Pop the cork on pacific punk
It was only just last year these unmasked men leapt tall buildings to play on top of the Seattle Space Needle. You can’t top that that! Certainly a milestone, so maybe in this case the metaphor as an enduring ingredient in the cask of Pacific Northwest RNR vintage is appropriate. “It was kind of a big year for us last year, our 25th anniversary as well as Sub Pop Records’,” explains guitarist Steve Turner.
Another Pacific legacy was bottled by the likes of The Sonics, fermenting in the hearts and ears of young punks. “We all had been fans since we were kids, somehow as a little teenage kid in Seattle, as soon as I got into punk rock in 1979 – ‘80 and became aware via the Northwest garage heritage of The Sonics, Wailers, Kingsmen and Paul Revere & the Raiders. I heard The Sonics early and they became a huge influence of what came on after, in Seattle, Tacoma and Northwest area,” says Turner and “[they were] harder hitting and gnarlier than the other fuzzed-out ‘60s garage punk bands. The Sonics still out pounded all of them. As I got into music and punk rock, there was hardly a difference to my ears between Black Flag and The Sonics, maybe it grooved a little more. It really spoke to me and to Mark Arm as well, it really remained a point of reference when Mudhoney started.” In fact, both Mudhoney and The Sonics came out with a 2014 Record Store Day split release, put out by the folks at Muddy Roots Music Recordings, which sold out in minutes.
With that 25-year history, there is an understanding that kept these folks together for such a lengthy haul. “We allowed a lot of time outside of Mudhoney for all of us to do other things. It stopped being our career in 1998, our job,” says Turner. This was around when bass player Mat Lukin departed and the band took some downtime. “The three remaining original members decided they like playing together and during the year that we were supposedly taking off,” he recalls, “all three of us were playing so much more music, not getting paid a dime and having a much better time at it. So we reconvened with Guy Madison on bass who has been an old friend of ours.”
The band feeds their productivity by calling their own shots and making things work with their respective schedules. “If someone can’t do something, we can say no. There is no pressure. We take it very seriously because we value it. We keep doing it because we like to do it,” says the guitarist. Beyond weekend status they still do lengthier run. “This year we are going to do a five-week tour in Europe,” he adds. In 2013 they released their ninth album called Vanishing Point. By the guidelines of draftsmanship, to execute an accurate drawing of perspective, sketched lines converge to a vanishing point, but also intensify and grow from that same point as well. “We never really stopped, we’re just a little under the radar,” says Turner.
Mudhoney’s audience now encompasses many generations and the curious can uncover some of this history by means of a documentary put together by dedicated fans titled, I'm Now: The Story Of Mudhoney out on DVD. A detailed book written by British journalist Keith Cameron, Mudhoney: The Sound and the Fury from Seattle, is in print. “Lots of words and only a few pictures,” chuckles Turner.
The limited edition live recording Mudhoney On Top: KEXP Presents Mudhoney Live on Top of the Space Needle LP may have sold out, but the blue room recordings, Mudhoney Live at Third Man Records is now available. On the topic of “live,” why not catch them up close and personal. This is not about cardboard cutouts wilting in the November rain or being stuck on the couch watching sitcom reruns of Frasier and Niles arguing over Chardonnay. Mudhoney keep it lean and rocking out with every opportunity they can, this time they make their way north to Bellingham, Vancouver and Nanaimo.
Mudhoney performs at the Rickshaw Theatre November 22.
-by tiina.l
