NINE INCH NAILS
Cocteau Twins) Flood (Depeche Mode. Erasure)
and Tackhead remix-masters Adrian Sherwood and
Keith LeBlanc
"I'm pleased with the way it's come out," says
Reznor, although working with a bunch of peo-
ple was a roundabout, backwards way of doing a
record. In an ideal situation, ifI had musicians who
I thought were competent and who I could
collaborate with on an equal level, things would
be easier I could write songs faster and it would
probably be more exciting. It would be nice to have
input from people you respect. When there's
somebody you just don't see eye-to-eye with, it's
more of a hassle than anything"
"The way I write, there isn't anybody to bounce
ideas off of it's not like a band, where you've got
so and so on guitar and a bass player and the whole
four piece format. I approached it knowing my tools
and my limitations. I'm a shitty guitar player, but
that's my style and that's where it's going to be.
Same with bass and whatever else. The vocals were
one take I tried to create a very minimal feel.
"I think something that sets NIN apart from other
groups of its ilk is that as much as I try not to do
it, I stil end up writing in a pop song vein. Also,
I'm not coming from the same point of view they
are. I'm not saying it's better, it's just different. What
I'm doing is taking a song and arranging it, rather
than building up a groove and chanting over it."
Reznor has now assembled a young, impres
sonable touring unit: Chrs Vrenna (drums), Richard
Patrick (guitar) and Nick Rushe (keyboards).
"I'm not in the position to offer somebody a
thousand dollars a week to rehearse." Reznor says
"So I took some young guys who were malleable,
who would basically do what I want them to do
but expand on it. The only context I've worked
with them in so far is. "Here are the songs, here
are your parts, learn them. When I start to do the
next record, it'll be up in the air as
JUNGLE BROTHERS
by MCM
A junglelistically correct pow-wow
with Mike G. and Baby Chris-one
half of the J.B.'s.
more unified change. Less color coordination. Even
today the rich don't want to mingle with the poor.
Rich parents don't raise their kids to treat the poor
equally. It starts at the top and comes down. We're
in the middle now, so we're the ones who have to
make the change. We have to slowly bring the two
together. Regardless of what class we are, we're all
What are the Jungle Brothers all human. The blood is red no matter what.
about?
Mike: We are about black culture,
unity, peace, knowledge, success
and the righteous way, of course.
We're looking to unify all people.
What is the righteous way?
Mike: Following God's laws, His
commandments. Not to say that I
follow any specific religion, but if
you're in any religion there is a cer-
tain path you should walk to stay
in God's eye. That's the path I walk.
What's your guidance?
Mike: I know right from wrong.
Chris: There's a right and a wrong
way. If you leave money here and
I take it, that's the wrong way, of
course. Everyone knows right and
wrong, but it's up to you to choose.
We're trying to encourage people
to choose the right way.
Who are you trying to reach?
Mike: Everybody, but mostly our
peers and younger people. These
are the people who can see eye-
to-eye with us. They're twenty,
twenty-one, nineteen, just coming
out of high school, have held a few
jobs, but are not really rolling
successfully yet.
What are your priorities?
Mike: Keep the clothes on my back
and make sure my family is
together. Keep the clothes on their
backs and money in their pockets
Chris: Send a positive message to
to what happens. I don't see it
becoming a democracy, ever."
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our peers and the next
generation.
Mike: We want to see a
Is
the government doing anything to change this?
Chris: If they are, I'm not seeing it. Everyone's still
separated by the upper, the middle and the lower
crust. It's whoever has the money, who is almost
at the money, and who doesn't have the money.
When you file taxes, it isn't, "Are you black or
white?" It's, "How much money did you make this
year?" That's the bottom line with the government.
Do you think the priorities people grow up with
in America-what they learn from TV and
society-are good?
Mike: Television tells you to want material things.
Society gives you a mixed image. You walk in
downtown San Francisco and you see a lot of
homeless. Then you walk a block to this hotel and
there are people spending stupid money.
Chris: Spending over three hundred dollars a night,
and down the block a man doesn't have anywhere
to live.
You guys are in the hotel now-does that make
you feel guilty?
Mike: I don't feel guilty, but I know my place. I'm
striving just as hard as the people on the street are.
