When Brandy Barker told me she was just 19 years old, my jaw dropped.

I had met her only once before, prior to the Champion's CD release party we both attended last Friday, May 17, but I knew full well what her place in the scene was. Brandy runs a production company called 44 Productions, she helps manage a handful of bands (including Pile High Club, Flying or Falling, and Problems with Heroes), and she books hardcore and punk-rock shows at places like the Paradox and Redmond's Old Fire House. And yes, she is only 19!

"I'm very young for what I do," she laughs while we sit in the quiet upstairs office of the Paradox. "When I was about 14 or 15, I was going to a lot of shows. I was also going to Ground Zero (in Bellevue). While I was there I just started helping out with the menial things."

Those menial things, like fliering for shows, working the door, and taking care of the bands' needs, all allowed her to gain experience in booking and band promotion. Now, she uses what she's learned in her few years of being involved in "the business" to book her own shows for bands she loves.

"Some people just don't fucking get it," she says. "The bands that do are the bands I work with, like Stay Gold, Champion, Himsa... those guys really help me out. There are countless bands that are really cool to me, so I return the favor."

She doesn't do all this promotion and booking because she can, or because she feels she has to (and she certainly doesn't do it for money)--she does all this simply because she wants to. She wants to help out those artists who she feels deserve the attention.

"It is a pain in the ass to go to school and do this," she admits. "I go to school full-time, I have a job at a medical lab in North Seattle, and then I do local booking and tours, and I also volunteer here at the Paradox."

"But I love the bands I work with," she continues. "They're the reason I haven't gone insane, you know? The least I can do is get them on good shows, make sure they have a good time, and be there for them. It's worth it." MEGAN SELING

megan@thestranger.com