Though it’s hard to believe they’ve been going 40 years, Washington’s sludge rock pioneers Melvins are indeed entering their fourth decade as a band.
With vocalist/guitarist Buzz Osborne and drummer Dale Crover accompanied by bassist (and Redd Kross founder) Steven McDonald (who joined 2015), the group are currently right in the midst of the European leg of their 40th anniversary tour.
Buzz spoke to New Noise between soundcheck and the band’s sold-out show at Berlin’s Metropol venue on Sunday, June 11.
I guess you’ve probably played Berlin many times.
First time we played here was really good. We had a great show. But every time we play here, it’s been good. Germany always did good for us.
Do you remember when you first toured Europe?
1989 – 90, 30-plus years ago. How old were you in 1990?.
How old was I? Nine.
Didn’t go to the show.
I’m afraid not. On the topic of how long you’ve been going for, this is your 40th anniversary tour. Does that hold any sort of significance for you?
Not really. I’m not really a good old days kind of guy. When we started the band, we didn’t really have much idea that it was going to do anything. I just wanted to be a musician; that was it. That’s what I wanted to do, but how I was gonna make that work, I didn’t know. I worked for probably another five years, working other jobs before I could pay the bills making music (around ‘88).
My parents didn’t have a lot of money. So if I wanted money, I had to earn it. It’s fine. Teenagers don’t work now. I don’t get it. Doesn’t make any sense to me.
I know you don’t have any kids, but do you have any brothers or sisters with kids? Do you have any other young people around you in your family?
My family all lives long ways away from me. So I never see them. My brother has kids. My sister has kids. I have a little bit of contact with them, but not a tremendous amount. I’m over 1,000 miles away. They don’t have a whole lot of clue what I do, how my life is.
You mentioned that Germany’s always been good for Melvins. Is there anywhere else you particularly like to play?
Nothing that stands out. Places like Berlin or New York or Los Angeles or San Francisco or Buenos Aires, Sydney, Australia we’ll do about the same. We’ve got that many people, roughly 800 to 1500, give or take.
I imagine you’ve done festivals where there was a huge audience. Do you find there’s an upper limit where it’s no longer the best representation for the band? Would playing a stadium with Melvins be worth it if you had the opportunity?
I don’t think I’ll ever have to worry about that on my own. So it’s a moot point, but as far as us playing festival shows, we did a festival the other night, two nights ago, Freak Valley festival. That was about 3,500 to 4,000. That seemed good, but once you get up to, like, 40,000, it’s just kind of silly. Unless you’re 16 years old and on acid. I wouldn’t want to go to one of those.
You’ve incorporated quite a lot of interesting instrumentation on Melvins records over the years: Moog, trombone, synthesizers. Is that something you’ve ever brought on stage or on tour?
No, never done that. Not that I wouldn’t. In particular, the songs with valve trombone we just had Dale imitate it with this vocal mic with his mouth (imitates trombone). That’s fun, but no, that sounds like a logistical pain in the ass.
I saw you in an interview talking about how you thought Lulu (the record that Metallica did with Lou Reed) was unfairly received by fans. Have there been any Melvins collaborations you thought were unfairly received?
Nothing like that. Those guys got taken to task for it, and I think it’s their best record, easily the weirdest one.
Metallica should be leading the way. They should be planting the flag in their own spot and making people rally around that. Don’t let people tell you what to do. That’s a terrible idea. It doesn’t work because then you’re assuming that you know what they want. There’s no way you can know that. All you can do is make music that you like, and they obviously liked that thing with Lou Reed, and they’re at a point now in their career that they could do whatever they want. They’re playing stadiums. What’s going to happen? They’re gonna go down to 10,000 seaters? I think they’d be OK.
Do you think that if people make music specifically for what they think an audience wants then it’s not art, or do you think it’s just bad art?
Usually it doesn’t work because you don’t know. A lot of our records that are considered classic records now, at the time, we got terrible reviews. Like Stoner Witch and Stag, those got terrible, terrible, terrible reviews. People didn’t like that stuff at all. Or Hostile Ambient Takeover, or our very first album (Gluey Porch Treatments). No one ever even heard that record. Oh, it’s classic? I lived for a long time before it became a classic
Have any of your records got a particularly good reception when they came out?
No, not really. The latest one has gotten really good reviews, Bad Mood Rising, but no, not particularly. There’s always somebody who hates what we do because we’re very polarizing
People don’t understand this; I’m not being perverse at all. Lou Reed said it best, talking about Lou Reed, “What kind of a person wants to criticize someone else’s work?” I’ve done some record reviews, and I have only written reviews that were for records I like. I could be here all day writing shitty reviews for bands because most bands aren’t very good. That’s just the easiest thing in the world to do, to say you don’t like something; it’s just bitching.
But you know, it’s a war of attrition, as far as I’m concerned, and we’ve outlasted lots and lots and lots of assholes in this business. It Doesn’t bother me.
Do you think you’ll outlast KISS?
Kiss? Yeah, they’re older than we are. I think the odds are in our favor, but I like those guys. They’ve always been nice to me.
Have you ever had a contract where the record label said, “OK, you have three, five, x amount of records you have to release,” or has it always been a by-record contract?
At Atlantic, they had an option to do seven albums. But the money went up every time. So you got more money every time they did a record. And we did three with them. The fourth one would have been a lot more money. I didn’t expect them to do more than one. So it was kind of surprising they did three.
That was it, but I could make three a year if they wanted. No problem.
That’s what Prince wanted.
Yeah? I don’t know what was going on in Prince’s head, and I’m certainly no expert on him. I know that out of all the times I’ve heard his music, nothing impressed me at all. Not in the least.
When he died, we were on tour. So there’s these radio stations playing nothing but his stuff. I didn’t find one song. I thought it was all just terrible.
What about Michael Jackson?
Michael Jackson is probably better. His songs are better, but he’s a child molester. It kind of ruins it. So Prince wins on that one. He was just a drug addict.
I just don’t hear it. It just sounds like crappy pop music to me. I might as well be listening to Madonna. “Oh he’s such a great musician.” Well I couldn’t tell. Everything just sounds processed and shitty. There’s no real drums on any of it. Not that I heard. I don’t know what it is. Not even disco. The Bee Gees are better. They have better songs.
I’ll just quietly disagree.
They do! What Prince should I listen to? What’s going to change my mind? It has to be good. I’m very critical.
At this point I don’t know if anything’s gonna change your mind.
I want to like everything. There’s not enough good music out there for me to be that particular
It’s such a cliche thing to say, but I feel like it’s Purple Rain. If you don’t like the “Purple Rain” song, then I think there’s no chance.
It’s OK.
Overproduced?
All of his stuff’s overproduced, that I’ve heard. Drums just sound like shit on everything he’s done. They don’t sound like drums. I doubt they are drums.
I think he played drums on a lot of stuff.
He may have played drums, but they don’t sound like drums. Sounds fake to me. I don’t want to hear fake drums. I want to hear a real industrial type of situation.
I’ve heard you talk about rock, punk, and metal music that’s inspired you. Have you also been influenced by any industrial, noise, or electronic bands like Whitehouse or Throbbing Gristle or Einstürzende Neubauten?
Oh yeah! Well we’ve done Throbbing Gristle covers. We have a whole album of Throbbing Gristle covers about to come out.
I always thought we’re like Throbbing Gristle playing heavy metal, or Captain Beefheart playing heavy metal. That’s our whole trip. Or The Birthday Party playing heavy metal.
Have you ever listened to Coil?
Oh, yeah, of course. And Whitehouse played twice in Seattle.
Did you go and see them?
Never saw them, but I know they played there twice. It’s so weird.
I just thought it was really surprising they ended up working with Steve Albini.
Why would it be surprising? Because they’re so Nazi-ish? (chuckles).
Is that true? They get tarred with that brush. I don’t know.
I personally think unless you’re spouting Nazi propaganda or wearing swastikas, you’re not a Nazi. It’s like the thing that’s happening with Roger Waters right now. If you look at it, there’s no Nazi in that.
It’s crazy. The White House and the U.S. weighs in on this. Are they out of their minds? That’s insane. He’s not a Nazi. I mean, he could be an antisemite, for all I know, but he’s not a Nazi. To paint him with a Nazi brush is fucking crazy.
People see Nazis in their soup. Crazy. He’s not out there, you know, strutting around in an SS uniform. That would be blatant. This is nuts.
If we have to worry about stuff like that, the world has turned into an even bigger piece of shit than it ever was before. I hate people like that, who do that kind of stuff, point the finger. My wife always says the old saying, “if you point the finger at someone, you have three pointing back at you.”
Three hours later, there’s little room to wiggle through the crowd of this sold-out show at Metropol, Berlin, with fans also clustered around the balconies of two upper levels at the venue.
Making their entrance to A-ha’s “Take on Me” pumping out over the speakers, bassist Steven McDonald, decked out all in red (including his bass), joyfully rushes to the front of the stage, singing the chorus, much to the crowd’s delight.
In contrast to McDonald’s childlike enthusiasm, Buzz Osborne plays up the groucho role, hunched over his guitar, refusing to join in the sing-a-long with McDonald and drummer Dale Crover.
It’s clearly all part of the trio’s own absurdist, comic presentation. Throughout the set, Steven McDonald often takes the spotlight with his hair swishing, bum shaking, jumping, tongue wagging antics. It’s all executed with charming playfulness, while Buzz stalks the stage, ripping into his guitar like it’s been naughty.
Together on stage they’re like three trolls, mythical creatures that spring up from under a bridge, holding you under their spell. There’s Buzz, all pretend-moody, skulling, Steven McDonald the joyful child and Dale… well the analogy only goes so far, but what a drummer he is!
Even as a Prince defender, it’s hard in the moment not to feel like Dale Crover is the only drummer you would ever want in your band.
With every song the trio have the audience eating out of the palm of their hand. Cuts from latest album Bad Mood Rising, like “Never Say You’re Sorry” and “Hammering,” are mixed in with fan favorites like “Hooch,” “Honey Bucket,” and a brilliantly stretched out “Night Goat,” all delivered with irrepressible energy.
It isn’t just during their playful take on the Beatles’ “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” (coming over like Type O Negative’s fab four renditions on waaaaaaaay more caffeine) that you find yourself grinning. The irrepressible 10-year-old-boy-in-a-man’s-body joy of McDonald is hard to resist, but there’s no mistaking how much fun the whole band are having on stage.
And what other band would you want to see play on this night? Metallica? Foo Fighters? Queens of the Stone Age? You can be pretty sure that by the end of this show you’d be hard pressed to find anyone in attendance who’d choose anything other than the Melvins.
Catch Melvins on their 40th anniversary tour.
Photos courtesy of Chris Casella