I'm striving to stay away from that and trying to pull
them along with me. I'm not forgetting about it.
Chris: If we chose the hotel, we wouldn't be in this
one. Warner Brothers pays for the Grand Hyatt, not
the Jungle Brothers. It's fine, but it isn't completely
on our level. That's not what we're doing this for.
We're here to sleep and eat and go to the next gig.
So, if you're dealt a nice set of cards, that's okay
as long as you use them for good?
Mike: Exactly. When most people make it, they
forget. You can't forget. You can try, but you can
never wash the dirt off your hands.
What kind of situation did you all grow up in?
Mike: Not low, low class or high class-middle class.
Whatever your situation, it's all about the family
keeping themselves together. (Cornued on page 94)
MUDHONEY
by Mike Lavella
"Punk rock is about total rejects," says Steve Turner, guitarist for
Mudhoney. "If you see a bunch of guys on the stage that look like 'rock'
people you say, 'Oh, a rock band! It's far scarier to see total freaks up
there going AAAAAARRRRUUUGGGHHH!"
Mudhoney are the type of people who act now, think later. Freaks?
Maybe. Mudhoney is one of the few groups that, while having traceable
roots in 60s grunge and 70s and 80s punk, has come up with a sound
of its own. In the last year Mudhoney has captured the eyes and ears
of a lot of people. The band was a big hit in all the British music papers,
but how did this affect the members? "People kept saying, "Wow, you're
breaking a lot of ground being in Melody Maker and everything." says
Mark, "but it doesn't mean anything because we don't know anything
about the magazine" Humble? Jaded? Mudhoney is four guys
who got together, wrote songs, got on stage and clicked.
In the last year things sure have changed. Their last appearance
in San Francisco at the Kennel Club set attendance records that
surpassed Dinosaur Jr. and even X. It took people a while to
figure out what was going on." Mark grins. Anything can hap-
pen at a Mudhoney show. At any point the band members could
suddenly be in the audience right there with you, or else invite
everyone onto the stage as they did at one show in London where
the the stage was quickly demolished and passed back over the
band members heads. This is not to say that the group relies
entirely on an outrageous stage show. Their many vinyl releases
are all impressive, starting with the now legendary, collectable
"Touch Me, I'm Sick" 7-inch. Released in the summer of 1988,
Sub Pop quickly sold out of the first 800 pressed on sickly brown
vinyl. A second pressing of 3,000 sold out even more rapidly.
then an additional 2.000 were made to cover the demand. Quickly
following the debut single, Super Fuzz Big Mutt, a six-song Ep.
was released. It was one of the few times in recent memory that
almost every fanzine in the US. regardless of their normal fields
of interest, raved about a record. Around the States and Europe
once again and the band was back with the single, "You've Got
It (Keep It Outta My Face)." With its amazing cover, a parody
of the classic Slits' Lp Cut (which depicted the band covered.
in mud), it was an instant favorite among collectors and fanzines
alike "We were going to do the layout exactly like the Sits' album
except that we were going to call it Slut instead of Cut, Mark
recalls, but I guess we wanted to use the photo right away-
sometimes we have no patience."
True, these four have been on the go since early in 1988 when
they found themselves looking for something new to get into.
"After Green River (where Mark was lead singer for many years)
broke up, me and Steve decided to do the band we always wanted
to do" Steve, who had also been in Green River years earlier
had been playing with drummer Don Peters, formerly of Seat-
te's Bundle of Hiss. Matt was recently out of the Melvins, and
the whole thing just fell together. "I thought, oh shit, now we
have to play real songs," Steve remembers. But this is the band
that makes it look easy. Their first full-length Lp. Mudhoney, is
a full-on, no-nonsense slab of pure inspired rocking tuneage. And
they outdid themselves with the limited-edition first pressing which
featured a fold-out cover and a full-color poster When asked if
they planned on staying with Sub Pop, Steve quickly answers,
"I want to go with Sub Pop as far as we both can. I want to
help them and they in turn can help us. I want it all to grow
together" Mark adds, "The strongest institutions are the ones
that have time to take root, make a solid foundation." Steve admits
"I just want to have a job at Sub Pop when we break up!"
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