Skated in circles on First ave and Pike smoking dope and ciggerets intermittently. Mohawks and spiked cuffs that made you flinch when the guy darted around you in the crowd. It was all intriguing in that disenfranchised, rebelliousness way that can only be understood when your in no mans land. No longer a kid and unable or unready to become a part of the 9 to 5 grind. Because you think you deserve your moment in the sun before that happens.before you give up on your dreams even if they have no form. We followed bands in army green mesh jumpsuits who lived in run down lofts. We visited friends who did their dishes in bath tubs and whose living rooms we're furnished with speakers and cables that led to instruments and shelves of records in clear vinyls sleeves, that signified a serious collector. We sought out shows at venues like the Eagle Hippdroam that brought in the clash and post sex pistol band, PIL. It was surreal.but even in the middle of it all we knew it was dying. We knew just like childhood bedtime stories, we would not be fully in the moment ever again. For those who still play music like frontman Mark Arm of Muhoney who somehow have found their balance in straddling middle age with the wry humor and unconventional lense of looking at the world through a musicians soul, I see you and I salute you. You are the ones that decided that life was always interesting enough to be laughed at, ironic enough to still sing about. It's the guys who decided that life always has to stay in the pocket to be worth living who died young. A needle that would never mend a broken spirit was the only reason to open your eyes and later became the reason to close them. The twenty-seven club is nothing to aspire to. You do have to wonder if any of these musicians topped themselves off with any awareness of the year. You look at photos of their kids who were left that legacy along with a handful of photos and memories that aren't their own. I think about how identies are formed to some extent by the people around you and how it's really the biggest source of how they see themselves through someone else's lens.
working for an audio sound company in 1980 introduced me to working musicians and lifelong friends. The casual work environment and the constant music playing in the background that was piped in made for a sound track for our work day. Electa voice was a young company and attracted musicians who could work with sound equipment and buy it at a discount. It also made conversation easy as it would revolve around music. Who was playing where that weekend and who wanted to run sound for the gig were always topics. We would support people by coming out to listen to their bands and talk about the shows on Monday. People ate from food trucks that would pull into the lot at the lunch hour and smoke ciggerets at their stations while wiring or stuffing parts into motherboards. People smoked at the soldering lines ate snacks and sang along with the music that blared through speakers.Many people encouraged friends to apply for jobs at Electra voice which was also known as Tapco. It wasn't until 2010 that the I read Tapco actually stood for Technical audio products co. Their were definetly groups within the group. Some people loved hard metal and wore long hair and leather jackets. Some listened to alternative,punk or new wave. There were the older and more conservatively dressed people who played funk and listened to groups like Tower of power or Jackson Brown. There was a a company baseball teams that played in company issued jerseys and of course management who were housed in the front office who we rarely interacted with and who seemly let us do whatever we wanted to. We ate lunch at the restaurant next door or at Abby's pizza on pay day. Beer was drank libraly with out a thought of it interfering with work. The old guy in shipping and receiving drank mixed drinks all day and eventually died in a fire from dropping a smoke when he passed out at home. The company made a lot of money by producing affordable equipment that was conducive to rock instead of pop. One of the owners went on to develop a product that made him a fortune. The company was housed in building on land that was later bought by micro soft. Being in this business little did we know that anyone of us could have gone to work as early micro soft employees making curcuit boards. One day the whole place went quit when the radio DJ announced that John Lennon had been shot. I kept the newspaper at my desk with headline announcing his death in the Bellevue Journal. Everyone knew the local bands which included Heart, Queens Ryche and Rail. On weekends people would build stages in the woods of Marymoore park and bands would play while kegs of beer were drank. People went mushroom picking in those woods. There was no MtV to start, but it launched shortly after. Music videos were played all day and night and Vjs like Martha and Nina became celebrities introducing the bands and their videos. Success was often based on how people dressed and looked. Of course the big acts like Springsteen were immune at first. Punk was an art form before it became too violent and skin heads and race became involved. The girl I worked with named jane had her hair colored a different color each day with vegetable dyes and wore sleeveless t-shirts with plastic dolls held on by safety pins. That was 1980. She was an inigma to everyone. The point is there was room for everyone at this table and that is what music does. It is the great equalizer machine. A machine where you should not being eating a sandwhich while you are on an assembly line. Someone bought it with a sand which stored inside and latter complained to the company when it didn't work right. There is actually a website for old employees that someone started. The photos look so dated now but they reveal the company climate with their smiles.
working for an audio sound company in 1980 introduced me to working musicians and lifelong friends. The casual work environment and the constant music playing in the background that was piped in made for a sound track for our work day. Electa voice was a young company and attracted musicians who could work with sound equipment and buy it at a discount. It also made conversation easy as it would revolve around music. Who was playing where that weekend and who wanted to run sound for the gig were always topics. We would support people by coming out to listen to their bands and talk about the shows on Monday. People ate from food trucks that would pull into the lot at the lunch hour and smoke ciggerets at their stations while wiring or stuffing parts into motherboards. People smoked at the soldering lines ate snacks and sang along with the music that blared through speakers.Many people encouraged friends to apply for jobs at Electra voice which was also known as Tapco. It wasn't until 2010 that the I read Tapco actually stood for Technical audio products co. Their were definetly groups within the group. Some people loved hard metal and wore long hair and leather jackets. Some listened to alternative,punk or new wave. There were the older and more conservatively dressed people who played funk and listened to groups like Tower of power or Jackson Brown. There was a a company baseball teams that played in company issued jerseys and of course management who were housed in the front office who we rarely interacted with and who seemly let us do whatever we wanted to. We ate lunch at the restaurant next door or at Abby's pizza on pay day. Beer was drank libraly with out a thought of it interfering with work. The old guy in shipping and receiving drank mixed drinks all day and eventually died in a fire from dropping a smoke when he passed out at home. The company made a lot of money by producing affordable equipment that was conducive to rock instead of pop. One of the owners went on to develop a product that made him a fortune. The company was housed in building on land that was later bought by micro soft. Being in this business little did we know that anyone of us could have gone to work as early micro soft employees making curcuit boards. One day the whole place went quit when the radio DJ announced that John Lennon had been shot. I kept the newspaper at my desk with headline announcing his death in the Bellevue Journal. Everyone knew the local bands which included Heart, Queens Ryche and Rail. On weekends people would build stages in the woods of Marymoore park and bands would play while kegs of beer were drank. People went mushroom picking in those woods. There was no MtV to start, but it launched shortly after. Music videos were played all day and night and Vjs like Martha and Nina became celebrities introducing the bands and their videos. Success was often based on how people dressed and looked. Of course the big acts like Springsteen were immune at first. Punk was an art form before it became too violent and skin heads and race became involved. The girl I worked with named jane had her hair colored a different color each day with vegetable dyes and wore sleeveless t-shirts with plastic dolls held on by safety pins. That was 1980. She was an inigma to everyone. The point is there was room for everyone at this table and that is what music does. It is the great equalizer machine. A machine where you should not being eating a sandwhich while you are on an assembly line. Someone bought it with a sand which stored inside and latter complained to the company when it didn't work right. There is actually a website for old employees that someone started. The photos look so dated now but they reveal the company climate with their smiles.
