The eclectic port town of Olympia, Washington, United States has been the birthplace for punk, indie rock, folk, grunge and rock and roll music since the 1970s. It was during the mid-1970s, 80s to the 1990s of which the world witnessed the impact music from this town will eventually create and inspire generations to come. Alongside Washington D.C, Olympia saw the rise in feminism within the musical industry; were topics of rape, domestic abuse, sexuality, racism, patriarchy, classism, anarchism and female empowerment [1] were commonly addressed in songs. This movement is known as riot grrrl.
The historical Capitol Theater in Olympia’s town square has hosted the International Pop Underground Convention in 1991, which follows a punk and indie rock music theme, and has also hosted the Yoyo A Go Go festival in 1994,1997,1999 and 2001 [2] .
Olympia is also home to a number of record labels and companies that have built their own empires. Record labels such as K Records, Kill Rock Stars which house artists such as Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, Unwound and Elliott Smith; and 2060 Records are signed too. [3] . These record companies have allowed for the success and image of Olympia to be displayed in their artist's movements and forever present in their music. Furthermore, famous artists such as John Forstser, Beck, Ivan Svenonius, Kurt Cobain, and Krist Novoselic have frequented Olympia.
Olympia has been home to many worldwide famous artists and bands as well as producers. It is a town where music artists have come to base themselves out of, drawn inspiration from and have used to either create, produce and perform music. The following list includes the list of famous or related bands to Olympia, Washington and the brief relation they have to the town itself. A common trend found within this list is that there are many artists who were in one band, that only lasted a short period of time, and after that band disintegrated, they then went on to create another band.
Olympia, Washington is not only the cultural hub of the state but has taken credit for the popular rise in punk rock, indie, folk, grunge and rock and roll music. Over time these genres have not been so popular but have sparked a generation of movement and are heavily influenced by Generation X and the Media. Musical Genres are often complex things and are based on ideological categories [6] .
* Punk Rock: was originally used to describe the garage musicians of the ’60s, however, this has now changed over time. With each decade, the 60s described it as ‘starting up and playing out with no musical or vocal instruction’ [7] . This changed to when in the 70s where it was described as ‘dressing outrageously, living extravagantly and producing loud trashy rock and roll vibes’ [7] from artists such as David Bowie and the New York Dolls. By the late 70s, it was defined by an artist's location, camaraderie and shared musical influences. During this time, there was a Punk explosion resulting at the beginning of a solid musical force splitting into numerous sub-genres. In relation to Olympia, bands such as Bikini Kill often described their sound as Punk Rock as it followed a powerful explosion of sound and meaning.
* Indie: Independent Music or Indie Music can simply not be defined as one type of style. Indie artists are influenced by each other and often use similar sounds. The sound of which is commonly used is melodic and the instruments are well textured. Often the lyrics are powerfully emotional and spark emotions from the audience of which are listening to the music. In Olympia, Indie music often came from emotional-driven music created by bands such as Nirvana.
* Folk: With Folk Music, often two meanings describe the definition of the genre. The first refers to the meaning of traditional music. Traditional folk music is often passed from word of mouth down, from generation to generation. In addition to this, Folk music can also be described as “acoustic music” [8] and acoustic instruments that are commonly used in the recording of songs.
* Rock and Roll: is a music style born in the 1950s which flourished during the 1960s amongst the youth culture across the world. During the late 1990s, Rock and Roll were often associated with heavy use of instruments with a “longstanding association of rebellion, individuality and coolness”. [6] .
In the United States, as of May 2018, there are three leading music genres.Rock (56.8%), Pop (56.15) and Country (49.95) [9] . For Olympia, the popularity of alternative/indie/punk music was ‘embraced by the media and the masses’. In the early 1990s, bands that were considered underground became mainstream and were often marketed on commercial television, on the radio or in shopping centres [10] . Media played a major factor in the acceleration of this type of music and with the mid-1990s indie bands such as Nirvana, Oasis and No Doubt saw the so-called ‘alternative nation’ sweep across all of America. The television station known as MTV was at the forefront of this movement of introducing these genres to the population's everyday life. [11] .
In addition to this, genres such as punk rock and indie came from the generation itself of Gen X. This is due to the city of New York where often unlikely settings and art forms were born [11] . Indie rock took off in other cities such as Athens, Georgia, Washington, Kentucky and Louisville. However, the town of Olympia is now formally recognised and associated with these genres of music. The town of Olympia also influenced the genre's popularity. Since the atmosphere of Olympia was more sympathetic to women, art schools and college radio, Generation X’s preferences were often heard and highly advertised.
The impacts of the Music which were written, produced and performed has been monumental not only locally but internationally. The impacts of....
These are radio stations that play local music.
Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally known for its commitment to underground punk rock bands and the Olympia area music scene.
Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group consists of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pioneered the riot grrrl movement, with radical feminist lyrics and fiery performances. Their music is characteristically abrasive and hardcore-influenced. After two full-length albums, several EPs and two compilations, they disbanded in 1997. The band reunited for tours in 2019 and 2020.
Bratmobile was an American punk band. Bratmobile was a first-generation "riot grrrl" band, which grew from the Pacific Northwest and Washington state underground. It was influenced by several eclectic musical styles, including elements of pop, surf, and garage rock.
