John Roderick (the Long Winters):
Last winter, when it was freezing, I resolved that as soon as it got warm, I was going to completely insulate my house. Then summer came, and not only did I NOT insulate my house, I also gave away my car and resolved to be a year-round Vespa rider. Now it's winter again, icicles are forming in my kitchen, and I have to borrow my mom's car because I'm not hardcore enough to ride a Vespa in December. I want to be the kind of Northwest hippie who conserves energy, consumes responsibly, and lives sustainably, but what I really am is the kind of Northwest hippie who never follows through on his big plans and then has to borrow his mom's car.
P Smoov (Mad Rad, Fresh Espresso):
This year, Mad Rad broke three mics, two cars, one disco ball, three faces, one apartment lease, 15-plus laws, three MIDI controllers, one set of speakers, one table, 10 commandments, and several hearts. We regret these numbers not being higher.
Damien Jurado (Damien Jurado):
I regret leaving the flannel shirt I've had since I was 16 on the train from Victoria to Barcelona, Spain. I regret not talking more when I should have. I regret talking. I regret that I've become so paranoid. I regret Birmingham, England. I regret not learning Spanish. I regret that it's taken me 13 years to learn how to string a guitar. I regret admitting that.
John Van Deusen (the Lonely Forest):
I regret acting like a complete dumbass fanboy when I ran into Jeremy Enigk while buying video games at the mall. I'm pretty sure I weirded him out when I gave him that hug.
Matt Bishop (Hey Marseilles):
Hey Marseilles's collective regrets: Firing bottle rockets into a dry field of New Mexican grass on our way back from SXSW; consuming weed vodka at a popular local summer festival, playing volleyball, then not being able to play the set because weed vodka compels you to dive wrist-first into unexpectedly firm sand; consuming unnecessary amounts of whiskey and exclaiming to Dave Bazan/Cotton Jones Basket Ride/Eric Anderson that they are my songwriting heroes because "SERIOUSLY, your music is SO important to me, you don't even know"; finally getting that one girl home and falling asleep at the worst moment—twice.
Nouela Johnston (People Eating People):
I regret that I decided to give my friend's way-too-big fixed-gear bike a test run without a helmet, which resulted in a severe concussion from which I still get random pockets of fluid popping up in my forehead. I also regret the $1,400 hospital bill that I plan on ignoring for the rest of my life. I also regret working a desk job that involves typing and talking seven hours a day, which makes my voice raspy and my fingers hurt. Next year, I will probably regret answering this question on my lunch break and not thinking it through. I regret not thinking things through.
Kirk Huffman (Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, Wild Orchid Children):
Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground regret copping those gnarly 'shrooms outside the Metro in Chicago from that guy who looked like Del the Funky Homosapien. Whoa. We regret driving our van and double-axle trailer up John Street between 27th and 26th. We regret asking sound guys across the country if they want to come smoke weed, when what we mean by smoking weed is taking personal baseball-bat-sized blunts to the dome, then witnessing the aftermath that is said sound guy setting up 15 motherfuckers onstage. We also regret that so many of our friends moved to New York City then forgot how to have fun. We regret not funding a release this year with that dope money.
Andrew Harms (DJ at 107.7 The End):
I regret not getting up-to-date on my tetanus shot before the Capitol Hill Block Party. As that could reference a number of adventures that weekend, this particular instance revolves around my effort to find the best spot possible to watch Sonic Youth. My alcohol-Âfueled sense of adventure decided that climbing the roof of the Broadway Shell station would be the way to go. Great place to see the show, tough place to climb down from. I got cut up like an out-of-line '70s hooker.
Jason Josephes (booker at the Blue Moon):
I regret not getting Megan Seling's e-mail asking me for my regrets until hours before deadline and not being able to answer until after the worst airplane flight ever. Therefore, I regret flying Alaska Airlines. Sure, it was better than staying in Texas, but not by much. On a related note, there's a tire company in Texas that advertises using a guy with blackface, and I regret not getting a better picture. So there's that, too.
