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By Eric Walls
Normally, when I do these interview s, I try to come up
with some really neat and witty intro that drums up excitement
and entices my readers. (Or, at least, that’s my intent.
Whether it works or not is for you to judge.) But, in truth,
most of the time I’m just trying to make an otherwise
trite and boring interview just a little more interesting.
There is certainly no need for that here. Dave Wyndorf is
a really cool cat. I’ve talked with many “rock
stars” and most of the time they just really aren’t
that interesting and getting good, quotable answers from
them is like pulling teeth. Not the case with Dave, who
for all his Spacelord-Motherfucker-sci-fi-comic-book craziness
is actually down to earth, if you can believe that, and
more real than your average “rock star”. We
had a conversation, not an interview , and as a result I
think we I ended up with is a real inside glimpse on just
what makes this cat tick. We talk about the new album, we
talk about sci-fi, we talk about comic books, we talk about
drug addiction, we talk the state of live music in America
today. All you really need to know is that Monster Magnet
is back with Last Patrol, which is probably and arguably
their best work since Dopes to Infinity. If you dig the
heavy, psychedelic stomp and swagger that made Monster Magnet
a household name in the 90’s then you will certainly
not be disappointed. So, without further ado, I will let
the man speak for himself.
Q: You guys have a new album coming out, Last Patrol. As
I understand it, you wrote this entire record over a period
of a week back in February. Is that your normal method of
work?
Dave Wyndorf: Well, it was just the lyrics I wrote in a
week, thank God (laughs) No, I didn’t write all the
music in a week. I wrote the music in drips and drabs over
the course of like six months to a year. But, I wrote the
lyrics in about a week and pulled it all together. Usually
I do work pretty fast. The music for Last Patrol I wrote,
as I said, in drips and drabs, pulled it all together in
a period of like two weeks, tracked the music and then wrote
the lyrics as the last thing.
Q: So, where was your head at during the week period where
you were writing these lyrics?
DW: Well, you know, that’s kinda the thing about waiting
until the end because you’re pretty much stuck with
where your head was at on that week. (laughs) I travel a
lot, I do a lot of stuff, I’m busy all the time and
my life is weird. It’s just a weird life. I go off
for four months through Europe just playing and playing
and playing, having all these weird adventures and then
I come home and sit like a hermit and watch TV, or something.
A lot of stuff boils up over that time and when I push myself
to writing it all comes out. Stories about people I met
and conversations I had, adventures I had, observations
on life. Just like anybody else’s life, like “What
the hell am I doing!? What’s going on here? Who the
hell are these people?” (laughs) I tend to write down
these adventures and stories and relationships. Where it
gets trippy is that I like to use the vernacular of science
fiction, religion, and outer space as metaphors to describe
my emotions. I’m not writing fantasy, I’m writing
reality, but reality seems too boring to me so I have to
explain it in a way that would be visually…. evocative.
Like, how would this sound? I wrote this music that sounds
like fucking planets are colliding and I’m gonna say
like, “I miss you baby!” No! (laughs) You have
to say, “My soul is falling through a nuclear furnace”.
And so that’s how this shit gets started and that’s
how these songs become what they are.
Q: What is it about science fiction and that type of vernacular
that appeals to you?
DW: I think it’s just so visual. You can SEE it. When
you say a line like that you SEE it. You know, as a kid
I grew up in front of the TV like every other goddamned
American kid, watching and just going, ‘Wow! That’s
so fucking cool!” It’s all about dinosaurs and
army men and fucking UFO’s, you know? It just never
left me. When I was finally old enough to be in a band it
was a punk rock band, so at that time all that shit was
not cool. You had to be “real”. It’s a
weird combination of me trying to stay a kid and use that
kind of imagery but trying to keep it real by singing about
reality, so it’s a combination of those two things.
But, I just love those images because they’re just
an instant visual.
