Olympia, Washington is an odd, beautiful town. With a population just under 50,000, its the home of The Evergreen State College, an “experimental” liberal arts  college that functions without the use of a traditional grading system, nezzled deep within the forest. The school is also known as the breeding ground from which K Records emerged in the early 1980′s.

K is as equally odd and beautiful as its hometown, self-described as “a conspiracy of gravediggers, spies, swim instructors and international pop stars.” K’s catalogue is a sweaty, sexy, messy-haired pile of human tambourines, crooning bards with acoustic guitars, and elvin pop starlettes, exploding the teenage underground into passionate revolt against the corporate ogre.  The label is home to such acts as Beat Happening, Kimya Dawson, The Blow, Old Time Relijun, Little Wings, Mahjongg, Mirah, The Microphones, and dozens more. With passers-through such as Beck, Modest Mouse, Built to Spill, and Miranda July. Somehow, for as various in sound and style, the artists recording at K all manage to reflect their own sonic adaptation of the wild, giggling woods that surround Olympia.

I had the pleasure of spending some time in this furry town back in August of ’10, and while there seemed to do nothing but walk around slowly, eat tons of eggs, see live music, and keep my camera rolling. The locals were kind, inviting, and talented. Meet Kendl Winter, an Arkansas transplant & Angelo Spencer, a French boy who likes to run barefoot. Both on the K squad, and both call Olympia home.