Internal / External

Internal/External was the alias of indie rock veteran Paul Schuster, a longtime staple of the Olympia, WA pop underground whose previous projects included a stint as keyboardist with love-rock icons Some Velvet Sidewalk as well as production and engineering work for Julie Ruin and the Spells. Internal/External began taking shape in 1997, a product of Schuster's recent experiments in electronic music; he then invited friends including Lois Maffeo, Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein, Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna and K Records honcho Calvin Johnson to contribute guest vocals to the project, resulting in the 2000 release of Featuring.... The Insideout EP followed a year later. ~ Jason Ankeny