blecha.jpgThis week, Seattle’s Experience Music Project marks its eighth birthday. Much has changed inside the shiny, critic-polarizing hulk since 2000—the addition of a not-exactly-related Science Fiction Museum comes to mind—but the focus is still on the “exploration of creativity and innovation in popular music.” Curious about its origins and evolution, Sound asked local music historian, “rock archaeologist” and original EMP curator Peter Blecha how it all came together. The former Paul Allen employee—whose next book, SONIC BOOM! The Northwest Rock Explosion, will be published later this year—graciously enlightened us.

SEATTLE SOUND: What did the EMP “Curator” title entail?
PETER BLECHA: I was fortunate enough to be hired by the museum project in 1992, when the team of consultants was only about a half-dozen people; I was the first “music person” brought aboard. From a position as “archival consultant” I was [eventually] promoted to Senior Curator. The role allowed me to lead Collections Development (locating, authenticating and acquiring around 100,000 musical artifacts), initiate the Institutional Archives and Oral History programs (acquiring audio/video gear, hiring freelance A/V teams, identify worthy music biz figures to interview) and conduct interviews with musicians themselves.

Once we had suitable artifacts and interviews in hand, I led the development of two long-term exhibits (Northwest Passage and Quest For Volume), along with co-curating the Jimi Hendrix gallery. I also served as an EMP spokesperson in media interviews and helped dream up the Grand Opening concerts.

SS: How did you “dream up” the concerts?
PB: A bunch of us on the team began with the premise that the concerts and events should tie-in conceptually to the content of the museum—that each of the inaugural gallery exhibits should be represented by live music events. For example, there was the “Northwest Legends” show and all the local bands (Screaming Trees, Queensrÿche, Young Fresh Fellows, Fastbacks, Built To Spill, TKO, Rail, Viceroys, Ann & Nancy Wilson, Sir Mix-A-Lot, etc.) who were booked in relation to the Northwest Passage exhibit. A lot of the hip-hop stars were brought in because the museum had an awesome rap exhibit called Street Beat. And on and on. As planning progressed, additional acts were hired to round things out and to help create a bigger draw.

SS: So what kind of a boss is Paul Allen?
PB: I never worked under Paul’s direct supervision—EMP was but one of his many ongoing projects. I did, however, participate in many meetings where we brainstormed with him and then presented him with periodic progress updates. Paul is a good guy, a demanding leader who expected excellence from his crew, and I was always treated well. As a rusty drummer I enjoyed the times when we jammed together in a thrown-together band for company parties, sometimes under the name “The Bellevue Squares.”

SS: What does Allen play?
PB: A loud, bluesy, electric guitar.

SS: Where do you side in the love/hate-that-smashed-guitar-Gehry-design argument?
PB: Well, I always liked the radical aspect of the exterior design—although I never took very seriously Gehry’s claim that it was inspired by a pile of broken electric guitars. Whatever.

The interior is a whole ‘nother matter, however. The challenge of mounting exhibits into galleries that have no right-angles (or flat walls) is one that will likely plague generations of curators to come.

SS: How did you feel walking through the museum just before it opened?
PB: I was truly euphoric. The project had begun in 1992 with a general goal of opening a 10,000 square-foot gallery within a couple years. But, as the museum concept expanded—the crew ultimately grew to 500+ employees—the developmental phase dragged out to a long 7.5 years! So I was personally thrilled that we’d finally reached the Grand Opening milestone, but also very proud of the whole team’s amazing efforts to get the place up and operational.

SS: Did you attend any of the Grand Opening shows?
PB: I came early each day and stayed late. Those days were some of the most exciting of my life. I have many indelible memories; being assigned to escort the lovely Sheryl Crow arm-in-arm down the red carpet/media gauntlet; seeing [all those] performers; having a Sonics tribute band (the Strychnines) slyly dedicate that band’s non-LP classic, “The Hustler,” to little ‘ol me! But the biggest thrill was helping introduce the day-long “Northwest Legends” show, featuring the best local 1960s rock bands (including the Ventures, Paul Revere & the Raiders, the Wailers, the Kingsmen, Little Bill, Merrilee Rush—and an ultra-rare reunion by the Dynamics) that drew 10,000-plus fans to the Mural Amphitheater.

The only possible let-down was the fact that we simply could not get the actual Sonics to reunite, although their guitarist and bassist, Larry & Andy Parypa, thankfully showed up and hung out backstage with all their old peers and pals.

SS: What did you think of Seattle’s—and the media’s—response to the celebration?
PB: The local, national and international media coverage was overwhelmingly positive. Although publicity leading up to the Grand Opening had been mixed—the building itself made good grist for critical commentary; our salute to Jimi Hendrix brought crabby conservatives out of the woodwork complaining to reporters about “glorifying a drug addict;” and people understandably wondered whether we would be sterilizing rock ‘n’ roll by giving it the “museum treatment,”—by the time EMP actually opened, the initial reviews were very rewarding.

SS: Could anyone have foreseen the museum’s financial struggles?
PB: I’m not sure, but what I do know is that soon after leaving in mid-2001 I began to observe a significant shift in curatorial direction. I don’t know if (or how much) this impacted the museum’s financial health, but EMP seemed to begin focusing less on the “history of music”—or even music-making itself—and started drifting towards an art museum approach. Some of their exhibits had avoidable flaws. Overall, EMP seemed to be shifting from music to the art-of-music, and then even to art-without-music (when they shoehorned in an exhibit of Paul Allen’s collection of old fine-art oil paintings, which lacked any discernable relevance whatsoever).

By going down such wayward paths—an exhibit about the music of Disney, anyone?—EMP’s public image became murkier. Then, when EMP permanently handed over significant gallery space to the founding of the (admittedly very cool) Science Fiction Museum, it confused things further. The upside is that a lot of curatorial deadwood has since been wisely lobbed off, and a few more-recent exhibits—such as Jasen Emmons’ “American Sabor!” and Jacob McMurray’s Sci-Fi shows “Out of this World” and “Alien Encounters”—have, in my opinion, been excellent.

SS: How would you suggest the current curators reinvigorate the museum’s music side?
PB: I think that the few curators who remain there are doing just fine given the circumstances. I do know that plenty of local music fans wish that more programming could be done there regarding other Northwest bands and their musical history. Any museum-planning expert will tell you that repeat visits by locals is the key to success for any such institution. So while the Northwest Passage gallery covers a lot of ground, EMP still has many thousands of artifacts related to so many more fascinating stories that haven’t yet been presented there.

Instead, when we see exhibits like the Disney one being mounted, it sorta signals that the museum’s leadership is flailing in an understandable attempt to broaden their audience base. Lots of museums seem to think that by producing a “blockbuster” show based on an artist or concept which has a potentially huge marquee draw, it will solve all their problems. But that approach also makes one wonder if exhibits on superstars like Elvis, Dylan, the Beatles, Madonna, Prince, Garth Brooks and the like won’t ultimately elbow out others about less-well known “underdog” artists and musical art movements that are edgier, fresher and more interesting.

SS: Do you still have an active role at the EMP?
PB: No. Although I left EMP (by choice, and in good graces) in order to work as a Contributing Editor at HistoryLink.org and focus on penning books, I do still enjoy active friendships with a good number of the museum’s team and I retain high hopes for its success.