Interview with Mark from
The Irish News last Friday:
FUTURE PRIMITIVESRock and roll titans Mudhoney return on Monday with a new album, Under a Billion Suns and are also curating the first day of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in May. David Roy got the inside scoop from frontman Mark Arm...
IN THEIR HANDS: Mudhoney 2006, (left to right) Steve Turner, Dan Peters, Mark Arm, Guy Maddison.
SCENE interviews Mudhoney mainman Mark Arm on the joyous occasion of his 44th birthday. Well, joyous until we call, obviously.
Not only does the man with the most primal vocal howl in rock have to give up his valuable time to speak to a journalist, he’s also hard at work in the warehouse at Sub Pop record’s HQ, no doubt cataloguing boxes of his own band’s albums. Later, he has to take his dog for her third session of chemotherapy. Happy birthday indeed.
On a lighter note, Mudhoney are about to unleash their new album, Under a Billion Suns, the latest exciting installment of a rejuvenated 18-year-long career which kicked back into high gear with 2002’s thrilling mind scramble, Since We’ve Become Translucent.
Where that record revived and enhanced the band’s scuzzy garage racket via trippy Hawkwind-style effects and an action-packed horn section, Under a Billion Suns gets its kick from a leaner, meaner aesthetic, reminiscent of The Stooges at their Ashetons-powered peak.
It’s also possessed of particularly sharp lyrical bite, fuelled by Mr Arm’s older but none-the-wiser views on war, women and all points in between. Mudhoney don’t do protest songs but they are masters of cynical snorts of mock disgust delivered in a delightfully snotty fashion. You’d expect no less from the band that gave us such gems as Touch Me I’m Sick, Suck You Dry and Into Your Schtick.
Indeed, both the new LP and its predecessor set in stone what many have known for a long time: Mudhoney are one of the wildest, rocking and downright lovable bands ever to grace us with their artfully dishevelled presence. They’re the direct descendants of greats like The Stooges, The Sonics, The Seeds, Spacemen 3, Black Sabbath, Black Flag and any number of great but long-forgotten acts on Nuggets.
Not for nothing have they been chosen to curate the first day of the popular All Tomorrow’s Parties first festival weekend on May 12,13 and 14, an honour and an event which Mark is particularly excited about.
“I can’t wait,” he enthuses, “especially since we’ve got the best bill of the whole weekend together. We managed to get just about everybody we wanted, except for John Cale who we couldn’t afford. Even without him though, our day still kicks the other day’s asses.”
The Mudhoney selected bill features live performances by Comets On Fire, Mark Pickerel, Holly Golightly, The Flesh Eaters, Total Sound Group Direct Action Committee, Jon Wahl & The Amadans, David Dondero, The Country, Teasers, The Scientists, The Drones and Black Mountain.
“The Scientists and The Flesh Eaters are pretty important bands in the Mudhoney universe,” explains Mark. “I’ve never even seen The Flesh Eaters before, I don’t think they ever made it out of LA when they were first active.
“Basically we’re going to get to watch some of our favourite ever bands. The only downside is that we have to go on last and play after all these amazing people. It’ll be like, ‘hello everybody, I hope we don’t suck!”’
There will also be a TV channel featuring programming chosen by Mudhoney for the viewing pleasure of the festival goers.
“We haven’t given that too much thought yet actually,” comments Mark. “They want us to choose a bunch of films and whatnot. We’ll probably have some Russ Meyer in there and I know Dan (Peters, drums) wants Basket Case. Failing that, I guess we’ll just get some pornos.”
Mudhoney will also be playing two normal shows in England prior to ATP, in Nottingham and London. Expect a tanned and refreshed looking Mark Arm to be leading the mayhem. It seems our freewheelin’ rock and roll demon masquerading as a pet loving warehouse manager has a little r’n’r planned for the near future.
“I’m actually going to surf camp in Brazil for two weeks,” he reveals.
“I skate and snowboard but I’ve never surfed. It’s something I’ve wanted to try for a long time.
“Dan will be becoming a father for the third time in April, so I knew we wouldn’t be doing any shows then. It seemed like the perfect time to go. Luckily, I have enough airmiles saved up that I get to fly for free.”
Sweet. As for Under A Billion Suns, the reason behind all this upcoming Mudhoney related activity, Mark seems satisfied that it’s another worthy addition to their already impressive canon of work.
“I think every time you finish a record you always feel proud of it,” he says. “It’s only after a couple of years that you can really look back and be objective. For the moment though, I’m happy to be putting it out there. I guess if it actually sucks, we’ll all find out soon enough!”
Under A Billion Suns is released on Monday. Visit
www.muddclubb.com. For more information on All Tomorrow’s Parties visit
www.atpfestival.com.
He's a career boy and I hate career boys. He knows more about brand tie ins than he does music. But hey I'm not losing sleep over this.
