Most music fans have heard of the Seattle Scene — Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden. But there was another music scene in Washington state, that produced the likes of Sweet Madness, The Pop Tarts, Terror Couple, and Strangulation. A scene heretofore undocumented and taking place in — Spokane, Washington.
Spokanarchy! is a new documentary chronicling the story of Spokane’s punk rock scene from the late ‘70s to the lates ‘80s. The film screened at the Uptown cinema in mid-January (it’s been making the rounds of film festivals, and won the Best Director award at the Alaska International Film Festival), and is scheduled for a longer run at the Grand Illusion Cinema February 10-16.
The filmmakers (five are credited as co-directors; David W. Halsell, Theresa Halsell, Erica K. Schisler, Heather Swanstrom, and Jon Swanstrom) were participants in the scene they’re documenting, which helps them to present an insider’s perspective. The “big city” of Seattle was seen as decidedly provincial in those pre-Microsoft/pre-Amazon days, and Spokane, as everyone readily concedes, was even further behind the times.
Yet, even in an environment seemingly bereft of cultural resources, there will always be a few hardy souls who are motivated enough to create something different. In Spokane, the story starts with Jan Gregor, and his band Sweet Madness, who in true DIY fashion were forced to create their own music scene from the ground floor up; finding venues, putting on shows, and thus inspiring others to do the same. Eventually, a small community of like-minded souls came together, and a scene began to flourish.
Punk rockers/new wavers faced the same difficulties in Spokane as in other cities, mainly harassment from the locals and shows shut down by the authorities. Yet the participants persevered; doing something was always better than doing nothing. But it also remained something of an insular scene; some people that moved away ended up returning, when they found the outside world to be too unappealing (the poor Vampire Lezbos had their van catch on fire when they first left town on tour). Drugs infiltrated the scene, with the usual devastating results. No superstars were born here, though some of the players did eventually find greener creative pastures. Jan Gregor ended up managing the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow for a period. Charlie Schmidt created the infamous Keyboard Cat. Francois Haraldson moved to LA and formed Motorcycle Boy.
The good-natured interviewees all provide candid, self-deprecating commentary. Yet this film will probably be of most interest to those that either experienced the scene, or those who have a historical interest in small town music scenes (even though Spokane’s size officially makes it a “city," it’s striking how many interviewees refer to its “small town attitude”). The film doesn’t quite have the broad appeal of Penelope Spheeris’ Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years for example, a study of rock ‘n’ roll excess that even appealed to non-metal fans, in part because there were some big names in the film.
But there is another element of interest; its look at how information was exchanged in those pre-internet days. Bands might have been influenced by what acts in New York, LA and England were doing, but it took much longer to find out exactly what that was, given that radio stations rarely played punk, there were few record stores carrying the records, and you had to wait weeks for the latest issue of Melody Maker to arrive in the mail. Yet this very isolation allowed scenes to truly develop their own distinctive character; it wasn't simply about emulating what the big shots were doing.
There's an accompanying soundtrack (available both on CD and red vinyl), and the film's already available on DVD. You can order these and other items at the film’s website, which is chockfull of information, including bios and sound clips of the bands which are great fun to explore.
Or check out the film at the Grand Illusion, February 10-16. Screenings are Mon.-Thurs. 7 pm; Fri. 7 pm and 9 pm; Sat. 5 pm, 7 pm, and 9 pm; Sun. 5 pm. There will be a special Q&A with David Halsell on February 11, 8:30 pm.
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