Q: Gotcha. I wanna talk about some of the tracks on the
CD and get you to tell me a little about what’s going
in on in those tracks. The first one that really pops out
at me is “Last Patrol”, which is, of course,
the title track of the album. Tell me about that one.
DW: Well, “Last Patrol”…. I started by
wanting to sing about this guy, but then of course when
I look back on it I’m like you’re not singing
about this guy, you’re singing about YOU. You can’t
escape who you’re singing about. It’s just about
being maybe sick of an environment, like cosmic revenge.
It’s like you know something, the world is just not
cool enough for me. It’s just not cool enough. I got
nothing against you people, but it’s just time for
me to leave. To get a ten foot blond woman and move to the
moon. (laughs) Fuck all of you, I’m done with it.
This is my last gig on Earth. I’m moving to the moon
with a ten foot blond and, oh, by the way; I’m gonna
fucking nuke all of you. (laughs) And that’s all it
really is! It’s basically me saying I don’t
like it, I’m going somewhere else, but done….
cosmically.
Q: The next song is actually a Donovan cover, “Three
Kingfisher’s.” Why Donovan?
DW: The song rules. That song just rules, it’s in
my heart forever. I was looking at the record and I had
about sixteen songs written for this record and now it’s
down to nine. And, I was like nope, I still don’t
have it. I need two more songs. I need like a real fucking
slow, heavy rocker and I need an honest to God really pristine
nice psychedelic song. So, I was thinking about writing
two songs. And then the Donovan song hit me and in my mind
I was like, wait a second; that could be the clean rocker.
And then I picked up the guitar and started playing it and
I realized, hey I could do both in the same song. I could
do the Donovan song as a plodding hard rocker. Just change
the Donovan song into half original and half just turning
up that riff and banging it out with big drums. So, that’s
how that song ended up on the record. It just suited the
record.
Q: How about “Hallelujah?” Tell me about that
song.
DW: “Hallelujah” just started with the riff.
I was like, I just want to write a simple blues song. Not
much change in the drums, just like old school like the
old blues guys stampin’ his foot on the ground.
Q: Sure. Find a riff and hammer it home!
DW: Yeah, you know? Like fucking Muddy Waters or something.
So there was this riff and I just started singing “Hallelujah!”
during the chorus part cause it sounded good, it made my
voice feel good. (sings chorus in gruff, bluesy voice) (laughs)
So, when I wrote the lyrics around it I was like, well,
what am I singing “Hallelujah!” over? And really
it’s just a celebration of riding around in a tour
bus, making plans to meet up with some girls in some foreign
cities. (laughs) And then we were on the road in Europe
and somebody mentioned something about General Eisenhower
and I remembered that so I was like, you’re Eisenhower
now. (laughs) Life on the road is very tough and you need
female companionship sometimes. I’m sure you can understand.
Q: (laughs) Of course!
DW: So the song just became this celebration of like, “Hallelujah!
We’re coming into Berlin and we got some fraulines
lined up!” It just seemed natural. (laughs)
Q: The next track, “Mindless Ones” kinda goes
back to the same vibe that “Last Patrol” has.
Would you say that’s a fair estimation?
DW: Yeah musically it has the same vibe, but lyrics on that
one are really probably the most fantasy of all. I was reading
this old 1960’s Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Dr. Strange
comic and they fought these guys called the Mindless Ones
which were these awesome cyclopic , four armed hulks that
come out of the fourth dimension or something. Really, really
cool stuff. And I was just like, wow. How do these guys
make this stuff up in their brains? And I had this song;
a quick one, almost like a garage rock song and I was like,
you know, these garage rock guys, they didn’t always
totally sing from the heart so maybe I’ll make this
one about Dr. Strange. So I started writing the words about
Dr. Strange and it just seemed like a good bookend to “Last
Patrol”. You got good ears!
Q: (laughs) Thanks! I try. I’m glad you brought up
the comic book thing. I know you are a huge fan of especially
1960’s era comics. What is it about that era that
really appeals to you and are you a fan of more modern comics
these days?
