For New York author Greg Prato, the decision to write a documentary on Seattle’s Grunge era was very obvious. Prato’s favorite bands include local artists like Soundgarden, Nirvana and Mudhoney.

“For some reason I’ve always loved those Seattle bands,” said Prato. “I felt like I owed them for getting me into the punk scene and away from bad metal bands.”

The author was also disappointed in other documentaries that he felt were written to soon to the musical era itself, many immediately after Kurt Cobain’s death.

Prato’s documentary begins with the early roots of grunge in the 1960's. It also includes details on some of the Seattle’s most influential bands that are all-too-often overlooked in similar documentaries, such as Mother Love Bone, The Melvins and The Screaming Trees.
The most unique aspect of “Grunge Is Dead” is that the story of Seattle’s most infamous musical era is told directly from the people who were apart of it: musicians, record label executives, journalists and fans.

The author was inspired by “Please Kill Me,” an oral history of New York’s punk scene. Similar to that narrative, Prato’s book is composed entirely of quotes with brief chapter introductions by the author himself.

“I wanted it to be straight from the people that were actually there,” said Prato.

Perhaps what is most impressive about “Grunge Is Dead” is that Prato conducted more than 130 interviews during his research. The author was able to talk to Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil, Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses, producer Jack Endino and West Seattle’s own Matt Vaughan, owner of Easy Street Records.

While interviewing Vaughan, Prato soon realized how connected Easy Street Records has been to Seattle’s grunge era.

On Saturday, April 25 at 6 p.m. the record store will host the author’s only book signing in Seattle. Prato said there’s a good chance some special guests could drop by.

“I’m excited,” said Prato. “I’m looking forward to meeting a lot of people face to face that I interviewed for the book.”