Why Seattle? An Examination of an Alternative Rock Culture Hearth

Abstract

This article examines the emergence of the "Seattle sound" as a form of alternative rock music in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Sometimes called "grunge," the "Seattle sound" is reflective of the youth culture in the region. The music of the extraordinarily creative Seattle bands ranged from folk rock to heavy metal. Three common elements in the music seem to emerge: it is loud, it is honest, and it has often been difficult for the bands that play this music to receive a high degree of local recognition. The media have posited explicitly environmental deterministic arguments to explain the Seattle phenomenon ranging from the region's geographic isolation to its weather pattern. Seattle grew to predominance because of the juxtaposition of creative talent, record company agents anxious to sign new talent, and several successful independent record labels such as Sub Pop Records. As the music of Seattle became more mainstream, much of the creative energy was lost. Grunge metamorphosed into a Madison Avenue advertising ploy. Movies such as "Singles" hyped the Seattle scene until it became a parody of itself. The media have seemed to tire of Seattle and have moved on to search for the next music scene.