Appalachian death polka...at HouseValues?

This is the first in a series of ongoing posts highlighting what HouseValues employees are doing outside of the office. We call it our HouseValues “Who’s In Your House” program (stifle the giggles, please).

Many people wish they were in a band. Few people actually pull it off.

We’re lucky to have several employees at HouseValues who not only are in bands, but have actual gigs…and actual fans…and actual albums.

One such band is Wages of Sin, featuring the talents of HouseValues Marketing Manager Mark Robben. Mark’s musical interests started at a young age, when he and his parents pursued his talents for different reasons.

“My parents made me take piano lessons, even though I was adamant it was for girls only,” he said.

In early 2003, Wages of Sin was formed from several Seattle-area musicians just finishing other band gigs. Their eclectic musical interests combined for a sound that Mark describes as “punk rock sea shanties and Appalachian death polka.”

Yeah. Best way to describe that is to listen to a few samples, available here and here.

Mark’s band plays live about twice a month, usually at local venues around the Pacific Northwest.

Their first album, Custom of the Sea, is available at CD Baby, and you can learn more about the band at their Web site or MySpace page.

“We’ve had our album reviewed by various magazines, but our latest claim to fame is that we’ve earned some airplay on a punk show on the BBC,” Mark said. “So we’re pretty much huge in London.”

Rock on, Mark!