- Kelsey Gallo
The seventh annual DIY Holiday Fair takes place Saturday December 13 at Vera Project (11 am-4 pm). It benefits two of the finest forces for sonic good in Seattle: the all-ages venue Vera Project, naturally, and Hollow Earth Radio, the adventurous internet radio station that was in the running for this year’s Stranger Music Genius Award. We spoke to two of DIY Holiday Fair’s organizers, HER’s Domenica Clark and VP’s Rachel Kramer, to find out more about this worthy event.
How have the past few fairs gone? Did they meet expectations?
Clark: I started coordinating the Fair with Rachel in 2012. What I can gather is that from the beginning it was a very unconventional ‘holiday/craft fair.’ It was coordinated by Amber Kai Morgan and Rachel LeBlanc for the first three years. It has long been a very Hollow Earth Radio-esque event because of the way it subverted the kinds of things that are supposed to happen at craft fairs. It has always been focused on local record labels, especially small ones. There have been experimental bands playing—such as Prawnyxx. There was a fashion show last year put on by Sequins in Seattle. We’ve had the Surrealist Songwriting Project going on for years now—it is fun live recording project that is basically a musical exquisite corpse. I think we’ve almost met expectations for the most part—vendors always seem to enjoy themselves and we raise money for the Vera Project and Hollow Earth Radio.
Kramer: Domenica and I have worked together for the last three fairs, which has been great. I’ve found the fairs to be very successful—I love to see vendors from the various art and music communities come together to showcase what they’ve been working on; there’s so much creative passion in the smaller DIY scenes in this city and it’s really important to me to have an accessible outlet for vendors to showcase those talents.
What if anything have you done differently this year from past editions?
Clark: I don’t think we’ve done anything a lot different this year other than focus on making sure people know about the Fair, getting awesome DJs lined up to play who represent what Hollow Earth Radio is all about. It is definitely pretty simple this year.
Kramer: Last year was the first year we made the switch from live music to DJs, which is a change we’re sticking with. Though the live music was fun, it was a little too loud/distracting. We’re excited to have Cat (of THEESatisfaction) back to DJ, along with some Hollow Earth Radio faves. We have a few new vendors as well!
What is/are the goal(s) of the DIY Holiday Fair? I know it’s to “help support local music and art” at HER and Vera, but can you be more specific?
Clark: We don’t have a formal mission statement, but we focus on providing a venue for small record labels, crafters, zine-makers and other folks working in the do-it-yourself realm to share their wares. You will find local record labels like Debacle, Jigsaw, CTPAK, and Nostalgium Directive alongside cutesy crafts like Marninsaylor, who make the world’s cutest doughnut pets. Also, showcasing DJs is very important to me. I want to make sure people are hearing the music they would hear on Hollow Earth Radio—out-there, underrepresented, and unusual.
Kramer: Vera’s goal for the Holiday Fair is access and community. For Vera, it’s always a treat to get to work collaboratively with our pals at HER. On the part of the vendors, it’s being able to showcase and sell goods alongside like-minded artists from the different corners of the Seattle music and art scenes. Whether the products are handmade tapes from someone’s one-artist tape label, rare vinyl pressings of obscure ’90s punk bands, freshly brewed hand-roasted coffee, unique knitted hats, or prints screened right there in Vera’s screen print studio, it’s fun for vendors to be able to share what they’ve been working on in a way that’s personable and community-building. On the part of the customers, it’s access and discovery of awesomely creative goods and more importantly than that, access to the artists who made them. Many of the vendors sell their wares online, but it’s the face-to-face interaction that creates and maintains community. I’ve personally become friends with vendors from previous fairs and it’s these connections that make me feel like I am part of something meaningful and beautiful and remind me why I love and cherish Seattle!
