Sewing session with Meat Puppets’ Curt Kirkwood
Where to good bands go when they die? Hopefully, the Meat Puppets won’t have to answer that question… again. The heralded post-punk stalwarts have seen some tough times via the assorted demons of bassist Cris Kirkwood. The band, apart for years, reformed and released a new album in 2007, Rise To Your Knees. That collection was met with some praise, but not like that of 2009′s Sewn Together, which boldly announces the return of the Puppets in all their rocka-psyche-twangy glory. WTDP? had a chance to talk with Cris’ brother, frontman/guitarist Curt Kirkwood, about the current album, his gear de jour and the state of today’s music from a fan’s perspective.
WTDP?: How is the tour going so far?
CK: It’s been great! We’ve been having a good time. Good bills you know, cool bands, great shows… it’s beautiful. Good weather… havin’ a ball.
WTDP?: Tell me a little bit about the recording process for ‘Sewn Together’. Did you do most of the songs then bring them in or was it more collaborative?
CK: No. The former really. I tend to have it all worked out and try to get it as ready as possible, then we just go in and record it. We try and keep the recording simple. That was the whole thing on this one. Learn it well it enough, and make sure we do it well enough. That’s not so hard. Try to get it on tape the first time we play it right then move on. It’s pretty formulaic in terms of having it done. There is a little bit of stuff in the studio like with this one where ‘oh, this part’s not done’ or I didn’t have words so I would have to sit there and write real quick, but for the most part it was done.
WTDP?: I wanted to get your take on a few of my favorites – first, talk to me about ‘Blanket of Weeds’. I love the great outro solo work on that one.
CK: That’s one of the newer ones. That one and the title track were probably the last two songs I did for the album. I finished up the lyrics to ‘Blanket of Weeds’ in the studio. It really is more or less just an excuse to have an E-chord to jam psychedelic leads over.
WTDP?: What about ‘Rotten Shame’?
CK: That one also was one of the last ones. That one was kind of a spin off of another song I wrote that’s on the Volcano record I did with Bud Gaugh and those Long Beach guys. After Eyes Adrift we kind of stayed together, Bud and I, and called it ‘Volcano’ and he had a couple of buddies from Long Beach come in. I wrote I song called ‘Run Aground’ for that album. You can get it – I think it’s on the Skunk Records website. We never really released it. We made like a thousand copies and just gave it to people. It’s the A… it’s just that A-thing. With the sort of rockin’ piano-like Johnny Johnson thing. Kind of a Beatles-Chuck Berry thing. I tried to update it a little bit and make it flow a little more… like an ‘Achilles Last Stand’ Zeppelin sort of feel there. You know, it’s a rock song.
WTDP?: What is your number one guitar these days? It is the Surf green Strat?
CK: Yeah. I’ve been using that one. That’s the one I have out. Really, still my main guitar is my ’82 Les Paul. It’s a reissue of the ’59 sunburst. I just don’t take it out on the road much anymore because it’s old and it’s gotten beat up real bad. It’s had a lot of repairs and won’t handle another mishap. I still like playing that one most of all my guitars. The Strat is my next favorite one that I like to play. I have a ’65 Tele that I like a lot too, but I really haven’t played it a lot recently.
WTDP?: What year is the Strat?
CK: I reckon it’s a ’98 maybe. It’s not really vintage, it is just an off-the-shelf fairly generic ones. Made in Mexico. It’s really nice to play. I have a number of Strats. I think I have four, but that’s my favorite one.
WTDP?: Is that the only electric guitar you have out right now?
CK: Yeah. I also have my ‘91-’92 Hummingbird (Gibson acoustic) that I play a lot. I play it at any in-stores and on the radio.
WTDP?: What about amps?
CK: I have a Bogner Ecstasy out this time. This one belongs to my son. I’ve owned one, but I borrowed this one from him in Phoenix. I’ve played them a lot. Versatile and really powerful. They maintain their integrity as the volume goes up. They are really cool amps.
WTDP?: What about your pedalboard? Are you still using that old Morley pedal?
CK: Yeah, I do! That’s an old vibrato, chorus, delay – I’m not sure what it’s called. It’s from the ‘70s. It’s a light activated, light-sensitive diode controlled pedal. It’s a cool concept. Their is a little light in there and a little piece of felt that comes up incrementally as you move the foot pedal and blocks the light that’s being shined on the diode. It’s really a fluid, weird foot pedal.
WTDP?: And for drive? I’ve seen an OCD on your board before.
CK: Yeah. That’s what I’ve been using. I really like that. It’s a great overdrive.
WTDP?: Is there any new blood out there right now music-wise that you’re kinda digging?
CK: Well, uh. Let me think… I don’t know, man. Not really. I would think it would pop into my head, but I guess if I have to think about it then… no. I hear a lot of good music. Does it fuck me up? No. What are you going to do? I don’t know if it’s any of its better or not, but when you’re a teenager and you hear Jimi Hendrix or whatever… the kind of stuff we were into, say like Black Flag, or the first time I heard ‘Rock and Roll Animal’. Does stuff fuck me up like that? No. Who knows what you’re standards are, but those set your standards, so what do you do after you’ve heard Jimi Hendrix? I’ve always felt that way. Shit man, I’m lucky I didn’t decide not to play guitar after hearing that. We’ve had some standard-bearers out there. I really like George Jones. It would be great to find somebody that consistently blew my mind as much as George Jones has. I’d welcome it. Maybe it is just homeostasis, just a need for a pattern and you stick to that. I don’t know. I’m a victim of my own ego.
WTDP?: Are you still covering George Jones in your set?
CK: Yeah, we’ll do that now and then. It’s one of my favorite things to do – some of the older stuff. That amount of material there are so many songs to draw from from him.
WTDP?: Is there a studio trip in the cards for the Meat Puppets say in the next six months to do another record?
CK: Yeah. I think that’s a good – something like that. I don’t know exactly when. We’ve done quite a bit of touring on this and we tour through the end of the year. I don’t have anything set up and I don’t have much material, but I’ve been thinking about it and trying to make my mind available to that possibility.