DW: I’m a fan of all comics. I like modern comics,
too. The 60’s, for me, it represents this huge burst
of talent that has been unequalled since. Much like the
music (of the same period). There must have been something
in the water in the 1960’s. People just ADVANCED.
I mean, we saw these cartoonists get so much better in such
a short amount of time. There was almost no limit to what
people were trying and there was almost no limit to what
people in society were accepting. They were accepting all
these nQ: ideas, like yeah sure, try it! We don’t
care! That’s why I like the 60’s comics because
there were these certain artists that just started creating
like crazy. No thought to what they were gonna keep, as
far as copyrights are concerned. Nowadays, people are very,
very concerned about copyrights, so they keep their creations
very close. In those days those guys didn’t even realize.
They didn’t make that much money so they just created.
Created, created, created! And when you talk about someone
like Jack Kirby; this guy created everything! Dr. Doom,
the Fantastic Four, the Silver Surfer, and on and on and
on; these great concepts which are now making a lot people
money, by the way. The guy’s dead. 20 years dead,
the poor bastard. (laughs) That’s what gets me about
gets me about the 60’s. The form of comics is just
such a fantastic way to express yourself, I think, and I
just love them for a bunch of different reasons. There are
plenty of modern comics that are beautiful and the production
value is just fantastic.
Q: Do you think some of that creative vibe that was going
on in the 60’s still present today or is a lot of
that now lost?
DW: The creative vibe is always alive somewhere. In people’s
hearts and minds. But, I think that kind of enthusiasm that
was there in the 60’s isn’t there today because,
honestly, cynicism is a big part of our society now. Sarcasm,
cynicism, and we’re more paranoid now that we’ve
ever been. And probably for good reason, too! (laughs) I
don’t see it quite as….breezy as it was in the
60’s.
Q: It’s not as innocent, maybe?
DW: Yes! It’s not as innocent, not quite that over
enthusiastic, “Look what I got!”, you know?
I mean, there’s a lot of that from the amateurs, but
from the pros? All the pros, all the really, really talented
people in the world are very, very careful about what they
release so you don’t get that kind of explosion feeling.
Q: Getting back to the record; the next song, “The
Duke of Supernature.” That kinda has this Old West,
gunslinger vibe going on….
DW: Totally, totally. Another one of those stompin’
on the floor kinda writing. I want some blues, you know?
But, I want some cosmic blues. I want this fucking thing
to be eerie, too. So I put this mellotron on it, like that
weird old instrument that kinda imitates a string section
but doesn’t quite make it, you know? It just sounds
kind of odd, like some Moody Blues kinda stuff. And, I was
like, this sounds kinda swampy, but good and it’s
just me just riffing on……. I think I had just
seen that movie The Master or something and I was reading
all this stuff about Satanists and all this stuff and I
was like, what if here was a song about a guy who basically
works for some occult Satan group and he’s sitting
around now in 2013and he’s going, “Man, the
Devil’s coming back! The Duke of Supernature is coming
back and he’s about to take over and we’re gonna
bust Satan wide open and he’s gonna be on TV and in
the movies and nobody’s gonna hide from it anymore”.
Don’t ask me why I come up with this shit! (laughs)
And, he’s kinda recollecting his life, you know? And
he’s standing out in the beginning of the song checking
out these girls cause he wants to bring them in for some
sort of sacrifice. So he’s checking out the office
girls and he’s like, well, that one has the body I
want but I think it will blow her mind. She won’t
be able to get into this Satan shit. And he meets this girl
and goes, “I think I met you back in 1949 in LA.”
Of course, this guy is immortal. It’s crazy stuff
and it’s like he’s reminiscing about how Satan
blew it in World War II. He lost World War II and he backed
the wrong guy, Hitler, and good won out over evil and he’s
gonna try it again, but he’s gonna try it in a way
that’s a little more seductive. It’s all about
money and seduction now. Of course, none of this means I’m
backing Satan in any way, it’s just something that
occurred to me in my head and it sounded good for the track.
