Meat Puppets [Interview]
The Metropolitan Jolt > All Music > Indie > Meat Puppets [Interview]
Forebears to the 90′s grunge and American alternative rock scene, the Meat Puppets have quietly been shaping the fate of modern rock music for decades now. This past week, we got up on our history and had the opportunity to chat with Meat Puppets guitarist Curt Kirkwood. We talked everything from playing with Nirvana, to corporate rock n’ roll, to their new record Rat Farm out earlier this year. Check it out.
First I just gotta say, having grown up in Phoenix myself, its truly awesome to talk to musicians of such scale from Arizona. I think we often get passed over by the national public eye as far as music goes.
Ya, I understand. I hear that.
So you guys recently reunited (for the second time I think) back in 2006. What prompted you guys getting back together?
Well Cris was just out of the picture for a long time. We really never broke up he just kind of went AWOL for a while and just took a lot longer than you would normally expect for someone to get their ya-ya’s out.
You guys have really left your mark on rock n’ roll. Specifically I’m talking about your work in the 80’s to mid 90’s. Meat Puppets I & II, Too High To Die, your work with Nirvana, and all that. That post-punk/grunge scene you guys influenced and were part of really set the stakes for rock n’ roll from that point onward. You guys could almost be called the godfathers of modern alternative rock, in a sense. How do you feel about that role and the effect you had on molding modern rock?
(sighs) I don’t know, I feel like a worthless product of the 70’s– just a child of the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and whatnot. We were around way before alternative music took off. By the time we did the Nirvana thing, for instance, and by the time Too High To Die came out, we had already been playing for about a dozen years and had changed a lot since then. You know, it was just kind of a fluke, but we got involved in the grunge thing anyway because we were an influence. In an ironic way, we rode the coattails of the stuff that we influenced.
I know Kurt Cobain was a huge fan of your work. You guys actually performed together on Nirvana’s iconic Unplugged in New York album I believe. I’m sure you guys field this one all the time, and I apologize, but that album’s been educating me since I was 12-years-old– What was it like to work with Nirvana at that time? What was Cobain like?
It was a lot of fun, a really fun band, nice guys, really easy, it worked good for us. We hadn’t really done a lot of collaborations and it was nice to have been asked to do that– get outside of our own little bubble. In the midst of it being a hyped-up thing, it was still really easy and a lot of fun. Real casual.
Tell me a little bit about your progression from your earlier work to your sound now and your newest album Rat Farm (released earlier this year). On the album, I hear a lot of that same Americana punk rawness you had in your earlier work. Same with the inherent, almost sing-song melody you bring to your sound. I hear also though, a calmer, more relaxed vibe to it all. Is the music coming from the same place it always was, or has your inspiration shifted over time? How do you handle moving forward as musicians and continuing to be creative?
I just don’t push it. I accept what’s happening at the time, what’s coming to me. I’ve never been able to aim it too well, I just kinda use the songs I think up at the time. It’s the same kind of approach as I’ve had since the early days. I just get these little melodies going and then have to flesh them out. Sometimes I’ll put a bit little more into it, put some riff rock in there, just to make it fun to play. But then with this one I said, ‘Let’s just play the chords on this one and try to keep it as simple as possible.’ There’s always the temptation when you get in the studio to go apeshit and start adding all these bells and whistles. I think somewhere in there there’s an acoustic album, but then once you get the band together and start playing, you just wanna rock out. And that takes precedence.
Rock n’ roll in general has progressed too, it’s a bit of a different beast now from what it once was. What is your vision of the changing face of rock music? Where do you think we’re all going?
Hard to say. I’m always open-minded and waiting to see if something will affect me. Even though the record industry has become smaller, it’s a different sort of game than it was 10 or 15 years ago. The major labels are tightening their reigns, it seems more corporate than ever now– even with the internet.
What’s next for the Meat Puppets?
Going on tour. Doing these shows that are coming up for the time being, that’s enough to think about.
Thank you guys so much for your time. Truly mind-blowing to speak to you guys. Keep doing what you do.
