KRIST NOVOSELIC & RICHARD WHITE of JAMPAC
Former Nirvana bassist and anti-censorship activist Krist Novoselic
By GREGG KIRK
December 1995
On Tuesday, December 12 (during the Delaware Valley Music Awards Ceremony) ex-Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and his business partner Richard White are coming to town to get you off your non-political, apathetic butts.
As acting members of JAMPAC (Joint Artists and Music Promotions Political Action Committee), and anti-censorship coalition formed in their hometown of Seattle, WA, both Novoselic and White (a former SubPop Records publicist) intend to generate interest in a grassroots, anti-censorship group to be formed and operated by concerned citizens in the Delaware Valley.
To what do we owe this small pleasure? After a brief visit to the Philadelphia Music Conference last month and because of some impending legislation on the books in Pennsylvania concerning the criminalization of selling music with parental warning stickers to minors, the two Seattleites are men with a mission. So don’t ask Novoselic what he’s been doing post-Nirvana. (Actually, he’s just completed a three-week tour of the West Coast and is recording with his new band Sweet 75, if you’re that curious). Here’s what Novoselic and Whate had to say before making it to Philly to deliver their agenda to the Trocadero stage.
Big Shout: When and how did JAMPAC start?
Richard White: It started about last November in a sense that Krist and I started having conversations after we (Washington state) had these really horrendous elections. We had more federal and legislative elected officials turn over than any other state in the country, and Christian Coalition got about 60% of their slate elected in the state. It was kind of alarming. We had already been fighting through WMIC (Washington Music Industry Coalition of which White is the director) lyrics legislation for the last four years, and this wasn’t an indication that things were going to get any better. We sat down and talked about what we could do and what our resources were, and the idea was to broaden the coalition and to export the model we’d been using with WMIC to other states. The mechanism for doing that was to creat a “PAC” and to actually do a couple of things we kept hearing from politicians that people from our demographic don’t do. And that was to contribute money to campaigns and to get people out to vote.
What we’ve been trying to do with JAMPAC is work with other states where there is legislation that would have a debilitating impact on the music community, to form state grass-roots coalitions like WMIC, and to use JAMPAC as a mechanism to show them how to get their constituency organized.
Krist Novoselic: For me to go in front of the Pennsylvania State Legislature, it doesn’t make much sense. It might be sensational for a day or two, but if you have some constituency there — people who live in the district — they’re going to be way more receptive, right? It’s just basic grassroots politics. I think that people have really abandoned the tactics of grassroots politics and they should get back into it.
BS: What made you come to Philadelphia now?
RW: We’ve been getting calls from people in all these other states and music communities — “What can we do?” “How is it that what you guys do works, and how can we put something like that together for our state?” The idea is to try to get some funding together for JAMPAC to be able to work with people in those areas, to support candidates who are supportive of the music industry, and to get that constituency — primarily the people from 18-35 — registered and out to vote. Those are some of the initial, larger goals.
KN: It sure seems like things are happening in Philadelphia: they’ve been happening in Seattle for awhile now, and we’ve become a force to be reckoned with. We’re basically part of the establishment now — the top tier of Seattle bands. And there’s no reason for us to get rolled over by the state legislature. You’ve got this guy T.J. Rooney in Pennsylvania, and if his legislation passes, that’s going to be a pain in the ass.
BS: From what I understand of the bill he’s trying to pass, it would be a misdemeanor for underage kids to buy certain labelled music releases. They would be sentenced to several hours of community service and those who sold the music would be fined as well as having to do the community service. It’s going to be like getting caught for buying or selling pot…
KN: Exactly, except that you know that if you smoke pot, you’re going to get high! But with music, who knows what kind of effect it’s going to have on you and what kind of person is listening to it? It’s way more serious than that. By whose standards is someone going to decide what music is harmful or not?
BS: And this legislation will go through unless someone is aggressive enough to do something about it…
KN: Right. At first I was a little intimidated by the whole thing — going to the legislature. But once I went down there I saw that it was just a piece of cake. The whole system is designed to be accessible. Anybody has a right to go down to their state legislature and testify in front of a committee or meet with their representative. You’ll find out that these people are normal people. If you look at T.J. Rooney — they guy’s 30 years old. He’s a high school graduate… I’m 30 years old, and I’m a high school graduate — so maybe he and I have something in common. But we don’t see eye to eye on the causes of society’s problems.
Krist Novoselic and Richard White will present awards and deliver a presentation on JAMPAC as a part of the Delaware Valley Music Poll Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, December 12, 1995.