music around here...

is definitely coming from places...

where people are just playing in the garage...

they're playing to themselves.

They're playing to their friends.

Across the street lives...

these guys are in a band called Sister Psychic.

And then there's another band who practices there...

and they're all friends...

and then Her Fault, my little brother's band...

and they're all friends.

They go to the show. It's just friends playing music.

Oh, and I can't believe

How Ionely it is here on K Street

There's no one like me here on K Street

How Ionely it is here on K Street today

Today

Today, today

Today

Today

Today, today

We were all so fucking bored...

Out of our heads, that it was get drunk...

fall down, and, uh... you know...

throw your body around.

And all the bands that came through Seattle...

at that time... Scratch Acid and Big Black...

said that Seattle had the most exciting...

potent scene going on in the U.S.

They all loved to play here because everyone...

would just, like, go nuts and drink themselves...

into a frenzy and throw themselves onstage...

and it was very flattering for these bands, you know...

whereas you go to Los Angeles and New York...

And people stood there and went, "Hmm...

"I don't know, he missed a note there."

Best bands in Seattle were, like, Malfunkshun...

the U-Men. Who else?

Skin Yard, My Eye, Feast...

64 Spiders, Bundle of Hiss.

Nobody ever remembers Psycho Pop, man.

We could make a long list...

if we wanna talk about all Tom's bands.

We were a good band, man!

We had a band called the Farts.

Red Dress... Blackouts...

The Blackouts were an excellent band.

You know, Three Swimmers, Beakers...

Little Bears in Bangkok...

Max Band, Quack Quack Quack.

Nobody knows these names. This is ancient history.

One generation out from a band is every band...

that shared a member directly with that band.

For instance, you know...

Stone Gossard was in Green River...

and then he went to Mother Love Bone.

That's one generation out.

So, for instance, you could take, like...

an early band like the Blunt Objects...

and it asks you how many generations...

Let's go four generations out.

So, you sort of have these three columns...

the mainstream, heavy metal, hard rock thing...

that, you know, Mother Love Bone and Pearl Jam have done.

Then there's the Fastbacks, the Posies, and...

the Young Fresh Fellows, which were probably...

the first band to really make it out of Seattle...

all by themselves, without moving out of town.

And they were just, you know, sort of a pop sound.

And then, the third branch is noise/grunge rock.

That was closely related to Green River and Mudhoney...

and the Thrown-ups whole sort of sub-pop...

you know, grunge sound. And it's pretty incestuous...

but you keep bumping into the same old people.

Green River.

This was the genesis right here.

Steve and Mark from Mudhoney.

And Stone and Jeff from Pearl Jam...

and Alex, who is now studying to be a lawyer.

Room Nine became Love Battery...

Bundle of Hiss became Tad, Pure Joy became Flop...

Skin Yard, among other things, became...

Grunt Truck.

Jesse Bernstein, who's dead.

Watch, folks.

Hundreds of dollars.

Don was in Butt Sweat.

And they played at one skate contest.

You were, too, Tom. Don't lie.

And he was also in the Kings of Rock.

So was Jim Tillman from Love Battery.

What? Jim Tillman wasn't in Butt Sweat.

- He played rhythm guitar. - Did he?

Yep.

Remember, friends, this is only a movie.

You're free to leave the theater at any time.

Well, I got batter

Oh, you just add one

A beginner

Let's go like a sun

Heat up the syrup

Whoo

This is gonna be fun

These hotcakes

Flapping like a gun

Talkin' 'bout them hotcakes

You know what I mean

Talkin' 'bout them hotcakes

Knocking back them hotcakes

I don't think they leave

Talkin' 'bout them hotcakes

Give me some more of them, give me some more of them

Give me some more of them hotcakes

Give me some more of them, give me some more of them

Give me some more of them hotcakes

Give me some more of them, give me some more of them

Give me some more hotcakes right now

Someone said to me once that there was...

the aesthetic of dumb about the Seattle music scene...

that the music wasn't stupid, but it was dumb.

You know, Mudhoney is not stupid...

but they're a little bit dumb.

My mom has always told me that I am not a loser.

So, the whole loser thing, I never believed in...

'cause clearly, I am not a loser.

Mark, I think your mom has told you the same thing.

We're not losers.

I guess it's really easy to think of yourself as a loser...

'cause then you don't care if people like you or not.

You know? That's sort of the idea.

And then you can do whatever you want.

And it's funny.

We were the guy in high school who people used to beat up.

And we couldn't even talk to the pretty girl.

I mean, we couldn't... We're nerds, god damn it!

Well, I think ever since Spinal Tap came out...

I mean, they were, like, pointing the finger at...

bloated, overly commercialized, diluted bands...

And we just looked at ourselves and said...

"We don't have to point at somebody else. We can..."

You be the cat, I'll be the mouse

You be the cat, and I'll be the mouse

You be the cat, see? I'll be the mouse

Invite me over to your mousetrap house

It's a mousetrap

You be the cat

I'll be the mouse

You be the cat and I'll be the mouse

Invite me over to your mousetrap house

Running in and out of your steel catch

Yeah, that's what it's all about

To you, to you

To you, to you

Mousetrap

A mousetrap

A mousetrap

Mousetrap

A mouse

Trap

Aah

Mousetrap

When you've been through periods...

where you've had keyboard players...

with 50,000 pounds worth of kit onstage...

82 keyboards and 95 samplers, you know...

after a while, you just go, "Hang on.

"This is like eating too much food at one sitting.

