Musician Interviews
“The frightening afterbirth of grunge lives on with bouncers enforcing photo policies with the death penalty.”
“When we talk about ‘disco’ we have different ideas. I think of Arthur Russell and underground dance music.”
“When they wanted someone to talk to the TV cameras, no one was dressed for it.”
“Bands from the 1960s evolved based on the technology. We ignored technological advances ... the evolutions are personal.”
“Five years ago here in Tijuana and all of Mexico was in a cartel drug war. Order has been restored.”
“I think people make up their mind whether they’re going to like something before they even hear it.”
“Don’t ask me to work on your car. I don’t currently have the right tools.”
“Joe was very private, almost shy. I think the reason why he drank and did the other stuff was to bring himself out.”
“I’m pretty dang happy right now...a steady paycheck would be groovy, though.”
“As things started to really break for me, I was blowing relationships and embarrassing myself in a lot of ways.”
“John Waters asked for my number so we could talk about our mutual love of pre–World War II documentaries. He never called.”
Ben Johnson holds the unique position of watching rock shows for a living and occasionally gracing the same stage. He has walked through the door at the Casbah hundreds of times to clock in for …
“Piercing shards of explosive feedback. Dissonant swirls of mutilated musical notes. Guttural shrieks of broken guitar.”
“I had so much fun jumping around in the crowd, I nearly lost consciousness twice.”
When J Mascis, Dinosaur Jr. frontman, was preparing to record his new solo album, Tied to a Star, released on August 26, he searched for musicians capable of not only singing backup vocals but people …
“He wanted to stay around Southern California, you know he never ventured into New York. That’s where you’ve got to go to get an international reputation. Had he been exposed to a larger audience, he …