SOUND OFF! Battle of the Underage Bands

The Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum is in the midst of it's 9th year of Sound Off! a competition between underage bands. Applicants to Sound Off! must all be 21 years of age or younger and from the Pacific Northwest. This competition gives young emerging music artists the opportunity to have their music heard by professionals in the area while they are still too young to play in local bars and venues that serve alcohol. In the past, finalists and semi finalists have included bands like, Dyme Def, The Lonely Forest, and Natalie Portman's Shaved Head (whom I adore). The winners of it all receive a performance at this year's Bumbershoot Festival and various other prizes.

The night that I volunteered, Semifinals Round 1, the lineup was Sea Fever, Apache Chief, (Sui-Generis), and Candysound. Of these, my favorite was Apache Chief who were described as;

"Influenced by garage rock, post hardcore and noise, Apache Chief is already known in their hometown of Tacoma for raucous gigs and unorthodox use of guitar pickups and reverb tanks. Seeped in the dirty lo-fi of The Stooges, this trio brutally rips through sets at top speed leaving the audience decimated and wanting more."

Or as their MySpace page says: Post-Progessive Banana Slam

These three kids from Tacoma were awesome. They had quite a fan base in the audience, some of which sported Apache Chief t-shirts. During the performance there was a couple of mini mosh pits that left the EMP security a little baffled. Despite they audience support and my love they did not emerge victorious. The winners of the first round who receive the opportunity to compete in the finals were the wonderful Candysound. A duo that I thought had kind of a Vampire Weekend sound. The wild card winners who receive the possibility of maybe competing in the finals were Sea Fever. Also wonderful.
Friends Kristen, Claire, and I stood around wondering; "What if we had had something like this in our hometowns?" But really it seems as though such an event may only work in a place like Seattle. Home to Hendrix, Pearl Jam, and so many other greats. And what a wonderful gift to offer younger music artists: opportunity. Even semifinalists remain on the Experience Music Project Sound Off archive list which offers them some level of notoriety.
The most wonderful part of the whole event is the infectious optimism of the kids. Post performance/pre - 'announcement of the winners' an Apache Chief member was talking to us and hearing our praises of his performance and his whole demeanor just lit up right in front of us. He was hurrying to get back to the stage but out of excitement turned to us with his arms in the air and exclaimed, "I'm just so happy!"
I will be at Semifinals Round 3 this Saturday and hopefully the March 6th Finals event. I cannot wait to find out who wins!