WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.340 Okay, so I want to start today with a little 00:00:01.340 --> 00:00:03.339 challenge for you. Oh, okay. I'm ready. I want 00:00:03.339 --> 00:00:05.780 you to picture a band name. You know, they're 00:00:05.780 --> 00:00:07.860 usually pretty straightforward. The Beatles. 00:00:08.900 --> 00:00:11.679 Metallica. Right. The Rolling Stones. Exactly. 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:15.519 But here's the catch. To write the name of the 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:18.100 band we're deep diving into today correctly, 00:00:18.500 --> 00:00:21.820 I mean, to be legally and aesthetically accurate. 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:25.579 You strictly, absolutely require punctuation. 00:00:25.719 --> 00:00:27.300 You're starting us off with a grammar lesson. 00:00:27.539 --> 00:00:29.679 I am starting us off with an attitude check. 00:00:29.879 --> 00:00:31.879 Because the band we're talking about today is 00:00:31.879 --> 00:00:35.759 named Awesome. Okay. But not just awesome. It's 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:38.799 awesome with quotation marks around it. Explicitly. 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:41.060 That's the legal name. It does set a very specific 00:00:41.060 --> 00:00:43.299 tone right out of the gate, doesn't it? It really 00:00:43.299 --> 00:00:45.299 does. I mean, it suggests a certain level of 00:00:45.299 --> 00:00:47.939 irony or maybe a kind of defensive layer of self 00:00:47.939 --> 00:00:51.140 -awareness. It's a bold move to name yourself 00:00:51.140 --> 00:00:53.880 something that implies greatness, like the best, 00:00:54.100 --> 00:00:56.899 but then you put it in scare quotes. To undermine 00:00:56.899 --> 00:00:59.140 it. Exactly. To maybe undermine that very greatness. 00:00:59.259 --> 00:01:01.060 It's like they're winking at you before they 00:01:01.060 --> 00:01:03.899 even play a single note. Yes. It's like they're 00:01:03.899 --> 00:01:06.540 daring you to judge them. It's saying, we are 00:01:06.540 --> 00:01:10.260 awesome. Well, technically. Maybe. Yeah. You 00:01:10.260 --> 00:01:13.260 decide. So welcome to today's deep dive. Let's 00:01:13.260 --> 00:01:15.000 do it. We're heading to the Pacific Northwest, 00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:18.480 specifically the rainy, coffee -fueled streets 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:21.739 of Seattle in the mid -2000s, to uncover the 00:01:21.739 --> 00:01:24.560 story of this seven -member entity that refused 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:27.640 to be just a rock band. And that refusal, I think, 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:30.379 is the key to this entire investigation. This 00:01:30.379 --> 00:01:33.159 group, awesome. They describe themselves as part 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:36.260 band, part art collective. And that distinction 00:01:36.260 --> 00:01:38.819 between being a band that plays clubs and a collective 00:01:38.819 --> 00:01:42.060 that stages happenings, that's the friction that 00:01:42.060 --> 00:01:44.299 really drives their whole story. So what's our 00:01:44.299 --> 00:01:46.319 mission today? We have a stack of notes here, 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:48.120 some great archives from the Stranger in Seattle 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:50.859 Weekly, notes on their albums. We are going to 00:01:50.859 --> 00:01:54.420 unpack how a group of fringe theater actors accidentally 00:01:54.420 --> 00:01:57.629 or maybe purposely created a musical project 00:01:57.629 --> 00:02:00.709 that generated serious rock payoff. Oh, while 00:02:00.709 --> 00:02:03.109 singing about some truly bizarre stuff. I mean, 00:02:03.170 --> 00:02:04.810 we're not kidding when we say bizarre. We're 00:02:04.810 --> 00:02:06.549 talking about songs about what? Technical difficulties 00:02:06.549 --> 00:02:09.210 and cell death. And bees. Don't forget the bees. 00:02:09.370 --> 00:02:11.669 Oh, I can't wait to get to the cell death ballad. 00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:15.419 So let's start at the beginning. Usually when 00:02:15.419 --> 00:02:17.379 we do a music deep dive, the origin story is 00:02:17.379 --> 00:02:19.039 kind of the same, right? Yeah, a few kids in 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:21.280 a garage. Some disaffected kids in a garage. 