Meat Puppets to perform May 17 at 3S Artspace
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By Christopher Hislop
Posted at 3:39 PM
Updated at 3:39 PM
Time. Time never ceases to amaze. It just trucks right along like a plowman without any need to stop for gas or worry about such a thing as mileage. It just is.
It shouldn’t have come as any big surprise to me that the Meat Puppets have been in existence for 40 years. But it caused serious pause. The Meat Puppets have been around for 40 years. I’m continuing in my attempt to let that sink in.
Moving right along ... the band has recently released its latest record, “Dusty Notes,” which is as fresh as it gets and as similar in feel as it’s always been for the unassuming Tempe, Arizona-based cow punk rockers. A comforting agent when you’re in need of some form of solace.
The Meat Puppets have been around for 40 years.
And heck, they’re about to play New Hampshire for the first time ever when they park the van outside of 3S Artspace and take the stage inside on Friday, May 17.
EDGE caught up with frontman Curt Kirkwood - in all his humble glory - to trace some roots and get up to speed on the present of one of the most underrated and influential rock bands of the last, well, four decades, and, well, ever.
EDGE: How on earth is the Meat Puppets almost 40 years old? That didn’t really hit me until I started digging in for this interview. Has it struck you at all? Or does 40 years feel like a few months to you?
Kirkwood: Nah, it seems like it’s been 40 years (chuckles). I mean, we started playing together for the first time in ’79 - somewhere around there - just before we called the band The Meat Puppets. We were teenagers when we started playing, so, it seems like awhile, but not a lot has changed at the same time. A lot happens between then, but it’s just kind of been the same thing all along, so in some ways it does seem like yesterday. But yeah, it’s been 40 years.
EDGE: How did the Meat Puppets come to be? Why did the Meat Puppets come to be?
Kirkwood: Well I’d been playing in cover bands. I was in a disco band ...
EDGE: Huh ...
Kirkwood: Yeah, it was my first band. Real good band. Dance band, with some slow dance jams like Barbra Streisand’s “Evergreen,” and uh... (laughs). We all wore the same color powder blue three-piece suits ... and uh, well, I got fired from that. Then I was in a hard rock band that did Kansas and Thin Lizzy - that kind of thing that was happening at that time. I was also fired from that ... Yeah, I dunno, I wasn’t ... I dunno, you kind of have to play the songs exactly how they are when you’re in a cover band and I was just kind of not ... I was kind of out of it. I didn’t really get it and I wasn’t that good either. I just decided that it was more fun playing around with my friends than trying to get in another cover band.
I met Derek (Bostrom) in ’77. He was into some of the harder punk stuff, and some real good dub reggae. So, we jammed. And we got my brother to come over and play the bass ’cause he was doing that a little bit. And then, uh, the first time the three of us played together we thought, ‘yeah, we make pretty good noise. A lot of noise ...’ So, we just kept doing it. We’re still doing it. But you knew that (laughs).
EDGE: For sure. Let’s talk about the latest record, “Dusty Notes”. What were your goals behind this effort - your 15th record to date?
Kirkwood: I usually don’t have a goal. I just have chords. I work on the chord changes and then try to come up with the words. Mostly I just want to see what will happen. If anything happens. And so far things have happened when I’m waiting for something to happen. Initially, for this record, I put down acoustic guitar and we built from there. I didn’t say much to the guys. We didn’t have much time to practice. Derrick came back for this one because Shandon (Sahm) decided to move to Europe. We just went in to the studio and did it. Went for it. It was super easy. I think a lot of that was because we didn’t say anything. We didn’t have a goal with expected outcomes to muddy the trail. We just set foot in there to see what we could come up with.
EDGE: What keeps you inspired to keep this thing moving along? How has your approach to music changed over the course of four decades?
Kirkwood: Well, I think, honestly, it’s all kind of a mystery, which is fun. You don’t know what you’re going to come up with if you don’t think about it too much. I have a lot of patience. I’m not real good at just sitting down and writing songs, so I have a lot of time to just sit around and wait for it to come naturally. That’s how it has to be. It’s just patience more than anything. And I like doing it. It’s fun to play music. It’s always fun to play music. Playing live is an inspiration. You never know what’s going to happen and it’s always much different than sitting around practicing.
Music is big. There’s quite a bit to inspire. Also, I don’t do it much when I’m not doing it. You know what I mean? I don’t let myself get buried in it. I’ve got other stuff going on when I’m not on the road. I tend it to just let it be for long periods of time, so it stays fresh. It always feels fresh. I’ve always approached it the same I think.
EDGE: In general, why music? Why do you seek it? Why do you create it? What led you to chase it as a means of earning a living?