"There's too much sound. It's too many colors.

"It's all got poncey and posey.

"Let's go and see some bands where they just bash it out."

Eat my dump

Tell me if you love me

Eat my dump

Help me

Smell my pie

Some bands get onstage, and they're basically...

entertainers. They have a shtick.

They are giving you a show.

Some bands get up there and they rock.

And you can tell the difference.

That's why Seattle bands tend to be...

a little bit inconsistent live, I think...

is because most of them aren't really up there...

to be entertainers. They're up there to rock out.

And their best shows are when they're having the most fun...

not when they necessarily have their act down...

because maybe they don't have an act.

If it's connecting with the audience right...

I get chills. I mean, I can just...

I finish a song, and it feels right...

and I can just tell it's gonna start going fine.

Man, I get chills.

And they're rockin', and fuck yeah, let's go.

You're putting on me

And dealing with society

The forces are close

They're over the line

I got a freaky feeling in my soul

Nerve going out of control

Nowhere to turn, nowhere to hide

I got a train driving through my head

Fever burning in my bed

My telephone rings

Somebody dead on the line

I say 54/40 or fight

54/40 or fight

54, 54, 54/40 or fight

All right

Let's go

You're watching it drop

Had it to here

They're taking him home

Gotta get away

Gotta get away

Had it to here

Gotta get away

There's a million people out there that could do...

what I'm doing... as far as producing...

recording, anything like that...

a lot better than I'm doing, have better equipment.

But still, the only way you get good at anything...

is to be doing it all the time.

So, this is a lifetime chore for me.

Basically, it's just to have complete control...

over everything.

To be able to do it the way you wanna do it.

Have it come out the right way...

and to not really...

have anybody that can tell you what the hell to do...

where you can play, how you can look, how you can dress.

What songs to record, which ones not to.

It keeps it on a personal level.

It keeps it where rock and roll-type things...

really should be.

It's very much just happening right there.

It's not happening in somebody's...

big offices or in somebody's big bank accounts or anything.

It's really exciting for the people that are doing it.

Some say, "Dude, just forget her

"In a world of your own

"You let it make every day pathetic

You're in need of a cure." She is one

You'll survive a vegetable

The meat's diseased and she said so

I won't try to persuade you anymore

A long time ago

When I lost my way

Hey

PopLlama was a big influence.

Conrad can do it, Sub Pop can do it.

We wanted to do our own record... Well, hell.

If these guys can do it...

we've seen these guys so drunk they can't stand up.

You know? They can't drive a car...

And they can do this, so we can do that.

That's just a given, I think...

with people here. They don't sit around...

going, "Oh, nothing ever happens here.

"Nothing ever goes on here." You know...

by the time the kid's out of high school...

he's already been in a band, put out a couple fanzines...

you know, recorded a few records.

Started a label, did a radio show.

And that was the whole lesson we learned when we moved up here.

Like, you just do it. We moved up here

And we saw other bands, you know, no different than us.

Just putting out records.

All you really need to do that...

is some magnetic tape and a microphone.

And that's really all you need, and then, you know, maybe...

just maybe... some bad reverb.

And they smell good. Records just smell good.

There's nothing like cracking that cellophane...

and pulling that record out. It just smells great.

When "Deep Six" first came out, it was chronicling something...

that was suddenly going on, I guess.

It was by a fluke of providence.

Kind of the initial document of...

what later turned in to be a pretty big scene.

I think we all became aware...

that there was a certain regional sound developing.

And nobody had a name for it.

That's punk rock, and...

one day, they just sort of started going...

And that was grunge.

The most noisy...

most absurd...

heaviest thing that was going.

Yeah, we know this is heavy rock...

and heavy rock is kinda stupid, but it's fun anyways.

It's when you had a band like the Melvins doing Kiss covers.

It was all in fun. It was, like...

"We know this is that this is the cheesiest thing...

"we could possibly do. We gotta do it."

It's just ridiculousness, complete ridiculousness.

What can we get away with next, you know?

Looking for one like you were

Holding like so long ago

Like a hotel

Like a fish store

My world war tissue

Bands like Green River, basically.

They were, sort of, the definitive grunge band.

It was a euphemism for, just, extremes...

extremes of anything.

And a lot of people say that it's a throwback to metal.

Heavy metal is part of it. It was one influence.

Punk rock was one influence. Basically, anything loud...

and crushing and extreme was an influence.

We'd all been in bands that were more controlled...

and more dynamic, you know, and...

you know... more... better... better bands, actually.

And we just... well, our whole thing was...

we just wanted to get away from all structure...

and just be chaotic, and not worry about that.

It was a kind of joyful release.

It's taken rock right back to its basics...

which is go out there and make a hell of a noise.

And make sure you play music your parents don't like.

Wait

I can't wait

Life's too short for all the pennies that wait

Selling your time, put down a lot of new ways

Calling for Lisa

Calling for Lisa

Calling for Lisa

Calling for Lisa

First thing, actually...

was when we were doing the first Soundgarden single...

and we were doing a song called nothing to say...

which was just...

at the time, just seemed amazingly heavy.

I thought this... you know, these guys...

can't possibly be really playing this song.

It sounds like... you know, this sounds insane.

It sounds way too good for 8-track...

and it sounds way too good for a crappy little Seattle band.

Someone said

My words are out of balance

Nothing to say

You got nothing to say

Bruce Pavitt originally had the name Sub Pop...

when he was living in Olympia, I think.

