It was in the back of this building, on the corner of Olympia St. and Washington St. in Olympia, Washington, in which the Pop Sweatshop was founded. Of course, you won't recognize it now, because the building has been sold and remodeled into office space, but at one time this space was home to some of Olympia's finest bands. Karp, Fitz of Depression, C Average, The Bangs, Tight Brothers From Way Back When, Polecat, Tripwire, Spiv, Metal Church and all kinds of bands used to play shows and rehearse there. I had a space in the back, and wanted a means to establish artistic freedom, and release my own records.

Olympia: It's the Water

     Taking my inspiration from K and Kill Rock Stars up the street, I embarked upon my own path, and decided to start a label and recording space in the back, and socialize and hang with the bands who rehearsed in the front. After a series of adventures yet to be published (or even typed) I was living in a van in front of the building at the time, and drinking my water from a underground spring that flowed from a pipe in the parking lot across the street. During the day I rehearsed with my band, and then worked in the studio at night. The corrugated metal siding would get so hot during the day that it was a tribal sweatlodge, and our skin would literally melt from the heat. We all would sweat profusely, and then go to the parking lot pipe to cool ourselves down. Lost all kinds of weight, wrote all kinds of songs.

     When it came time to name the label, the grueling conditions under which we worked, and the fact that the building itself so resembled a sweatshop, that it had to be it!! Add to that the riots in Seattle, growing tensions and concerns about sweatshop labor worldwide, issues such as the Napster debate, musician's rights, and the controversy over recording contracts and publishing rights that were happening at the time, and the name made sense.

     So, in just under a year, I went from living in a van, to a renter of a jam space, to living on the floor of a jam space, to renting an office, to the remodeler of the office, to remodeling the entire back of the building and living in a bohemian's dream loft/studio in the back, to the potential buyer of the building, and then back to living in the Stevie Ray Van (in my family since 1976). There were some complications (to say the least) with the building, and the deal didn't go through and I was back where I started. The very hour we were putting the final nail in the wall of the studio, a real estate agent informed us that the building was sold. We played some great shows, had some fantastic parties, made a few records and then it all came crashing down.

     The world headquarters of the Sweatshop was sold, and at least a dozen Olympia bands were forced to vacate their rehearsal rooms on May 15, 2000.

     Called a 'definitive blow to the scene' by the Sweatshop spokesman, these now homeless bands no longer have a 'rock and roll Disneyland...a twenty four hour 7 day a week crank as loud as you want jam reality...'

     The new owner who evicted the bands didn't get them to leave easily.

Late Night Jones

In 2001, Pop Sweatshop moved it's headquarters to the sunnier climes of Denver, Colorado. We built our own studio and production house so we can provide these services to our bands. We hope to be putting out music well into the future, and continue to make people happy with the power of music.

Chris Barber (Founder of Pop Sweatshop), Matt Johnston, and Andy Krahn, of the band God Knob, record at the Evergreen State College in 1991, helping to plant the seed of rock in Olympia.