The Red and Black

Issue date: 10/22/09 Section: Out & About

Media Credit: Courtesy Meat Puppets Bass player Cris Kirkwood, a founding member of the Meat Puppets, channels his need to make music onstage. [Click to enlarge]

I recently spoke with Cris Kirkwood, the quirky, long-time bassist for the influential rock band Meat Puppets, about the history of the trio, Athens, the late '80s and early '90s scenes, and what it means to be a "desert band."

You've released records fairly often throughout your career, but since you got back together in 2007 you've already released two records. How do you remain so productive?
That's what [singer/guitarist Curt Kirkwood] does. He writes songs. We've played together so long, we could really push ourselves and record something in a week. He still comes up with stuff. The interesting thing about that is what actually comes out. It depends on circumstance. The songs that you have change. I get a kick out of seeing that progression.

Do you guys consider yourselves a punk band?
We never did that intentionally in the first place. We played the music we wanted to do. [Punk shows were] one of the only places we could get away with ... being an iconoclast.



Do you ever listen to something, stop and say, "Hey, that's us!" - you know, "That's what we did!"?
I've been really moved by bands that do what they do. I can't tell if somebody is influenced by us. A lot of it's probably true. You know, I don't want to be the godfather of punk or something - a Ben Franklin spewing quotable quips. I never consciously try to ape people.

What do you say to new artists?
Tear it up. I love the subtle combination of electricity and steel. I love guitar. What other people do with them are very novel. Go, music, go! I'm a big supporter of the arts.

What about people who aren't familiar with you guys? Where do we start on you guys?
Wherever you want, I guess. Go for the high-protein content. Eat the face first. I myself have a residue of grade-A human lard. Yeah, wherever. They should take the records. Swallow those.

What was performing at "MTV Unplugged" with Kurt Cobain like?
MTV was against having the Meat Puppets come in and steal their things - taking the sheen off. Cobain was a nice guy. It was a cool little thing, having [it] become suddenly commercially viable. He was definitely really into it. Just a bunch of my buddies. [Cobain] was a reflection of the attitude he'd been influencing for years. The rest was dark - kind of a shame. It's kind of dichotomous, to have the music industry ruin you.

What influences you? Where did you start?
All sorts of stuff. That's how I wound up doing this. I saw the movie "Deliverance" [in] 1972. The inbred guy plays banjo. I need to make music and be. To do that, you have to have a desire. It speaks of your relationship with yourself and the planet and your life. At the time, I was like, "Wow, they've found the way to satisfy their needs. They had created this instrument and a system of notes, part of the language of civility." You know, I love music that people seem to HAVE to make. I find that makes for easy listening. I don't like it because it's well produced, or because the girl has big tits.

You're talking about world music?
Personally, I get a kick out of it. It's connected and resonates with the things that I like and that I think are neat. We as people are colorful. I dig regionalism - that people are different all over, different foods and the like. But, you know, not nationalism. Everybody loves a good scrap, but they come out of the same place. Nationalism is the product of regionalism, but you know.

What is America's regional music?
I listen to a lot of stuff; there is a lot of modern music that's bitchin' and classic music, too. I think rock has managed to be part of American regionalism. It's not, like, prehistoric in that way. A lot of rock 'n' roll is of the industrial age. That's bitchin' too. Our music is industrial.

Are you a Phoenix band?
Yeah, we are. We are our own little batch of indigenous music. We're indigenous to the desert. You are where you're from. You know, when I was in Athens once, it was coming through in the vibe from the bands there. I'd been partying hard and it was really trippy - I was in this dialogue with the kudzu, the Deep South and its history of decay and its rich fertility.

What was Athens like when you last visited?
It was just funky, you know? ... There is the school, and it's so close to Atlanta. It's so fertile. Centers of the young, you know? ... Back in the day, bands with something special were just popping off. It had its own special vibe. I've got a lot of friends back there, and we had a great time with Dead Confederate on the West Coast a few months back. It's just gonna be neat. I've developed a relationship with different parts of the country, and we're going back after so long.

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