He had a sort of cassette fanzine network...

where he put out these little compilation cassettes...

of local bands.

He was interested in making it a vinyl magazine.

The bands he was interested in at the time...

were Green River and us.

And John, also, was a huge fan of ours.

He wanted to make a record... start a record label...

so we talked about working together to put out a record.

Up to that time, everyone played it really safe.

All the small labels... "We'll put out a single...

"every three months, and, you know...

"we'll sell 1,000 copies of it...

"and that's cool, because I've got my day job."

And John and Bruce were having none of that.

They said, "We don't want to work day jobs.

"We don't want our bands to work day jobs.

"We want them out there on the road.

"We want them in the big magazines.

"We want their records everywhere.

"It is punk rock, but we don't care.

"We want to make it bigger than punk rock."

And that's why these two gentlemen...

are the kings of the scene, as you might say.

There was a real indie ethic in the eighties...

that you weren't supposed to be proud of having hit records...

or being a hit machine.

And Jon and I, as fans of, you know...

the history of pop music in this this country...

really admired labels like Motown...

and their hit factory...

- Mentality. - Yeah.

They definitely picked a certain kind of band...

for their label, which makes everybody think...

that that's the only thing that was going on in Seattle.

By default, I ended up engineering all of them...

and they had Charles doing all of the photography...

so there was definitely a package and an image...

and a sound.

I think every community has their pools of talent.

It's just a matter of being able to take on...

the responsibility of marketing.

You know, I'm a failed pop musician myself, so...

you know, I kind of decided...

well, I'm going to play in crummy band after crummy band.

I may as well rep some of these bands...

who might have a chance at doing something.

Basically, he said, "Hey, you sing about dogs...

"you sing about being sick.

"You got a shtick, it'll take you to the top."

And he basically gave us, like, five chords...

But he said, "Don't use more than three within one song."

I feel bad

Yeah, I've felt worse

I'm a creep

Yeah

I'm a jerk

Oh

Touch me, I'm sick

I won't live long

And I'm full of rot

Want to give you, girl

Everything I got

Oh

Touch me, I'm sick

Touch me, I'm sick

When Sub Pop finally got their act together...

and they started somehow getting...

this underground hype-thing going...

which started very small...

they flew an English journalist into Seattle.

They took him to see a Mudhoney show...

and gave him some singles and had him meet everybody...

and he went back and wrote a big article...

in one of the English music papers...

and that sort of started this big frenzy in England.

It just seemed like it was a worthwhile business move.

Yeah. And fortunately, Everett was a brilliant enough guy...

that he could piece together a story...

that essentially sold the world on Seattle.

Love me, I'm rich

Come on, baby

Now, come with me

If you don't come

If you don't come

If you don't come

You'll die alone

Sub Pop... the hype machine.

And we went along with it.

It seemed pretty funny at the time.

They didn't really hype their bands.

They hyped their label, which is a much different thing...

a much more original thing.

It gave a record this desirability...

this, perhaps, fictional desirability...

but nonetheless, it made the collectors...

try and get a hold of these things...

and made people talk about them.

So, a lot of people talked about Sub Pop...

and how cool their records were...

and how cool the packaging, and the bands were cool...

And..."Oh, you can't get the record.

"It's worth a lot of money already."

People started looking for the Seattle sound...

the same way that D.C., and Boston, New York...

and L.A., and all those places...

had this crazy little identity all of their own.

Seattle started getting its own identity...

and Sub Pop decided to exploit that.

We're all right

Yeah, all right

So, you're looking for something super

Aren't we all?

Yeah, all right

Never knowing if it hit you

Right between the eyes

Yeah, all right

Gonna lift you up

Gonna bring you down

Gonna let you

Oh, gonna slide your heart

Gonna let you follow your own dream

It'll turn your head around

For the first time in your life

You might find that

For the second time in a year

I don't mind

For the last time

I think it's time to fly

Freedom's right

Between the eyes

Suddenly, there were three times as many people...

that had been here all along.

Going out, seeing bands, and supporting those bands...

and allowing the scene to be far more viable.

What you actually see happening in Seattle...

is this kind of explosion of sub-culture.

I think it's a very important thing...

and a very healthy thing to have happen anywhere...

particularly in a place like Seattle.

It's so conservative and so reserved.

To have something like this happen here has been...

nothing short of, like, a major electrical shock.

Everything was suddenly just buzzing with activity.

I mean, singles were being put out...

there was no point earlier in history...

that you could have a magazine devote...

an entire record reviews section just to local record reviews.

People from underground fanzines across the country...

were already starting to snipe about Seattle...

and how much hype it was receiving.

When things started to become spotlighted...

more venues opened up...

and more opportunities opened up for people to play...

but there was never a lack of great musical talent...

and it was always really diverse.

And there was always an unspoken sense of community about it.

I'm so happy

It's sunny outside

I'm so happy

It's snowing today

I'm so... oh

I'm so happy

The world's gonna explode

They won't let us in because we're not 18.

And age doesn't have anything to do with music!

Burn the house down

Burn the house down

Ooh

Ooh-ooh-ooh

Ooh-ooh

The Seattle music scene right now is really vital.

I mean, it is so alive.

It's better than London in the 1960s.

It's better than New York in the '70s. I mean...

Margaret, I was in London in the 1960s.

I was in London in the 1960s. It was awful!

If you say the word "scene"...

everybody rolls their eyes and laughs at you.

It's, "Scene. Ha ha!" You know, "There's no scene!"

