Q&A BY DANNY R. PHILLIPS
Since the early 1980s, the Meat Puppets have been confusing critics and influencing followers with their acid-fueled, psychedelic, country-punk freakouts. Few bands in the history of rock have so openly challenged existing boundaries like the Pups. Any given album (or song, even) features elements of punk, bluegrass, straight -ahead rock and beat poetry style lyrics.
Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, and now based in Austin, the band was formed by twin brothers Curt and Cris Kirkwood on guitar and bass, respectively, plus drummer Derek Bostrom. Slightly ahead of the '90s grunge movement, the trio became a benchmark to bands like Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr., the Lemonheads, Built to Spill and Mudhoney. The fact that the band has only had one hit single (1993's "Backwater") only adds to its fringe, counterculture mythology.
The Wayward Blog caught up with Curt Kirkwood by phone from his Austin, Texas home as he recovered from an opening slot on Stone Temple Pilots latest tour in support of the Meat Puppets' new album, Sewn Together (Megaforce).
What was the music scene like around Phoenix when you formed the Meat Puppets?
Kirkwood: Well, I had been in some bar bands then started playing for myself with Derek Bostrom and my brother Cris. There were others that had their punk bands, at least that's what they called them. Some were punk and others were just weird. After a while, it all just kind of dissipated. I don't really know what happened. We mostly just did our own thing.
Your first couple records were on SST, a punk label. Do you think the Puppets were a punk band at the beginning?
We were a bedroom, backyard band when we started out. We always just thought we were a rock band. That's more of a broad term and many things can fit into it. We found a place in the punk scene were we could play original music. We kinda showed our colors on the first two records. We just wanted to show we could play fast or slow and that we were interested in playing live.
There's a touch of country and bluegrass throughout your music. Were you always interested in those styles or did you pick it up later?
I was around it quite a bit. We moved to Phoenix when our mom married a guy that had race horses for a profession, so I spent a lot of time at the racetrack, and he always had the country station on. We watched The Johnny Cash Show, Hee Haw, so I got a huge dose of it. I didn't know from genres growing up, though. I loved the Beatles, the Monkees. I bought Anne Murray's "Snow Bird." I really liked when the Dillards were on Andy Griffith.
How does it feel when bands cite your band as being influential?
It's kinda different. Mostly, I think it's cool because they were listening and decided to get into music. I just think it's cool to do music. I've managed to stay interested by it and all the different aspects of it, like being influential, the notoriety, playing shows. It's interesting to watch it play out and how it plays off of others. It's mainly just another surreal aspect of what music brings you.
Much has been made in the press of the band's use of hallucinogens. How big of a part do they really play in your music?
You know, it's been played up a lot largely because we admitted it and also it's a mysterious thing. Rock and roll is mysterious -- good rock and roll is mysterious. They kind of go hand in hand, and I think there was a lot of cool stuff that came from that. I'm not so sure about my band; doing them made me realize that all the things I had been feeling as a kid were valid. Some people want to jump out a window, see God and all this crazy shit, and some people, it,s no big deal. It's like beer. Derek [Bostrom, drummer] and I have always been pretty chill.
As a guitarist, who have been your influences?
George Harrison, John Lennon, Keith Richards, Tony Iommi, Dickey Betts and Duane Allman early on. I loved George Benson when he came out. That led me back to Les Paul, who I really loved as a kid. Then there's David Gilmour, Dave King [the Buckaroos], James Burton and Scotty Moore.
There's a lot of diversity in the Meat Puppets catalog. Is that a mark of true musicianship or of just having a lot of different moods?
I've just had the opportunity and never had to adhere to a certain style. That's something I saw in punk rock. The first band I was ever really in was a disco band. A lot of stuff on Up On The Sun reflects the band I was in where we played "Love Rollercoaster." Funky stuff. People have plowed the field so heavily, so thoroughly that it left everything wide open for me. My real goal was to stitch it all together without it seeming like some real eclectic thing. To try and incorporate it into the realm of a rock band.
Is that why your latest record is titled Sewn Together?
Yeah, probably. That's one of the best explanations I've heard for it. Everybody keeps saying, "You and your brother are back together. Blah, Blah, Blah." Yeah, he's my brother, that's pretty fuckin' obvious. I never write that pointedly, so I'm as game as anyone for an explanation of my shit.
MP3:
The Meat Puppets, with Grant Hart of Husker Du, the Hot Dog Skeletons and Winston Audio. Friday, November 6, at the Record Bar.
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I will concede that the Q part is not up to our usual standard. We'll do better next time.
Back in '07 we gave Anodyne lots of press for putting out the Meat Puppets. This time around, I didn't deem it necessary to explore why Anodyne is no longer putting out the Meat Puppets, probably because I knew the reason why.
Sometime in the past year, when I first heard that the upcoming MP album was not going to be on Anodyne, I talked to Brandon Phillips of Anodyne, and he explained that the label had signed the band to a one-record contract. They put out Rise to Your Knees, and that was it.
I just called Brandon (whose band, the Architects, is on the road with Valient Thorr, coming to the Jackpot on Friday), and he confirms that's how it went down.
So, knowing that, I didn't think it would do Anodyne a lot of good by telling the not-very-interesting story behind the change of labels (at least, as I know it).
Q: So if it's so awesome, why did you leave Anodyne?
A: Why do you keep asking me about Kansas City? Shouldn't you be asking about my brother and drugs and stuff?
http://www.pitch.com/2007-07-1...
Excerpt:
Kirkwood's staunch refusal to compromise made his decision to work with Anodyne a no-brainer.
"They seemed to want to have us just be ourselves more than anybody else," he says. "That's always been a sticky situation for me. We got spoiled with getting to do what we wanted on SST. We still kind of got to on the majors. We consorted with producers, but that was part of doing what we wanted. This time, I didn't want to play demos for anybody. And Anodyne didn't want to hear any. They're nice guys. It's a small operation that enables me to keep track of it, and it's not this dumbass thing like most labels are where they don't know their ass from a hole in the ground."
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