00:02:21.319 --> 00:02:24.120 They meet at a record store, bond over Led Zeppelin, 00:02:24.259 --> 00:02:28.280 get a van. Awesome. They didn't start in a garage, 00:02:28.439 --> 00:02:30.719 did they? No, they did not. And to understand 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:32.539 why they sound the way they do, you have to look 00:02:32.539 --> 00:02:34.759 at where they came from. They weren't prowling 00:02:34.759 --> 00:02:36.939 the dive bars of Seattle looking for a record 00:02:36.939 --> 00:02:39.699 deal. They were inhabiting the black box theaters. 00:02:40.520 --> 00:02:43.659 Awesome started as a cabaret act. These were 00:02:43.659 --> 00:02:47.500 seven experienced fringe theater actors in Seattle. 00:02:47.979 --> 00:02:51.240 So stage lights, not strobes. Now, for listeners 00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:53.060 who might not frequent the theater scene, when 00:02:53.060 --> 00:02:55.680 we say fringe theater, what are we actually talking 00:02:55.680 --> 00:02:57.759 about? This isn't like Phantom of the Opera. 00:02:57.840 --> 00:02:59.840 Oh, definitely not. Fringe theater is usually 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:04.180 experimental, low budget, often nonlinear and 00:03:04.180 --> 00:03:06.479 incredibly intimate. It's all about breaking 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:09.210 the fourth wall. These were performers who were 00:03:09.210 --> 00:03:11.729 used to inhabiting characters and engaging with 00:03:11.729 --> 00:03:13.389 an audience in a way that's very different from 00:03:13.389 --> 00:03:16.030 a lead singer just ignoring the crowd. And the 00:03:16.030 --> 00:03:18.210 interesting thing here is that our notes say 00:03:18.210 --> 00:03:21.550 that eventually their identity as a band totally 00:03:21.550 --> 00:03:25.289 eclipsed their status as individual actors. But 00:03:25.289 --> 00:03:28.349 that theatrical DNA. It was always the operating 00:03:28.349 --> 00:03:30.289 system for the group. And there was a specific 00:03:30.289 --> 00:03:32.550 event that kicked all this off, right? A catalyst. 00:03:32.789 --> 00:03:34.669 They didn't just wake up one day and decide to 00:03:34.669 --> 00:03:36.909 form a band. There was. It was around October 00:03:36.909 --> 00:03:41.169 2003. Several of the Future members, they played 00:03:41.169 --> 00:03:43.810 together in a tribute show. Now, usually, tribute 00:03:43.810 --> 00:03:47.069 shows are for these huge acts. The Beatles, Queen. 00:03:47.370 --> 00:03:49.389 Yeah, Zeppelin. But the band they were paying 00:03:49.389 --> 00:03:52.289 tribute to is so telling for their future sound. 00:03:52.409 --> 00:03:55.360 It was... They might be giants. Okay, let's unpack 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:57.259 that. Yeah. They might be giants. That is the 00:03:57.259 --> 00:04:00.860 ultimate smart, slightly nerdy, alternative rock 00:04:00.860 --> 00:04:03.259 touchstone. It is. It's music that's technically 00:04:03.259 --> 00:04:05.680 proficient, musically complex, but the lyrics 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:08.620 are whimsical, literate, often really funny. 00:04:08.740 --> 00:04:11.520 If you know they might be giants, you know they 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:14.300 sing about historical figures, particle physics, 00:04:14.620 --> 00:04:16.839 nightlights. Right. So if you're a group of theater 00:04:16.839 --> 00:04:18.660 actors looking to raise money, which is what 00:04:18.660 --> 00:04:21.300 they were doing, for Seattle's Open Circle Theater, 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:24.699 They Might Be Giants is just the perfect aesthetic 00:04:24.699 --> 00:04:27.540 fit. It really bridges that gap between performance 00:04:27.540 --> 00:04:30.060 art and pop music, doesn't it? It absolutely 00:04:30.060 --> 00:04:32.420 does. It's music for people who read a lot of 00:04:32.420 --> 00:04:34.899 encyclopedias. Precisely. So they do this tribute 00:04:34.899 --> 00:04:37.800 show, and I'm guessing it goes pretty well. It 00:04:37.800 --> 00:04:39.399 must have triggered something, because that energy 00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:42.319 just coalesced into something original. Their 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:44.779 very first performance under the name Awesome, 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:47.860 with the quotes, happened just a few months later, 00:04:48.019 --> 00:04:51.439 February 6, 2004. And looking at the notes here, 00:04:51.500 --> 00:04:54.860 that first gig wasn't the full seven member lineup 00:04:54.860 --> 00:04:57.199 yet, right? It was just four of them at first. 