So, a lot of people thought that it has reached its peak...

and by next year, we were all gonna go back...

to doing what we were doing.

And we were all gonna go back to our little small town utopia.

And about 1990, we all sort of went...

"Oh, good. It's over."

Come out and play

Make up the rules

I'm not another child as well

It's not enough to raise you

It's not enough to save you

Hello, hello, hello, how low

Hello, hello, hello, how low

Hello, hello, hello, how low

Hello, hello, hello

Well, I'm lyin' and I'm famous

Here we are now, entertain us

I feel stupid and I'm waitin'

Here we are now, entertain us

Yeah

Hey

Nirvana kind of came out of left field.

Namely Aberdeen, which is a town...

sort of out in the middle of nowhere.

And, you know, we just got a phone call...

At the studio one day from this guy, you know, Kurt.

He said he was a friend of the Melvins...

and he wanted to come up and just record some songs.

And I said OK.

A friend of the Melvins, a friend of mine. Come on up.

I didn't know who the hell he was...

and nobody else did, either.

He just came up, blew out ten songs in five hours.

We recorded and mixed them in one afternoon.

And... blew me away.

I thought, "Oh, my God. This is amazing."

I said, "Guys, can I please keep a copy of this for myself...

"Before you go back to Aberdeen?"

That was the tape I gave to Jonathan.

This is my penultimate grunge photo.

Kurt Cobain spinning on his back.

Everyone asks, "How in the hell is he doing that?"

I don't know.

I'm a negative creep

I'm a negative creep

I'm a negative creep, and I'm stoned

I'm a negative creep, I'm a negative creep

I'm a negative creep

At that point, I think Soundgarden had put out...

their first major label record. It was doing OK.

I think Screaming Trees...

had put out their first major label record.

I think it was doing OK. Alice in Chains had put out...

their first major label record. It was doing OK.

But, Nirvana was kind of the little brother.

You know, the runt of the litter, so to speak.

And I remember jonathan telling me in 1990...

he said, "This band is going to be huge."

He said it exactly like that.

He said, "Jack, this band is going to be huge."

The record came out in fall... September.

The video came...

I remember the first time I saw the video.

I thought, "This is so cool...

"but there's no way MTV will play this.

"There's just no way."

And then when that started going...

it reached millions of kids instantly.

Ben would go off and call up people back home in Seattle.

He'd come back and say...

you know, the latest sales figures.

He'd go, "'Nevermind' has done 300,000."

"'Nevermind' has done 400,000."

"'Nevermind' just went gold."

With the lights out

It's less dangerous

Here we are now, entertain us

I feel stupid and contagious

Here we are now, entertain us

A mulatto

A denial

A denial

A denial

A denial

It was an old, brain song called "Money Changes Everything."

I think we adapted that to "Nirvana Changes Everything."

Ow

Ow

Ow

Ow

Dust rise

Right over my time

Empty

Fossil

Of the new scene

I feel so alone

Gonna end up a big ol' pile

Of them bones

Yeah

That's probably why you create in the first place.

Because of the freedom.

I mean, whatever you want...

you can lay whatever you want on tape.

But again, commerce is involved.

And as soon as it starts going through those channels...

those money-making channels...

everything changes.

When these bands started to get popular, all of a sudden...

everyone wanted to find the next Nirvana.

Everyone wanted to sign the next Pearl Jam.

All of a sudden...

bands who'd never played live before, practically...

were getting huge advances.

The labels started bidding for bands...

to get bands signed...

so that they can then sell them to a major...

The bands get all worked up...

and basically break verbal contracts you make with them...

because, well, you don't have a contract.

I mean, when I first started, I didn't need contracts.

I didn't think I did.

You know, they were "Here's my friends"...

but someone throws 500,000 in their face...

and they're like, "Huh? We didn't have a contract."

If the major labels are like a big, dumb Baby Huey...

You know, that...

"Oh! What's going on in Athens?"

And waddle over to Athens and you sit down in Athens...

and you start buying lunches...

and you crush three bands by accident.

You know? Wow! The party's in Athens.

And then you kind of look over your shoulder.

You go, "Oh! Minneapolis!"

And Baby Huey gets up and goes and sits on Minneapolis...

and kills three bands by accident...

and buys a bunch of lunches...

and, you know, kind of plays that party out.

So, the idea that they were moving and...

you know, sort of dedicated clumps.

Seattle was just, like, part of that process.

Say good-bye to your friends and family

Welcome to the menagerie

Funny how they forget to tell you

This is all you will ever be

This is all you will ever be, now

This is all you will ever be

This is all you will ever be, now

This is all you will ever be

The effect of this whole thing of, like, hyping a label...

or hyping a sound, or hyping a place...

is it starts to take a lot of the attention...

away from the individual artists that are making music.

Everyone doesn't sound the same.

Everyone isn't grunge. Everyone doesn't have long hair.

You know...

They made a big mistake. They didn't go further...

and find more of the bands that were already here...

and had been here...

even before the bands that were exploited were.

That's what makes me feel guilty...

of the success of our band. Because it should've been...

spread out to the success of, like, a number of bands here.

They focus on this one scene, or one type of music...

when, really, that's pretty inaccurate...

'cause there's all kinds of bands here, you know.

There's, like, weird, funky jazz bands...

and weird, you know, hip-hop bands...

punk rock bands, or metal bands, or whatever.

It's like there's a whole bunch of stuff.

Surf bands and cowpoke bands. There's a shitload...

of different bands here. There always has been.

