Could you introduce yourself to anyone who doesn’t already know you?

Howdy, I'm Trevor; people called me trevbot for a while when I was at kgrg. I love hardcore; most of my other hobbies and whatnot are more private and less outward. I mean, I love Seattle sports, and anime, but for the most part, I'm silent about them as they're something I use to unwind by myself. As far as HC goes, I consider myself a lifer and always a supporter of NWHC.

What was your introduction to punk, hardcore?

 I would say the first time was hearing hatebreed in 02 as part of the XXX movie soundtrack. Next was refused in Friday night lights before I knew anything about hardcore. For a while, I really got into Bad Religion, and from there, I started hearing bands like Gorilla Biscuits and Madball, and after that, I couldn't get enough. I grew up in the Puyallup area, so Christian metalcore and post-hardcore were huge in my area growing up. I tried to fight it for a while, but I kind of gave in, at least socially, and went to those shows while I was finding myself musically. By the end of high school, I was all about hardcore. The first shows would include Terror, Never Looking Back, The Warriors, Seventh Star, First Blood, Lahar, and Look Forward.

You've been booking shows, playing in bands and doing security for as long as i can remember. What was your first memory with each of those and how do you like them as they differ quite a bit from one another all ending up working together for a show to run?

I think first is the band thing. By 2008, I had already been going to shows for a few years, and a few of the people who went to shows together started trying to make bands out in the Graham and Eatonville areas. We made a melodic HC band (mixed with a bunch of other stuff). It was very much a first band, and it went on for almost four years, which is crazy to think about. Booking shows came next. The first thing I ever put together was a BBQ show the day after Rainfest 08 at the house in Graham where me and my friends bands practiced (which belonged to Caleb, who used to play in Lo there). It was my and my friends first attempt at booking and playing shows. It was mainly friends from our area, but I remember we had a broken-down van next to the garage where the bands played and did stage dives off of it. After that, I started booking shows at my family office space in Puyallup, including ill-intent and a bunch of other cool shows.After that space shut down, I went on to book dead air shows here and there. The last ones I was apart of until now were when the PNW was still in that post-rainfest slump. I booked Drain as well as helped with a Leeway/Merauder show, and they were all fun but deserved more attention. The shows I'm doing this year are the first I've done in almost six years. It's a pain in the ass, but I try to book and create the best energy I can, no matter how big or small a show is, and almost always my shows have been fun. Security came last, and it's also crazy to think that HC is why I'm currently employed as well. A well-known person in the security and HC communities reached out about a decade ago on the PNW HC Facebook page (RIP) and was looking for more HC individuals to work for him. The first shifts I had were at nightclubs, and I fucking hated it. But it helped. There were HC and Seattle music types there in the beginning, so it grew on me, and I ended up doing security full time in 2019 and going out of the pandemic. I got to work a few times, as well as attend a bunch of other events. I currently manage a venue team in Seattle, and I have Shaun Sleeps Hughs, a well-known Seattle security professional, and a well-known metal head who was on the Rainfest security team to thank for that and most of my other successes in that industry. My honest opinion is that security is not needed at 9.5 of the HC shows, but the ones that do have it need to focus on the health and safety of the venues and showgoers with no fucking mosh police. Honestly, if it weren't for all three of these things, I would probably not be able to do this festival and would be fumbling around in the dark more than I already do.

Apart from playing shows, you took over doing Dead Air a while back. How did that come about? Its really cool that you were able to keep it going strong even after no longer being on the air. Its been 20 years total which is wild to me! 

