The name may be unfamiliar, but the players behind Club Tiger Promotions are highly recognizable to any one who follows the D.C. music scene. Local artists Carol Bui and Jay Smith of Middle Distance Runner have started an all-ages venue, The Lab in Alexandria, which will both give under-age bands a place to play with their more seasoned peers and serve as an environment where, as Bui puts it, "kids feel totally comfortable and safe playing, hanging out, watching and
supporting their peers."

Smith is keen to push the point that just because the events will be alcohol-free, doesn't mean folks should feel they're limited to the high school crowd. "The point is that it's really opened to anyone that wants to see this kind of music and also learn out about important local issues that they can get involved with," he said.

In addition to seeing a wide variety of local acts, each Club Tiger show will raise awareness for a different local charity. Smith got the idea from a show Middle Distance Runner played recently at Galaxy Hut that a group of high-schoolers put together for a classmate who had cancer.

"It was very powerful and I just thought, 'What if we could do this stuff regularly?'" Smith said.

Saturday night's kick-off event at The Lab (located at 1819 N. Quaker Lane in Alexandria) will support The Zion Project, an Arlington that seeks to help child soldiers in Uganda. Performers will include Pash, Georgia's Elevado, Shapes Not Sounds and Worn in Red. Doors are at 8:30 p.m. and there's a $5 cover.

Bui and Smith answered a few of our questions about Club Tiger Promotions and shows at The Lab. The full interview after the jump.

Tell us about Club Tiger. Is making this an all-ages/alcohol free endeavor something that you hope will get high-schoolers interested in the local music scene?

Carol Bui: We do hope this will help younger people get involved and interested in being a part of the local music community. D.C. seems to be in need of another all-ages venue, especially since Warehouse Next Door stopped doing shows. We really want to create an environment where kids feel totally comfortable and safe playing, hanging out, watching and supporting their peers. Bands of all ages are welcome - We're going to try booking more seasoned acts with newer/younger ones, or put together bands that might not play together under the usual club circumstances, in the same spirit as Fort Reno...not to be corny, but to sort of tighten the community a bit. Jay was telling me that he wants to give younger bands opportunities to play shows under the same conditions as the 21+ bands - good sound, stage, lighting, etc. so they don't have to limit themselves to just house shows (though house shows tend to be pretty awesome).

Jay Smith: High-schoolers are already interested in the local music scene, but they have no way to approach it. That problem isn't good for anyone. Every band I personally know in D.C. has a deficit of under-aged fans at their live shows and most bands will tell you that the under-aged fans they have are by far the most loyal.

The other problem is that the under-aged bands can't play anywhere. That is really sad because there is a lot of great talent that will never see the light of day since the band members are too young to play in bar type venues. I have a theory that, if you give the younger bands more experience with older bands, they can learn things that they never would have on their own. If they can be cultured in that environment I believe that they will be making better music when they are older which would ultimately create a healthier local music scene.

Is this something that you hope will be an alternative to less safe options?

JS: That's also one of the ideas. I know for our band, a lot of our under-aged fans aren't allowed to go to D.C., even if it's an all ages show. You can't blame parents for being concerned about their kids. The Lab is located right off of 395 by Shirlington, so it's close, alcohol free and it's in a church on a Saturday night for only $5. Parents have no excuses with this one. Why do I feel like a sales person?

Could you tell us more about the charity organizations that the
proceeds go to? How did you pick them?

JS: One of my ideas is to use this event to raise awareness for local charities, so we can support our direct community in a very specific way.

This first show we will be showcasing Zion Project, which is a local charity that Sarita Hartz is just starting. She goes over to Uganda and works personally to council child brides and child soldiers and people that have been through all sorts of unspeakable things. She will be able to talk specifically about real people that we can help, which is the personal approach I am looking for as opposed to most organizations that are very large and feel somewhat detached.

We don't take much from the door for these charities so people are encouraged to donate or get involved if they feel the cause is important to them.

Do other local artists seem amenable to playing these shows?

CB: Yes, we've been getting a lot of booking requests, even though the place isn't open yet! When I set up a MySpace and made an announcement several weeks ago, people emailed me right away about playing there. There are tons of bands in town, which is awesome, but it also makes booking kind of tough...so when there's a new opportunity to play a show, they jump on it. I started setting up shows at Murky because I get frequent requests from friends, out-of-town bands I've played with on tour, asking for help with DC shows. I'm not always able to hook them up at the more established venues like Rock and Roll Hotel, Black Cat, etc. so I took on Murky Upstairs as a way to aid that.

How long has this idea/project been in the works?

JS: I went to scout out some younger bands at Murky one night and I saw that Carol was running the show (pun totally intended). We started talking and realized that we might be able to do something really cool. Her vision was a lot bigger than what I was originally planning, as far working with national acts and such and she had the ability already to make that kind of thing happen.

How can people reading this to get more immediately involved in Club Tiger?

CBWe really need more people to help with promotion for both The Lab and Murky, that'd be awesome. We're trying to build a strong street team to get the
word out - making/passing out fliers, etc.

Finally, do you like your strawberries dipped in chocolate?

CB: I LOVE my strawberries, dipped or bare.

JS:I love chocolate so yeah, as long as it's dark. I love chocolate and peanut butter, chocolate and scotch (pair with Johnny Walker Gold Label mmmm!), chocolate and red wine... the list goes on.

For more info contact Carol and Jay at thelabbooking@gmail.com