In Europe, they just started...

to put stickers on things that just said "Seattle."

That's all the stickers said.

It's like, the stamp...

you know, it's like the U.S.D.A.

It's, like, Seattle... stamp it.

Yeah

Low beat

Great band.

I like best.

Low beat

Low beat

Get down now

Hey

Low beat

Low beat, whoo

I hate category of grunge.

Grunge categorize... oh.

I only like live, loud music.

I don't need grunge.

How many times have you said I'm sorry

To only trash me within the day

I think "God, will I ever escape this?"

Now my body just burns

Beware of what I threw you

Baggage like fire just to thrill you

Like I might turn and sniff you

Slippery near the edge

Nirvana happening or Pearl Jam happening...

in some way seems like kind of a...

some kind of, like, weird natural occurrence...

that got rolling in 1979.

It's that energy. Whatever that energy started as...

ultimately, you know, landed with what we got now.

It's not like it's punk rock paying off.

It's more like you push the pimple hard enough...

and it pops up someplace else.

But then it becomes homogenized, manipulated...

and marketed, and it's not intense anymore.

So, there's a constant cycle of rebellion.

I think punk's going to be there forever, man.

As long as there's kids that like it.

Yeah. Kids are the most important part of punk.

They want to get wild. Yeah.

There'll be no shortage...

of disaffected american youth over the next fifty years.

Probably even more.

Some great rock 'n' roll coming down the line.

Slip through you, yeah

There's over 1,000 bands in Seattle right now.

And I think a lot of that is people moving here.

Bands moving here in hopes of becoming famous.

Because of all the hype and all the attention on Seattle...

people know that if they do something here...

they're going get recognized to some extent.

It won't be totally overlooked, even if it's bad.

In fact, there were musicians who moved...

to California in the early eighties from Seattle...

to try and get signed, who started moving back.

There's got to be at least 1,000...

if not more than that, in Seattle.

So, I came with an idea...

to package boxed sets of northwest bands.

So, what I try and do, is I try and find ways to exploit...

and I like the word "exploit"...

exploit through propaganda and television...

the northwest music community as a whole.

Volume three is probably my favorite set.

It's got some of the most well-known bands.

You've got your Hammerbox, and your Hungry Crocodiles...

and Pond, Sara DeBell, Peace, Love, and Guitars.

Just got... I mean, it's got so many great bands in it...

that if you want to know anything about...

the northwest music... there's my card...

you want to know anything about the northwest music scene...

this is a great place to start because all the cards...

have the contact information of the band on the back.

And also, if you take these cards...

turn them face down, put them together...

it's a jigsaw puzzle of a traffic jam on l-5.

I say

Fuck

I say fuck and you say yeah

I say fuck and you say yeah

I say fuck and you say yeah

I say fuck and you say yeah

I say fuck

Yeah

I say let's and you say go

I say let's and you say let's go, man

I say let's and you say go, whoo

I say let's and you say go, whoo

I say let's

Go

Oh, yeah

Today, I was in a music shop...

and saw some people. It was like...

"You moved from L.A. Probably yesterday."

Like, I feel sorry for the up-and-coming bands.

They can't even get gigs.

It takes them a year sometimes to get a gig.

We were together three weeks when we played a show.

You see a ton of bands?

The Trees weigh more than a ton.

We're a ton of band.

So, fuck 'em!

We got bands all over this place here.

We got a band in here... Inflatable Soul.

Manotypical. Rap band in this room.

Hear a Ione drummer practicing in here.

Hip-hop beat.

Industrial nonsense comes out of that flat.

It's all hallways and doorways.

Have bands in the rafters.

Bands to the left. Bands to the right.

It'd be like being a kid and setting up a lemonade stand.

And having a really successful lemonade stand.

All of a sudden, ten of them open up right next to you.

In your yard, on your block...

all competing for the same lemonade nickel.

Only they're obviously selling lower quality lemonade.

Right now, Seattle is quarter until 6:00...

on Christmas Eve in a shopping mall...

and the mall closes at 6:00.

When it's too crazy...

and it's loaded with sub-moronic idiots...

prancing around...

buying anything they can get their hands on.

By universal acclaim...

the nation's media have declared Seattle...

the coolest place in the known universe.

The music of Seattle is as progressive as the people.

Listen to Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana.

Where else can you get the Seattle sound? Best Buy.

Once there was this grunge singer...

who did all the things grunge singers would do.

You get on a carpet

Couldn't help it

I'm drinking from the toilet

It's just a habit

I swear that smell you smell

Is not from me

It's loud music with heavy vocals.

Is it mutant rock 'n' roll?

Have we ever used chainsaws and axes?

Are they contributing anything to the world...

they're taking so much from?

Mudhoney's sort of watching the market right now.

In October 1993...

Jeremy?

Who is Pearl Jam? Pop music for 400.

Does this look like we're unhappy or cynical?

OK, our next guests are a Seattle band.

This right here is their newest album.

Playin' the Posies.

"Weird Al" Yankovic.

Pearl Jam!

Hey, Butt-head, where's Seattle?

- Seattle... - Seattle...

Seattle? Thanks, phone dude.

I think now's the time that I should be announcing...

my candidacy for mayor of Seattle.

The whole thing was just out of control...

and press people were visiting our office...

at the rate of two or three a week.

It seemed like very few of them had...

even the most remote clue...

of what was really going on in Seattle.

Glossy print ad with a fancy red car...

in the background...

and they're saying something about grunge.

