Q and A with King Buzzo of the Melvins

Q and A with King Buzzo of the Melvins

• by: JASON SIMMS
• August 17th, 2006 [11:43AM]
• http://localcut.wweek.com/?p=549

When I sat down to write a short profile of the Melvins, I realized that it was going to be a feat to make a dent in describing the sound and influence of such a seminal band in 200 words. At the last minute I wrote the band’s publicist to see if I could get a quick interview so that I could at least deliver some words from King Buzzo to separate my profile from all that’s been written about these guys over the last 20 years. You can check out the profile in the Music Fest Northwest guide which can be found in most copies of Willamette Week and in music-related places around town, but below is the entire, unedited email exchange between Buzz and I. You’ll notice my questions are long and sort of unprofessional, but that’s what I do when no one’s looking. I hadn’t planned to post the entire interview—I was just trying to get a good quote or two that would be easy to work into the context of a show at MFNW—but Buzzo’s answers are just too funny to keep to myself.

• Local Cut: All of the members of the Melvins have been involved in other projects like those with Mike Patton and members of Tool. It seems as though most bands who gained notoriety during the grunge-era have either disappeared or essentially continued in a progression from where they were in the mid-90s. Do you make a conscious effort to expand your musical horizons and stay current? Do you think the members of your band bring what they’re doing in their other projects back to the Melvins?
• Buzz: I suppose all of that could be true. I have no idea what most of the ex-grungers are up to now. I’m off the A-list and have been for a long long LONG time and I have no interest in trying to figure out why. We do what we do because it still interests us. If I listened to every person who ever told me what was wrong with what I was doing I would have given up 10 years ago. Maybe I should. Maybe I should just fold it all up and go to school. I could join a Frat house and get all tanked up with the rest of the Freshmen and maybe get involved in a wild date rape scandal that would cost me a lot of money to get out of but then I would nonetheless get straight A’s and make “The Deans List” and graduate with “honors” and become a brain surgeon or maybe a bank president or at least get a job or something that pays a shit load and then I could tell bullshit stories to uninterested young co-workers about my days as a grunge godfather who never “made it.”

• Local Cut: As a closeby outsider, you’ve seen Portland’s music scene evolve over the last 20 years, yet you’ve been separate from it. What is your take on this town then and now? How would you characterize its relationship to the Seattle scene?
• Buzz: I always liked Portland. We were big Wipers fans obviously and I think it shows. Where would the “Seattle scene” be without the Wipers? Portland remains one of our favorite places to play. It’s never a problem and the people are great. Keep up the good work!

• Local Cut: I grew up in Albuquerque, and I recall that you used to (or maybe still do) own a record store in Santa Fe that was essentially your collection for sale, available by private appointment. Could you talk about that briefly? Do you continue to be an avid record collector?
• Buzz: This is interesting. I’ve been accused of a lot of things but never have I been accused of operating a record store in Santa Fe. You must be very VERY confused because I’ve only been to Santa Fe once and during that one day I did not open a record store, however, I may have told a bullshit story about me having a Santa Fe record store in some other interview that you could have read, anythings possible. I like to tell bullshit stories in interviews. No one needs to know the truth about anyone in fact the truth is very dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. FYI, I sold all of my records years ago when I realized how much space they took up in my house. Fuck records. Records should be called fucks because they’re fucked.