Bruce Pavitt
| Bruce Pavitt | |
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Bruce Pavitt, 2015
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| Background information | |
| Born | March 7, 1959 |
| Origin | Olympia, Washington, U.S. |
| Genres | Indie |
| Occupation(s) | Founder |
| Years active | 1980–1996 |
| Labels | Sub Pop |
| Website | www.brucepavitt.com |
Bruce S. Pavitt (born March 7, 1959) is an American music historian, critic, DJ, speaker, author, founder of Sub Pop, and co-founder and current Creative Director of 8Stem.
He is most famous for helping cultivate the Grunge music phenomenon in the early 1990s. Pavitt not only released the first albums by Soundgarden, Mudhoney, and Nirvana, but equally important, built a compelling narrative of the Seattle Music Scene in the international press that captured the world’s imagination.
Pavitt was born in Chicago, and grew up in suburban Park Forest, Illinois, the second of six kids to Robert and Ruth Pavitt. He became interested in music at a young age (Motown in neighboring Detroit was a huge influence) and showed early signs of being a music entrepreneur. At age 9, he sold Christmas cards door-to-door in the summer heat to earn money for a record player. Soon after, he bought his first record, The Beatles, "Revolution". Seeing an opportunity, Pavitt continued to work odd jobs and used his earnings to buy records that he would later re-sell at school.
His interest in music deepened in 1977 when he discovered Devo, then an obscure punk band from the industrial city of Akron, Ohio. Around this time, he also picked up a local fanzine called CLE, which featured an index of bands from all over Ohio. This epiphany lead to a lifetime pursuit of independently produced bands, artists, and localized culture.
“A lightbulb went off in my head; small towns and cities were capable of creating great art, great music. From the summer of 1977 onward, I started to hunt for regional independent records.”
Pavitt spent time at Wax Trax! Records in Chicago and read the Village Voice at the local library, where he would note the bands playing at CBGB. He also made a fateful friendship during this time: Kim Thayil (Soundgarden) was a neighbor, and later played in a band, Identity Crisis, with Pavitt’s younger brother, John.
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