Jasen Samford (Exohxo):
Exohxo regrets the following: Leaving close to 300 CDs behind at our Other Ghosts CD-release show; not having a witty response when told to "lose the violins and turn up the guitars" and that "guitar rock is over"; playing a poorly planned Misfits vs. Stooges cover night (we do NOT, however, regret the immeasurable amount of ass we kicked with our Stooges covers); selling out of tickets to the Exohxo/Seattle Rock Orchestra show, thus preventing so many people from basking in the awesome; having the difficult task of rationing drink tickets among seven people.
Jason Smothers (Are you a cat?):
Are you a cat? regrets not hiring the hookers to strip during our show at the Comet. We regret ever taking the Comet gig at all. We regret not having played at Angie's yet. We regret not having a drink or two a week at Angie's. We regret getting fired from our blues gig at the Poggie Tavern. We regret not being familiar with any band we have ever been compared to. Josh regrets meeting Bernard Purdie. Jason regrets not being more adamant about taking Sharon Jones home after she kissed him on the mouth—a good one, mind you. We, along with Jared, regret spending all of our money on recreational... Josh regrets purchasing the pet T. rex—they only start small. Jason regrets not hearing back from Harmony Korine and Eugene Chadbourne; they missed a great meal. Mostly we regret not having put the FREE sign with contact info... on Jim Davis's car.
Sean Horton (Decibel Festival director):
I regret trying to curate, produce, promote, and fund a four-day, 15-venue festival that involved over 130 artists the same weekend that I got married. Though everything went miraculously well, it was the most stressful year of my life by a long shot. I regret missing nearly every act at the aforementioned festival, especially Frank Bretschneider, the Wighnomy Brothers, Robert Hood, Echospace, Boxcutter, Tim Exile, Move D, and Martyn, all of whom performed debut sets this year and aren't likely to ever return to Seattle. I regret having so little time to compose music. I regret being 34 years old and feeling like my creative life is fleeting. I regret the amount of time I've wasted on Facebook. I regret the poor economy and how negatively it's impacted nearly everyone around me. I regret the continued partisan gridlock that our president has succumbed to in Washington. I regret the incredible ignorance this country is displaying in relation to health-care reform. I regret the complacency of Democrats and their unwillingness to fight for the causes that got them elected in the first place. I regret having to spend over $6,000 on a beloved pet. I regret living in a city without an NBA team. Other than that, it's been a damn fine year.
Darlene Nordyke (Portable Shrines):
I regret not telling my dear sweet friend Don Durham how much I loved him and how much he meant to me before he chose to leave this planet. I regret not telling Deborah Mangold every single day how she is the best sister I could ever wish for. I regret falling down those stairs and all the problems that caused, but I never will regret falling on the ice while drinking Sparks with Cousin B before we ate too many mushrooms—that was the funnest night ever. I regret missing Blues Control, Little Claw, and Janina Angel Bath due to the aforementioned fall down the stairs and the resulting surgery. Sorry, dudes, next time. Finally, I regret the breakup of Backward Masks.
Emily Pothast (Midday Veil):
I regret not following through with my plan to open a pagan sex temple directly across the street from Mars Hill called "Venus Valley."
Marco Collins (Radio DJ, etc.):
After moving back to The Great Northwest, I regret missing every substantial reunion show in Seattle this year: Pixies (I'm tempted to fly to see 'em in a different state!). Sunny Day Real Estate (God, I'm lame. So sooo lame). The Get Up Kids (big year for old-skool "emo." I sat at home reading Megan Seling's minute-by-minute tweets about this one). KISS (even though Ace and Peter were replaced by imposters, it still woulda been cool). Soundgarden (wait... that one hasn't happened yet. But having Kim Thayil tell me that he would do it if "it were fun" gave me serious wood). Creed (bwaaahaaa! So kidding). Backstreet Boys (uh... sorta kidding. Not). Kim Warnick and friends (I totally missed Kim's 50th birthday party at the Croc. Another lame move on my part. She blocked me on Twitter... not a good sign).
