LimeWire Music Blog

Pacific Northwest rock heroes the Melvins have been blasting out their blend of punk, metal, and experimental music since the ’80s. By the ’90s, when Melvins pal/fan/failed auditionee Kurt Cobain and his crowd came into ascendance, the Melvins were hailed as the godfathers of grunge, but they just kept on plowing their own unique musical furrow. Now, the band that has collaborated with everyone from Lustmord to Leif Garrett has embarked on an unusual remix project, Chicken Switch, where noisy experimentalists like Lee Ranaldo and Merzbow each forge new tracks from entire Melvins albums. Singer/guitarist Buzz “King Buzzo” Osborne, who has been fronting the band for 27 years now, gives us a little peek behind the mysterious Melvins curtain.

LWMB: What made you decide to use two drummers in the Melvins? How does it affect the sound?

Buzz “King Buzzo” Osborne: As you can imagine, it creates a larger drum sound and it opens up a whole lot of doors we never had before. Our next move will be no drummers at all… We thought the idea of two drummers was a good one a long time ago. In fact, I’d say at least 15 years. Our first choice for a drummer was Dave Grohl, who was initially interested but then went on to join Led Zeppelin. After this slight setback we let the two-drummer thing sit in limbo for over a decade until just a few years ago.

You’ve worked with a shockingly wide spectrum of people. What’s one of the artistic encounters that’s been the most memorable?

Doing shows with [drummer/bandleader] Terry Bozzio was always interesting. He’s a great player, and he had a guy who looked just like a Dutch version of Frankenstein’s monster, who worked for him during our 2005 tour of Europe.

“We did three albums for a major label, which was fun, and then we moved on. The idea of quitting never crossed our minds, and I suppose we were in a better place after than before, but we seem to be doing better now, 13 years after getting dropped by Atlantic.”

The Melvins were hailed as the godfathers of grunge in the ’90s and thrust into the major-label spotlight — do you think you wound up at a different place afterwards than you would have if that hadn’t occurred?

I have no idea. We did three albums for a major label, which was fun, and then we moved on. The idea of quitting never crossed our minds, and I suppose we were in a better place after than before, but we seem to be doing better now, 13 years after getting dropped by Atlantic. I can’t explain it.

What was the impetus behind the new remix album?

To do something new and weird, and it’s ‘mission accomplished’ on both counts.

How did you decide on the unusual approach of giving the remixers full albums of material to work with?

I had no interest in handing over multi-tracks to anyone, and besides, it would have cost us a ton of money to do it. We had a bad experience on the Crybaby record with Beck, who took our multi-tracks and we never heard from him again. And we never got our tapes back either… Once bitten, as they say.

You’re beloved in both punk and metal circles. Where do you see your music fitting into the rock world?

I’ve tried my best to not fit in anywhere and therefore not get too comfortable in any given situation. I suppose if I had to make a choice I’d say we were an ambient punk rock metal band who listen to a lot of Captain Beefheart.

How do you feel about the current crop of “post-metal” bands influenced by the Melvins, like Mastodon, Boris, et al.?

It’s nice to know we’ve had an impact I suppose. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it really.

What do you listen to for fun when you’re not working on your own music?

Everything from the dull purr of the air conditioner to Throbbing Gristle. Actually there’s not a lot of difference, really.

What’s on the horizon for the Melvins?

Our next record and our next round of playing live. And I hear Madonna is single…