Kirkwood: I just kind of wound up doing it. I wanted to be a fishing guide when I was a teenager. I moved up to North Ontario when I was 17. I got a job up there. It’s hard life up there. It’s not quite as romantic as you might think, especially being from Arizona and it starting to get cold in August. So I went back to Phoenix.
I like to play guitar. I was playing. I couldn’t hold a typical job. I tried. I mowed lawns. I drove a school bus for a while. Whatever I could do ... But I wasn’t good at any of it.
When we started the Meat Puppets, we didn’t have any goals or ambitions. We just had friends that asked us if we wanted to play. So we did parties. Then we did clubs. Then we did bigger cities. It always just kind of had its way and I just wound up doing it. I never expected it, honestly. I just wasn’t that interested in it. I mean, I love music. Always have. I liked going to concerts. And I liked music that was “in your face.” So playing music solved that part of it - the “in your face” part of it - when I wasn’t at a concert.
EDGE: Speaking of concerts, my first introduction to the Meat Puppets was Nirvana’s “Unplugged in New York” session. I was 12 years old. It still haunts me. What was the scene like leading up to the moment you walked out onto that stage? At the time, did you have any idea how much weight that single performance would hold?
Kirkwood: It was pretty casual. Those guys are pretty laid back - very similar to us... It was a good fit. We knew the songs. There wasn’t any jitters really. It seemed like a nice place. I watched the whole thing except for when I was sitting up there playing and it just seemed like such a good concert. There weren’t really any retakes. What you see is what it was. It was a real genuine experience. I could tell that it was really good - that it was really nice. And it’s held up. I didn’t know what was going to happen after we did it. There was no plans to release it. It was what it was. Over the next six months things changed drastically and so, it became kind of iconic... Every time I hear it - it doesn’t change. It’s got such a good feel. It’s, you know, it’s good.
EDGE: What are the pros of being in a band with your brother? What are the cons?
Kirkwood: The pros are, well, we’re tight. We think the same way about music - well, pretty much. It’s a go-with-the-flow, do whatever you want kind of thing.
Cons? Well, I don’t think it has anything to do with him being my brother, but Cris is a bit more adventurous between the two of us with regard to his personal life. ... He’s gone places that we couldn’t. The band never broke up. It just got heavy. There were drugs around. More money ... We just went on hiatus so Cris could become a drug addict and go to prison (laughs). I think he got his fill of that and we got back on track around ’06. That’s the cons. But I don’t think that’s because he’s my brother. There’s way more pros - I will say that. Waaaay more pros.
EDGE: You’re heading to Portsmouth for a gig at 3S Artspace. We’re pretty excited to have you guys in town. What excites you about the show? What can folks expect?
Kirkwood: Oh, I don’t know. As you can probably tell, we don’t plan on much. We’ll know some of the songs. We’ll try to make an accurate representation of the band, which is pretty loose. But, yeah, you know, the shows have been real good. We’re working as a five-piece now and we’ve just gotten used to it. We don’t really rehearse due to geographic logistics, so I’m always excited to see what’ll happen. The chemistry is very fluid. It’s a lot of fun. And, hey, it’s our first time playing in New Hampshire, so that’s cool.
EDGE: How many states have you played in?
See MoreKirkwood: Uhhh, well, if we just go ahead and throw a pin in New Hampshire we’ve done all of them except South Dakota and Alaska.
EDGE: Do you enjoy the road? You must ...
Kirkwood: Oh yeah. I like driving around. It’s fun. I’m still your typical tourist in that way. I like sitting around the house, but then you get out, drive around, start looking at barns (laughs)... whatever you see between the towns - it’s fun. There’s some pretty good scenery out there. But, it’s all about the shows. Each night you have to sort of ... It’s like a wild goose chase. It’s always at the tip of your fingers. Each note you play is another note closer to getting it. ‘Oh, here we go, I’m about to get it. Got another swat at it ...’
EDGE: Is it weird to step onto a stage and play to a room full of strangers?
Kirkwood: Oh, yeah, for sure. There’s nothing like playing a party where you might know some folks, and you not know others. But, you know, music makes friends out of strangers pretty quickly. You see a lot of faces, but they don’t seem all that unfamiliar when you start playing. It’s funny. It just kind of ... it’s a real quick bridge ...
Check out www.3Sarts.org for more information and to grab a ticket which are likely in short supply.
https://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20190514/meat-puppets-to-perform-may-17-at-3s-artspace?fbclid=IwAR1jjiD7aY7Zitq7tqx1-6xaBZhqd13QvH43k_Js4u7Zd-SHncsCHCSGGWg
Accessed: 5/14/19
Subscribe to seacoastonline.com
Subscribe Now
By Christopher Hislop
Posted at 3:39 PM
Updated at 3:39 PM
Time. Time never ceases to amaze. It just trucks right along like a plowman without any need to stop for gas or worry about such a thing as mileage. It just is.
