We at Sub Pop Records have always thought quite a bit of ourselves. But lately, it’s been getting a little ridiculous, even for us. However, it is our innate ability to cast aside just these sorts of, fortunately fleeting, moments of self-doubt and humility that fills us with such overwhelming pride to announce… THE SUB POP SCHOLARSHIP! Somewhat incredibly, and momentarily ignoring the fact that we have managed to misspell our own name (which consists of two three-letter words…) on one of our own releases, Sub Pop Records is hereby joining the fight against higher education! The relevant details are below…

Sub Pop Records in Seattle, WA is offering a grand total of $13,000 worth of college scholarship money to three eligible high school seniors. There are three scholarships—one for $6,000 and two for $3,500 each. To apply for these scholarships you must be a resident of Washington or Oregon, and a graduating senior on your way to full-time enrollment at an accredited university or college. We are looking for an applicant who is involved and/or interested in music and/or the creative arts in some way.

To apply for these scholarships we would like you to submit an essay, no longer than one page, letting us know about some of the following topics:

• What are you doing in the arts/music field in your community?
• How and/or why did you become interested in artistic outlets?
• Why do you need this scholarship money?
• What are your influences and/or who inspires you?
• Who are some of your favorite bands or artists?

Applicants are encouraged to send digital links and provide hard copies of their artwork along with their essay. However, please be aware that Sub Pop will not return any of this material, so please don’t send originals. Sub Pop will give equal opportunity to all applicants who fit the criteria outlined above. The deadline for applications is May 1, 2008 so please get in touch before then if you are interested.

Please send all submissions and attachments to scholarship@subpop.com

All physical submissions should be sent to:

Sub Pop Records
Attn: Scholarship
2013 4th Ave, 3rd Floor
Seattle, WA 98121

Amount: $6,000 / $3,500 / $3,500 – checks will be made payable to the university or college of the winning applicants’ choice and applied to winning applicants’ tuition.

The long and admittedly arduous selection process for the Sub Pop Loser Scholarship is now over and we have chosen a freak to pin our dreams of weirdos doing well for themselves onto. Kyle Raquipiso is our dude, he is a senior in Kennewick Washington, part of the well known trifecta of turd towns known as the tri-cities. Kyle submitted a killer witty essay wherein he told us about putting on shows in Kennewick, designing 7” covers, and he described the arts music community in tri-cities as mainly consisting of “burnouts drawing pictures of pot leaves and mushrooms” but as exciting as those drug drawings sound Kyle’s art had something different to offer. We got a package with 3 cd-r’s of different bands he’s in, a portfolio of Pettibon inspired ink drawings and a 7” of his solo project Leper Print to accompany his essay as well as a general sense that Kyle was a well-researched music/art nerd with high hopes. After jarring him out of his 4:30 post school nap last Friday we informed him via telephone that he was the biggest and bestest loser we could find and that we wanted to give him five grand for college. When asked for a quote Kyle had this to say “I’d like to thank Allison, Vas, Neight, Greg, my brother Brian, Annie, Mattey, Ben, my art teacher Suzanne, the kind folks at Sub Pop, anybody who’s bought my crummy records or cd-rs off me, and anybody else who’s name has escaped my mind at the moment for their support. Everybody else in this town either hates my guts or thinks I’m a complete fool.” Well, even though there’s a solid group of 9 Kyle supporters in his home town we are more than happy to help him export himself to the Pacific Northwest College of the Arts in Portland Oregon where maybe he can find another 9 friends. Seriously great work Kyle, wave your freak flag high, and thanks to everyone else who applied, we super-seriously appreciate it.

From the very outset, we at Sub Pop Records have displayed a deep commitment to conspicuous self-promotion (and questionable taste in “music”). But, a bit more discreetly and when we have found ourselves flush enough to afford such largesse, we have also done our best to support worthy organizations in our community, and beyond. Seattle’s Vera Project (a music/ arts center run by and for youth) and The Service Board (a community service, mentoring and snowboarding program for high school-age youth) are a couple of those that we have worked with regularly over the past several years.