You think people are gonna go out and buy this car?

They're gonna look at this ad and go, "Fuck you."

When you're close to something...

you feel you know the truth about it.

And when people magazine is writing about it...

you know that they're not gonna have the truth.

They have a very distorted view of it.

And you realize that that's what the entire world sees...

and that's what the entire world thinks about.

And they're wrong.

This is a photo of Seaweed being interviewed by MTV.

A band that at the time really weren't doing anything...

and here's MTV with camera crews in their face.

And you know, they laughed about it.

They thought it was ridiculous.

And everyone thought it was a bit ridiculous.

Maybe there's, like, a bunch of photographers...

and they want to put you with this other person...

from another band that you don't even know...

and they want you to put your arm around them and smile.

And they want to talk about all this mundane crap...

and then that's when I start to feel cynical.

"You play in a band, don't you?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I play in a band."

"Pearl Jam, right?" "No."

"Aren't you the drummer from Pearl Jam?"

"No. I'm not the drummer from Pearl Jam."

"Alice in Chains?" "No. No."

"Well, what's the name of the band you play in?"

"Soundgarden."

Then you get the shrug, like...

They didn't say anything about the music.

They talked about what we wore...

and whether or not the girl in the band before...

shaved her armpits or not.

The newest thing I heard...

was that we're really bad at interviews.

Where could they possibly get that?

Just to wake up tells me, hell, I must be brave

It hits me like a drug shot into my vein

But it's not as delightful, delightful of a pain

Immobilizing me

Almost makes me think I'm dead

I need a second skin

Something to hold me tough

Can't do it on my own

Sometimes I need just a little more help

I want that chance to give every drop that's left in me

I need a second skin

Something I cannot break free of

Well, I just tell myself, girl, just let it breathe

It's a calmness I'm always searching for

But the dirt, it gets so heavy

It falls above my head

Seeping from under my feet

It just keeps on getting deeper

I need a second skin

Something to hold me tough

Can't do it on my own

Sometimes I need just a little more help

I've got that chance to give every drop that's left in me

I need a second skin

Something I cannot break free of

You just didn't want to answer any more stupid questions.

They were all the same. What's Seattle like?

What are the bands like? Do you know this band?

Do you know that band? Everyone had it.

We put a moratorium at one point...

on people calling and asking for the "Seattle story."

There was nothing to do...

except just start poking fun at the entire thing.

And so, instead of saying...

"No, I really don't know that person"...

it would turn into, "Oh, sure, every Monday morning...

"we eat banana splits at breakfast time."

"Shooby-doo used to be my roommate."

Or, you know, "I'll tell you...

"he has a horrible case of the squirts...

"after he has indian food."

And you just start making up every single lie you can...

and then try to... the goal is to just get...

crazy rumors circulating all the time.

There's a big element of put-on involved with all Seattle music.

I mean, Kurt Cobain's goofy name-spellings...

a lot of Sub Pop's world domination kind of attitude.

I mean, the whole thing's ridiculous.

75% of what Bruce and John say is a lie.

But it's served them well.

It's essentially been one big prank.

We've always pretended we were something we weren't.

Now that we're huge and have a lot of money...

we're trying to pretend that we're small and indie...

and have street cred.

That's one of the great things about a lot of the bands here.

You know, great humor. You know?

So, I'm obviously not from here.

One of my favorite hoaxes was the lexicon of grunge.

The "New York Times" called Sub Pop records...

and talked to a woman there who just started making up words.

They were trying to find out...

what the inside secret dope was, what was the hip language.

And I was, like, "Why don't you just give me a word...

"and I'll give you the grunge slang for it."

She just started making stuff up.

A lot of it was the kind of stuff...

that she used for herself just for laughs.

And next thing you know...

it's on the cover of the "New York Times."

And everybody around here is just giggling and snortin'.

If they're lame enough to try to scrutinize...

this totally stupid thing, why not fuck with them?

I try to speak my mind

Why'd you leave me

I could've taken you so far

Walked out the way

Been across this fuckin' world

To find my Brewster

Put my love into the rig

So I could forget her

Hello

It's me again, baby

Hello, Houston

As you can see, I am basically...

a trend-setter in the fashion scene.

And "Rolling Stone" called...

and they were doing a fashion spread...

on what the indies are wearing.

I had to tell them that I didn't think...

they'd be interested in me...

but that we had a fella here, Scott McCaughey...

from the Young Fresh Fellows...

who probably was just what they were looking for.

So, they came, and they interviewed Scott briefly.

And then they got out this pile of clothes...

and made him, like, take off his Converse...

and put on their tennis shoes.

And take off his flannel shirt, wear their flannel shirt...

and then put, you know, in the caption below...

"Flannel shirt, $85."

Who didn't get a flannel shirt...

for Christmas from their relatives?

And you tie it around your waist...

and you run off and do a stage dive.

All across America.

But up here, because it's logger territory...

all these goonballs just wear flannel anyways...

and then that's what became the stereotype here.

You go around, you know, to cities everywhere...

and you see some real...

stereotypical grungies, you know...

with the Pearl Jam shirt...

and, you know, with the stocking cap...

and, you know, the really neat long johns with the shorts...

and you just say, "I spit on you!"

Mannequins in stores...

with, like, long johns and shorts for, like, $300.

- It's like we dress... - We got 'em fooled.

We wear long johns up here because it's fucking cold.

