Music of Olympia, Washington

A young woman with short dark hair, holding a paper cup

Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney in Olympia, between 1994 and 2001

The port city of Olympia, Washington, has been a center of post-hardcore, anti-folk, indie rock and other youth-oriented musical genres since the late 1970s. Before this period, Olympia's The Fleetwoods had several Billboard chart successes between 1959 and 1963. Olympia saw a rise in feminism in the music industry, where artists commonly addressed rape, domestic abuse, sexuality, racism, patriarchy, classism, anarchism, and female empowerment in their songs. It was a center for the riot grrrl movement of the early 1990s, which featured Bikini Kill and Bratmobile.

Olympia's downtown Capitol Theater hosted the punk and indie-rock International Pop Underground Convention in 1991 and the Yoyo-A-Go-Go festival in 1994, 1997, 1999 and 2001. The city has several record labels and companies, including K Records and Kill Rock Stars; Kill Rock Stars has signed Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, Unwound and Elliott Smith.

Notable musicians and groups

• Bangs, part of the riot grrrl movement, formed in 1997 and were active until 2010. Kill Rock Stars signed the band.
• Beat Happening, which formed in 1983, played lo-fi music.
• Bikini Kill, which formed in 1990 as pioneers of the riot grrrl movement, released several EPs and two albums.
• The Blow, founded in 2001, deliver Olympia-influenced monologues.
• Bratmobile played punk and early riot grrrl music from 1991 to 2003.
• Cool Rays, formed by Evergreen State College students, active 1980-1981.
• Lois Maffeo was most active during the early 1990s.
• Dub Narcotic Sound System, formed in 1995, was signed to K Records.
• Earth, 1989–1997, 2003–present.
• Excuse 17 recorded from 1993 to 1995.
• Fitz of Depression punk band formed in 1989, active until 2019. Released work on K and Kill Rock Stars.
• The Fleetwoods, a vocal pop group, recorded "Come Softly to Me" (their debut single and biggest hit) in 1959.
• The Frumpies, a lo-fi punk rock band, formed in 1992 and split in 2000.
• G.L.O.S.S. was a trans-feminist hardcore punk band which formed in 2014 and split in 2016.
• godheadSilo, a noise rock duo which first formed in 1991 and reformed in 2015, focusing on stoner rock and sludge metal.
• The Go Team was a duo which was active from 1985 to 1989.
• Gossip was active from 1999 to 2016, and participated in Olympia's 2000 Ladyfest.
• Heavens to Betsy was a punk duo which formed during the early 1990s.
• Lync was a post-hardcore band active from 1992 to 1994.
• Milk Music was a four-member band founded in 2008.
• The Microphones was a project fronted by Phil Elverum that lasted from 1996 to 2003.
• The Need, a queercore band formed in the mid-1990s, was signed to the Kill Rock Stars label and was active until 2001.
• The Old Haunts, formed in 2001, was also signed to the Kill Rock Stars label.
• Sleater-Kinney, originally part of the riot grrrl movement, have been active since 1994.
• Team Dresch, a queercore/punk band formed in 1993.
• Trans FX, a rock band formed in 2011.
• Wynne Greenwood performed electropop music as Tracy + the Plastics during the early 2000s via video projection.
• Unwound, a post-hardcore band, was active from 1991 to 2002. They have since reunited in 2022.

Radio stations

• KAOS Olympia Community Radio 89.3 FM
• KXXO

Record labels

• K Records (founded 1982)
• Kill Rock Stars (founded 1991)

Music festivals and events

• Yoyo A Go Go (1994–2001)
• Ladyfest (2000)
• The International Pop Underground Convention (1991)
• Girls to the Front (1991).