00:04:57.319 --> 00:04:59.879 John Ackerman, Evan Mosher, David Nixon and John 00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:02.519 Osbold. And look at the venue. This is crucial. 00:05:02.839 --> 00:05:05.800 They didn't debut at the Crocodile or Numos. 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:08.759 The famous Seattle rock clubs. Yeah, where Grunge 00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:11.180 was born. Yeah. They debuted at the Annex Theater 00:05:11.180 --> 00:05:13.879 at a monthly cabaret called Spin the Bottle. 00:05:14.259 --> 00:05:17.220 Spin the Bottle. I mean, that just screams experimental 00:05:17.220 --> 00:05:19.319 theater variety show, doesn't it? It does. It 00:05:19.319 --> 00:05:21.920 places them firmly in that performance art world. 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:24.240 They weren't trying to get signed to Sub Pop. 00:05:24.540 --> 00:05:27.459 They were trying to entertain a seated cabaret 00:05:27.459 --> 00:05:30.500 crowd who might see a juggler one minute and 00:05:30.500 --> 00:05:32.980 a monologuist the next. So they were just a bit 00:05:32.980 --> 00:05:36.199 in a larger show. Pretty much. But the bit got 00:05:36.199 --> 00:05:40.920 bigger. By June 30, 2004, we have the first full 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:43.040 seven -member performance. Okay, and where was 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:45.699 that? That was at the Jewel Box Theater in a 00:05:45.699 --> 00:05:48.639 Belltown bar called The Rendezvous. Again, a 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:51.740 very specific kind of venue. The Jewel Box is 00:05:51.740 --> 00:05:56.660 tiny, ornate, velvet curtains. It feels like 00:05:56.660 --> 00:05:59.259 a 1920s speakeasy. So it's a space designed for 00:05:59.259 --> 00:06:01.319 intimacy and storytelling, not for a mosh pit. 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:03.540 Exactly. So we've got the timeline, but I want 00:06:03.540 --> 00:06:05.100 to talk about the vibe. Because you have these 00:06:05.100 --> 00:06:06.420 theater people playing instruments, and when 00:06:06.420 --> 00:06:08.800 you hear theater actors forming a band, I think 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:11.259 a lot of us instinctively cringe a little. Oh, 00:06:11.259 --> 00:06:12.800 for sure. You imagine something overly dramatic, 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:15.620 maybe a bit cheesy, you know, musical theater, 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:18.259 trying to be rock. That is the bias they were 00:06:18.259 --> 00:06:21.199 absolutely up against. But there's a great quote 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:24.060 here from Lane Suplinsky, who was the artistic 00:06:24.060 --> 00:06:29.259 director of On the Board. He said something that 00:06:29.259 --> 00:06:31.699 I think just perfectly captures the tension of 00:06:31.699 --> 00:06:33.800 this group. I think I know the quote you're looking 00:06:33.800 --> 00:06:36.180 at. He said, if they are not rock musicians, 00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:40.579 there is rock payoff. Rock payoff. I love that 00:06:40.579 --> 00:06:42.639 term. It's such a fascinating metric. What do 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:44.939 you think he means by that? It implies a visceral 00:06:44.939 --> 00:06:47.319 reaction. It implies that even if they don't 00:06:47.319 --> 00:06:49.879 look like a rock band or act like one or dress 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:52.740 like one, they hit you in the gut like one. It 00:06:52.740 --> 00:06:55.379 means the energy transfer is real. It's not just 00:06:55.379 --> 00:06:58.279 polite applause. It's actual excitement. Exactly. 