NXNE 2010: Q&A with Mark Arm of Mudhoney
There were arguably five founding fathers of the grunge era: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Mudhoney. While the first four were canonized by commercial success, Mudhoney never really achieved the same heights. Two decades later, however, it remains one of the few still touring and putting out albums – eight to date. Mark Arm, Mudhoney’s frontman, has been their from the beginning. He was friends with Sub Pop Records’ founders, Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman, before the label was even formed, and his former band, Green River, was one of the first to ever record a grunge record.
Arm, 48, spoke with the Ampersand’s Scott Deveau ahead of Mudhoney’s shows at this year’s NXNE in Toronto about coming up in Seattle in the late 1980s, what it was like to have to get a 9-5 job after a decade of touring, and who actually came up with the term “grunge.”
This is an edited version of their discussion.
Q:When you first started Mudhoney, did you ever think it would be around 22 years later?
A:No [laughing]. Our original intent was that this was just another in a series of bands. You know, people sort of swapped around in bands. People did that all the time, and this was just the latest one. We thought we might be able to put out a 7” single with our friends at Sub Pop [Records], who were just sort of starting out. By that point, I had worked with them with Green River, and they had put out the first Soundgarden record too. This other band I was in, the Thrown Ups, had also put out a couple records with Amphetamine Reptile [Records]. So, we were like either Bruce and Jonathan or Tom Hazelmyer may put out a single. The first recording we did, we did both. We were on the first Dope, Guns ‘n’ F___ing In The Streets