Lindner envisions No Tomorrow--which debuted in February--as "an atmosphere of surreality: a sensory mindfuck. It's a serious task to engineer an environment with limited credibility and resources for a city notoriously resistant to new things, and then to do so every week." Despite these obstacles and the sparse turnouts the last few weeks, Lindner thinks No Tomorrow is succeeding.
"Seattle has had a burgeoning experimental-music scene since I've lived here," Lindner says, "and there's an established core audience for it. We have a good mix of musicians, label owners, DJs, and fans. They're very excited to see this kind of night in a venue that isn't a cafe or an art gallery, and that has the trappings of legitimacy. The problem has been capturing the attention of those outside of that crowd. [But we] have pulled in more people consistently than any other noise-related event here in town."
Stranger Personals
Helping Lindner to manifest his vision are resident DJs Tawney, I. Neuroshard, and Oblique, and video-artist collective LowRez. "For DJs, I looked for texture and contrast, and how they would assist in engineering the environment," Lindner says. "I envisioned each event to progress as a crescendo of sound, starting off eerie and ominous, and then building momentum throughout the night to a loud, noisy, and rhythmic climax. I looked for DJs who could find the middle ground between known territory and the unexplored."
Those accustomed to Baltic Room's party-centric vibe may be taken aback by No Tomorrow's darker mood there. "It can be a little awkward when someone expecting house music wanders in and is hit by waves of undulating bass frequencies, surging walls of distorted sound, and hallucinatory visual stimulus," Lindner says. "But maybe it could do them some good."
For her part, DJ Tawney hopes there will be many tomorrows for No Tomorrow. "This is the first time I've been to the same place more than three times in a row without a statement like 'bring down the noise, bring up the dance.' I never completely understood how those were mutually exclusive anyway."
"We're looking for artists who are pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable as music," Lindner concludes. "That's essentially the purpose of the night--to provide these kinds of performers with a venue and an audience. With Seattle's second Decibel and Noise festivals in the works, I think it's proof that we are part of something bigger. If we are doing our part to advance people's perception of musicality, we are achieving our goal." DAVE SEGAL
No Tomorrow, Sundays at Baltic Room, 1207 E Pine St, 625-4444, 9 pm-2 am, 21+, $3-$5.
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