Upcoming Meat Puppets Tour Dates-
Sept 26 – Ames, IA DG’s Tap House
Sept 27 – Chicago, IL The Empty Bottle
Sept 28 – Milwaukee, WI The Cactus Club
Sept 30 – Madison, WI Majestic Theatre
Oct 1 – Toledo, OH Frankie’s Inner City
Oct 2 – East Lansing, MI Mac’s Bar
Oct 3 – Pontiac, MI Pike Room at the Crofoot
Oct 4 – Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
Oct 5 – Pittsburgh, PA Club Café
Oct 6 – Charlottesville, VA Southern Café and Music Hall
Oct 8 – Rehoboth Beach, DE Dogfish Head Brewery
Oct 9 – Washington, DC Rock and Roll Hotel
Oct 10 – Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts
Oct 11 – Teaneck, NJ Mexicali Live
Oct 12 – Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Bowl
Oct 13 – Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall
Oct 31 – Flagstaff, AZ Orpheum Theater
Nov 2 – Tucson, AZ Old Tucson Studios
Nov 3 – Pioneertown, CA Pappy & Harriet’s
Nov 5 – Santa Ana, CA The Constellation Room
Nov 6 – Los Angeles, CA The Echo
Nov 7 – San Diego, CA Soda Bar
Nov 8 – Santa Barbara, CA Soho
Nov 9 – San Luis Obispo, CA SLO Brewing Company
Nov 10 – Visalia, CA Cellar Door
Nov 12 – Santa Cruz, CA The Catalyst Atrium
Nov 13 – Sacramento, CA Harlow’s Restaurant & Nightclub
Nov 14 – Mill Valley, CA Sweetwater Music Hall
Nov 15 – San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill
Nov 16 – Arcata, CA Humboldt Brews
Nov 19 – WOW Hall Eugene, OR
Nov 20 – Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
Nov 21 – Seattle, WA The Crocodile
Nov 22 – Bellingham, WA Wild Buffalo House of Music
Nov 23 – Spokane, WA The Center
Nov 24 – Boise, ID Neurolux
Nov 26 – Salt Lake City, UT The State Room
Nov 27 – Las Vegas, NV Beauty Bar
Accessed: 12/6/13
http://metrojolt.com/meat-puppets-interview
The Metropolitan Jolt > All Music > Indie > Meat Puppets [Interview]
Forebears to the 90′s grunge and American alternative rock scene, the Meat Puppets have quietly been shaping the fate of modern rock music for decades now. This past week, we got up on our history and had the opportunity to chat with Meat Puppets guitarist Curt Kirkwood. We talked everything from playing with Nirvana, to corporate rock n’ roll, to their new record Rat Farm out earlier this year. Check it out.
First I just gotta say, having grown up in Phoenix myself, its truly awesome to talk to musicians of such scale from Arizona. I think we often get passed over by the national public eye as far as music goes.
Ya, I understand. I hear that.
So you guys recently reunited (for the second time I think) back in 2006. What prompted you guys getting back together?
Well Cris was just out of the picture for a long time. We really never broke up he just kind of went AWOL for a while and just took a lot longer than you would normally expect for someone to get their ya-ya’s out.
You guys have really left your mark on rock n’ roll. Specifically I’m talking about your work in the 80’s to mid 90’s. Meat Puppets I & II, Too High To Die, your work with Nirvana, and all that. That post-punk/grunge scene you guys influenced and were part of really set the stakes for rock n’ roll from that point onward. You guys could almost be called the godfathers of modern alternative rock, in a sense. How do you feel about that role and the effect you had on molding modern rock?
(sighs) I don’t know, I feel like a worthless product of the 70’s– just a child of the Beatles and Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and whatnot. We were around way before alternative music took off. By the time we did the Nirvana thing, for instance, and by the time Too High To Die came out, we had already been playing for about a dozen years and had changed a lot since then. You know, it was just kind of a fluke, but we got involved in the grunge thing anyway because we were an influence. In an ironic way, we rode the coattails of the stuff that we influenced.
I know Kurt Cobain was a huge fan of your work. You guys actually performed together on Nirvana’s iconic Unplugged in New York album I believe. I’m sure you guys field this one all the time, and I apologize, but that album’s been educating me since I was 12-years-old– What was it like to work with Nirvana at that time? What was Cobain like?
