In a new interview with The Pit, MELVINS frontman Buzz Osborne was asked how the bands stay relevant after so many years.
“I don’t know. We don’t have any brother bands, I never felt comfortable in that kind of situation. I don’t want to belong to any group that would have me as a member,” he responded. “There’s nobody that does the stuff that we do, not the weird way we work with the band, keep it fresh, and all the strange kinds of projects we’ve done… Nobody is doing that, I don’t know of anybody.
“I think that most fans are, as much as they would like to not think this, are totally conservative. Most music fans are totally conservative, they can’t think outside the box, they can’t think, ‘Yeah, it’s cool that this band did this.’
“For example, METALLICA did that record with Lou Reed [2011’s Lulu], and they were eviscerated for this. When I finally heard the record, I thought it was the best record these guys have ever done,” he continued. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what these people are talking about, this is way better than anything. To me, it was the coolest thing they have ever done, and that was a really good thing to do with Lou Reed.
“And people just stomp them to the ground for it. I don’t understand it. This is a really creative and cool thing. You guys don’t appreciate this? Hundreds of millions of people who like this band can’t handle this? If I was METALLICA, I would just keep moving in that direction. What’s the problem? They still make money doing it, and it’s much more interesting than what they ended up doing. ‘Well, let’s just do what people can handle.’ I don’t know what people can handle, I have no idea.
Buzz added: “All I know is what I think is good, I’m not making music to not have people buy it, we are not beavering away trying to make sure millions of people don’t buy our music, I think they should, but I never worry about that.
“I am going to make music that I like, the way that I like it, and the way that I would appreciate it if I was a fan. I don’t know how many people would be out there if I go out with that attitude, but I will be enough. David Lynch said something I thought was really cool — he loses 20% of his audience with every movie, but he gains people along the way. That’s right, that’s the way it is with us too!”
You can watch full interview below.