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:01.060 Chaplinsky even compared them to the Polyphonic 00:07:01.060 --> 00:07:03.639 Spree. Oh, that's a perfect comparison. For those 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:05.480 who don't know, the Polyphonic Spree was that 00:07:05.480 --> 00:07:08.839 massive choral rock group from the early 2000s. 00:07:08.839 --> 00:07:10.759 With the robes. Yeah, they wore those cult -like 00:07:10.759 --> 00:07:12.800 robes, had about 20 members, and just sounded 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:15.980 like a euphoric explosion. It suggests a wall 00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:18.759 of sound. When you have seven people on stage, 00:07:19.100 --> 00:07:22.540 you aren't a power trio like Nirvana. You are 00:07:22.540 --> 00:07:26.019 a choir. You're an orchestra. You can create 00:07:26.019 --> 00:07:28.819 these sonic layers that a normal rock band just 00:07:28.819 --> 00:07:32.259 can't. You can overwhelm the audience with harmony. 00:07:32.439 --> 00:07:34.759 But the audience didn't know what to expect at 00:07:34.759 --> 00:07:36.980 first, did they? I mean, imagine walking into 00:07:36.980 --> 00:07:40.500 a cool Seattle cabaret. holding your drink and 00:07:40.500 --> 00:07:43.660 seeing seven guys squeezing onto a small stage 00:07:43.660 --> 00:07:46.199 who call themselves awesome. Well, there's a 00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:48.319 fantastic description of this by Brendan Kiley 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:51.459 from The Stranger. He wrote a piece looking back 00:07:51.459 --> 00:07:53.459 at that time, and he described the audience as 00:07:53.459 --> 00:07:56.779 initially being. Privately skeptical, but here 00:07:56.779 --> 00:07:58.660 to be supportive. I think we've all been part 00:07:58.660 --> 00:08:00.399 of that audience. Totally. You're there to support 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:02.339 your friend's weird art project. You're holding 00:08:02.339 --> 00:08:04.360 your drink, clapping politely, and just hoping 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:06.439 it's not embarrassing. It's a very specific social 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:09.060 contract. You're ready to forgive mediocrity 00:08:09.060 --> 00:08:11.500 because you like the people. Right. But Tylee 00:08:11.500 --> 00:08:13.800 says that skepticism transformed into a state 00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:16.480 of shock. Because it was actually good. Not just 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:19.860 good. Keeley used these very specific, unusual 00:08:19.860 --> 00:08:22.889 words to describe the music. He called the songs 00:08:22.889 --> 00:08:25.709 sophisticatedly crisp and architectural while 00:08:25.709 --> 00:08:28.709 staying warm and invitingly poppy. Okay, architectural. 00:08:29.050 --> 00:08:31.449 That is not a word you usually hear for a local 00:08:31.449 --> 00:08:35.269 band. You hear gritty, loud, fast, maybe lo -fi. 00:08:35.610 --> 00:08:38.269 You do not hear architectural. No. What does 00:08:38.269 --> 00:08:41.590 that say to you? Architectural implies design. 00:08:41.750 --> 00:08:44.169 It implies a blueprint. It suggests that every 00:08:44.169 --> 00:08:46.470 note, every harmony, every instrument was placed 00:08:46.470 --> 00:08:48.909 there for a specific structural reason. It's 00:08:48.909 --> 00:08:51.419 not just jamming. It fits perfectly with them 00:08:51.419 --> 00:08:53.500 being theater veterans, right? In theater, you 00:08:53.500 --> 00:08:55.559 don't just improvise a two -hour play. You build 00:08:55.559 --> 00:08:58.419 a scene. You construct a narrative. It seems 00:08:58.419 --> 00:09:00.059 like they approach songwriting the same way. 00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:03.200 But then he contrasts architectural, which can 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:06.460 sound cold or academic, with warm and invitingly 00:09:06.460 --> 00:09:09.320 poppy. So it's smart, but it's not cold. It's 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:11.820 not some academic exercise you can't dance to. 00:09:11.899 --> 00:09:13.779 That's the rock payoff Chaplinsky was talking 00:09:13.779 --> 00:09:15.720 about. If it was just architectural, it might 00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:18.620 be impressive, but boring. Like a math rock band. 00:09:19.100 --> 00:09:21.100 Right. And if it was just poppy, it might be 00:09:21.100 --> 00:09:23.720 disposable. The magic, according to these reviews, 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:26.779 was in that combination. They used complex structures 00:09:26.779 --> 00:09:29.779 to deliver really catchy hooks. So they have 00:09:29.779 --> 00:09:31.580 the sound, they have the critical acclaim, but 00:09:31.580 --> 00:09:33.779 they didn't just play concerts. Because of this 00:09:33.779 --> 00:09:36.120 art collective background, they did productions. 