Gene Simmons ‘Hugely Influenced’ Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, According To Meat Puppets Drummer
by Greg Prato - May 25, 2015
In Part 2 of Alternative Nation’s interview with Meat Puppets drummer Shandon Sahm, Shandon discusses performing at the Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck premiere, how he bonded with Krist Novoselic over their love of KISS, and opening for Dave Grohl’s Sound City Players. Check out Part 1 here.
How was it playing Sundance at the premiere of the Kurt Cobain doc, ‘Montage of Heck’? Who were some celebs you got to meet and hang out with at the premiere?
That was freaking cool, too. We met Jack Black, who was a huge Meat Puppets fan, and saw Novoselic again – we always talk about Kiss when I see him. Gene Simmons was a huge influence on him, and you can tell by his sound – he uses a 70’s Gibson Punisher or Grabber. Meeting Frances was cool, too. She was very sweet and I thanked her for having us. She was so down to earth. Park City, Utah is very beautiful. Great weather and the place we stayed at was “styling” to say the least. Lots of fun. I guess the only thing was it could have been more of a venue instead of sticking us in a corner and a little more PA. But in the end a good time was had by all, and that’s what really matters. I met Brett Morgen, too – he’s a really nice guy and I’m gonna put him on the list when we play LA on July 20th at the House of Blues! That was really it as far as celebs, but we did see Toby McGuire, but he seemed a little standoffish. Jack was totally freaking cool though.
How was it opening for Dave Grohl’s Sound City Players, and what was the atmosphere like backstage with that with so many legendary musicians?
Man, that was off the hook. It was funny and surreal seeing Dave watch me playing drums. I told him I really liked his playing – he was a busy man that day. But yes, we got to see John Fogerty soundcheck, and seeing all those great drummers like Brad from Rage Against the Machine and Taylor Hawkins was great, too. The sound system was amazing – one of the best sounding gigs I have ever played. Just really dialed in. I got to play on Taylor’s kit too – a Gretsch with concert toms, no bottom heads, like Peter Criss used to use in the 70’s. We only played 30 minutes – we opened up the whole show, but it was an amazing night. Saw Rick Springfield, Daryl Hannah and Rick Nielsen, who I got my pic taken with, I love old Cheap Trick, and Eric Burdon from the Animals was hanging out, too. And me and the Foo Fighters’ guitar player talked about our love for Ace Frehley – he has a sticker of him on one of his Les Pauls. He was a cool dude, too.
Accessed: 5/25/15
http://www.alternativenation.net/gene-simmons-krist-novoselic-influence-meat-puppets-drummer/
by Greg Prato - May 25, 2015
In Part 2 of Alternative Nation’s interview with Meat Puppets drummer Shandon Sahm, Shandon discusses performing at the Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck premiere, how he bonded with Krist Novoselic over their love of KISS, and opening for Dave Grohl’s Sound City Players. Check out Part 1 here.
How was it playing Sundance at the premiere of the Kurt Cobain doc, ‘Montage of Heck’? Who were some celebs you got to meet and hang out with at the premiere?
That was freaking cool, too. We met Jack Black, who was a huge Meat Puppets fan, and saw Novoselic again – we always talk about Kiss when I see him. Gene Simmons was a huge influence on him, and you can tell by his sound – he uses a 70’s Gibson Punisher or Grabber. Meeting Frances was cool, too. She was very sweet and I thanked her for having us. She was so down to earth. Park City, Utah is very beautiful. Great weather and the place we stayed at was “styling” to say the least. Lots of fun. I guess the only thing was it could have been more of a venue instead of sticking us in a corner and a little more PA. But in the end a good time was had by all, and that’s what really matters. I met Brett Morgen, too – he’s a really nice guy and I’m gonna put him on the list when we play LA on July 20th at the House of Blues! That was really it as far as celebs, but we did see Toby McGuire, but he seemed a little standoffish. Jack was totally freaking cool though.
How was it opening for Dave Grohl’s Sound City Players, and what was the atmosphere like backstage with that with so many legendary musicians?
Man, that was off the hook. It was funny and surreal seeing Dave watch me playing drums. I told him I really liked his playing – he was a busy man that day. But yes, we got to see John Fogerty soundcheck, and seeing all those great drummers like Brad from Rage Against the Machine and Taylor Hawkins was great, too. The sound system was amazing – one of the best sounding gigs I have ever played. Just really dialed in. I got to play on Taylor’s kit too – a Gretsch with concert toms, no bottom heads, like Peter Criss used to use in the 70’s. We only played 30 minutes – we opened up the whole show, but it was an amazing night. Saw Rick Springfield, Daryl Hannah and Rick Nielsen, who I got my pic taken with, I love old Cheap Trick, and Eric Burdon from the Animals was hanging out, too. And me and the Foo Fighters’ guitar player talked about our love for Ace Frehley – he has a sticker of him on one of his Les Pauls. He was a cool dude, too.
Accessed: 5/25/15
http://www.alternativenation.net/gene-simmons-krist-novoselic-influence-meat-puppets-drummer/