BY DOUG MACKEY for WEEKLY VOLCANO 8/15/25 |
Somewhere in the hairline cracks of time available to him between business duties, family obligations, and the interminable theater tour of his wildly successful movie Rainier: A Beer Odyssey, Justin Peterson found a few minutes to talk to me about his new music album project. The birth of this vinyl LP is the product of a long gestation. “Man, without not giving someone credit, I actually can’t remember who came up with the idea for the project. I’m assuming it was me!” Peterson says with a laugh. Hearing him tell it, the germ of the idea seems to have emerged over a few Vitamin Rs with his friends, of which Justin has many. “We were kind of making fun of the Now records that came out in the ’90s and early 2000s, so the record’s called Now That’s What I Call the Valley. I just thought that would be funny.”
What was once a joke eventually morphed into action. “I’d been talking about this for a year, and then I was finally like, you know, maybe I should just do it.” The album is a compilation of one song each by twelve of Justin’s favorite bands; the main criterion being that they had to have played the Valley at least once. “I kind of [asked the bands to each] pick a song. I told them, ‘It doesn’t have to be new—it could be old, but just pick a song that you like and that represents you,’ because I’m just trying to put these out in the world,” Peterson explains. “The goal is not to, like, have any band get discovered necessarily. It’s just for fun—for the Valley and the bands that play there.”
“I basically just got all the songs and then I kind of put them together in an order that I thought sounded good,” Peterson explains. “So it gets progressively heavier as it goes on, because it’s a mix of grungy stuff and surfy stuff and then some heavier bands like Mos Generator, Uukwuuk, and Gold Sweats. But then there’s also Girl Trouble and Serpentfoot—other bands that aren’t as heavy.” The other artists lending their talents include the Fucking Eagles, Dick Rossetti, Velvet Tang, Cosmic Trash, Sharky Waters, and, on the progressively heavier side, They Walk Among Us and Tharsis Rise. It’s a disparate but formidable lineup. “Maybe they wouldn’t play a bill together, necessarily,” admits Peterson, “but I kind of just wanted it to be a mix, but not be too jarring as you listen from song to song.”
After Justin collected the recordings and put them in order of heaviness, he needed to tackle the logistics of producing the physical product: a vinyl album. For mastering, he reached out to Mos Generator’s and Pentagram’s Tony Reed, who in turn recommended Solid Merch for the pressing and album sleeve (which was designed by Valley soundman and They Walk Among Us drummer Peter Tietjen). The discs themselves were pressed, as most are worldwide, in the Czech Republic.
But for those looking to stream these songs or perhaps buy a CD, you’re out of luck. “Just vinyl,” says Peterson. “Three hundred and done.” Neither will you find the records at your local record store—at least that’s not in the cards presently. “Because there’s such a limited number, I won’t be able to offer a wholesale price,” Peterson explains. “Depending on how it goes, though, I’ll probably just keep it unique to the Valley. It makes them rarer, too,” he points out. “Come get it [at the Valley], and if you don’t get it then, you’ll have to borrow it from a friend,” Justin says with a laugh.
They will be available at the Valley, yes, but not before the big record release show next month. “Because the bands are booked so much during the summer, September 26 was the first date I could make work.” The event’s Facebook page lists: “The Fucking Eagles, Dick Rossetti and Bulk Male, Serpentfoot, Velvet Tang, They Walk Among Us, Cosmic Trash, Sharky Waters, and more!”
“This is how my schtick works,” Peterson explains. “Basically, I’ve given each band ten records. That’s 120 records. Then I’ll just sell 140 to break even—so that’s 260. And then there’s 40 left for promotional use or to make a profit. I’m not trying to make a profit off it, necessarily.” He’d like to cover his costs, though, and if possible, make a little profit, but only so he can repeat the process. He’s priced the album at $25.
“I want to do Volumes 2 and 3,” he enthuses. “That’s my only goal—to do two more: a country/Americana one and then another mixed rock one. I mean, it would be cool if they sold out really quick and it paid for the next one, and that one sold out really quick and paid for the next one.” Peterson is already thinking ahead. “I kinda got a list going for the next two. I try to go to as many shows as I can, but with two kids, it’s not like it used to be where I was at almost every show.”
Though he may not get as many chances as he once did to support his friends by attending their gigs, Peterson is clearly enthusiastic about lifting them up with this new album. “I think all the bands are stoked, and some of the bands have never been on vinyl before!”
