International Pop Underground Convention

The International Pop Underground Convention (or IPU) was a 1991 punk and alternative rock music festival in Olympia, Washington. The six-day convention centered on a series of performances at the Capitol Theater. Throughout August 20–25, 1991, an exceptionally large number of independent bands played, mingled and collaborated at the Capitol and other venues within the Olympia music scene. A compilation of live music from the event was released later by the local record label K Records.

The Convention was organized largely by musician and K Records owners Calvin Johnson and Candice Pedersen. An active participant in the local music scene, Johnson also performed at the event as part of the group Beat Happening. The concept of the festival grew from more modest K Records events like all-night dance parties and barbecues at Pedersen's home on Steamboat Island. Few people expected it to succeed, or achieve much recognition: as Johnson explains, "It was sort of an audacious idea of doing something like that. We had hardly sold any records ever, and no one had ever cared much about anything that we did. It just seemed like if just the people who made the music showed up, that would be a success."

The theme of the festival focused on the artists' independence, self-sufficiency, and DIY ethic: the entire affair manifested a "fierce resistance to corporate takeover." As described by Bratmobile singer Allison Wolfe, "The whole point of what we were doing was DIY, create it yourself, taking over the means of production for ourselves, and creating something ourselves."

Stylistically the Convention resembled more of a public party than a commercial concert series. As festival organizer and K Records co-founder Candice Pedersen said, "It was a way to combine music and dancing and fun without all the pseudo-business stuff.... We tried to keep passes as low as possible, thirty-five dollars for five days, just enough to make sure the bands and venues got paid. It was really very community oriented.... A lot of people came and didn't pay and just hung out. And that was totally encouraged; if you wanted to be there, you were part of the community."

...
Wikipedia