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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2001)
J Jimi Lott The Seattle Times A spiraling cyclone of guitars (above) and other instuments greets visitors to the Experience Music Project in Seattle. The entrance (below) is the most tame part of the buildings’ trademark curvatious exterior. If this spring break Aids you in Seattle, stop by the Experience Music Project for a trip down rock ‘n’ roll lane. BY USA ERIEFIN6 If your soul needs to be rocked this spring break, take a stroll to Seattle’s Experience Music Pro ject. It may cast you into a strato sphere of groove found only in your dreams. Start off by jamming on your in strument of choice with four band members. Then, go on stage while eager fans pump up your adrena line. It may be a dream come true. To experience this for yourself, sim ply enter the on-stage section of the EMP, in Seattle, Wash. “You go backstage with four or five people, and each person picks an instrument and a band name. Then, you have a virtual audience of screaming fans — you name the band, play as a band, and it’s so loud that no matter how bad you play, it sounds good,” said EMP public re lations manager Paige Prill. “Wild Thing is the song that people get to play, but it’s different versions of that song.” According to the Web site, www.emplive.com, EMP is a $240,000,000 creation with three floors of 80,000 artifacts, once owned by musicians who have shaped the history of music. “It’s the world’s largest interac tive music museum,” Prill said. “It allows people to focus on music. You see them and listen and under stand the exhibits. Then you get to play the instruments.” Prill recom mends people go through it in two visits. The journey begins with the EMP’s structure. Frank O. Gehry’s design was meant to convey the “evolving, ever-changing” state of rock‘n’roll music. “It’s flashy architecture — it’s trendy but controversial. It doesn’t respond to the buildings — it does n’t fit in with Seattle very well,” said Anna deAnguera, a former EMP employee and a junior at the University. “It represents the I spirit of rock ’n’roll.” DeAnguera, an architec ture major, ex plained that EMP is sup posed to look like a left handed guitar i — the handle 1 being the gl monorail. “People are | in awe of it,” J; Prill said. Z. “Materials used for the § building were II not environ mentally responsible,” said deAnguera, adding that “there are no windows so it was like working in a cave.” After paying admission, one en counters an instructor who explains the museum exhibit guide, or MEG. It is a “three-pound hand-held hard drive with 12 hours of audio — it’s a self-guided tour,” Prill said. MEG is composed of a set of earphones and a waist strap with a digital object that resembles a remote control. “Everyone looks like zombies and they wander around. People are quiet unless you came with someone. Then you might look around and say, ‘That’s cool’ or something like that. People wear the earphones wrong, and it’s funny,” deAnguera said. “To the right of the entryway is the sky church, a large open area with a 60-feet high video screen. It’s the largest indoor video screen in the world,” Prill said. It transmits visuals and music — it’s artsy with out the mainstream effect of MTV. Past the sky church is the line for Funk Blast, the show displayed in the Artist’s Journey. Visitors can ride the Artist’s Journey, which combines special effects, theatrical lighting, film and state-of-the-art motion. It’s an entertaining ride, but it doesn’t come close to the experi ence that the rest of the museum be stows. “[The Artist’s Journey is] not that cool, deAnguera said. The rest of the museum is atrip. Prill said that the Jimi Hendrix gallery is the most popular section of the EMP. “It’s an in credible collec tion. It shows how he influ enced rock and who influ enced him. The entire stage set used at Woodstock is displayed. His notebook of lyrics and diary are also exhibited.” Other visuals include music paraphernalia from the late ‘40s through the grunge movement. In addition, hip-hop and punk are oth er roads to be traveled at the EMP. “There is a lot to see,” Prill said. The EMP Web site reads that the EMP captures and reflects the roots of jazz, soul, gospel, country, blues and other genres of music. Guitars used by Bob Dylan and the late Kurt Cobain are shown. However, “it’s lacking female artists, like Ani DiFranco,” deAnguera said. “Sound archives, photographs and rare memorabilia tell the story of the creative and rebellious ex pressions that have defined Ameri can popular music,” according to the EMP Web site. “I saw a lot of parents and kids from two different generations; they learn from each other. It goes through the whole history of rock ‘n’ roll and you can see connections of different genres of music that you never thought of before,” said deAnguera. The multi-faceted musical expe rience at the EMP influenced deAnguera to listen to more classic rock, such as Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. “If you’re in a certain mood and listen to music that’s of that mood, it makes it stronger,” deAnguera said. “I think music influences every one, and people relate for different reasons. It can bring about memo ries. Or, the impact can be inspiring. Music is a great tool to be creative in your own way,” Prill said. A musi cian told her that music could change the harmony of the way peo ple interact if it was played in pub lic places. “For me, it makes me feel good — it’s energizing.”
