Juicy meat sizzling over an open grill isn't the only noise streaming from Pita Pit's open doors this semester.
Earlier this year, ingenuity from employees J.D. Winn and Nehemiah Zilar put together a hip, new music magazine/blog on Myspace dubbed "The QTip" that has been bringing unsigned, local bands like Equaleyes and Polyphonic Pomegranate to jam live at the late-night hot spot.
"We were sick of going to bad concerts," Zilar said. "So we figured if we can't go out to hear good music in Spokane, we'll bring it here to us."
In the little time QTip has been on the Web, they have already accumulated more than 300 friends, most of which are bands from the Inland Northwest.
"When the page first went up, we were getting like five band requests an hour," said Winn. "I had seen Equaleyes before at a concert and liked their sound. I contacted them through Myspace, and they offered to come play live at Pita Pit for a cheaper price than they normally charge. It's totally cool."
The QTip, which is updated weekly by Winn and Zilar, features upcoming local concert listings, album reviews, and general music articles about what's new and cool in Spokane.
"We pride ourselves on the integrity of our music tastes," Zilar said. "We were playing M.I.A. in here last year before anyone else had really even heard of it. But we knew it was good music and that Gonzaga students would enjoy it."
The duo, which has been slicing, stuffing and serving up pitas to Gonzaga students since 2006, created the music blog because of their shared love of music and desire to diversify the college music scene.
"Because we're central in the college area, there's a lot of different music that's being put out there that we want to let others know about," Winn said.
"We're trying to broaden the scope of what Spokane students are listening to," agreed Zilar. "It's either country or death metal around here, and we want to bring more college-friendly music to campus."
After initial brainstorming of what they wanted on the blog, Winn and Zilar began asking students who came in to munch on pitas what they wanted to hear and soon created a list of bands and albums on their page titled, "What's GU Listening To?"
The QTip encourages students to contribute to the music blog by writing music reviews and submitting creative advertisements, and have been giving away free tickets to local shows like Death Cab for Cutie and promotional albums as a thanks to those participating.
"It's cool because it's something anyone can get involved in within the college community," Winn said.
Unfortunately, their success has been mild because of the costs to have bands play live in such a small space.
"I mean, there weren't that many people here during the first concert, but it sure did look packed from the window," joked Zilar. "We want more bands to play here, but since we can't charge anyone, it's hard to fund."
Although The QTip is at a standstill with the spring semester winding down and students rushing home for the summer, they have big plans for the future.
"This summer, we're thinking a little outdoor concert action," explained Zilar. "Warm weather, good friends, and great music. It's going to be totally awesome."
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