When Seventh Avenue decided that grungewear...

was something they'd put on the runways...

and that they thought it would be an absolute knock-over...

yes, that any of my clients...

would be in their fashion shows and be in their fashion layouts.

And when "Vanity Fair" did a spread...

with people like Joan Rivers wearing grungewear...

that was the only moment for me, so far...

that came close to unbearable.

It was our thing. Then, all of a sudden...

it belonged to people who you never thought...

you were sharing your music with.

Mainstream periodicals and fashion magazines.

And you start realizing...

there's a whole lot of people out there...

making money by selling the idea...

of this Seattle scene or grunge or whatever.

It's so profitable. It's so profitable.

And they'll just keep taking and taking and taking...

and they just don't know how to restrain themselves.

You know, they're frothing at the mouth over this.

And the bands aren't.

I mean, the bands aren't really in it for dough.

I mean, they just aren't. That would... if they were...

that would tip over the music.

Like, already it's obvious that you see...

the Seattle scene has become a marketed commodity.

But that's what makes pop culture...

so significant to...

all the little consumers out there.

They have no interest in history or economics...

or science or art.

They're kind of interested more in gossip...

the nature of celebrity...

and that's not at all encouraging to find out that...

you participate in that society.

One way or the other.

I wonder why I do the things I do

One plus one has always meant more than two

Happy, and then content

Change the channel and now I'm bent

On leaving you

Yeah

On leaving you

On leaving you, you

Yeah

On leaving you, you, yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

The bands get all big...

and then everybody starts to like 'em.

And then they just become so overplayed...

and kind of sold-out, and I just...

I get out of them.

- That really pisses me off. - Why?

Well, I liked them first.

When you hear a song that's a great song...

played a million times, you never want to hear it again.

If I hear that song one more time...

if I see that guy's face one more time...

I'm gonna fuckin' find out his address...

and kill that motherfucker.

I don't blame them. I've said it myself.

There definitely is the idea that success is bad...

and that's part of the rebellion.

That's part of the rebellion against the eighties...

you know, our peers, and our parents.

That we didn't really want to become successful...

because with that comes the trappings of responsibility.

It seemed for a while that, like, celebrity...

was not really what you wanted once you got it.

And yet you look at any of these people...

that are now complaining about being too much...

in the spotlight...

or always, you know, scrutinized by everyone.

What did you expect?

I think a lot of people whine about it...

but secretly they kind of are excited about it, too.

I don't think that people ever can imagine...

what is gonna go along with being popular.

I don't think... no matter what somebody tells you...

it's gonna be like...

I think it's a lot different once you get there.

I think so, too. Maybe we should try to find out.

Painted blue across my eyes

And tie the linen on

And I'm on my way

Looking for the paradigm

So I can pass it off

Is it on my side?

Is it to the sky?

Is it to the sky?

Shadow

Painted blue across my eyes

And tie the linen on

And I'm on my way

On my way

Looking for the paradigm

So I can pass it off

Is it on my side?

On my side

Is it to the sky?

To the sky

Looking to the sky

And down

Searching for a ground

With my good eye closed

I kind of figured you play guitar...

or drums, whatever, sing, make a record, play a show.

If people like your record, they like your show.

I couldn't really anticipate it becoming...

interviews and videos and photo sessions.

Sort of in the forefront of our minds...

we knew that these were things that went along with the job.

But you never really can anticipate it...

until you're there.

It's like, fuck, I can do without the fame stuff...

and just, you know, give me the money.

Is it to the sky?

To the sky

To the sky

To the sky

Oh

You have a favorite band, right?

And you think, why isn't this band enormous?

You know, the world is just not a very...

you know, it's just an unjust place.

And then you have a band that you know is amazing...

and, suddenly, everybody else in the world...

knows that they're amazing and wants to get at them...

and write about them and, you know...

you start wondering if success is really a good thing...

because it sort of makes people psycho.

It's nothing to strive for.

It's actually like... this kind of success...

or trying to fulfill this kind of hype.

It can destroy everything.

It can destroy what's real, which is, like, music to you.

Or what's real, which is your life.

You know? It can destroy it.

You know, it can make it, uh, a commodity.

At whose cost?

At yours.

At your life and, you know, your music.

They'II, you know...

take it all away from you.

And you're supposed to be happy about it...

because you're successful.

Now, you kissed me once, and you kissed me twice

With your messed up slobbering lips

With dribble in my brow

I wait until you turned

And I wiped it on my pant leg

Oh, now I'll sign this paper for everyone to see

Now I'm up here singin' for everyone to hear

Now I'll sign this paper for everyone to see

Now I'm up here singin' for everyone to hear

You

Especially you

It's all for you

It's because of you

My lungs are filled with smoke

Eyes light and hazy from too many tears

Red and glossy from too many beers

And my stomach shapes into one big knot

My stomach shapes into one big knot

When you're in a band...

and it progresses from being in the basement...

and learning how to play...

and then you go on to more and more steps...

and that's a natural progression of a band.

And you can see that.

That's a good thing. It's all fine.

But then, you get to this point where...

you're looking backwards and you're, like...

"Well, maybe it was better back then."

Well, imagine you're a band. You're making music for fun...

because you like writing your own songs...

You like playing your own songs.

You like playing to your friends...

and having them clap and, you know, having a good time...

and getting up and jumping around a stage...

and, you know, crashing into people.

And suddenly, every publication...

and all the media in the world wants to get at you.

Suddenly, people everywhere you go recognize you.

They want your autograph.

