I Met The Meat Puppets And Lived To Tell About It
by Helen
Early December, the Meat Puppets drove in from Phoenix in order to record some tracks at SST Records and perform around town. Chris, Scott, Kelly and I spoke to the M.P.s after a rousing set at Al’s bar. Our talk was very disjointed and extremely entertaining, but don’t count on the interview to help figure out their perplexing and rather demanding form of music/noise.
F.S. : What’s your biggest influence in music.
Curt : Mommy. My mommy made me what i am.
Derrick : My mommy’s heart beat.
F.S .: What gives you more satisfaction, live performance or studio recording?
Curt : I like live performance, except I want to be able to hit people with my guitar. I like it ALL a lot. Most of the time in interviews people deal with “like” and “dislike” and recently I’ve been thinking of things more in terms of “up” or “down.” Today when I was driving here I couldn’t figure out if I was right side up or up side down and i couldn’t figure out how to pull the car over. i lost all my will. My will to drive. My will to steer. Only my motor reflexes were working.
F.S. : How do you feel about your recent recording session on SST?
Derrick : It was wonderful. SPOT’s a real nice guy.
Curt : I like this picture i saw today in this book. It was picture of Charles Manson. It was the only picture I ever saw of him when he wasn’t staring real mean at the camera. They got a picture of him with this guy he went out in the desert to collect lizards and stuff with. You can tell he respected the guy because he was older and he’s got a western belt.
F.S. : How do you like Gary Gilmore?
Curt : He’s dead.
F.S. : Do you think SST is aligned with Manson?
Curt : No way. The recording session was super.
F.S. : And so was the Manson picture. Did you see the interview with Tom Snyder?
Curt : Yeah. i thought it was an accident. It was the only accident that ever happened.
F.S. : I there some deep basis for your music or is it just for fun?
Curt : It’s deeper than we can figure. We hear it the same as you do.
F.S. : What are your vocal influences?
Curt : Almost 23 years.
Derrick : Our main influence is the desert.
Curt : The main influence on my vocals is smoke. I have a natural ability to sing. I was born with that talent.
F.S. : Do you believe there is a God?
Curt : I believe there are many gods.
F.S. : Do cowboys hassle you in Arizona?
Curt : There’s no cowboys there. I am a cowboy.
F.S. : What do you do when you’re not doing music in Phoenix?
Curt : Well – we smoke pot, trade pornographic magazines.
Derrick : Draw pictures, read comics.
Curt : My uncle Jack says that any kind of reaching out is good because there’s no handbook on communication.
F.S. : Thus far, you have played at the smaller clubs like Cathey de Grande, Al’s Bar, and the L.A. Press Club. Is this a choice?
Curt : No. We even get invited to play at notoriously small places like Whiskey A Go Go too. They begged us. They sent us different colored yarns to try and entice us over. They were refused a lot of times. Until they send us enough yarn.
F.S. : ?????????????????
F.S. : What constitutes a good performance for you?
Derrick : Our liking it.
Cris (finally): We came here to play the freeways. With regards to audience, we play it with all our hearts.
F.S. : What is your favorite local L.A. band?
Curt : I can take just about anything. It just depends on what I’ve eaten.
F.S. : Your favorite movie actor?
Curt : Clint Eastwood.
Derrick : Robert Reed.
F.S. : Do you have a fan following?
Curt : Just flies.
F.S. : What’s your favorite food?
Curt : Bee pollen.
F.S. : Who don’t you like?
Curt : It’s too much of a pain in the butt to think about things I don’t like.
(from FLIPSIDE No. 29, 1982)
Derrick,
I thought I’d just drop a line to say this Meat Puppets archive is great. I just started listening to the Meat Puppets, on a lark. I was walking by “Meat Puppets II” in Borders, and I thought to myself “Meat Puppets – for some reason this is exactly what the situation calls for.” Really enjoying the Rykodisc reissues with the extras – downloading them like mad off Itunes.
Back on point, however: This archive is great. It really helps me understand where some of the direction in the music comes from. So, keep up the posts.
Chris H.
