The Daily Aztec

Issue date: 9/7/06 Section: Tempo

Media Credit: Courtesy of Sub Pop 'Under a Billion Suns' is the most recent release by the Seattle-based band Mudhoney.

Media Credit: Courtesy of Sub Pop Mudhoney band members (from left to right) Guy Maddison (bass), Mark Arm (vocals), Steve Turner (guitar) and Dan Peters (drums).

San Diego's Street Scene has a reputation for bringing in the current hot acts from the music world, and this year was no exception with bands such as Tool, AFI and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The venue, however, has been a disappointment, ever since it moved to Qualcomm Stadium's parking lot two years ago.

This year, the Southern Comfort Music Experience, which hits the Gaslamp Quarter on Sept. 9 and 10, brings legendary bands back downtown like the original Street Scene once did. There is one difference, though: The Southern Comfort Music Experience is free.

The festival features amazing live acts such as Flogging Molly and The Roots. While both bands are well known, there is also a group on the lineup that is nothing short of legendary to the world of rock. Even though each member of the band would likely roll his eyes, smirk and walk away after being labeled "legendary," if it were not for the rambunctious, witty and downright ear-splitting sounds of Mudhoney, acts such as Pearl Jam might have never reached the airwaves.

Mark Arm, lead singer and guitar player for Mudhoney, was one of the pioneers of grunge music, mostly because of Green River - arguably, the first grunge band to exist - in the mid and late '80s.

Arm left Green River in 1987 and started Mudhoney with former Green River guitar player Steve Turner. Two remaining Green River members, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, formed Pearl Jam a few years later.

Mudhoney's 1988 single from Sub Pop Records, "Touch Me, I'm Sick," received praise in Europe and set the tone for other bands in the Seattle music scene.

While the '90s Seattle movement consisted of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains - Mudhoney remained under the radar and did not see the commercial success its peers did.

Mudhoney's lack of commercial success is a mystery, for the most part. Its 1991 album, "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge," has the same smoothness as Nirvana's "Nevermind." Mudhoney's 1994 album, "My Brother the Cow," was a raunchy, anthem-filled disc featuring "Into Yer Shtik," the song that calls out phonies, junkies and Courtney Love in particular.

Even recognized rock musicians agree Mudhoney should be on top of the Seattle totem pole.

"For every ounce of credit Nirvana gets, Mudhoney should get 10 times as much," said Billy Corgan, lead singer of The Smashing Pumpkins, in a VH1 interview.

Arm was even tapped by founding guitarist Wayne Kramer to sing for the reunited members of the MC5 in 2004.

Nine albums and 18 years after Arm started Mudhoney, he is still as down-to-earth as they come. Arm's day job consists of managing the warehouse at Sub Pop records, the label that introduced Mudhoney to the world, the one the band returned to after a few years with Warner Brothers. Arm said the members' jobs and families "definitely dictate when they decide to record or play shows."

"Both (drummer) Dan (Peters) and (guitarist) Steve (Turner) have families, and (bass player) Guy (Madison) works a lot in the cardiac intensive care unit of Harborview, a hospital in Seattle," Arm said. "That's why we're flying down to San Diego to play a show and not doing a full-fledged tour."

Regardless of the "9-to-5" grind at Sub Pop, Arm is excited to return to San Diego. A year ago, Mudhoney played a trade show for Nike and didn't get the ordinary rock crowd response.

"Nike paid us a ridiculous amount of money to play," Arm said with a chuckle. "Hardly anyone was paying attention while we played. It was the one of the most uncomfortable experiences we've ever had, but the amount of money we received made up for the uncomfortable feeling."

Despite the trade show crowd not responding in the way a typical Mudhoney audience would, Arm and the rest of the band do have fond memories of playing in San Diego.

"I have a lot of friends in San Diego, and I love playing the Casbah," he said. "The Casbah is the only venue we've played in San Diego for the last 12 or so years since Iguanas (formerly a Tijuana night club) shut down."

Though The Casbah is the ideal spot for Mudhoney to play a fierce set, songs from the band's latest release, "Under a Billion Suns," might be better suited for an outdoor stage facing thousands of screaming patrons. The album, fueled by the typical Mudhoney humor and raw power, is also accompanied by political statements and attacks on the current administration.

The song "Hard-on for War" is a satirical song that suggests older men push for war so that when all the young men leave for fighting, they have a better chance at getting women in the town. Arm said the song will be a staple in the bands' live set.

Mudhoney may not be the greatest band ever, and it may not be the greatest band to come out of Seattle, but it was the band that put Seattle on the map, regardless if it's recognized for that by music fans.



-Mudhoney is co-headlining the Southern Comfort Music Experience on Sept. 10 in the Gaslamp Quarter.

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