Kreative Kontrol

Ep. #28: Mark Arm of Mudhoney

Post author By vish
Post date August 29, 2013

Mark Arm is a singer and guitarist based in Seattle, Washington. 25 years ago he co-founded Mudhoney, one of America’s best and most influential underground rock bands. They were profiled in a great documentary called I’m Now: The Story of Mudhoney, which was released at the end of 2012, and now they’re the main subject of a biography called Mudhoney: The Sound and The Fury of Seattle by author Keith Cameron. The book covers the entire history of the band right up to their ninth album, the rollicking, well-received Vanishing Point, which came out earlier this year via Sub Pop records. Mudhoney’s latest tour brings them to Montreal’s Il Motore on Sept. 1 and Toronto’s Lee’s Palace on Sept. 2, so Mark and I got on the horn to discuss Mudhoney’s anniversary, playing a show on top of Seattle’s Space Needle, nothing to do with Nirvana, surfing with Pearl Jam, why stools should have three legs, playing a show at Third Man Records next month, which will eventually result in a live Mudhoney album, Conan O’Brien, and more.

Related links: mudhoneyonline.com subpop.com vishkhanna.com

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Tags Conan O'Brien, Mark Arm, Mudhoney, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Seattle, Sub Pop, Third Man Records

News

Ep. #27: Greil Marcus

Post author By vish
Post date August 27, 2013

Greil Marcus is one of the most revered writers and cultural historians in the world. Since the late 60s, the California-based Marcus has demonstrated an uncanny ability to examine the broader social implications of musical movements, often re-contextualizing them in a profoundly illuminating way. He was the first reviews editor at Rolling Stone magazine, his writing has appeared in other notable publications like The Village Voice and The Believer, and he’s authored classic books like Mystery Train, Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century, Invisible Republic (or, as it was later re-named, The Old, Weird America), and many more. Marcus is also regarded as the most astute authority on the work of Bob Dylan and, with the August 27 release of Dylan’s The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969-1971), with which Marcus is inextricably connected, it seems like a good time to get his take on it. Here Marcus discusses his infamous 1970 review of the original Self Portrait, how critics generally received Dylan prior to this release, his take on the The Great White Wonder bootleg, why this new collection is a must-listen, the subject of his forthcoming book, and how the two conversations he actually had with Bob Dylan (the first in 1963, the last in 1997) actually went.

Related links: bobdylan.com vishkhanna.com

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Tags Another Self-Portrait, Bob Dylan, Bootleg Series, Greil Marcus

News

Ep. #26: James Williamson of Iggy and the Stooges

Post author By vish
Post date August 23, 2013

James Williamson is a legendary guitarist, best known for his role in the hugely influential proto-punk band, Iggy and the Stooges from Detroit, Michigan. 1973 saw the release of the band’s classic album, Raw Power, featuring a rather unprecedented combination of guitar pyrotechnics and sensitivity by Williamson that few had ever achieved up to that point. When the band broke up, Williamson worked a bit with Iggy Pop and on his own solo ventures before giving up music all together to pursue an electrical engineering degree at California State Polytechnic University and eventually a career in his field, working for Sony. In fact, on September 28 he will give the keynote talk at the C2SV Technology Conference and Music Festival in Silicon Valley and, in February, he’ll be inducted into the Engineering Hall of Fame. After retiring from Sony in 2009 Williamson reunited with Iggy and the Stooges and, earlier this year, they released Ready to Die, their first album together under that moniker in 40 years. The band is part of the Riot Fest tour, which makes a stop in Toronto Sunday August 25. Here, Williamson discusses his engineering career, his guitar sound, working with Iggy Pop again, why The Weirdness might be weird, why he’s pleased with Ready to Die, and why the Replacements really shouldn’t be playing right after Iggy and the Stooges in Toronto.

Related links: iggyandthestoogesmusic.com fatpossum.com vishkhanna.com

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Tags Iggy and the Stooges, Iggy Pop, James Williamson, Riot Fest, The Replacements