Year 5000

Year 5000, known also as Y5K, belongs to the informal musician network linking Portland and Seattle. Seattle-ite Mat Probasco leads the project on guitar and vocals, with Oregon-based Ritchie Young handling drums and Joel Holly on bass. The constantly shifting trio explores an expansive range through its basement recordings made on one-, four-, and eight-track equipment, moving from minimal sampled loops through surf rock into post-punk territory. Its performances mirror this fluidity, with part of the set list composed only hours ahead of each show to preserve an element of unpredictability. The group has appeared alongside several other central Oregon acts on three compilations, including Songs and Sounds of Trash From Central Oregon (1997) and 6 From the Farm (1998), both issued by the independent Note Farm Records label. Y5K’s 24-song lo-fi rock project The Secret Album followed on the same imprint in 1999.