Doug Lorig (Patrol):
Patrol regrets: not drinking at all before we play a show; not stashing more of the free beers for after we play a show; not smoking pot/dropping acid, 'shrooms, XTC; having to use two vans to haul all of our gear to shows; being way too methodical about songwriting; not completing one new song in an entire year; releasing an album with only one playable radio track, spending three years making that album, having that album be "passed" on by KEXP's local DJ; not doing more T-Payne-style vocals; wishing we could tour, but not really; getting offered to tour Europe, but then having that offer retracted; releasing two albums in Japan, but not getting to go there, either; bitching way too much about band shit; being old and in a rock band.
Dirty Jeezy (Lamborghiniz):
The WORLD FAMOUS Lamborghiniz Crew regrets that a certain band from Olympia was too uptight and full of passive-aggressive rage to come talk to us face-to-face about what was so offensive about our merchandise at Total Fest VIII. Instead, they attempted to desecrate our merch table by leaving a jar of piss and shit on it. We further regret that said shit and piss was not tossed in their face.
Kyle Hargus, Jason Baxter (U.S.F.):
We regret not finding an ideal place to practice sooner. We regret releasing an EP at 128 kilobits per second. We regret being so loud while other people were trying to sleep at Brian (Foot Village) Miller's place. We regret that time we tried to play "Old Spooky and Moss Hut" live in June. Blastoids are a tough act to follow. We regret that $300 speeding ticket on the last night of tour. We regret the preponderance of bird and ocean samples on, uh, Ocean Sunbirds. We regret assuming a band called "Universal Studios Florida" would never get noticed. We regret paying to see Terminator: Salvation and Watchmen in theaters. We regret not giving Karla Santos's awesome projected visuals their due during our Genius Awards set. We regret not getting cats sooner.
Gina Genius (Team Gina):
I regret not sending those CDs to Europe express mail. I regret sleeping in that squat in Chemnitz and the PTSD that followed. I regret letting the best roommate ever move to Chicago. I regret not always remembering names and not always being the best of a friend. I regret not fully acclimating to the new era of digital recording, but there's always 2010, right? I regret not being all, "Hey, Thurston Moore, this song I wrote that I happen to have right here totally interpolates 'Bull in the Heather,' isn't that funny?" when I was all five feet away from him. Oh yeah, and I regret not letting the right person kiss me at midnight last year—lord willing, may I rectify it with the same person this year. Amen.
Michelle Smith (Mamma Casserole, the Comet):
I regret not having enough power to change the archaic and puritanical Washington state liquor laws that forbid bands from drinking onstage while they play. I think this is utterly insane, and I am going to do everything I can in 2010 to reverse this. And if anyone wants to join my fight, please e-mail me at cometbooking@gmail.com. Let's put an end to this silly-ass law.
Travis Ritter (The Stranger):
Not only do I regret buying so many records this year, which ends with me penniless, but I regret being the bastard who called dibs on a ton of rare records that never had a chance to reach the public (sorry, Terry Miller, I did this to you a few times). I also regret not buying a few records because I was too broke to afford them. I regret the years I spent looking for particular records on vinyl, only to have every single one of them reissued this year. I regret spending more money on booze than merch at all the shows I got into for free. Lastly, I regret that the compact disc ever existed.
Andrew Toms (Sleepy Eyes of Death):
Keith regrets selling his mint-condition 1981 Korg Mono/Poly in order to buy other much more boring gear. Cassidy regrets that we weren't able to tour this past summer. Joel regrets sweating so heavily at shows. Andrew regrets making a packed venue wait for 30 minutes while he drove back to the practice space to pick up his keyboard he forgot.
Aubrey Nehring (Portable Shrines):
Well, since becoming aware of the illusory nature of linear time, I usually find it hard to identify with a concept like regret. That said, I regret that more people don't get with the fucking program. Immanentize the eschaton. The past is at best a fond memory. The future is now.