Recently, the powers that be here at Sub Pop HQ (basically a middle-aged, temperamental Chihuahua named Vito) resolved to systematize our charitable donations in as quasi-democratic a way as we are capable of barely understanding.

Thus spake Vito:

Every three months (or, in the parlance of more structured places of employ, “quarter”), in a grand ceremony involving a plastic bowl of questionable origin and cleanliness, the names of three Sub Pop employees are picked at random. Over the course of the following three months, these three together decide how to allocate the label’s contributions to organizations of their choosing. When that particular Gang of Three’s reign of benefaction comes to an end, a new group is chosen for the following three months. Basically: rinse and repeat.

All of this bears mentioning not solely for the sake of tooting our own horn, but also because this is currently the only means through which we are financially supporting the many, many good causes and organizations deserving of help. And also because we would very much like to bring the organizations below to your attention. Mostly the tooting out own horn thing though.

So far through this process Sub Pop has lent support to the following:

Update (3/08)!:

The return of the Sub Pop Loser Scholarship for 2008

Children’s Hospital

First Place School

Hollow Earth Radio

Nature Consortium

Northwest Film Forum

Summer Search

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Update (9/07):

Alzheimer’s Association

Autism Speaks

Childhaven

Planned Parenthood of Western Washington

Providence Hospice of Seattle Foundation

Puget Sound Blood Center

Smile Network International

South Toward Home

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As of 3/07:

826 Seattle

ACLU of Southern California

Bonneville Environmental Foundation

Conservation International

Downtown Emergency Service Center

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Family Services

FareStart

Lambert House

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

Lifelong AIDS Alliance

Marine Conservation Biology Inst.

Media Matters for America

Metro Teen Aids

National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Natural Resources Defense Council

Pasado’s Safe Haven

Pat Spurgeon Kidney Fund

People for the American Way

Power of Hope

Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls

The Sub Pop Scholarship

Tides Foundation

The Vera Project

Washington Toxics Coalition

We look forward to adding to this list and encourage you to take the time to learn more about these organizations.

We at Sub Pop Records have always thought quite a bit of ourselves. But lately, it’s been getting a little ridiculous, even for us. However, it is our innate ability to cast aside just these sorts of, fortunately fleeting, moments of self-doubt and humility that fills us with such overwhelming pride to announce…

THE SUB POP SCHOLARSHIP!

Somewhat incredibly, and momentarily ignoring the fact that we have managed to misspell our own name (which consists of two three-letter words…) on one of our own releases, Sub Pop Records is hereby joining the fight against higher education!

The relevant details are below…

The Sub Pop Scholarship

Sub Pop Records in Seattle, WA is offering $5750 worth of college scholarship money to an eligible high school senior. To apply for this scholarship you must be a resident of Washington or Oregon, and a graduating senior on your way to full-time enrollment at an accredited university or college. We are looking for an applicant who is involved and/or interested in music and/or the creative arts in some way.

To apply for this scholarship we would like you to submit an essay, no longer than one page, letting us know about some of the following topics:

* What are you doing in the arts/music field in your community?

• How and/or why did you become interested in artistic outlets?
• Why do you need this scholarship money?
• What are your influences and/or who inspires you?
• Who are some of your favorite bands or artists?

Applicants are encouraged to send digital links and provide hard copies of their artwork along with their essay, if relevant. However, please be aware that Sub Pop will not return any of this material, so please don’t send originals. Sub Pop will give equal opportunity to all applicants who fit the criteria outlined above. The deadline to apply for this scholarship is May 1st.

Please send all submissions and attachments to scholarship@subpop.com.

Amount: $5750 – check will be made payable to the university or college of the winning applicant’s choice (applied to winning applicant’s tuition).