Mudhoney Articles
Altercation
Fall '02
Mudhoney Gets Translucent
Alongside Nirvana and The Melvins, few personify the early 1990’s “grunge”
explosion like Mudhoney. And, like those aforementioned musical forefathers,
the band’s music is actually far more interesting than a journalistic
tag could pinpoint. Drawing heavily from the low-fi garage rock sound heralded
by MC5 and Blue Cheer, and with the live performance chops to back it up,
Mudhoney has steadily become one of modern rock’s alternative workhorses.
As one of the earliest (and most visible) musical collectives on legendary
Seattle label Sub Pop, the band helped forge the west coast sound with memorable
albums such as My Brother The Cow. Sneering, visceral cuts like “Touch Me,
I’m Sick” lent Mudhoney an early cult fanbase, one that has grown
steadily with each concurrent raw, feedback infused live show.
Despite the recent departure of long time bassist Matt Lukin, the band has
forged on with former Lubricated Goat member Guy Maddison. Their new album
Since We’ve Become Translucent showcases a more experimental
yet fundamentally secure Mudhoney, integrating horns and backing vocals
into their trademark fuzz box signature. Vocalist Mark Arm spoke to Altercation
recently about the trials and tribulations of musical maturity.
Altercation: I hear you’re getting geared up for some European dates.
How does the audience differ over there?
Mark: Well, we haven’t really been to Europe since 1995. We did
one show in 1998, but that was in London. We’ve done some phone
interviews with European journalists recently, and they all keep asking
if we have any regrets (laughs). You know, “tell me about grunge”
type of things. I guess we’re supposed to be reflective or something
by this point. We only have a ten day window to do shows over there, because
not everyone in the band can get away as readily as myself.
A: Have you played many shows with the new lineup?
M: Yeah, we played a couple of shows a little over a year ago around the
Pacific Northwest. About this time last year we did a three week tour
to Chicago and back. Guy is a great player.
A: Have you seen your approach to songwriting change since he joined the
group?
M: Well, our approach is still similar. Someone usually brings up a couple
of riffs or whatever, and we all work on it together. Guy has been a little
more active in bringing stuff forward and working with what we have than
Matt had been for the last couple of years.
A: What led to Matt’s departure?
M: He just completely lost interest.
A: Was there any hesitation on your part when it came to recording a new
album?
M: No, the hesitation came well before that. We weren’t sure what
do after Matt quit, since we had been the same four people since the get-go.
In the early days, we had always said that it wouldn’t be Mudhoney
if someone were to leave. When Matt quit, he told me that he wanted us
to continue, he didn’t want his leaving to affect the rest of us.
I think that might have been why he stuck around as long as he did, like
he didn’t want to let the rest of us down. But eventually he just
had to give in to his desire to get off the road and stop playing music.
It just won out.
A: How have you seen the road change since you first started out?
M: The first time I went on a U.S. tour was in 1985 with Green River,
and that was a totally different thing from booking a tour now. The infrastructure
wasn’t really set. We didn’t have access to a booking agent,
we just called up places ourselves. We ended up doing seven dates from
Seattle to New York (laughs). A couple of those were pickup shows, where
we hung around a place for a week, then played it again before we left
(laughs). It was a lot more difficult than it is now.
A: Did you have a record out at the time of that tour?
M: We had a record due out on Homestead that was supposed to be out by
the time of the tour, but it wasn’t ready. They made us several
promises of tour support with shows, and didn’t do that either (laughs).
A: This new record has been getting a lot of really good reviews.
Is there a specific record that you’re most proud of?
M: Not really. I mean, I really like the last record we did, I just don’t
think that many people heard it. It’s darker than this record, that’s
for sure. It had a very different feel, and the circumstances surrounding
it were very different. I think that’s a strong album.
A: Some of the songs on the new record are pretty lengthy, clocking
in at seven minutes plus. Did you do more ‘jamming’ this time
around, for lack of a better word?
M: We always kind of do, especially when we’re tooling around with
something new. We try and condense things, make stuff tighter. If we do
put a jam into a song, it’s usually after a song is established.
Like the first song on the new record, “Baby, Can You Dig the Light?”,
starts with nothing. We didn’t have an idea of what the song should
do, except there was a drum beat floating around. The idea was to have
it come out of nothing, and whatever the bass played with that drum beat
would determine what the song would become. So there were a couple weeks
where we were just playing around with noise, trying to make it into something
cohesive.
A: I was surprised to hear the horn sections on the new album…
M: Yeah, that was something that we had always talked about, although
mainly in theory. The Saints have always been one of our favorite bands.
We just didn’t really know how to go about it (laughs). I think
we’ve always been hung up on the idea that we should be able to
replicate what we do in the studio live. We sure as shit won’t have
a horn section on tour (laughs). This time, we just decided to do everything
for the record. We know we’re not going to be touring all that much,
so most people’s exposure to the new music will be through the record.
A: So do you plan to omit those songs from the set list?
M: No, we play all of the songs on the record. They just don’t have
horns on them (laughs).
A: Were they studio musicians that you brought in?
M: Well, I’ve known Craig the sax player since I was four. He’s
always been around. He played around in the early eighties with these
other guys in a band called Fred, which was this weird avant-garde, Zappa
kind of thing. At the same time, he also played in this cover band to
earn a living. They played fifties rock for weddings out in the suburbs.
He’s always done whatever he can just to be a musician. We got together
with some of the other guys for this tribute show to The Sonics. There
was this big show honoring some of the Northwest’s classic bands
like The Kingsmen, and The Sonics decided not to do it. So we decided
to be a bit ballsy and take on their material (laughs). That was probably
the most nervous I’ve ever been. Reaction was good, but those are
pretty big shoes to fill.
A: Do you primarily look to classic acts like that for inspiration, or
are there contemporary live bands that get you psyched?
M: I think two great bands that are happening now are Nebula and Queens
of the Stone Age. I really like John from Clawhammer’s new band.
It reminds me a lot of Brian Eno, which isn’t necessarily like us
in the musical sense. There’s all kind of cool local bands that
no one has probably heard of, like The A-Frames and The Stiffs… or
this band The Cripples. It’s kind of hard for me to say.
A: So was the title Since We’ve Become Translucent intended
as a tongue-in-cheek cut at the state of modern radio?
M: It’s a line from the song “Sonic Infusion”, and seemed
like a good visual line. It seemed like a good place to start working
with artwork from (laughs). That’s the big mystery behind the title.
That’s our big statement (laughs).
Thanks to Mark and the rest of the band for the interview, and to Steve
at Sub Pop for his assistance. Since We’ve Become Translucent is
available now at a record store near you, with select U.S. Mudhoney
shows planned for fall 2002.