Kerri Harrop (the Crocodile, Out for Stardom):
There are two performances I really regret missing, and they both took place on the same day at Sasquatch! this year. I would have loved to witness Spencer Moody going bonkers onstage with the Murder City Devils. The real-time text updates I received during the show, sent by longtime Devils tour manager Gabe Kerbrat, were hilarious and compelling, but only made the fact that I opted out this year even worse. I wish I'd seen Mad Rad earlier that day, too. They had been on my radar for a minute by then—how could they not be—but it was the report that Buffalo Madonna had climbed to the top of the Yeti Stage that really grabbed my attention. Talk about some balls. Somewhere, that day in May, Iggy Pop got a little chill down his spine and didn't even know why. But mostly I regret the fact that Radiohead failed to recognize the daily ESP messages I sent their way, imploring them to return to the Pacific Northwest and blow my mind again in a live setting.
Nick Heliotis (Hardly Art):
My two big regrets for the year are Kaz [Nomura, PWRFL Power] leaving Seattle and the fact that Talbot Tagora are not the biggest band in the world. Everything else I am pretty okay with.
Devin Welch, Robin Stein, Tyler Swan (Flexions):
Flexions regret not proofreading our liner notes. All time biggest Flexions regret is thinking it was a good idea to perform backing tracks off of an iPod shuffle.
Trent Moorman (Head Like a Kite):
I regret eating beef jerky in the "Fetus Room" at the Bodies exhibit. I regret asking a large Samoan bouncer in Las Vegas (who had a tattoo on his deltoid of Homer Simpson smoking a joint) if he really still watched cartoons. I regret challenging Buffalo Madonna to a butter-knife duel. I regret not reading The Tao of Physics. I regret arguing with parking cops. I regret parking cops. I regret parking. I regret telling Kid Cudi that I regretted taking two brownies out of his dressing room. I regret watching Shark Week. I regret letting the Venice Beach homeless guy share my 'fro wig. I regret not seeing the sun set and rise enough times to let its red-orange breathe me deep.
Lesli Wood (the Redwood Plan):
I regret missing "that's what she said" opportunities. It's the joke that just keeps on giving. Sometimes it's hard to make it work, but I refuse to let it go (that's what she said).
I regret thinking I have the same resilience to vodka as I do whiskey. I regret that I thought this repeatedly. I do not regret whiskey. I regret that my douchebag radar was off at the show where the promoter said, "Don't worry, the bands will be taken care of," when all of the bands were then royally screwed. I don't regret that in 12 years of playing shows in Seattle, this is the only promoter/booker/company I won't work with again. And probably neither will any of the other bands (I don't regret that either).
I regret every time I was less than sympathetic when breaking someone's heart. Because I regret that I now know what it's like to have my heart ripped to shreds. I don't regret that it has since been reassembled by someone absolutely amazing, and I now will be very, very careful in never doing that again.
Jay Cox (the Sea Navy):
Sea Navy regrets: not wearing Croakies so glasses don't fall into hands as those hands are playing guitar; the whole Pete Wentz thing; not being able to play with our new favorite band Eighteen Individual Eyes 'cause some of us will be on the beach at that time; fantasy sports, 'cause they actually make your reality unhappy and not fantastical; that not all of us have epic beards like our bass player, Stuart; that we can't tour by bike; that Portland is three hours away; not buying that new amp sooner; the persistent addiction to scratch tickets; that another year has gone by and we still have yet to play a show with the Long Winters or Visqueen; post-midnight hot dogs purchased from street vendors; that the phrase "post-midnight hot-dog purchase" is not a euphemism yet; that all Seattle buses are not replicas of the giant metal pig that houses Maximus/Minimus; that the Sonic Boom that was steps from my door is now about a couple thousand steps from my door.
Jason Parker (Born Anchors):
I regret: Not seeing my sister turn 18, not being there when my niece was born, not paying my taxes, not saving any money all year, not saying "I love you" to my girlfriend more often, not being nicer to those who deserve it and meaner to those who don't, not seeing close friends who live in town, my artistic temperament (to a degree), and not trying harder in general.
Kevin Erickson (All-Ages Movement Project):
I regret accepting a position at a fledgling arts nonprofit when I could have been making MILLIONS of dollars in the rebuilding of "postwar" Iraq. 
