Whereas bands like Soundgarden and Pearl Jam have been canonised as rock-revivalist-frontiersman and one Kurt Cobain eulogised as the spokesman of a Generation, beneath the bloated gut that became Grunge, no doubt smiling wryly, you will find a disaffected, sardonic fellow by the name of Mark Arm. Mark's band, Mudhoney, were the true harbingers of the movement that sought to resuscitate the ragged vitriol of The Stooges via a dense fog of stomp box distortion; but perhaps like most true pioneers they are oft overlooked in favour of those who stood on the margins carefully taking notes before distilling what they'd learned into a more pallatable cocktail from which to make their fame and fortune.
It might provide succour to Mark Arm, having blazed a trail only for others to reap the rewards that when speaking to him it's clear twenty plus years in the music industry hasn't come at the cost of his charm as it has done so many others. Indeed Arm, despite underpinning a musical and cultural revolution, claims that his record company's main dependence on him is to maintain its warehouse, which he manages, rather than to make great records (as he does). Arm is quick to acknowledge Jonathan Poneman and Bruce Pavitt's impact on his life and career whilst downplaying his impact on theirs. Now can you picture Eddie Vedder doing stock control at HMV?
Is this all a front? Is Mark 'keeping it real' like J-Lo?
"How does Jennifer Lopez keep it real?" he asks in his staccato whirr that sounds more befitting of a mildy bemused nineteen year old.
"Well, to her it's like breathing, apparently" I reply.
"Keeping it high is like breathing when you smoke weed." He's deadpanning already. ""Well I do have a mortgage to pay, I suppose. I'm maybe not as intense as she is." and so it goes on. I immediately realise that Mark Arm is drier than a popcorn fart.
Mark has served almost as the nucleus of the Seattle music scene having colloborated with its many denizens. He was at one time a member of the band Green River with Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament who went onto form Pearl Jam. What I find terribly attractive about Mark is his ability to discuss his friends with merciless candour. In fact, Green River split when Arm accused Ament of being a careeist. "Jeff had the longview. I didn't" he tells me. Moreover, Mark has the gift for smashing through the corny tenets of rock legend, particularly the Cobain-fawners who safeguard his lore with blind-worship. Yes Mark and Kurt were friends, but don't think that means Mark is full of mawkish superlatives for his former disciple, "People die in similar ways who don't get the same sort of attention. Kurt died in a really pathetic way." This seems a little ruthless until Arm unleashes another gem of a one-liner, "His judgement was clouded during the last year or so, to the point where he was saying things like REM's song 'Everybody Hurts' is a great song." He doesn't even giggle. "That song is a two-dimensional nothing of shit. People are like 'This is so true. They've hit the nail on the head with this one.' You've got to be an idiot. You must read Hallmark cards and think they're written for you personally." This will surely appear to some precious about their legends as blasphemy, but the 'un-rock and roll' notion of debunking legend comes to me as entirely rock n' roll. Mark Arm. Punk. Warehouse Manager. Mythbuster.
In 1994 Mark wrote an (hilarious) essay on his trip to The White House with old pals Pearl Jam. Herein, Mark purports to having some great advice on Foreign Policy for then President Bill Clinton. I jokily ask Mark if he has similar designs on President Obama and am taken aback when the tone turns abruptly solemn, "The atmosphere is so rough right now in America." The huge gulf between words is further prolonged here, but instead of imbuing his words with a sense of playful abandon and dry, slacker discernment, here it demonstrates a great care as if he were consulting his mind's very own thesaurus for the most appropriate words. Mark is only too aware of the dicey territory he finds himself in and I'm sure he is trying to avoid the proselytising musician routine that he so often derides. "Obama is dealing with a mess that was made before he came into office and he's just not getting cooperation from The Republicans. They won't help because they feel that if they do nothing then people will blame the Democrats and The Republicans will win the next election." Then at the drop of a hat the articulation diffuses and he encourages more frolicsome discourse. "Politics isn't as funny" he quips.
Back to more pertinent issues then - Sub Pop. An on/off relationship that has outlasted all of the scenes and politicians of the day. What would you have thought if somebody told you when you released Green River's 'Dry As A Bone' EP on Sub Pop that you'd be releasing material on the same label some 20 plus years later?