It was a lot of fun, a really fun band, nice guys, really easy, it worked good for us. We hadn’t really done a lot of collaborations and it was nice to have been asked to do that– get outside of our own little bubble. In the midst of it being a hyped-up thing, it was still really easy and a lot of fun. Real casual.
Tell me a little bit about your progression from your earlier work to your sound now and your newest album Rat Farm (released earlier this year). On the album, I hear a lot of that same Americana punk rawness you had in your earlier work. Same with the inherent, almost sing-song melody you bring to your sound. I hear also though, a calmer, more relaxed vibe to it all. Is the music coming from the same place it always was, or has your inspiration shifted over time? How do you handle moving forward as musicians and continuing to be creative?
I just don’t push it. I accept what’s happening at the time, what’s coming to me. I’ve never been able to aim it too well, I just kinda use the songs I think up at the time. It’s the same kind of approach as I’ve had since the early days. I just get these little melodies going and then have to flesh them out. Sometimes I’ll put a bit little more into it, put some riff rock in there, just to make it fun to play. But then with this one I said, ‘Let’s just play the chords on this one and try to keep it as simple as possible.’ There’s always the temptation when you get in the studio to go apeshit and start adding all these bells and whistles. I think somewhere in there there’s an acoustic album, but then once you get the band together and start playing, you just wanna rock out. And that takes precedence.
Rock n’ roll in general has progressed too, it’s a bit of a different beast now from what it once was. What is your vision of the changing face of rock music? Where do you think we’re all going?
Hard to say. I’m always open-minded and waiting to see if something will affect me. Even though the record industry has become smaller, it’s a different sort of game than it was 10 or 15 years ago. The major labels are tightening their reigns, it seems more corporate than ever now– even with the internet.
What’s next for the Meat Puppets?
Going on tour. Doing these shows that are coming up for the time being, that’s enough to think about.
Thank you guys so much for your time. Truly mind-blowing to speak to you guys. Keep doing what you do.
Upcoming Meat Puppets Tour Dates-
Sept 26 – Ames, IA DG’s Tap House
Sept 27 – Chicago, IL The Empty Bottle
Sept 28 – Milwaukee, WI The Cactus Club
Sept 30 – Madison, WI Majestic Theatre
Oct 1 – Toledo, OH Frankie’s Inner City
Oct 2 – East Lansing, MI Mac’s Bar
Oct 3 – Pontiac, MI Pike Room at the Crofoot
Oct 4 – Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
Oct 5 – Pittsburgh, PA Club Café
Oct 6 – Charlottesville, VA Southern Café and Music Hall
Oct 8 – Rehoboth Beach, DE Dogfish Head Brewery
Oct 9 – Washington, DC Rock and Roll Hotel
Oct 10 – Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts
Oct 11 – Teaneck, NJ Mexicali Live
Oct 12 – Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Bowl
Oct 13 – Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall
Oct 31 – Flagstaff, AZ Orpheum Theater
Nov 2 – Tucson, AZ Old Tucson Studios
Nov 3 – Pioneertown, CA Pappy & Harriet’s
Nov 5 – Santa Ana, CA The Constellation Room
Nov 6 – Los Angeles, CA The Echo
Nov 7 – San Diego, CA Soda Bar
Nov 8 – Santa Barbara, CA Soho
Nov 9 – San Luis Obispo, CA SLO Brewing Company
Nov 10 – Visalia, CA Cellar Door
Nov 12 – Santa Cruz, CA The Catalyst Atrium
Nov 13 – Sacramento, CA Harlow’s Restaurant & Nightclub
Nov 14 – Mill Valley, CA Sweetwater Music Hall
Nov 15 – San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill
Nov 16 – Arcata, CA Humboldt Brews
Nov 19 – WOW Hall Eugene, OR
Nov 20 – Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
Nov 21 – Seattle, WA The Crocodile
Nov 22 – Bellingham, WA Wild Buffalo House of Music
Nov 23 – Spokane, WA The Center
Nov 24 – Boise, ID Neurolux
Nov 26 – Salt Lake City, UT The State Room
Nov 27 – Las Vegas, NV Beauty Bar
Accessed: 12/6/13
http://metrojolt.com/meat-puppets-interview