For the first time in four years, as The Evergreen State College kicked off its fall quarter last Monday, I was not sitting in a fishbowl or seminar space. For the first time in four years I was not surrounded by liberal-minded vegans headstrong in their visions of world peace and armpit hair for all. For the first time in four years, I wasn’t even in Olympia.

Nope. Up to my ears in work at my desk, I was miles from Olympia — at least physically.



But thanks to a number of visionary, artistic, and influential people who’ve — for one reason or another — decided to hunker down in Olympia and go all DIY over the years, Olympia has made its mark on the world, and especially indie music. In that sense, I was as close to Olympia as ever.



No label has played more of a role in this than K Records, and no person more than Calvin Johnson.



In September of 1982, just like this year, leftist students were no doubt flocking back to Olympia for another nine months of study at The Evergreen State College. Much like this year, Ellison and Emerson were probably on most of their reading lists. And much like this year, with abundance of weirdoes, musicians, and artists, the recipe for unabashed creation was ripe.



In September of 1982, Calvin Johnson formed K Records. This September marks 25 years of that vision. Depending on whom you ask, Johnson is either an indie demigod — to be worshipped at every opportunity, or a self created enigma — an ultra geek who somehow convinced the entire world he knows what’s cool.



Either way, the influence of K Records and Calvin Johnson on the world of indie music is undeniable. Without people like Johnson, we’d still be in the hair band dark ages. Without Johnson and K Records specifically, at least 150 artists — strange and varied — would have had to find another friendly ear to put out their music.     



K Records, in its infancy, was created to provide an outlet for the music of Johnson and his friends in Olympia. Originally, K was a cassette tape label, taking advantage of the blossoming technology in the time of Walkmans and “ghetto-blasters.”  The first K release was “Survival of the Coolest,” by the Supreme Cool Beings in 1982. While it didn’t take long for K to expand (in 1984 releasing Beat Happenings’ 45 “Our Secret” b/w “What’s Important”), the purpose of K is the same today as it was 25 years ago.



“We are not in the entertainment biz. K is a library card for the culturally deadpan ... hometaping is a required course. Johnny Appleseed had the right idea: homegrown tastes best, decentralize the means and distribution of your sustenance, cultivate strains outside the Petri dish of corporate culture,” states the label’s Web site.



“(What K’s influence has been) isn’t really for me to say. I leave that up to the rock critics,” explains Johnson by phone.



“We’ve worked with a quite a number of visionary artists. We’ve worked with inspirational artists. And we’ve been privileged.



“I’ve always been very interested in looking at music from a regional perspective,” continues Johnson.



“Olympia seems like the right place to be. I’m from here. If K wasn’t in Olympia, it would still work, but it’d be different.”



Never a label to rest on its laurels, expect K to stay busy for years to come. In the coming months look for new releases from Old Time Relijun, Saturday Looks Good to Me, Pine Hill Haints, Jeremy Jay, and Tender Forever.



While the storied days of Olympia’s indie music scene may mostly be talked about in the past tense these days, and much has changed in the music business since 1982, some things seem eternal. K will continue to be the model for the DIY approach to running a successful record label, and Johnson will continue to be in control. It’s what he does best — and why he’s lasted 25 years.



Happy birthday to K.