"I'm just happy that we get to do what we get to do. At this point, 22 years later to go on tour and have people show up and have them be enthusiastic. It's great that they want to come along on our little trip. Our stupid little trip."
Mark Arm, sadly reduced to a footnote in Nirvana's history by many rock historians. I don't suppose he gives a fuck as he counts up Sub Pop's stock/releases yet another flawless album.
It might provide succour to Mark Arm, having blazed a trail only for others to reap the rewards that when speaking to him it's clear twenty plus years in the music industry hasn't come at the cost of his charm as it has done so many others. Indeed Arm, despite underpinning a musical and cultural revolution, claims that his record company's main dependence on him is to maintain its warehouse, which he manages, rather than to make great records (as he does). Arm is quick to acknowledge Jonathan Poneman and Bruce Pavitt's impact on his life and career whilst downplaying his impact on theirs. Now can you picture Eddie Vedder doing stock control at HMV?
Is this all a front? Is Mark 'keeping it real' like J-Lo?
"How does Jennifer Lopez keep it real?" he asks in his staccato whirr that sounds more befitting of a mildy bemused nineteen year old.
"Well, to her it's like breathing, apparently" I reply.
"Keeping it high is like breathing when you smoke weed." He's deadpanning already. ""Well I do have a mortgage to pay, I suppose. I'm maybe not as intense as she is." and so it goes on. I immediately realise that Mark Arm is drier than a popcorn fart.
Mark has served almost as the nucleus of the Seattle music scene having colloborated with its many denizens. He was at one time a member of the band Green River with Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament who went onto form Pearl Jam. What I find terribly attractive about Mark is his ability to discuss his friends with merciless candour. In fact, Green River split when Arm accused Ament of being a careeist. "Jeff had the longview. I didn't" he tells me. Moreover, Mark has the gift for smashing through the corny tenets of rock legend, particularly the Cobain-fawners who safeguard his lore with blind-worship. Yes Mark and Kurt were friends, but don't think that means Mark is full of mawkish superlatives for his former disciple, "People die in similar ways who don't get the same sort of attention. Kurt died in a really pathetic way." This seems a little ruthless until Arm unleashes another gem of a one-liner, "His judgement was clouded during the last year or so, to the point where he was saying things like REM's song 'Everybody Hurts' is a great song." He doesn't even giggle. "That song is a two-dimensional nothing of shit. People are like 'This is so true. They've hit the nail on the head with this one.' You've got to be an idiot. You must read Hallmark cards and think they're written for you personally." This will surely appear to some precious about their legends as blasphemy, but the 'un-rock and roll' notion of debunking legend comes to me as entirely rock n' roll. Mark Arm. Punk. Warehouse Manager. Mythbuster.
In 1994 Mark wrote an (hilarious) essay on his trip to The White House with old pals Pearl Jam. Herein, Mark purports to having some great advice on Foreign Policy for then President Bill Clinton. I jokily ask Mark if he has similar designs on President Obama and am taken aback when the tone turns abruptly solemn, "The atmosphere is so rough right now in America." The huge gulf between words is further prolonged here, but instead of imbuing his words with a sense of playful abandon and dry, slacker discernment, here it demonstrates a great care as if he were consulting his mind's very own thesaurus for the most appropriate words. Mark is only too aware of the dicey territory he finds himself in and I'm sure he is trying to avoid the proselytising musician routine that he so often derides. "Obama is dealing with a mess that was made before he came into office and he's just not getting cooperation from The Republicans. They won't help because they feel that if they do nothing then people will blame the Democrats and The Republicans will win the next election." Then at the drop of a hat the articulation diffuses and he encourages more frolicsome discourse. "Politics isn't as funny" he quips.
Back to more pertinent issues then - Sub Pop. An on/off relationship that has outlasted all of the scenes and politicians of the day. What would you have thought if somebody told you when you released Green River's 'Dry As A Bone' EP on Sub Pop that you'd be releasing material on the same label some 20 plus years later?
"I'm just happy that we get to do what we get to do. At this point, 22 years later to go on tour and have people show up and have them be enthusiastic. It's great that they want to come along on our little trip. Our stupid little trip."
Mark Arm, sadly reduced to a footnote in Nirvana's history by many rock historians. I don't suppose he gives a fuck as he counts up Sub Pop's stock/releases yet another flawless album.