BY DOUG MACKEY for WEEKLY VOLCANO 10/17/25 |
When Beth Curtis opened Atomic Genius Records and More in downtown Puyallup four years ago this past August, she created a small art gallery in an antechamber of the store. There, she regularly hosts intimate shows featuring musical artists who have product on her shelves. The next to appear, this Saturday, Oct. 18, at 5:30 p.m., is the Justin DePaola Band, led by its namesake.
“He came into the store and introduced himself,” Beth told me recently when we chatted.
DePaola is a singer-songwriter who has been crafting his own material for nearly 20 years, appearing with his eponymous four-piece band. “My band is more of a hard rock, ’90s-inspired alternative rock sort of outfit,” DePaola explains. “This particular show we’re doing at Atomic Genius is us, but unplugged, so it’ll be a little different side of us. I also play a lot of solo acoustic shows just to show off a different range,” he adds. “I’ll play stripped-down versions of my own material, of course, and then I like to slip in cover songs more on the obscure side,” he says somewhat mischievously. “I like to be the type of solo artist that could fit into almost any kind of bill, if that makes sense.”
With four albums and one EP to his name, DePaola has plenty of material to draw from. He also moonlights playing bass in Rain City Rewind, a ’90s rock cover band that donates its proceeds to worthy causes. His charity also extends to organizations for whom he runs and tracks his miles once or twice a year. “I’ve done it for Special Olympics before, for children with blood cancer, and for efforts to increase awareness to hopefully stop soldier suicide, yeah, really just any avenue I feel like I can use to run, which is good for me, and that raises funds, which is good for the cause.”
At Atomic Genius, the band consisting of Justin (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Bugra Karabey (lead guitar), Greg Barnes (drums), and Mike “Hot Sauce” Gordley (bass, backing vocals) will play about 45 minutes in the gallery.
“Tell all your friends,” Beth implores. After four years of performances at the store, Curtis has noticed a trend. “It’s challenging to get people to show up,” she notes, “so it’s a better crowd when the band works their fan base.”
Standout performances in the past include Dick Rossetti’s former band, Ball Bag. “I love him,” she enthuses, and hopes he’ll return with his current project, Bulk Male. “He has a great story about that name, but it’s not mine to tell!” she says, laughing at the thought.
Artificial Heat made an impression as well. “They’re kind of a post-punk styling with a little bit of a noise element to them too, a little bit experimental. Something that kind of sounds like Joy Division or something like that.”
The band Waves Crashing delivered the goods in-store as well. “I’m going to have them back to do an end-of–Record Store Day (April 18) thing,” she insists. “They’re releasing their next album very close to then, so it might be kind of fun just to cap the day off.”
But not before Justin DePaola brings his band and his material into the store this Friday. “My EP was strictly about a cat my wife and I had that passed away,” DePaola says. “It was like, you know, an homage to him.” It’s titled 3.
Though in retrospect he considers his earlier albums somewhat “trivial,” he feels he’s grown as a lyricist. “I would say my last album was a little deeper, a little bit more about looking inward and mental health both my own and relatable to others, touching a little bit on the state of affairs, I guess, in terms of a lot of civil unrest in our country.”
That album is called Survival Is Easier than Love. It can be found on all streaming services, sure, but pick up your copy at the Atomic Genius show this Friday.
Justin DePaola Band, Atomic Genius Records, Saturday, Oct. 18, at 5:30 p.m.