First, I became an intern for dead air by a complete accident. In 2013, I was taking radio classes to finish up some credits at Green River, and I have listened to the show on kgrg on and off for at least seven years at that point. The current host, K10 (who it was passed down to in 09/10 from Kevin and Ian), had the show on a brief hiatus and came in to class right before Rainfest 2013 and asked if anyone wanted to intern. I think I might have been the only one that raised my hand, but K10 then said, "Anyone besides Trevor?" Me and K10 barely knew each other, but that summer I interned, got better at the board and production, and eventually became K10's cohost. K10 kind of just stopped showing up in the middle of summer 2014. I had zero direction, so I just started doing it. Ive been solo for the past seven years pretty much, and I don't think I would have lasted with the live show as long as I did without Xchrisx, Hannah Pitt, and a slew of interesting interns. We did our last show on KGRG in 2017, and from there, I kept it alive on an online radio station in Tacoma. Around 2020, I had more people asking me about podcasting than anything else, and the pandemic had me recording from my bedroom, so I've been doing the podcast format for Dead Air for four years now.

What are some of your favorite memories of Dead Air?
In 2015, I interviewed Vinnie Stigma; I didn't even know I was going to do it. I was expecting someone else, and I heard a "yo trevaaaa" in that New York accent, and it was one of the most fun interviews I had interviewing. He sang a song about being stonger than Kurt Cobaine, and I wish I had it recorded. 2. Red Scare live on Dead Air 2015: Casey was being Casey (if you are new and don't know what that means, go look up the red scare horse speech from Rainfest), and we had our head engineer in the studio, so I was definitely a little concerned., and I had my finger ready for the dump button, but it was a really fun episode. 3. Getting kicked out of my own show by campus security while I was singled out in the studio in 2014 The band got to stay, and I had to sit in the parking lot waiting for my program director to figure it out.

You just booked the Dead Air fest happening in July at Real Art. How did that idea come about? Was it just due to the 20 year anniversary of the show starting? Are you planning on making it an annual event or just a one off for the anniversary?
Last year, we found out that KGRG was flipping formats from the punk/metal/ect that they did for 30 years to something different. Myself, Kevin, and crew got an offer to do a final broadcast, and it was a blast. After that broadcast, I asked what I should do for the 20 year, and everyone said, "Do a show." Ive been working on this primarily by myself with some help and feedback from a few friends since September of last year. As far as an annual thing, I'm still contemplating what I want to do. I wanted to get to 20 years no matter what, and here we are. If this July festival goes well, I will more than likely do another. All I'm going to say is that if you want to see year two come out and make this one fun.

Who are some of your all time favorite nwhc bands?
Trial, Ill Intent,Power,Never Looking Back, Keep it Clear,Blue Monday, Go It Alone.

Who are your favorite current locals or bands you think people are sleeping on?
Everyone I've heard and seen is killing it. Dry Socket, End of Dayz, Chopping Block, Elephant Walk, Slime, and Paperclip are some of my favorites from the PNW. I think if you are not hip to Juji Gatame and Dulzura, you are missing out, and I see some big things for both of those bands. Also, not exactly HC, but listen to Defiant Body, MJ, and Jeremy from the OG No Future doing slow and heavy ass tunes.

What would you like to see from the scene currently?

I think the scene is doing great right now. I'm seeing a lot of new bands, so please keep them coming. I would honestly love to see someone make their own HC podcast or radio show in this area or find someone to take over dead air. I can't do it forever, and this is shit for the youth.
Is there anything you’d like to leave people with?

First of all, come to the fest and have a good time. Second of all, I really want to thank Kevin, Ian, Katen, and XchrisX; I wouldn't be in this spot without them. Secondly, the scene would not be where it is without the brainstem, real art, and jag. I don't think I could do any of the things I do in the PNW without their hard work. RIP, Hammerhead House and Pizza Twist. I am really pumped to never look back on playing this. Jeremy is one of the reasons I am even plugged into this scene, so a huge thanks to him. Shout out to the What It Takes blog crew. They have been a huge help in motivating me to get this festival up and going. Their band collective action is coming all the way from roanoke to play this And lastly, if you love something, just keep doing it. I held on to this project on my own, even when it was almost impossible to do. There has never been an end goal other than to keep on showing my love for HC, and I am happy to bring this project into its 20th year.