Mariella Luz worked at K Records for 17 years, eventually running the independent label as general manager. They co-founded an all-ages venue on Olympia's west side that kept live music accessible to under-21 audiences for half a decade. On Friday, August 7, locals can hear that story told live when the Olympia Music History Project hosts a public interview with Luz at 203 Columbia St. NW in downtown Olympia.

The event is free.

The First Friday gathering runs in two parts. A meet-and-greet in the Lobby Gallery from 4 to 5:30 p.m. lets visitors explore artifacts from Olympia's music history. Then at 5:30 p.m., interviewer Kelsey Smith moves the conversation to the South Gallery, where the recorded interview with Luz will become part of the project's digital archive.

Luz (they/them) moved to Olympia from the D.C. suburbs to attend The Evergreen State College in 1995. They worked at K Records from 2001 to 2018, serving as general manager of the label that helped launch Beck, Modest Mouse, and Built to Spill. In 2010, Luz co-founded the Olympia All Ages Project, which operated the Northern, a venue and gallery on the west side, until 2015.

"At that time the last of the all ages venues and galleries had closed, so there wasn't anywhere to have an all ages show but at a house," Luz told NPR in August 2010, explaining why they opened the Northern in February 2009. "So we decided to start a venue."

Luz is also a working group member of the Olympia Music History Project itself, having conducted interviews for the archive with musicians including Nomy Lamm and Bret Lunsford. Friday's event flips the script, putting Luz on the other side of the microphone.

The project, founded in 2023, documents Olympia's independent music scene between 1980 and 2002. Its research team has completed 26 oral-history interviews so far, all available as audio files and written transcripts. The group presented at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma in December 2025 as part of the "We the People Lecture Series."

Both parts of Friday's event are free and open to the public. Drop in for either portion or stay for the full three hours at 203 Columbia St. NW.