It shouldn’t have come as any big surprise to me that the Meat Puppets have been in existence for 40 years. But it caused serious pause. The Meat Puppets have been around for 40 years. I’m continuing in my attempt to let that sink in.
Moving right along ... the band has recently released its latest record, “Dusty Notes,” which is as fresh as it gets and as similar in feel as it’s always been for the unassuming Tempe, Arizona-based cow punk rockers. A comforting agent when you’re in need of some form of solace.
The Meat Puppets have been around for 40 years.
And heck, they’re about to play New Hampshire for the first time ever when they park the van outside of 3S Artspace and take the stage inside on Friday, May 17.
EDGE caught up with frontman Curt Kirkwood - in all his humble glory - to trace some roots and get up to speed on the present of one of the most underrated and influential rock bands of the last, well, four decades, and, well, ever.
EDGE: How on earth is the Meat Puppets almost 40 years old? That didn’t really hit me until I started digging in for this interview. Has it struck you at all? Or does 40 years feel like a few months to you?
Kirkwood: Nah, it seems like it’s been 40 years (chuckles). I mean, we started playing together for the first time in ’79 - somewhere around there - just before we called the band The Meat Puppets. We were teenagers when we started playing, so, it seems like awhile, but not a lot has changed at the same time. A lot happens between then, but it’s just kind of been the same thing all along, so in some ways it does seem like yesterday. But yeah, it’s been 40 years.
EDGE: How did the Meat Puppets come to be? Why did the Meat Puppets come to be?
Kirkwood: Well I’d been playing in cover bands. I was in a disco band ...
EDGE: Huh ...
Kirkwood: Yeah, it was my first band. Real good band. Dance band, with some slow dance jams like Barbra Streisand’s “Evergreen,” and uh... (laughs). We all wore the same color powder blue three-piece suits ... and uh, well, I got fired from that. Then I was in a hard rock band that did Kansas and Thin Lizzy - that kind of thing that was happening at that time. I was also fired from that ... Yeah, I dunno, I wasn’t ... I dunno, you kind of have to play the songs exactly how they are when you’re in a cover band and I was just kind of not ... I was kind of out of it. I didn’t really get it and I wasn’t that good either. I just decided that it was more fun playing around with my friends than trying to get in another cover band.
I met Derek (Bostrom) in ’77. He was into some of the harder punk stuff, and some real good dub reggae. So, we jammed. And we got my brother to come over and play the bass ’cause he was doing that a little bit. And then, uh, the first time the three of us played together we thought, ‘yeah, we make pretty good noise. A lot of noise ...’ So, we just kept doing it. We’re still doing it. But you knew that (laughs).
EDGE: For sure. Let’s talk about the latest record, “Dusty Notes”. What were your goals behind this effort - your 15th record to date?
Kirkwood: I usually don’t have a goal. I just have chords. I work on the chord changes and then try to come up with the words. Mostly I just want to see what will happen. If anything happens. And so far things have happened when I’m waiting for something to happen. Initially, for this record, I put down acoustic guitar and we built from there. I didn’t say much to the guys. We didn’t have much time to practice. Derrick came back for this one because Shandon (Sahm) decided to move to Europe. We just went in to the studio and did it. Went for it. It was super easy. I think a lot of that was because we didn’t say anything. We didn’t have a goal with expected outcomes to muddy the trail. We just set foot in there to see what we could come up with.
EDGE: What keeps you inspired to keep this thing moving along? How has your approach to music changed over the course of four decades?
Kirkwood: Well, I think, honestly, it’s all kind of a mystery, which is fun. You don’t know what you’re going to come up with if you don’t think about it too much. I have a lot of patience. I’m not real good at just sitting down and writing songs, so I have a lot of time to just sit around and wait for it to come naturally. That’s how it has to be. It’s just patience more than anything. And I like doing it. It’s fun to play music. It’s always fun to play music. Playing live is an inspiration. You never know what’s going to happen and it’s always much different than sitting around practicing.
Music is big. There’s quite a bit to inspire. Also, I don’t do it much when I’m not doing it. You know what I mean? I don’t let myself get buried in it. I’ve got other stuff going on when I’m not on the road. I tend it to just let it be for long periods of time, so it stays fresh. It always feels fresh. I’ve always approached it the same I think.
EDGE: In general, why music? Why do you seek it? Why do you create it? What led you to chase it as a means of earning a living?
