Mudhoney Articles
chartattack.com
10 September '03
Mudhoney: The Grunge That Never Dies
Remember those golden days when grunge ruled the airwaves? It was a time when the popular
press rallied around any Seattle band wearing plaid and a guitar. As the literal forefathers
of the grunge scene, Mudhoney gained a lot of attention but never actually broke into
the mainstream. The irony is that their music was a little too grunge for the popular ear to
latch onto. While bands like Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Nirvana wrote angst-filled lyrics to
distorted pop hooks, Mudhoney just kept blasting out their trademark sound. As a band, they
were going long before the Seattle scene took off and keep the torch alive today. I sat down
recently with lead singer Mark Arm to ask a few questions about how he's managed to foster
such an enduring career.
As a band, it's impressive that Mudhoney are still a functioning unit. Do you plan to keep
it going for years to come?
No reason not to.
Is the lifestyle engrained at this point?
Well, we've been sidelined over the years by the usual things like kids and wives, typical
grown-up things, but we've always managed to keep it going. You do what you love.
Are you working on any new material?
We've got three new songs. I realize it's not exactly a lot of new stuff, but we've slowed
down a little in our old age.
Mudhoney has quite an extensive song catalog to choose from when you play a live show.
Do you use any particular method when putting your set-lists together?
The three new songs will be slipped in there somewhere. A bunch of songs from our last
album [Since We've Become Translucent], and the rest of the songs will be the stuff people
actually want to hear.
All the golden Mudhoney oldies?
Exactly.
I don't know if "Touch Me I'm Sick" is quite as golden as, say "Blueberry Hill."
Not yet, but soon!
As the frontman of Mudhoney for basically two decades, are you beginning to take on the
persona of Godfather of the Seattle music scene?
Actually, people pay very little attention to me.
So it's not hard to go out and get your groceries?
Nope, in fact I get groceries almost every week.
What about when grunge music exploded onto the global map? Was there a time when you
were followed everywhere by plaid-adorned kids?
It was like that for about one summer, but it cooled off pretty quick.
When I toured the "Experience Music Project" in downtown Seattle, I noticed that you
narrated the "Northwest Passage" part of the audio tour. It's a section of the museum
devoted to Pacific Northwest contributions to punk and grunge, were you honored to be
asked?
Naw, I was probably the only music guy who wasn't busy. [laughs]
I notice the band is back on local Seattle label Sub Pop records. Mudhoney was the
vanguard Sub Pop band in the early days of the label, is it a little like coming back
to your roots?
They treat us well, but the label is nothing like it was back in those days.
I presume the major change took place when Warner bought it out?
Yup. Things are much more business-oriented today.
Since you were kind enough to meet me at your rehearsal space for this interview, I
couldn't help but peruse all of your band's gear.
It's quite the collection.
I remember during the height of grunge popularity, Boss released a "grunge" guitar
pedal meant to emulate the grunge sound. I recall spending hours trying to recreate the
Mudhoney sound when I was in high school garage bands.
...And ironically it sounds nothing like us.
That's why I found it really funny when I noticed you have one of these pedals covered
in dust on a shelf.
I gave it to my wife as a joke a few years back. The funny thing is that she ended up
using it all the time in the band she was playing in.
With the aggressive style of Mudhoney's music, is the band hard on their equipment?
The usual wear and tear, nothing special. In fact, Steve is still playing the same amp he
had when we started.
Thanks for taking a few minutes to answer my questions. Sorry I spent all that time
stalking you at the grocery store back in 1994.
I knew it was you.
