Save Everett’s Fledgling All-Ages Scene
By Justine-Marie
UPDATE: The Seattle Times ran a story on July 5. I’m copying it below because of silly registration that’s a pain: here’s a copy or the actual times page
UPDATE: Rumor has it that the Seattle Times may be doing a story on the House - more info as available.
UPDATE: Councilwoman Brenda Stonecipher has responded!
When MercurialSound started, we began it in the boring town of Lake Stevens: about 40 minutes north of Seattle, the kind of city made up of housing developments with no real downtown. The closest city we had was Everett: and Everett had no real music scene. So we drove down to Seattle, almost every weekend, show after show after show.
Today I’m in college in Seattle, and MercurialSound is run by high schoolers and college students, from Tacoma to Stanwood. But imagine my delight to find out that a venue committed to hosting all-ages shows had opened in Everett, but 10 minutes away from my hometown? The House is pretty much my 16-year-old sister’s favorite place- and rightly so! I wish I had that place when I was in high school! Unfortunately, according to City of Everett Ordinance 2899-06, the House shouldn’t be hosting all-ages shows at all.
This is ridiculous. Sound familiar to anyone? Seattle had it’s own troubles with a Teen Dance Ordinance that basically stomped on Seattle’s all-ages music scene, which was repealed and replaced with the much better “All-Ages Dance Ordinance.” Everett’s law permits 21+ nightclubs, but singles out “Teen clubs.” Hopefully, Everett, too, will open it’s downtown to underage music.
How You Can Help
Documents - The Ordinance Itself (+ More Soon!)
Arguments for All-Ages Music
Send in your letters to Mercurial Sound
Already, <21ers, parents, bands, promoters, and others in the Everett area are prepping to fix this law. Here’s how you can help:
1)Sign the petition - either find one circulating in your area, at your school or a venue, or start circulating one yourself. A copy of the petition can be downloaded here. Once it’s filled, mail it to Dean at the House (2818 Wetmore, Everett, WA 98201).
2)Get the word out. Tell your friends, bands you know, the school newspaper, your parents, promoters, reporters, anyone who cares about youth and youth issues. Feel free to forward them to this page.
3)Contact the city council members. Make sure you’re polite and respectful - but be firm and explain yourself clearly. Everett is not the first city to deal with these issues: with persistance, they can be convinced.
4)Go to the city council meetings, and bring up the need for an all-ages music venue.
5)Keep going to shows! The presense of a growing music community in the area is the issue, and the more people showing up, booking, playing, the more difficult it is to ignore you.
For the details, you might want to look into these documents:
Ordinance pg1
Ordinance pg2
Ordinance pg3
Ordinance pg4
Ordinance pg5
Ordinance pg6
1)Music is a valuable commitment. I’ve met kids running their own production companies, racking up minutes on the cell phone mom and dad gave them so they could keep tabs on them, but running a veritable company that has to turn a profit. They make connections with bands, show owners, artists: it’s real business, alot more interesting than anything they could do in FBLA. I’ve met teenagers who do screenprinting in the garage, on the cheap for bands they know. And I’ve met many many bands with talent, ambition, connections, and dedication. Look at this website. Alec was 16 when he coded this. I was 17 when I wrote my first article. Tristan is 20, and booking his first show. The experiences people I know have gotten, whether from being in bands, volunteering at The Vera, or writing for this website, is the kind of experience we actually put on college applications.
2)Music = Not Drugs. And almost anything that is Not Drugs that teens are doing is a good thing. They might counter that Rock and Roll comes along with drugs, and well, it is true that “Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll” are united enough to have their own cliche phrase. However, the same thing could be said about drugs and high school. Drugs are a fact of life for the 15-whatever crowd (When do drugs stop being absolutely ubiquitous? Can someone who has grown out of this tell me?) . The fact is, those truly commited to music make a real commitment to it. Band practice, scheduling dates, putting together a CD, making tee-shirts, promoting the show - it takes dedication. High people just sit around and laugh at… anything.
3)Music is art, and art is a valuable part of our culture. My dad has always told me “Rock and Roll” is a young man’s music. But adults, to this day, listen back to the music of their youth with fond memories. Music shaped their experience growing up, and gave them the tools to shape their experience themselves. Today’s kids deserve to have the same memories, to express themselves with music, and create something worthwhile.
4)Where else are the bands going to go? Underagers are going to form bands, they are going to want to play shows, and if there isn’t a venue, they’re going to go elsewhere. They can put on a show in their garage while Mom and Dad are out of town, without supervision, angering the neighbors until the police are called, or they can have a safe respected controlled music venue.
5)Everett is also going through a process of downtown revitalization. Look at the shops, and most prominantly, look at that enormous stadium. The Everett Events Center has proven that Everett is developing a real city culture and downtown climate. Everett had it’s first ever music festival last weekend: and a central element to any music scene is the underagers, who live and breathe for the music. If Everett wants to develop it’s growing community, let’s see an Everett music scene grow out of this.
6)Brittany Says: Music communities are intergenerational. Many bands don’t particularly like playing 21+ shows because not everyone who wants to can attend. They would also rather go to a show with a bunch of younger people included than play to a bar of people sitting around drinking. They like to see all kinds of people at shows. I’ve heard bands comment that there is generally a lot more enthusiam with younger crowds and that older people get a lot more enthusiastic when there are younger people around as well. Plus, parents can and do bring their kids.
