GQ  

November 2005

"Why are today's great bands begging to go on the kiddie show 'Pancake Mountain'?"

You have to see to believe Pancake Mountain, the Washington, D.C., cable-access show on which alt-rockers like Ted Leo, Scissor Sisters, and the Arcade Fire play before an audience of energetic little kids, most of whom are barely out of potty training. MTV could never dream up a show that once featured Fugazi god Ian MacKaye lip-syncing a kiddie ditty he wrote called "Vowel Movement." Such moments have made Pancake Mountain the coolest TV booking in rock. "Bands started hearing about it and called us," founder Scott Stuckey says. And they're not the only appreciative souls out there. "So many parents write us," says Stuckey, "and they're like, 'Wow, this is something I really like watching with my kids, rather than the Wiggles.'" Watch it at Pancakemountain.com.

-LUKE ZALESKI

(Photo by Elise Moore)