00:09:36.279 --> 00:09:38.759 And this is where the band really defies the 00:09:38.759 --> 00:09:41.799 industry standard. Usually, a band writes 12 00:09:41.799 --> 00:09:45.610 songs, records an album, and tours. Awesome. 00:09:45.610 --> 00:09:48.250 They staged experiences. Their first big production 00:09:48.250 --> 00:09:50.690 was called Delaware. Delaware. And that started 00:09:50.690 --> 00:09:53.070 as a multimedia stage show before it was ever 00:09:53.070 --> 00:09:55.929 an album. Right. And later in 2010, they did 00:09:55.929 --> 00:09:58.710 a huge production called West at On the Boards. 00:09:59.029 --> 00:10:01.029 But if you really want to understand how deep 00:10:01.029 --> 00:10:03.690 the weirdness goes, we have to talk about No 00:10:03.690 --> 00:10:07.629 Signal. Yes. No Signal. This was 2006. This production 00:10:07.629 --> 00:10:09.850 really highlights their nonlinear storytelling. 00:10:10.669 --> 00:10:12.870 The course material says their theatrical pieces 00:10:12.870 --> 00:10:15.870 often had minimal or nonlinear narratives. It 00:10:15.870 --> 00:10:18.029 wasn't boy meets girl. And the Seattle Times 00:10:18.029 --> 00:10:20.629 reviewer, Brangine Davis, gave a list of topics 00:10:20.629 --> 00:10:23.269 covered in No Signal that just, well, it kind 00:10:23.269 --> 00:10:25.750 of broke my brain a little bit. It is quite the 00:10:25.750 --> 00:10:28.169 list. Okay, let me read this. No Signal addressed 00:10:28.169 --> 00:10:31.590 technical difficulties, recurring dreams, cell 00:10:31.590 --> 00:10:36.110 death, regeneration, and bees. Bees. Bees. And 00:10:36.110 --> 00:10:39.169 cell death. in a musical production it's fascinating 00:10:39.169 --> 00:10:41.529 it brings us right back to that they might be 00:10:41.529 --> 00:10:44.830 giants influence taking complex scientific or 00:10:44.830 --> 00:10:46.889 just mundane topics and elevating them through 00:10:46.889 --> 00:10:50.169 music but celda That's a little heavy for a Friday 00:10:50.169 --> 00:10:52.649 night out. It's heavy, but it's also absurd. 00:10:52.929 --> 00:10:54.730 And I think that's the comedy element coming 00:10:54.730 --> 00:10:57.429 through. If you write a serious, earnest rock 00:10:57.429 --> 00:11:00.830 ballad about regeneration and bees, you are walking 00:11:00.830 --> 00:11:04.730 a very, very fine line between genius and madness. 00:11:05.110 --> 00:11:06.669 Which leads us to the question, who are these 00:11:06.669 --> 00:11:09.110 people? Who has the audacity to write a pop song 00:11:09.110 --> 00:11:11.009 about cell death? We need to look at the roster. 00:11:11.210 --> 00:11:13.789 There are seven of them. John Osbold, John Ackerman, 00:11:13.970 --> 00:11:17.009 Kirk Anderson, Basil Harris, Evan Mosher, David 00:11:17.009 --> 00:11:19.080 Nixon, and Rob Whitmer. It's a big crew. And 00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:21.279 when you look at their day jobs or their professional 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:24.639 backgrounds, the whole architectural nature of 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:26.559 the music starts to make perfect sense. This 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:28.299 was not a group of slackers. This was a group 00:11:28.299 --> 00:11:30.399 of intellectuals and craftsmen. Let's start with 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:32.740 David Nixon. David Nixon is a philosophy professor 00:11:32.740 --> 00:11:35.360 at the University of Washington Bothell. A philosophy 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:38.980 professor in the band. Suddenly, lyrics about 00:11:38.980 --> 00:11:42.419 existential dread or abstract concepts like technical 00:11:42.419 --> 00:11:45.480 difficulties seem a lot more grounded in academic 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:48.039 inquiry, don't they? Absolutely. Having a philosophy 00:11:48.039 --> 00:11:50.539 professor in your rock band just changes the 00:11:50.539 --> 00:11:52.860 conversation. You aren't just singing about heartbreak. 00:11:52.860 --> 00:11:55.159 You're singing about the ontology of heartbreak. 00:11:55.240 --> 00:11:57.519 Or you're deconstructing the very concept of 00:11:57.519 --> 00:12:00.159 the breakup song while you're singing it. Right. 