The northwest music scene was about substance, not style. Following that credo, Northwest Passage's first goal is to deliver quality content on our website and social media channels.
Northwest Passage is a content-driven website. Ultimately, the success of this project will depend on the quality of our website and social media content.
Basically any subject that covers the so-called “Seattle” or “grunge” scene as a whole or one of its bands is fair game for coverage on Northwest Passage. The focus should remain on the music, however, and not on irrelevant personal details or gossip.
So-called grunge “fashion” and Kurt Cobain murder conspiracies are two topics which will not be discussed on Northwest Passage.
A complete list of bands would be far too exhaustive to include here. Generally speaking, most regional rock bands from the 1983-1994 range are covered, especially bands on the main regional record labels Sub Pop, Up, C/Z, K and PopLlama. Current bands that formed after this period are NOT typically covered unless they involve prominent members of bands of the aforementioned 1983-1994 era. For example, Vaporland, which includes members of Love Battery, Screaming Trees, and TAD, is covered by Northwest Passage, but Kinski (a Seattle band formed in 1998 with no direct ties to the grunge era) is not.
Northwest Passage also does not cover other acts that became associated with grunge but had little to do with the northwest music scene. Examples of such bands include Smashing Pumpkins, Silverchair, Bush or Stone Temple Pilots.
Northwest Passage aims to inform and promote the northwest music scene, without being patronizing. We want to be respectful to the bands and musicians, without being fawning and sycophantic. We want to promote our website content, without being too self-serving.
Using a casual and conversational voice, we look to build rapport with the audience, educating our audience without patronizing them. We will use humor, we will use self-deprecation, but we won’t take this project too seriously. After all, this should be a fun topic, and our writing should reflect that.
The following statements encompass the Northwest Passage voice:
In an effort to show authenticity, Northwest Passage’s tone should be informal; humor and self-depreciation can be used on occasion. But tragic events, such as deaths, should always be treated seriously and respectfully.
Avoid describing music or bands as “grunge.” Grunge was always a misnomer, used as a blanket descriptor of seemingly any music coming from the region in the time, no matter that many bands did not fit the label and most bands hated being called “grunge.” “Grunge-era” can be used sparingly as an adjective, as while there is discrepancy over what grunge is, there is a general consensus on when the grunge era took place.
Avoid referring to the “Seattle scene.” Many of the key bands indeed came from Seattle, but many also came from places like Portland, Tacoma, Olympia, Boise and Bellingham. As this site aims to cover the whole region and not just “Seattle”, do not use “Seattle scene” as a general term. However, it may be used to describe only a specific part (e.g. Bikini Kill was an integral part of the Olympia music scene).
Use “Riot grrrl” correctly. “Riot grrrl” is spelled with no i in and three r’s, and should only be used for bands that identified under the movement (e.g. Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, Bratmobile). It is not used to describe bands that did not identify as riot grrrl just because they have female members (e.g. Seven Year Bitch, the Gits).
We use search engine optimization as a means to expand our reach online. We do not use it to trick search engines into giving us better search results.
Here are some techniques we should use to assist in these efforts: