The Days of Lore

TDoL has a Melvin …

Thursday, May 21st, 2009 | interviewZ, musiX, pdX | No Comments

… not the kind I used to get from seniors in gym class … an actual Melvin. Buzz Osborne has fronted the Melvins for the past 25 years, bashing it out heavy and weird while influencing floods of bands over the years of the stoner metal ilk. Without the Melvins, there’d be no Kyuss or Queens of the Stone Age.

The band has not-so-quietly recorded 20-some albums with core members King Buzzo and drummer Dale Crover, who had a brief stint as skinsman for Nirvana during the Bleach years. Not much has changed, save for the fact that they finally added some consistent members a few years back in Big Business’ Coady Willis and Jared Warren.

The Melvins were one of Kurt Cobain’s favorites (Cobain had actually tried out for bass in the early days), which no doubt helped get the band signed to Atlantic Records in the early ’90s. In 1993 the Melvins released their Atlantic debut Houdini, a classic among the band’s followers that brought the slow and weird meat-and-potatoes sludge of songs like “Hooch” and, my personal favorite, “Teet” to a wider audience.

Almost a decade later, the Melvins were asked to play the album in its entirety at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in England. They obliged, and continue to play it today. But it’s not a case of a band resting on its laurels—the Melvins released Nude With Boots last year and, according to the outspoken Osborne, have no plans of stopping. Why should they?

The Melvins are playing a string of shows this month, including in Portland at the Roseland Theater on May 24—expect Houdini in its entirety as well as a few surprises. King Buzzo obliged to answer a few questions in his lovable, curt way—which I liken to a wedgie with words.

You’ve been playing Houdini live since performing it at All Tomorrow’s Parties in 2004. Wasn’t the album requested by someone at that festival?
Buzz Osborne: Yes this is true. They requested we play the Houdini record all the way through.

Is there an album of yours that you’d rather play live?
Not really, I guess. It’s a pretty good record for us to play all in one go. Lots of variety.

Someone else’s album you’d like to play in its entirety?
Tommy by the Who.

What do you think it is about Houdini that makes people return to it?
Do people return to it? I know we have but that’s because we know it now. Lots of our records have songs we had no intention of playing live.

Why did you choose to cover KISS’ “Going Blind” of all songs?
It’s a good song. I’ve always thought KISS had some good songs and some that were less than good. “Going Blind” is one of the really good ones.

I agree. What are you listening to these days?
Bobby Darin and Lou Reed.

I’ve read that you collect toys, but not records, which I found interesting. What’s your most prized possession?
Why is that interesting? Should I collect records? I have a ton of music and I listen to a ton of music all the time … just not on record. I don’t care what format music is on. No one should. My most prized possession would be my dogs.

Do you find that some people concentrate on the Melvins’ place in a certain time in music rather than the fact that you’re still making relevant, creative music today?
Actually, I find most people are interested in our new stuff as well as our old. I suppose some people only recognize the older elements of what we have done, but they are usually not fans of our band … so who cares what they think? I couldn’t be bothered worrying about things of no consequence.

Twenty-five years playing music … great? Surreal? Just what you do?
Of course it’s great. Doing anything for 25 years is a little surreal. What do I do? I go go go until it’s gone gone gone.

“Teet” - Melvins (Houdini)

“Going Blind” - Melvins (Houdini)

“The Kicking Machine” - Melvins (Nude With Boots)

Tags: Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover, Houdini, Kurt Cobain, Melvins, Nude With Boots

Black Friday? Meet Black Elk

Friday, November 28th, 2008 | musiX, pdX | No Comments

Today’s the day. The sheep awaken at 4 in the morning so that they can invade shopping malls across the nation to fulfill their cheap, consumeristic desires. Me? I thought it was only fitting to wake up at 7:09 a.m. on this Black Friday so that I could bring you the new weekly feature here at The Days of Lore called … “Black Friday.”

However, this new Friday tradition should not be confused with shopping, or historical disasters. TDoL’s Black Friday will examine the unholy underworld of metal. Why? Because I grew up in a town called Red Bluff listening to Helmet and Pantera and Slayer and Metallica and Iron Maiden and RATT. Ahem.

Some weeks Black Friday will be a sociological examination of metal, where I get my dainty hands dirty in a genre with a longstanding tradition of grown men wearing makeup and teasing their hair, drugs, sexism and satanism, or any other kind of “ism” you can think of. Metal can be goofy (see Manowar), frightening (e.g. Gorgoroth). And in most cases metal fans are, well, fanatic. Even if metal’s not your thing, it’ll at least be interesting.

Sometimes I will even point out bands that are actually good. Like this week …

What better way to kick off Black Friday than with Portland’s own Black Elk. The four-piece just released its second full-length Always a Six, Never a Nine, a record that harkens back to the sludgy, smart noise of early Amphetamine Reptile (Melvins, Chokebore, Helmet). Basically it’s metal without being too metally (look it up!)—loads of skull-slicing riffage, tempered with just enough weirdness and a vocalist who doesn’t sound like Cookie Monster’s cuz.

Black Elk was featured in a recent Willamette Week article on a metal club at a local high school—yes, we encourage headbanging in school. The band has a couple of dates lined up, including Jan. 10 at Someday Lounge. There are two benefit shows scheduled for Dec. 6 and 7 to help with medical expenses for guitarist Erik Trammell, who was hit while riding his bike to work in late September in our bike-friendly city. On that note … listen to these ditties, and get out there and pump your hard-earned dough back into the economy. It’s Black Friday!

[The Black Friday feature will appear every Friday in addition to the usual TDoL goodies.]

“She Pulled Machete” - Black Elk (Always a Six, Never a Nine)

“Elk Takes Night” - Black Elk (self-titled)

Tags: Always a Six Never a Nine, Amphetamine Reptile, Black Elk, Black Friday, Chokebore, Erik Trammell, Helmet, Iron maiden, Melvins, Pantera, RATT, Slayer