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:02.580 It adds this meta commentary you just don't get 00:12:02.580 --> 00:12:05.399 from your average garage band. And then there's 00:12:05.399 --> 00:12:07.809 Rob Whitmer. Rob Whitmer is the sonic architect 00:12:07.809 --> 00:12:10.570 here. He plays a ton of instruments, accordion, 00:12:10.570 --> 00:12:14.509 clarinet, sax, bells, but his profession is the 00:12:14.509 --> 00:12:17.289 key. He is a professional composer and sound 00:12:17.289 --> 00:12:19.610 designer for theater. See, that explains the 00:12:19.610 --> 00:12:22.090 crispness the critics talked about. If you have 00:12:22.090 --> 00:12:23.970 a professional sound designer, someone who understands 00:12:23.970 --> 00:12:27.269 how audio shapes an environment in a play, of 00:12:27.269 --> 00:12:28.649 course the music is going to sound balanced. 00:12:29.149 --> 00:12:31.370 Exactly. A sound designer knows that you don't 00:12:31.370 --> 00:12:33.769 just turn everything up to 11. You create space. 00:12:34.049 --> 00:12:36.330 You let the accordion breathe so the clarinet 00:12:36.330 --> 00:12:39.309 can be heard. It's brain power applied to rock 00:12:39.309 --> 00:12:41.870 music. You have a philosopher for the thematic 00:12:41.870 --> 00:12:44.669 depth and a sound designer making sure the sonic 00:12:44.669 --> 00:12:47.610 landscape is perfect. And we can't forget John 00:12:47.610 --> 00:12:50.590 Osbold. No, he writes most of the songs. And 00:12:50.590 --> 00:12:53.750 in 2011, he won a Stranger Genius Award. For 00:12:53.750 --> 00:12:55.929 those outside Seattle, can you just contextualize 00:12:55.929 --> 00:12:58.879 that? What is a Stranger Genius Award? The Stranger 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:01.580 is like the cultural arbiter of the city. The 00:13:01.580 --> 00:13:04.440 Genius Award is a significant grant and recognition 00:13:04.440 --> 00:13:07.240 given to artists who are really pushing boundaries. 00:13:07.659 --> 00:13:10.700 It validates that this wasn't just a hobby. Right. 00:13:10.779 --> 00:13:13.159 These were highly capable artists applying their 00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:15.700 skills to a format, the rock band, that they 00:13:15.700 --> 00:13:17.879 sort of halfway rejected. That's the irony, isn't 00:13:17.879 --> 00:13:20.059 it? They reject the label. They name themselves 00:13:20.059 --> 00:13:22.620 awesome in quotes. They bring in philosophy professors 00:13:22.620 --> 00:13:25.460 and sound designers. They sing about bees. And 00:13:25.460 --> 00:13:28.269 yet. They end up integrated into the actual music 00:13:28.269 --> 00:13:30.129 ecosystem. They did. They didn't just stay in 00:13:30.129 --> 00:13:32.429 the cabaret. They crossed over. I was surprised 00:13:32.429 --> 00:13:34.429 to see the list of bands they shared bills with. 00:13:35.129 --> 00:13:37.649 These are not theater troops. These are legitimate 00:13:37.649 --> 00:13:39.809 heavy hitters in the indie scene. Absolutely. 00:13:39.950 --> 00:13:42.029 They played with Harvey Danger. They played with 00:13:42.029 --> 00:13:44.110 the Long Winters. They played with the Presidents 00:13:44.110 --> 00:13:46.389 of the United States of America. The Presidents 00:13:46.389 --> 00:13:48.110 of the United States of America. Now, that's 00:13:48.110 --> 00:13:49.870 another band that walked the line between humor 00:13:49.870 --> 00:13:53.159 and rock. Peaches, Lump. Those are silly songs 00:13:53.159 --> 00:13:56.039 that rock hard. It is. And sharing a stage with 00:13:56.039 --> 00:13:59.000 them places Awesome firmly in that lineage of 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:02.220 Seattle rock. Seattle is famous for Grunge Nirvana, 00:14:02.379 --> 00:14:06.159 Soundgarden. Very serious, very dark. But there's 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:08.980 this parallel track of Seattle music that's alternative, 00:14:09.299 --> 00:14:12.820 a bit humorous, quirky, but musically very competent. 00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:15.279 Awesome fits right into that pocket. And the 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:18.559 ultimate seal of approval, they played Sasquatch. 