The Seattle crowd in the ‘80s was so serious and the South Sound crowd was just bubbling with joy and dancing around and crashing into each other in this non-violent, fun way instead of slam dancing. But any time a band from Tacoma or Olympia or Montesano or Aberdeen came and played, the South Sound crowd would follow them up and they would have so much more fun.
The other reason I ended up in Olympia was because that last year, my Junior/Senior year, I was going to a lot of rock shows and all-ages shows in Seattle. After dropping out and living on the street for a little while, I got my GED and then my GED scores were really good. But one of my friends went to Evergreen, so I applied to Evergreen. So, my senior year was really lonely and I ended up dropping out before the year was out. One was I had five friends at Rainier Beach. KEXP: Did you go to Evergreen? How did you end up in Olympia?
I just was interested in doing spoken word as a performance art. I never played an instrument, so I never intended to be in bands. And so my interest in spoken word was kind of happening simultaneously to my interest in music. The first time I performed spoken word, it was opening for Jesse because we became friends. And that's when I started writing and performing spoken word. It was like, this is what's been missing from my life. I stumbled into a Jesse Bernstein spoken word show at an art gallery, and it blew my mind. So I spent a lot of time on the city bus and I would get off downtown and wander around to the art galleries and places and see if there were any shows going on. But my job was in West Seattle and my home was in Des Moines or Burien, kind of right on the edge. I got a job when I was 16, selling carpet cleanings on the phone, and I had to take the bus to my carpet cleaning job and then take the bus home. They had two new wave stations there in the '80s, and then I discovered college radio and started to listen to more independent music, and then I stumbled into the world of live shows. Slim Moon: I went to high school in Seattle and listened to, initially, the new wave radio stations. Part I Before the Beginning: Slim Moon’s Origin Story At the end of this near-20,000-word feature, you’ll thank me for not writing a longer one. Over the course of two interviews spanning between November and December 2021, I had the pleasure of traversing the entire three-decade history with Slim and Portia, filled with stories of a burgeoning Olympia music scene, grieving fallen friends, key lessons in operating as a band, and most of the absolutely outstanding bands they’ve released records by.Įxcuse the short length of this intro. From the great, weird bands on subsidiary 5 Rue Christine ( Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu) to Throwaway Style Hall of Famers Wimps, Kill Rock Stars has endured multiple waves of the so-called death of the music industry to remain one of the most influential record labels in music.Īnd with the return of Slim Moon at the helm and a new generation of bands scaling the ranks ( Big Joanie, MAITA, Tele Novella, and Logan Lynn, among many others), KRS shows no signs of slowing down. Imagine an indie-rock landscape without Sleater-Kinney circa Dig Me Out through One Beat (or any of the principal members’ excellent releases prior to S-K), or a Pacific Northwest scene where Unwound didn’t have a label that enthusiastically followed their artistic flights of fancy. Imagine a world without Bikini Kill, or a world where Heatmiser was cool with Elliott Smith’s songwriting direction. Sabin and Slim Moon - who have more than once referred to Kill Rock Stars as “the family business” - were wrapping up their yearlong 30th Anniversary celebration of the storied, influential record label with Northwest roots. Speaking to me in late-November from their home in Tennessee, Dr. Portia Sabin when I press record on the Zoom call. These are the words I’m greeted with by Dr. Are you prepared to be interviewing a married couple?” Portia Sabin, about the label's 30-year history. A few months ago, KEXP writer, producer, and local music columnist Martin Douglas spoke with Kill Rock Stars owner and founder Slim Moon and his wife, former Kill Rock Stars president Dr. Portia SabinĪs KEXP celebrates 50 years of bringing our love of music to the community, we find ourselves this week exploring 1991, the so-called "Year that Punk Broke." It was also the year one of the most foundational labels to ever come out of the Northwest officially went into business.
Slim Moon circa 1986 // Courtesy of Slim Moon & Dr.
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