Savannah, GA
Chris –
Thanks for the kind words and encouragement!
this site is amazing! you really should write like a book of ur experiences together, it would be a great tool in understanding that punk rock movement. i just read hardcore zen by brad warner he mentions u guys a couple times. it was awesome. i realy dont know what my point is but ur music is incredible and i love it
i think a meat puppets book would be a great idea also. i mean when i think of zany music and abstract directions to music i think of the meat puppets and frank zappa….and zappa caught me as a fan due to all of his books and movies and cds…..its prob. because of the rykodisk thing hes got going (like the pups) anything you put out on your site is great though derrick….you still painting?
Keeping up with this site is a great idea! You know what would be a better idea? PLAY DRUMS AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I second all of the above. Thanks for the site.
What ever happened to Davo? He was always extremely cool to my friends and me out there on the road.
I came across this link today which included some Meat Puppet’s videos http://www.youtube.com/results?search=meat+puppets&search_type=search_videos Not just music videos, also had a 1994 Howard Stern appearance.
I’m sure this has been said before,but…
Now that I’ve listened to a broad range of Meat Puppets records – I have to say the one thing I love about all of them is the humor in the lyrics. All jokes have a little bit of truth to them – and using the truth in the jokes is a great way to tell the truth.
More Pot Comics.
Chris H.
yes! that last thing that curt said i completly agree with it is a pain in the butt to think about stuff you dislike.
up on the sun is the best!
Puppets,
no joke, too high to die, up on the sun, MP II, MP I, No srtings attatched are all fucking great
nice job puppets!
I saw Curt last night at the Mercury Lounge in New York City.He has a new music partner, Elmo Kirkwood. They sounded AMAZING together. They did a lot of Music from Curt’s solo album “Snow” and some clasic puppet tunes like “Up on the Son…I mean SUN and even “I’m a mindless Idiot” for which Curt Played 6 string banjo! They were both stoned and Elmo was more than competant. There is more clapping than hootin’ and hollerin’ these days because at the Mercury Lounge they no longer serve beer in a pint glass, you get a plastic pint cup, that way you can hold it in your teeth in order to clap. All Kirkwood and son need is Uncle Cris and Derrick Bostrom . What are the chances of that?
Hey ! So, I’m french and recently I have bought the CD Classic Puppets, and Golden lies too, and I really like it ! I have heard about the Meat Puppet with the MTV Unplugged in New York of Nirvana, where they play Plateau, Oh me and Lake of Fire, it’s a real chance to me that Nirvana has played that, because I couldn’t have listened to the Puppets if Nirvana didn’t do it. Good bye ! (I must go to my bed, I’m so tired)
personalmente mis discos favoritos son sus 3 primeras entregas “in a car” “meat puppets II” “meat puppets” me gusta mucho esa combinacion de hardcore punk y psycodelia countrywestern (por llamarle de alguna forma) ademas SST RECS. saco muchisimas bandas muy buenas (sonic youth,bad brains,black flag,das damen,husker du,etc………) en fin un saludo a los meat puppets desde chile (south america) la verdad no me gustan mucho sus discos desde el 1989 hacia adelante puesto ke me kedo con sus primeras entregas saludos y ke les valla bien I HATE NIRVANA
One year later. I think people are specifically set up upon conception and this is confirmed by astrology and science. I think a band can have an astrology chart as well…there are conception charts and then there are birth charts. When you are first interviewed would be like your press birth chart, and if you know the exact time,even better. As fans, we have fan charts and we can follow our relationship with the band’s music…but if you get a band press chart for fans, c’mon, that’s extreme,ok?
i was laughing quite a bit while reading this. were they (or, if Derrick runs this, “you”) stoned while answering or just acting weird? whatever, you made some great music man.
I’d say the best answer is “both.”
meat puppets is the best band
hola a todos ..meat puppets es lo mejor the best……….espero que algundia me respondan malditos,,,,tengo todos sus cd………los amo malditos
i’m listening to a tape from whisker’s in phoenix live 1983′ it is really really amazing
i love you guys
a fan forever
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