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:21.399 Music festival. Which, for a Pacific Northwest 00:14:21.399 --> 00:14:24.059 band in the 2000s, was the mountaintop. Sasquatch 00:14:24.059 --> 00:14:26.519 was the Coachella of the North. It's at the Gorge 00:14:26.519 --> 00:14:28.860 Amphitheater, the stunning outdoor venue. You 00:14:28.860 --> 00:14:31.039 don't get booked at the Gorge for Sasquatch if 00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:33.279 you're just a joke act. No. That puts you in 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:35.500 front of thousands of serious music fans. So 00:14:35.500 --> 00:14:37.500 they really managed to have it both ways. They 00:14:37.500 --> 00:14:39.860 got to be the art collective doing weird shows 00:14:39.860 --> 00:14:42.840 about cell death on the boards, and they got 00:14:42.840 --> 00:14:44.759 to be the rock band playing major festivals. 00:14:44.779 --> 00:14:48.019 It's a rare feat. Usually, the industry wants 00:14:48.019 --> 00:14:51.639 to pigeonhole you. If you're too art, the rock 00:14:51.639 --> 00:14:53.919 clubs think you're pretentious. If you're too 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:56.639 rock, the art theaters think you're lowbrow. 00:14:56.899 --> 00:15:00.179 Awesome. Managed to straddle that line probably 00:15:00.179 --> 00:15:03.539 because the quality, that rock payoff was just 00:15:03.539 --> 00:15:05.919 unadiable. It really circles back to that first 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:08.159 quote, doesn't it? If they are not rock musicians, 00:15:08.500 --> 00:15:11.259 there is rock payoff. They forced the world to 00:15:11.259 --> 00:15:13.299 accept them on their own terms. And those terms 00:15:13.299 --> 00:15:16.019 included quotation marks in their name. I still 00:15:16.019 --> 00:15:18.840 love that. It's such a power move. We are awesome, 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:22.059 but ironically. Or maybe we are awesome because 00:15:22.059 --> 00:15:24.159 we are defining what that word means for us. 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:26.220 That's the philosophy professor talking again. 00:15:26.379 --> 00:15:29.360 Perhaps. But looking at the trajectory, from 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:32.059 a fundraiser tribute band to a genius award -winning 00:15:32.059 --> 00:15:34.620 collective, it's a testament to the idea that 00:15:34.620 --> 00:15:36.480 you don't need to follow the standard playbook 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:39.149 to succeed. They didn't need the garage. They 00:15:39.149 --> 00:15:41.409 didn't need the cool haircuts. They just needed 00:15:41.409 --> 00:15:45.570 a cabaret, a philosophy degree, and some accordions. 00:15:45.649 --> 00:15:48.429 And a willingness to sing about bees. Always 00:15:48.429 --> 00:15:52.009 the bees. So as we wrap up this deep dive into 00:15:52.009 --> 00:15:54.830 the world of awesome, it leaves us with something 00:15:54.830 --> 00:15:57.629 to think about with how we consume music. It 00:15:57.629 --> 00:16:00.529 does. We often rely on labels to tell us what 00:16:00.529 --> 00:16:02.370 to like. This is a punk band. This is an indie 00:16:02.370 --> 00:16:05.230 band. Awesome defied the label. They fought the 00:16:05.230 --> 00:16:07.809 rock band tag, yet they delivered everything 00:16:07.809 --> 00:16:11.029 Roxanne could work. It makes you wonder, does 00:16:11.029 --> 00:16:12.950 knowing the background of the artist change how 00:16:12.950 --> 00:16:15.190 you listen? When you know the bass player is 00:16:15.190 --> 00:16:17.129 a philosophy professor, do you hear the song 00:16:17.129 --> 00:16:20.509 differently? Do you give it more credit? Or should 00:16:20.509 --> 00:16:22.860 the pop just stand on its own? It also raises 00:16:22.860 --> 00:16:24.919 the question of where the line between performance 00:16:24.919 --> 00:16:27.879 art and a concert actually lies. If the music 00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:29.840 makes you dance, does it matter if the intent 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:32.159 was architectural? Does it matter if the band 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:34.320 is secretly making fun of the concept of a band? 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:36.639 That's the question we will leave you with today. 00:16:37.100 --> 00:16:39.539 Go listen to some awesome Don't Forget the Quotes 00:16:39.539 --> 00:16:42.620 and decide for yourself. Is it art? Is it rock? 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:45.740 Or is it just... Yeah. Awesome. Thanks for listening 00:16:45.740 --> 00:16:47.220 to The Deep Dive. See you next time.