The U.S. state of Washington has been home to many popular musicians and several major hotbeds of musical innovation throughout its history. The largest city in the state, Seattle, is best known for being the birthplace of grunge, a type of rock and roll, during the mid-1980s, as well as a major contributor to the evolution of punk rock, indie music, folk, and hip-hop. Nearby Tacoma and Olympia have also been centers of influence on popular music.
K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent music" since the 1980s.
Queercore is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifically society's disapproval of the LGBT community. Queercore expresses itself in a DIY style through magazines, music, writing and film.
Kathleen Hanna is an American singer, musician, artist, feminist activist, pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. In the early-to-mid-1990s she was the lead singer of feminist punk band Bikini Kill, before fronting Le Tigre in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since 2010, she has recorded as The Julie Ruin.
Tobi Celeste Vail is an American independent musician, music critic and feminist activist from Olympia, Washington. She was a central figure in the riot grrl scene—she coined the spelling of "grrl"—and she started the zine Jigsaw. A drummer, guitarist and singer, she was a founding member of the band Bikini Kill. Vail has collaborated in several other bands figuring in the Olympia music scene. Vail writes for eMusic.
A punk zine is a zine related to the punk subculture and hardcore punk music genre. Often primitively or casually produced, they feature punk literature, such as social commentary, punk poetry, news, gossip, music reviews and articles about punk rock bands or regional punk scenes.
Team Dresch is an American queercore/punk rock band from Portland, Oregon, originally formed in Olympia, Washington, which was initially active from 1993 until 1998. The band made a significant impression on the DIY movement queercore, which gave voice through zines and music to the passions and concerns of those in both the LGBT community and the punk subculture. All bandmembers were open lesbians. Washington Post writer Chris Richards called their debut album, 1995's Personal Best, "a fiery, all-but-forgotten punk masterpiece." In the early 2000s, Team Dresch reunited, and they continue to perform. In March 2019, the band announced they would be reissuing their entire catalogue via Jealous Butcher Records. Along with reissuing their catalogue, the band is also plotting an upcoming tour, though dates haven't been announced. This came alongside the release of a new video for the band's classic track "Fagetarian and Dyke." The new visual featured never-before-seen live footage of the group, offering a glimpse into the wild moshpit-filled shows of their heyday.
Heavens to Betsy was an American punk band formed in Olympia, Washington in 1991. It was part of the DIY riot grrrl movement in the punk rock underground in the early 1990s, and the first band of Sleater-Kinney vocalist/guitarist Corin Tucker.
The Need is an American queercore band formed by singer/drummer Rachel Carns and guitarist Radio Sloan in Portland, Oregon in the mid-1990s.
Excuse 17 was a punk rock band from Olympia, Washington, USA, that performed and recorded from 1993 to 1995. The band consisted of Becca Albee, Carrie Brownstein, and Curtis James (drums). The band recorded two full-length albums and a single, and contributed to several compilation albums.
Allison Wolfe is a Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, writer, and podcaster. As a founding member and lead singer of the punk rock band Bratmobile, she became one of the leading voices of the riot grrl movement.
Christina Billotte is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, known for her involvement in the punk music scene in Washington DC, as a performer and organizer. She is included in Venus Zine's list The Greatest Female Guitarists of All Time.
A number of overlapping punk rock subgenres have developed since the emergence of punk rock in the mid-1970s. Even though punk genres at times are difficult to segregate, they usually show differing characteristics in overall structures, instrumental and vocal styles, and tempo. However, sometimes a particular trait is common in several genres, and thus punk genres are normally grouped by a combination of traits.
Heather Lewis is an American multi-instrumentalist and founding member of Beat Happening. Prior to her work with Beat Happening, Lewis was a member of the Supreme Cool Beings, who are notable for having the first ever release on K Records, 1982's Survival of the Coolest. She appeared as a guest vocalist on several songs from Land of the Loops, as well as The Wedding Present's album Watusi.
Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. Riot grrrl is a subcultural movement that combines feminism, punk music and politics. It is often associated with third-wave feminism, which is sometimes seen as having grown out of the riot grrrl movement and has recently been seen in fourth-wave feminist punk music that rose in the 2010s. The genre has also been described as coming out of indie rock, with the punk scene serving as an inspiration for a movement in which women could express themselves the same way men have been doing all along. To quote Liz Naylor, who would become the manager of riot grrrl band Huggy Bear:
There was a lot of anger and self-mutilation. In a symbolic sense, women were cutting and destroying the established image of femininity, aggressively tearing it down.
The International Pop Underground Convention was a 1991 punk and alternative rock music festival in Olympia, Washington. The six-day convention centered on a series of performances at the Capitol Theater. Throughout August 20–25, 1991, an exceptionally large number of independent bands played, mingled and collaborated at the Capitol and other venues within the Olympia music scene. A compilation of live music from the event was released later by the local record label K Records.
Yoyo A Go Go, usually abbreviated to Yoyo and often typeset in various ways, was an independent music festival in Olympia, Washington, first held in 1994 and followed by successor festivals in 1997, 1999, and 2001. Five- and six-day concert marathons featured dozens of punk and indie rock acts stacked back to back, as well as a variety of associated entertainment and small-scale local retail. The concerts took place at the historic Capitol Theater and showcased performers from the local Olympia music scene, while also including national and international artists.
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