Photo by Emily Reiman
Twenty-five years into their career, Seattle band Mudhoney shows no signs of stopping. Earlier this month, the group released their ninth studio record, Vanishing Point, a more than worthy addition to an already storied discography.
Late last month, Here Magazine spoke with Mudhoney drummer Dan Peters about being one of the last grunge bands standing as well as why the group isn’t quite as prolific as they could be when it comes to the release of new material.
Congratulations on your new record. I couldn’t help but feel grateful that you guys don’t feel the need to reinvent the wheel with each new record.
I feel that we are very consistent when it comes to new music. We realize what our strengths are as well as what our limitations are. We don’t try to write specific kinds of songs. We just get in a room and play and this is what happens.
Could you be busier than you typically are if you chose to be?
We all have various things going on with work and families plus Steve [Turner, Mudhoney guitarist] moved to Portland a few years back so we don’t get together as often as we used to. We are a band of limited time and scheduling and we try to make it work the best we can. It’s nothing we take lightly at all. The fact we are able to continue releasing music and touring continues to surprise us all the time.
Have you given any consideration to performing specific albums live to help commemorate the band’s 25th Anniversary?
We have done that in the past with Superfuzz Bigmuff and while it was fun to do, we aren’t really all that interested otherwise. Our live shows include everything: Old stuff, new stuff and everything in between.
You must feel extremely grateful to be one of the few bands from the whole grunge era that is still standing and that has continued making new music over the past 25 years.
We are very proud of the fact that we are still doing what we are doing. We would be doing it regardless but to have a label that still wants to put out our records and help us go on tour is pretty cool. We just do what we do and the upside and bonus is that people are still interested. That is really the ultimate gauge. Being in Mudhoney these days is like having an extravagant hobby.
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