In an age when brief pops like retweets and viral videos reign supreme, Seattle rapper Raz Simone has chosen a more maintainable route—one where numbers aren't the driving force but the viability of making art is. Simone's is a trek that susses out the complete character and depth of his work in music, and his mission is one of personal and creative sustainability. "My career," he explains, "is going to be a longer battle. But it's going to be very worth it."
Read MoreBorn in 1996 during the waning days of the grunge movement, Pike Brewing Company’s historic subterranean pub, just a few blocks from the center of Pike Place Market, The Pike Pub, is adorned with random stickers, exposed grating, and pipes painted black. The pub, which brews and serves some of the city’s most recognizable beer, feels comfortable and familiar, like your favorite ripped jeans/flannel shirt combo. But the famous locale has recently changed significantly.
Read MoreSeattle’s Jason Koenig, who has carved out a tremendously successful career as a music video director — which includes the video for the new Macklemore single, “Glorious,” released this week — can hardly believe his good fortune.
Read MoreSay the name DJ Shadow to any hiphop head who came of age in the 1990s, and they'll stop what they're doing to recall a favorite track. For some, it's "Organ Donor," the methodical-yet-spastic gymnastic of an instrumental. For others, it's "Building Steam with a Grain of Salt," a misty, railroad-like tune featuring dialogue perhaps plucked from a psychedelic Hitchcock film. But whatever the song, DJ Shadow, with his mixing board and collection of 60,000 records, has been integral in the development of hiphop over the last two decades.
Read MoreWhen you start a new project—whether that’s a platform, publication or business—it’s important to create and maintain a balance between a set mission statement and an openness or malleability. It’s a hard thing to attain, and the reason why many ventures fail. But for the founders of the Seattle-based Women.Weed.Wifi collective, this balance comes naturally—even telepathically.
Read MoreIn 2011, there were some 2,016 craft breweries in the United States, according to the Brewers Association. Just five years later, there were 5,234—and many believe this number will continue to grow. But why, exactly? What is it about craft breweries that the country adores? I asked some of Seattle’s most renowned brewers for their insights.
Read MoreThe Can Can Kitchen & Cabaret is always changing. At the 60-seat theater nestled in what feels like the hull of Pike Place Market, everything is in flux, from the choreography to the music to the way its dancers use the room. And in the theater’s brand new summer show, Ice Cream, this mutability is evident from the moment its host, Johnny Boy (aka Jonathan Betchtel), hits the catwalk.
Read MoreFor Seattle songwriter Tomo Nakayama, meaning and connection—within what he calls a "broken world"—come both from what's there right in front of us as well as what's in absence. Displayed through Nakayama's signature dulcet vocals along with guitars that sound like chiming bells, the songwriter's new single, "Bright and Blue," offers a picture of what's important: a roaming natural world without anything other than that which bonds a dear, loving relationship.
Read MoreSeattle-based crooner Vince Mira’s new 12-song LP, “El Radio,” often feels more like an intersectional collage than a modern pop release.
Read MoreYoung, hopeful musicians often enter the music scene with lofty goals of stardom and success. Rarely, however, do these dreams pan out. Seldom does the shift occur when, one day, an artist is playing a small bar and the next she’s on the biggest stage. But for Seattle rapper Taylar Elizza Beth (aka Taylar White) — who will celebrate the release of her new record, “Fresh Cut Flowers,” on Tuesday, June 13, at the Timbre Room — that shift may indeed be happening.
Read MoreIf you’ve ever seen the Seattle-based singer-songwriter Celene Ramadan (aka Prom Queen) perform, you know the aesthetic pizzazz she showcases through the magic of color and cloth, in addition to her jangly retro rock ‘n roll. As Prom Queen, Ramadan dons a dark bouffant, dazzling dream-pop dresses and plays a pink guitar. She’s the mastermind behind Midnight Veil, an LP-length music video opus featuring genie lamps, doo-wop singers and milk shakes. Now Ramadan has a new creative persona: a big, white, joke-telling rabbit who she’s named Snax The Bunny.
Read MoreGalen Disston, lead singer for the soulful Seattle rock band Pickwick, trades in two creative escapes: his music, a lifelong ambition and an art form with infinite possibilities; and the intricate craft of watch building, an endeavor Disston–whose band’s new record, LoveJoys, is out June 10—began only recently.
Read MoreThe genesis of Naomi Wachira’s newest album, Song of Lament, was a spiritual one— perhaps even divine. For the soulful, Kenyan-born singer, the songs for the new 11-track record, out now, came to her during a stint in Germany while she was at one of the lowest emotional points in her life.
Read MoreIt’s been two years since AB InBev, aka Anheuser-Busch, bought Elysian Brewing. At the time, this news caused uproar. How could one of Seattle’s oldest and best-respected breweries SELL OUT? was the refrain among many craft-beer drinkers. The reverberations were felt far and wide. Many bars stopped carrying Elysian.
Read MoreThere’s no shortage of music festivals in the Pacific Northwest—least of all in the Seattle area. With a population of just over 650,000, the city supports an unusually large number of festivals, from Bumbershoot to Capitol Hill Block Party, Doe Bay, Timber, and many others. This week the city will experience perhaps the most ambitious effort yet: Upstream Music Fest, the Paul Allen brainchild featuring 300 acts and panels on everything under the sun.
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