Mudhoney

It took four previously failed attempts (due to scheduling conflicts), but I finally managed an interview with Mudhoney. And I talked to Mark Arm and Steve Turner over dinner at the hipster eatery, Rice. Mudhoney were in New York, once again, to support their phenomenal Tomorrow Hit Today lp. It seems like they've hit NYC a dozen times for this record. But I can't help but see them every time they play. "New York, Atlanta, and Chapel Hill are going to have a really skewed view of how much touring we've done, because we've hit [those cities] three times because of the Pearl Jam tour, the fall tour, and this one," Mark explains, "This time we're not going to Texas, we're not going to anywhere on the West Coast." It all just seems like it's a never-ending cycle for the boys.

So let's travel a bit back in time, shall we? September 1998 saw the release of the band's seventh long-player. And although they have generally used Seattle fixtures Jack Endino and Conrad Uno for their records, Steve explains that they needed a change. And even though Tomorrow Hit Today still sounds very Mudhoney, it definitely possesses a different feel, one that the band attributes to the contributions of legendary producer Jim Dickinson (who has worked on everything from the Stones to Big Star). "We maybe wanted to do something different this time around," Steve says,"and bore in mind that realistically we figured this would be the last chance to spend the record label's money on a more expensive recording."

After Dickinson was suggested to Mudhoney by their pals, Clawhammer, they decided on using him after a few chats. But the clincher was when Steve found himself "looking through my record collection to see what records I had that he had his hand in. And discovered that he had been involved with most of the Panther Burns records which I love." But because bassist Matt Lukin refused to travel for the session, Mudhoney lured Dickinson up to Seattle. Mark explains that "one of the reasons why Matt didn't want to go away to record is he knew that once the record came out, we'd be on tour. You sort of save on the wear and tear of the upcoming tour." Although Steve has different reasons for not wanting to leave the comfy confines of Seattle, he agrees wholeheartedly with the decision. "It's hard to convince me to record out of town because I don't want to have to take all my stuff. I like having the option to use any stupid piece of equipment I have around. Also I like being at home, being able to separate myself from it. If we're recording for three weeks, I don't necessarily want to be stuck in a little tiny house next to the recording studio with them."

So then, what's next for Mudhoney? A movie career seems unlikely. "Unfortunately we nipped that in the bud by not being strong enough actors to carry Black Sheep," Steve laughs, but "we're going to take some time off and think about what the realistic options are. We're pretty much effectively dropped at this point."They're considering going to back working on some side projects and Steve has label, Super Electro to keep him busy. We'll just have wait and see what becomes of the band. Let's keep our fingers crossed that we can get another full-length out of them. Let the campaign begin.

Diana Willis

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