Have your own arguments? Submit your own (respectful, thoughtful) arguments, and I’ll post them below. Email editors@mercurialsound.com with your letter, your name, your age if you’d like, and how you’re connected (love going to shows, in a band, a parent). I’m particularly interested to hear people’s own experiences. Hopefully we’ll have a long list of letters to serve up to the city council.
Sent by Justine to the City Council
Dear Council Members,
I am an 18 year old University of Washington student. I grew up in the Everett area, am a Snohomish county voter, and I love music.
When I was in high school, I spent every weekend making late-night drives to downtown Seattle, Redmond, and other cities in our area that supported youth music. While it was probably not the best idea to be driving home in the early morning hours, exhausted from hours of dancing and singing, I think my parents were just glad I didn’t stay for the in-town entertainment. What is there that’s cool in the towns around Everett for high schoolers? There were certainly a lot of parties. As for things parents could approve of, Snohomish had the skate park, and that was cool for skaters, but what about the kids in bands?
I was so excited to hear that the House had opened its doors on Wetmore for my 16-year old sister and her friends. They’re down there almost every weekend, meeting bands, helping with the venue, and loving muic. This is what the Everett area needed for it’s youth. All of a sudden, bands that were driving their neighbors crazy putting on performances in the garage had a real venue to go to play at. Kids started putting together production companies of their own, to coordinate shows and bands. They started making contacts with labels, selling T-shirts, and developing a fan base. And all those fans finally had somewhere to go on Friday nights.
I’ve been getting messages about the House being shut down, and I think that’s a terrible disservice to Everett’s youth. Redmond has the Old Firehouse. Seattle has The Vera Project AND the Paradox. Bellevue has Ground Zero, and Anacortes has the Department of Safety. All of the venues are drug-free, always all-ages, and have developed strong communities of commited teens.
Downtown Everett is going through an exciting period of revitalization. The Events center is a great place for large events, there are great bars for adults, and there are wonderful parks and the Childen’s Museum for kids. But what are you, the city council, going to support for the teenagers?
Thank you,
Justine Sherry
www.mercurialsound.com
“For music fans, The House party may end
By Yamiche Léone Alcindor
Times Snohomish County Bureau
Snohomish County already can be a frustrating place for young adults looking for live entertainment on a Friday or Saturday night, and now an all-ages venue being run with them in mind may be forced to close.
The House, in downtown Everett, has become a popular gathering spot for young people who like to dance and hear local bands, but city officials say the old building fails to meet safety-code requirements.
Meanwhile, some college-age residents complain Snohomish County has little else to offer those in their late teens and early 20s looking for a place to get together and party. They say that to meet new people and listen to live music, they have to head for Seattle.
“Honestly, if you’re in Everett and Snohomish, there’s nothing to do,” said Ailda Mulliken, 18, of Everett.
Mulliken and a friend sometimes walk around downtown Seattle in search of a party, she said.
Students at both Edmonds and Everett community colleges agree: Snohomish County is in dire need of a meeting place for young people.
“There’s not really anything exciting to do in town,” said Elif Cakir, 24, a student at Edmonds CC. She, too, said students interested in live music and a place where they can meet new people are forced to go to Seattle.
Students stressed by daytime classes and evening work schedules could use a social setting closer to home, Cakir said.
“It’s really dull here,” Cakir said. She hopes someday to go to school and party in the same city.
“Most people just hang out at each other’s houses,” said Tiffany Wright, 18, a student at Everett CC.
Outdoor activities are big for young people in Snohomish County, where waterfalls, campgrounds and hiking trails are just a few miles away, she said. Some students gather at bonfires or go hiking.
But Wright said the county is also home to lots of young music fans whose appetites are ignored.
For them, she said, most Friday nights are spent at parties given by students or with friends hanging out at someone’s house.
Aware of the lack of entertainment for young adults, Dean Summers opened The House, an all-ages restaurant and coffee shop that features live music. For the past year, The House has been a place where young people could go to dance and party with others their age. Local bands practice and perform there.
Tony Bouphavong, 18, of Everett, has been hanging out at The House since it opened. Before, to see live bands, he and his friends had to travel to often-pricey shows in Seattle, he said.
The House gave him a place to hang out on the weekends with people his age, Bouphavong said.
The House is a meeting place for kids around the county, said Mulliken, who has met a number of people there.
The interior of The House resembles a 1960s hangout, complete with Beatles records and colored lights. Old records line the walls of the dimly lit main room that has space for as many as 150 people. The former American Legion building has four floors that Summers hopes he can one day put to use as a multistory club and restaurant.
However, according to Leslie Tidball of the city of Everett, Summers has not complied with regulations to safely operate the building. It lacks a required sprinkler system and has structural problems that need to be fixed, she said.
Until The House complies with fire codes, Summers will have to discontinue events in the building, according to Tidball.
Summers said he plans to close sometime in mid-July and claims the city is giving him a runaround because it doesn’t want an establishment like his in downtown Everett.
Tidball denied that, saying The House would be fine if Summers complied with the city’s fire codes.
To The House’s young patrons, it’s the only venue that welcomes them.
“I really look forward to Saturday nights at The House,” Bouphavong said. “I feel like The House is the only venue for young people to embrace music and enjoy life. We’re all thankful to have a place to go around here.”
Mulliken agrees.
“Kids need a place to go,” she said.”