Suddenly, your life as a private individual is over with.

And that's probably a pretty heavy thing to deal with.

What it looks like is, wow, if you want to be...

really successful, do heroin.

But, what I see is, I saw people...

who were making really good music...

suddenly have, like, this overwhelming need for money.

It's just fucking heartbreaking...

to see how disillusioned people get, to where they...

that escape is so sought after.

I think the first hint of it was when Andy Wood died.

When you started thinking, this is really sad...

because this guy had a great future in front of him.

He was a really wonderful guy. Funniest guy. The only...

the only rock 'n' roll stand-up comic in Seattle was Andy Wood.

And we thought...

man, you know, they haven't even become stars yet...

and already he's a casualty.

There's Kurt on New Year's Day, '93.

This was the shoot for the cover of the "Advocate."

And I really liked this photo of Kurt.

We were just talking and I was just picking the camera up...

occasionally and... and photographing him.

It's rare to see a picture where he's emoting...

or doing something with his hands...

other than in his pocket.

And I really like this one.

The river rise...

Symbolically, perhaps, it represented...

the death of something.

I mean, I know when...

I was... it affected me in such a way...

that I was seriously tempted to give up everything...

and go be a farmer or something.

It was just so disillusioning to me.

It was hard. I didn't take it well.

'Cause I could fall like a tear

Nothing else I can do

But I'm not alone

Nothing's beside me

All I see is

The others blinded

But I could fall

As if I was young

Ooh, with a lifetime to think of you

If all this influence that this part of the country has...

in this musical scene has...

if it doesn't do anything with it...

that would be the tragedy.

If it doesn't do something with it...

like make some kind of change...

or make some kind of difference...

this group of people who feels this certain way...

this group of people who, like, thinks these things...

that the underdogs we've all met and lived with think...

if they finally get to the forefront...

and nothing comes of it, that would be the tragedy.

Restless soul

Enjoy your youth

Like Muhammad

Hits the truth

I can't escape from the common rule

If you hate something

Don't you do it, too?

This is not for you

This is not for you

This is not for you

Oh, never was for you

You

To actually be this close...

to a pop culture explosion has been really fascinating.

I mean, all of a sudden, you can understand...

what happened in San Francisco in '66 and '67.

You can understand what happened in England...

during the punk thing.

And during the Mersey Beat era.

And the subsequent stuff that happened in London.

I mean, all of a sudden, you can see...

how ridiculous the whole goddamn thing is.

I mean, it's utterly absurd. I mean...

It's so funny that they call it "the Seattle scene"...

because it all grew out of the region.

Everybody doing what they loved because they love it.

And it doesn't matter if they're from Bellingham...

Portland, Olympia.

You had people who were in bands...

because they want to be in bands...

who started record labels...

because they liked their friends' bands...

and they wanted to put out a record.

Fanzines because no one was covering...

the kind of music that they heard.

And all this was allowed to grow without any other force...

coming in and disturbing that.

All that's sacred

Comes from youth

Dedication

Naive and true

With no power

Nothing to do

I still remember

Why don't you?

Don't you?

This is not for you

This is not for you

This is not for you

Oh, never was for you

Fuck you, this is not for you

Oh, never was for you

Yeah

I didn't think I'd be making a living at doing this.

I mean, I had no idea that these bands...

were going to become so popular, so famous.

I would have taken a lot more photographs of them...

if I had known.

Our first U.S. Tour was a total failure, you know?

We didn't make more than 90 bucks...

at any show in the whole U.S.

It's like, they hated us everywhere we went.

But we're doing basically the same thing...

we were doing in '85, and now people like us.

I don't know why!

Let me put things in perspective for you.

Five years ago...

This is a sleepy little coastal fishing village.

Now, could we have the camera pan out to the skyline, here?

This kind of economic development...

is directly related to what John and I...

have done to promote Seattle.

That's what's become of the great punk rock party house...

of the mid-eighties.

It's so harsh.

It used to be this tiny little shack...

like, set way back in these terrible...

like, big weeds in the middle of these beautiful homes.

And now... Iook, it is a beautiful home.

I would love to, in about twenty years from now...

be playing in, like, some kind of, like...

super-Ioungey soul band with a horn section.

We'll probably all be playing in R&B bands in Pioneer Square.

Probably the same R&B band on Pioneer Square.

L'il sister, don't you...

Wow! What did I do right in a past life or whatever...

that I get to do this with my three really good friends?

I get to be in a band and make music with these people.

It's a really incredible experience.

We just play music when we can...

and do shows and record when we have songs.

And every now and then we find out...

Seattle got really famous. And we didn't.

And that's not too bad. That's OK.

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

It's another fine year end

Oh, yeah

At the top of my own top ten

Oh, yeah

Let's smash the year again

Oh, yeah

I get so sick of you

And all you're trying to be

I can't deny your uselessness

But what'd you ever do to me?

So, if you're standing in our dark corner

And try to dig us up

You'll find we're history

And if you're standing in our dark corner

Don't forget to bring along your top ten list

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

It's another fine year end

Oh, yeah

At the top of my own top ten

Oh, yeah

Let's smash the year again

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Let's paint a nice back-drop

Oh, yeah

Where the music never stops

Oh, yeah

I'll be the oyster for your pearl

Oh, yeah

Dark corner of the world

Oh, yeah

It's another fine year end

Oh, yeah

At the top of my own top ten

Oh, yeah

Let's smash the year again

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

Cornelius, alterhead.by.ru

What was the question?