Q: “So, “End of Time?” I would say that’s
the most intense song on the record. Tell me about that
one.
DW: That’s got a lot of that “Last Patrol”
vibe in it, too. If I’m gonna go and cash out and
reinvent my own reality ‘cause I’m unhappy with
my current reality; like I don’t like these bands,
I don’t like rock n’ roll, I don’t like
this world, I don’t like ANYTHING about it! I’ll
go and I’ll throw myself into the sun but I’m
gonna be reborn with my own reality intact. I’m gonna
smoke my baby out until the end of time and we’re
going all the way to the end and were gonna start all over
again and rebuild. This is all like crazy, inner mind shit
(laughs) but it sounded good to me when I was writing it,
you know? It’s like, I’m coming home, baby.
There’s always a woman involved, you know? (laughs)
We’re gonna do this thing and I I’m gonna fucking
crash this ship. Fuck it. I’m walking away from the
corporation, I’m walking away from society. I’m
crashing the ship and I’m walking away, but baby,
keep the bed warm. I’m coming home. It may be a little
while, I may be a little different but I’m gonna come
back better.
Q: In 2006 you were hospitalized for a drug overdose. How
has that experience shaped your life and your music since?
DW: Well, it taught me how to sing better, I think. I paid
more attention to the singing because I was so wiped out
when I went back on tour that I couldn’t really do
anything like jump around on stage and stuff. So I just
and to really concentrate on my vocals. In that way it taught
me a lesson like, “Sing better, motherfucker!”
Sometimes it’s not all about like jumping off the
stage, it’s about bringing the music as best as it
could possibly be. So, that’s one good thing. Just
overall, a situation like that, where you almost die, always
makes you like enjoy life a little better once you get out
the other side. Its like, “Oh, hello Mr. Bird! Hello
morning!” It’s like corny, hippy shit, but its
true! (laughs) Prescription medications are no fucking joke!
I almost died! (laughs) But, being on the other side and
being able to look at things as if I was born again or somehow
reborn, is great for everything. Especially the music.
Q: You guys are about to embark on your first full US tour
in ten years. You guys have been playing Europe during that
time, but why neglect the US for so long?
DW: Well, you know, frankly I couldn’t get a good
price in the US. Promoters were like, “No. Monster
who?” (laughs) It’s not like I’m trying
to grab all the money in the world or anything like that,
but..
Q: You gotta pay your bills, man!
DW: Right! And it spreads out even further to the type of
music that we do. With the States being so into the technology
and so into the stuff they have like computers and social
networks and stuff like that, the emphasis on music in the
States, especially when everything went broadband and the
cell phones got better, I really think it went from like
music as poetry to music as like a sort of a background
to their life. They’re the star. And, hey! You know,
that’s cool. Media has trained people to adore people
on screens and in magazines for 80 years, since the beginnings
of radio. So, when the technology is afforded to people
where they can do it themselves, why wouldn’t they?
“I’m the guy! Check ME out!”, you know?
So, I think that’s where a lot of the mass public
has been. They’ve been involved with themselves. How
do they fit in the world, how can they compete? That expresses
itself all the way down to the lowest rungs of rock n roll.
If there’s not a cultural movement towards something
the economics are not gonna support it. So, live music started
to shrink up. You started to see bands that should be headlining
are all playing together, just to get the crowd out there
and things started going a little squirrelly. And that just
wasn’t cool to me, you know? I’m tired of trying
to make people like me. I do what I do and the States are
hard. The record companies are just like you gotta do this,
you gotta do that, you gotta Tweet, you gotta do anything,
just please fucking go out there and beg! And I was like,
dude, I’m not begging. You either like it, or you
don’t like it. And, lucky for me, I had Europe. And
Europe has been really good for us. They show up to the
shows, we can do whole albums, like “We’re gonna
do the entire Dopes to Infinity album.” And they show
up and they dig it. And it’s great! So, why would
I spend time in a country where live music is dying, when
I can go to a place where live music is alive and well and
the culture is really hip? But, I think we’re starting
to pass that now. I think people are getting a lot better
at using their tech to focus on the things they really like
rather just stand around and beat their chests and go, “Look
at me!” There’s a huge identity crisis going
on in the States.
