Substation

Substation is an underground warehouse venue and bar on NW 45th Street in Ballard, Seattle, beside a power station. It began booking shows in April 2015 and held its grand opening that June. The opening owners were Dave West, Ken Wallace and Jeremy Rudo; they expanded into adjoining space as it became available, eventually taking over the building.

The venue has two music rooms, a recording studio and a capacity of about 150. Birdhouse Studio sits beside the Chandelier Room, and two rehearsal rooms measure 16 by 16 feet. The larger showroom’s sound system includes KV2 Audio SL412 mains, KV2 and Beta3 subwoofers, rear fills and Turbosound floor monitors; the main showroom uses KV2 Audio KRIG towers. An adjacent rehearsal facility has 80 spaces and serves more than 250 bands.

Substation hosts live and electronic music, alongside rock and burlesque performances. We Tried has run events there, with Alix Perez, Eprom, Shades and Phace among the artists to play. One owner is a DJ who has been part of Seattle’s electronic music community since the Groovetech era of the 1990s.