Jonathan Kochmer
(Owner)
Before starting Sarathan, I've been a musician, statistician, geneticist, librarian, museum curator, data mining engineer, global warming researcher, and a feral teen-child living on roots and berries. My favorite color is "clear". I always see  bunnies & trilobites when I look at clouds in the sky. I am pathologically obsessed with  palindromes and statistical/graphical thinking. My favorite poets are Yeats, Eliot, Pound, Roethke and A.R. Ammons. My favorite painters are Kupka, Klimpt and  Albrecht Durer. My favorite philosophers were Leibniz, Wittgenstein, and Searle, And music? It a lifestyle, not a choice.

Jonathan's tracks that made me stop in my tracks:
Feist "Mushaboom"
Frou Frou "Let Go"
Tori Amos "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Kate Bush "Running Up That Hill"
Suzanne Vega "Small Blue Thing"

Chris Adams
(Adverting Director/Artist Liason)
Chris Adams is a Seattle area native with deep roots in music. He got his start at Western Washington University as a volunteer DJ at KUGS, the campus college radio station. After graduating from Western, Chris worked a few white-collar jobs but found he missed the music industry. In 2004, he started working part time for Sarathan Records, but quickly became a full time force. Chris is currently Sarathan's Advertising Manager and Artist Assets Manager, among other things. He also volunteers for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America ( CCFA) and has helped organize, book, and promote various benefit concerts that featured the likes of Pearl Jam, Sleater Kinney, Supersuckers, The Purrs, Stone Gossard's side project Brad and Mike McCready's UFO tribute band, Flight to Mars.

Chris' tracks that made me stop in my tracks:
Pearl Jam "Alive"
Social Distortion "Telling Them" and "I Was Wrong" (songs go together)
The Who "Won't Get Fooled Again"
The Velvet Underground "Loaded" (entire album blew me away)
The Beatles (everything I heard when I was very young)



Jessica Drenkel
(Production Manager)
My role as Production Coordinator thrives off my inherent ability to adhere to deadlines. Spreadsheets are cool. Missing a deadline is not cool.

My varied history in the local music business is unsurprising, as I'm a Seattle native. After spending time at a handful of local and national record stores, the Stranger, live music venues, the ROCKRGRL music conference and the Ten Club, I'm happy to be humming at Sarathan. Oh, and in my "free time" I manage, book and/or promote a few bands.

Jessica's tracks that made me stop in my tracks:
David Bowie "Let's Dance"
PJ Harvey "50 ft Queenie"
Aphex Twin "Selected Ambient Works"
Battles "Mirrored"


Laura Sammons
(Internet Research and Marketing)
Laura grew up collecting fireflies, riding her bicycle, and eating sweet corn in the Mid-West. In early adolescence she had a mind-bending rock&roll epiphany when her big sister Nina played her "Beat on the Brat" by The Ramones. Now, after many many live shows and constant abuse from her electric guitar, she wonders: is that hum really in the universe, or is the tinnitus finally setting in? After graduating from St. John's College in Santa Fe, Laura worked for 2 different bookstores including Amazon.com. For a book-worm she's surprisingly A.D.D., which explains her failure to read the final 5 1/2 volumes of Proust's only novel (although not her failure to apologize). An enthusiastic Seattleite since 1996, Laura eats cheese curds (when in Wisconsin), drinks micro-brews (when anywhere), and claims to love her guitar and her motorcycle equally. Internet marketing being an obsession of hers, she is happily employed at Sarathan Records, disseminating their marvelous musical memes throughout the metaverse.

Laura's tracks that made me stop in my tracks:
Nina Simone "Sinnerman"
Antony and the Johnsons "Hope There's Someone"
Gun Club"Sex Beat"
The Clash "The Clash" (album)
The Ramones "Beat On The Brat"
Blondie "Heart Of Gass"
Howlin' Wolf "Smokestack Lightning"
Peter, Bjorn & John"Young Folks"
Michael Nyman Soundtrack to "The Draughtsman's Contract" (album)


Kate Leaver
(Office Manager)
Born and raised in Seattle, I've always had a love for Northwest and Independent music. After a brief affair with the bass guitar, I learned that I was better suited for music appreciation than rock stardom. I bring to Sarathan a background in sales and support, and an unhealthy obsession with organization and administration. Because of these skills I have earned nicknames including "DupliKate (accept no substitutes!)", "RepliKate", and "Lippy".

Kate's tracks that made me stop in my tracks:
The Books "Smells Like Content"
Pearl Jam "Alive"
Neko Case "Porchlight"
Pink Floyd "The Great Gig in the Sky"
Radiohead "Paranoid Android"


Jon Krop
(Web Developer/Graphic Designer)
Jon’s love of art, music, pop culture, and rooting for the underdogs is life long. His career includes working for major ad agencies, record labels (Rykodisc, Barsuk, Columbia, eenie meenie, and more), non profits, and a whose-who list of musicians and entertainers (including Big Star, Tracy Bonham, Redd Kross, Charlotte Caffey (The Go-Gos), Jon Auer, Bill Hicks, Brian Eno, and the Misfits.) Some of his recent work earned a 2005 Golden Dot Award Nomination for best campaign site, and the 2004 Webby Award for Best Activism site.

When not attached to his computer, Jon likes to cook, bike ride, read, and experiment with photography.

Jon's tracks that made me stop in my tracks:
Redd Kross "Peach Kelli Pop" and "Play My Song"
Persephone's Bees "Nice Day"
Patrick Park "Something Pretty"
Sonic Youth "Kool Thing"
The Cure "Just Like Heaven"
Frank Zappa "Camarillio Brillo"
Komeda "Blossom"
Elton John "Love Lies Bleeding/Funeral For A Friend"