Q: Well, a part of it is the fact that any moron with a
Macbook and a guitar can record a
“professional” sounding album in their bedroom.
It just kinda dilutes everything.
DW: You said it! Where does the world focus? Who says where
we should focus? The internet is democratic and it’s
awesome and everyone gets a chance but we get lost in this
sea of shit! It’s just this sea of pure crap, and
like you said, it’s almost too easy.
Q: It’s a needle in a haystack!
DW: Totally needle in a haystack. But, in the old days,
as bad as they were, there was a focus and more discussion
as to what was quality rather than this race just to be
in somebody’s face. We live in a headline society
where the headline rules and it’s not as important
to back it up. It’s headline vs. headline rather than
whole story vs. whole story. I think it’s starting
to change because people are becoming a little more adapted
to their tech and how it fits into what they want in their
life and maybe, just maybe, poetry is coming back, you know?
I would love to see some music and poetry that, and at the
risk of sounding a bit overinflated, has a little bit of
ambiguity, some mystery, rather than just this music that’s
right in your face, “This is what I did today!”
It’s boring! I need some fucking mystery in this shit
and there’s not a lot of mystery on the internet.
Q: Do you think that wave has crested?
DW: I’m hoping it has, but these kinda things never
end completely, you know? The waves tend to go and their
crest and they’ll go off in one direction but then
they’re replaced by another wave that’s right
around the corner. But, I must say, in the last couple of
years I’ve seen a lotta cool records that I enjoy
by bands. I love 70’s music and some hard rock revisionist
music like Cadaver and Graveyard. It’s pretty cool
stuff. It’s not just your normal run-of-the-mill old
stoner rock. All I can say is that somebody must be doing
their homQ: ork out there because there’s been a lot
of better records, at least for me. We’ll see, though,
dude. I’m gonna take a ride through the States and
I’m gonna be like Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing
in Las Vegas. I’m gonna be taking notes! (laughs)
Q: You should totally write a book!
DW: Yeah! (laughs) Like, what’s going on in culture?
But, the minute I see more than ten people checking their
messages during the show, I’m out! (laughs) It’s
like, what the hell are you doing? You don’t get that
in Europe. You don’t see people checking their messages
or playing games during the show. People are there to see
music. It’s weird! (laughs)
Q: Short attention spans, man, I don’t get it either.
DW: Well, people love their gear, man. I love my gear, too!
Q: Fantastic conversation, man. Is there any last words
you like to say, something you want the readers of Jersey
Beat to know about the band or the album?
DW: Just that, for me, it’s more fun for us to play
now than it ever has been. And we’ve been around for
like….
Q: Almost 25 years now.
DW: Wow, yeah almost 25 years. And I never thought that
I be having more fun now than ever. It’s awesome and
that’s all I have to say about that.
Last Patrol will be released in the States on October
15th. Available on iTunes and wherever they still actually
sell music. Tour kicks on November 14th in Grand Rapids,
Michigan and goes through December 14th in New York City.
For more info on the album and the tour go to the Monster
Magnet official website at http://www.zodiaclung.com/.
JerseyBeat.com
is an independently published music fanzine
covering punk, alternative, ska, techno and garage
music, focusing on New Jersey and the Tri-State
area. For the past 25 years, the Jersey Beat music
fanzine has been the authority on the latest upcoming
bands and a resource for all those interested in
rock and roll.
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