Kirkwood: I just kind of wound up doing it. I wanted to be a fishing guide when I was a teenager. I moved up to North Ontario when I was 17. I got a job up there. It’s hard life up there. It’s not quite as romantic as you might think, especially being from Arizona and it starting to get cold in August. So I went back to Phoenix.
I like to play guitar. I was playing. I couldn’t hold a typical job. I tried. I mowed lawns. I drove a school bus for a while. Whatever I could do ... But I wasn’t good at any of it.
When we started the Meat Puppets, we didn’t have any goals or ambitions. We just had friends that asked us if we wanted to play. So we did parties. Then we did clubs. Then we did bigger cities. It always just kind of had its way and I just wound up doing it. I never expected it, honestly. I just wasn’t that interested in it. I mean, I love music. Always have. I liked going to concerts. And I liked music that was “in your face.” So playing music solved that part of it - the “in your face” part of it - when I wasn’t at a concert.
EDGE: Speaking of concerts, my first introduction to the Meat Puppets was Nirvana’s “Unplugged in New York” session. I was 12 years old. It still haunts me. What was the scene like leading up to the moment you walked out onto that stage? At the time, did you have any idea how much weight that single performance would hold?
Kirkwood: It was pretty casual. Those guys are pretty laid back - very similar to us... It was a good fit. We knew the songs. There wasn’t any jitters really. It seemed like a nice place. I watched the whole thing except for when I was sitting up there playing and it just seemed like such a good concert. There weren’t really any retakes. What you see is what it was. It was a real genuine experience. I could tell that it was really good - that it was really nice. And it’s held up. I didn’t know what was going to happen after we did it. There was no plans to release it. It was what it was. Over the next six months things changed drastically and so, it became kind of iconic... Every time I hear it - it doesn’t change. It’s got such a good feel. It’s, you know, it’s good.
EDGE: What are the pros of being in a band with your brother? What are the cons?
Kirkwood: The pros are, well, we’re tight. We think the same way about music - well, pretty much. It’s a go-with-the-flow, do whatever you want kind of thing.
Cons? Well, I don’t think it has anything to do with him being my brother, but Cris is a bit more adventurous between the two of us with regard to his personal life. ... He’s gone places that we couldn’t. The band never broke up. It just got heavy. There were drugs around. More money ... We just went on hiatus so Cris could become a drug addict and go to prison (laughs). I think he got his fill of that and we got back on track around ’06. That’s the cons. But I don’t think that’s because he’s my brother. There’s way more pros - I will say that. Waaaay more pros.
EDGE: You’re heading to Portsmouth for a gig at 3S Artspace. We’re pretty excited to have you guys in town. What excites you about the show? What can folks expect?
Kirkwood: Oh, I don’t know. As you can probably tell, we don’t plan on much. We’ll know some of the songs. We’ll try to make an accurate representation of the band, which is pretty loose. But, yeah, you know, the shows have been real good. We’re working as a five-piece now and we’ve just gotten used to it. We don’t really rehearse due to geographic logistics, so I’m always excited to see what’ll happen. The chemistry is very fluid. It’s a lot of fun. And, hey, it’s our first time playing in New Hampshire, so that’s cool.
EDGE: How many states have you played in?
See MoreKirkwood: Uhhh, well, if we just go ahead and throw a pin in New Hampshire we’ve done all of them except South Dakota and Alaska.
EDGE: Do you enjoy the road? You must ...
Kirkwood: Oh yeah. I like driving around. It’s fun. I’m still your typical tourist in that way. I like sitting around the house, but then you get out, drive around, start looking at barns (laughs)... whatever you see between the towns - it’s fun. There’s some pretty good scenery out there. But, it’s all about the shows. Each night you have to sort of ... It’s like a wild goose chase. It’s always at the tip of your fingers. Each note you play is another note closer to getting it. ‘Oh, here we go, I’m about to get it. Got another swat at it ...’
EDGE: Is it weird to step onto a stage and play to a room full of strangers?
Kirkwood: Oh, yeah, for sure. There’s nothing like playing a party where you might know some folks, and you not know others. But, you know, music makes friends out of strangers pretty quickly. You see a lot of faces, but they don’t seem all that unfamiliar when you start playing. It’s funny. It just kind of ... it’s a real quick bridge ...
Check out www.3Sarts.org for more information and to grab a ticket which are likely in short supply.
https://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20190514/meat-puppets-to-perform-may-17-at-3s-artspace?fbclid=IwAR1jjiD7aY7Zitq7tqx1-6xaBZhqd13QvH43k_Js4u7Zd-SHncsCHCSGGWg
Accessed: 5/14/19