The Gallatin Underground

A site worth repairing

Vincent Palafox owns and founded the Gallatin Underground. Azakaela Erin Redfire was his partner in the project for years, documenting and supporting the local music scene alongside him. The project began by hauling recording gear into musicians’ practice spaces and eventually became a physical independent studio in Belgrade, Montana.

When Vince asked Azakaela to rebuild the website after it broke, the assignment was not to turn the GU into a shiny new brand. It was to restore it, organize it, and give the work the dignity it deserved.

Execute the original idea

Brooke C. Benson’s original logo and brand guide already belonged to the Gallatin Underground. The rebuild deliberately preserved and extended that visual language instead of overwriting it.

This project shows another side of B&E’s practice: understanding an existing identity deeply enough to let it finally become what it was meant to be.

Eight years made accessible

The material spans performances, recordings, videos, interviews, photographs, artist documentation, and the story of the studio itself. The website gathers that history into an experience that can be explored instead of leaving it scattered across aging social accounts and disconnected platforms.

As of August 9, 2026, the official Gallatin Underground YouTube channel holds 880 unique public uploads: 778 videos, 65 archived livestreams, and 37 Shorts. That count is a snapshot, not a finish line.

The signal is still alive

The rebuilt site honors what Vince and Azakaela made together while leaving room for the Gallatin Underground’s next chapter. Vince is directing another round of edits as he considers getting the project moving again. For now, the GU is on a lengthy hiatus—not dead—and its archive remains an active record of people, sound, labor, mistakes, experiments, and community.