Prominent Seattle Venue Owner Steve Severin on the State of His Business and World

Seattleit Steve Severin is co-owner of the popular 600-person music bar Neumos in the Emerald City. Severin is also a co-founder of the WA Nightlife and Music Association and Keep Music Live. He was also instrumental in the work of Save Our Stages, is an advocate of NIVA, and holds many other titles, but those are the most relevant.

Suffice it to say that Severin has been fighting for years since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the globe to keep music venues open and financed. And while every state, venue, and even artist has their own preferences and requirements, this is Severin’s.

We met with the hardworking worker to see where his head is now and what the future might bring.

American Songwriter: How has your last 18 months been, in a nutshell?

Steve Severin: Exciting and exhausting. While trying to figure out how to keep my business afloat, it was just as important to use all of the skills and connections I have to help others do the same. That was the whole idea behind Save Our Stages. Do everything in our power to save all our stages.

AS: Where are we now?

SS: We’re still waiting for the venues to be paid for. That’s key right now because things are not back to normal yet. We still have a lot of people worried about going back to shows, especially inside. At venues across the country there are people who buy tickets but don’t show up. The problem with this is that the venues make the most money in side sales once people are there. We’re moving in the right direction, but we’re still a long way from being out of the water.

AS: What’s next?

SS: The venues keep pushing. We book shows for up to a year. There is nothing we can do but carry on as if things will return to normal one day. People want to see live shows again. It’s about everyone feeling comfortable that COVID is under lock and key and it’s time to come back out and enjoy.

The other thing is the advocacy front. We have laid the foundation to advance art further. We are currently working with WANMA and NIVA on policy changes that will help artists, venues, etc. move forward. We want to give artists the opportunity to be seen as just as important as any other job people have. We want the government and the population to understand not only our economic impact, but also our cultural impact. In King County [where Seattle is] the arts make up 18% of GDP here. It’s huge and most people don’t know that. We are working to change that perception.

AS: If a permanent solution were the goal line, to use a football term. What yard line are we on now?

SS: I thought we were going to cross the goal line. then [the] delta [variant] surrendered. Then there was the problem of getting the money for the Save Our Stages Act from the SBA to the people who still need it. We are now dealing with people who are not showing up or buying tickets to shows that they would definitely have bought in 2019. I guess we’ve been on that 10 yard line and we’ve been fiddling and we’re all still fighting for the ball.

AS: What do you wish for in the near future?

SS: Everything is causing COVID to go away and consumer confidence rising as close to 100 as possible. I also hope that people will keep the fire going to change the system the way it is and that the government will continue to understand how important we are to business and culture.

AS: What are you grateful for now?

SS: I am grateful to all of the people in Washington who have worked to keep our venues open. There are a lot of them. Everything from venue owners and staff to artists to the people who wrote letters to the people who donated money to Keep Music Live and the artists who raised a million dollars.

Of course, I am also grateful to the NIVA people. This is the group of people who worked every day for 19 months to keep the music going. Without these people we would all have closed. They did it because they care about things that are much bigger than they are. These people are some of the best people I have ever met.

AS: What’s your favorite huge show ever?

SS: This is next to impossible. I go in twos. I was the creative director of City Arts Fest and got to put on what I believe to be the only local hip-hop show that sells out (consider him or Northwesterner), Macklemore, Fresh Espresso, and Mash Hall. It was really a special night to watch so many people go insane.

I also got the chance to promote Parliament / Funkadelic at Showbox SoDo and at Roseland. I’ve tried to achieve this for almost 20 years. The reason it matters so is the reason I live in Seattle because I wanted to see George Clinton and the P Funk All-Stars at the Belly Up in Solano Beach in ’92. I left Tempe, Arizona to watch the show and kept diving. Almost 30 years later I still live here and it might never have happened if it hadn’t been.

I lied. Adele playing Neumos was amazing.

AS: What’s your favorite little show ever?

SS: Again, no answer to that, but Nomeansno on the Wrong Tour on Hollywood Alley in Arizona was pretty momentous. I was only 20 but I used my friend’s ID. I definitely didn’t miss it. The person with the ID looked at the ID and told me all the reasons why it wasn’t me, including that he knew the person whose ID it was because his band was playing at the venue. I wasn’t that smart about that. Luckily I got my hand stamped by someone else before they returned the ID. I went home, changed my clothes, and went right inside.

Nirvana in the Mason Jar in ’90 was pretty epic too.

AS: Who do you want to thank?

SS: I have to thank everyone who helped me get where I am. They all have no idea what my wife did to help me do what I do. There is no me and all the things that I could do or create without them. There are a lot of people, but she is number one!

Prominent Seattle Venue Owner Steve Severin on the State of His Business and World

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