Mudhoney Interactive: Were there any major differences in your approach to this album compared to your others?

Mark: My Brother the Cow was recorded and mixed during the month of October 1994. Two weeks were used for the recording process. This was done live in the studio. Most of the basic tracks (bass, drums, guitars) were first takes. After that, the vocals and other extraneous crap (marimba, harmonica, tenor sax, etc...) were added onto the pile. This is the was Mudhoney has always worked in the studio, just four humans interacting together while a big ol' tape recorder documents the proceedings.

MI: Is it important for the band to work quickly in the studio? Do you think the material will suffer if you spend too much time recording?

Mark: The album took two weeks to mix. If it were up to the four band members, it would have probably taken two days. Jack Endino who apparently hasn't blown his ears to the same extent as Mudhoney, was able to discern subtle frequency differences beyond normal human aural capacities. It was he (along with a few Ayes and Nays expressed by the bewildered band members) who shaped the sprawling pudding sound into the rock-solid cornerstone of modern music that is now known world-wide as My Brother the Cow.

MI: How long did the album take to write?

Mark: Mudhoney took their own sweet time in preparing for this recording. They recorded the Five Dollar Bob's Mock Cooter Stew in August of 1993, then started recording My Brother the Cow fourteen months later. Of course, all work and no play makes Mudhoney a dull band. Most of the "lost" fourteen months were not spent writing songs, but goofing off, and doing a little touring here and there with pals Nirvana and Pearl Jam. This gave Mudhoney a glimpse into full-blown celebrityhood (something they'd rather view from a distance than live out in their daily lives).

MI: Do you tend to write through jamming, or are there particular members who do most of the song writing?

Mark: Whenever they feel like it, the boys of Mudhoney would gather together and write a song or two. Usually, someone would begin by playing some sort of rhythm or riff and the rest of the band would join in. The best way to describe this process would be "jamming," but not in the self indulgent 70's Black Crowes sense where "jamming" is turned into some kind of musical competition. Mudhoney firmly believed that music had nothing to do with competition. It's all based on the listener's preferences. Either the listener "digs" a song, or thinks it "sucks." Of course, Mudhoney also believe that a lot of music listeners' tastes "suck." As proof of this, all one really needs to do is look at any top 100 Billboard chart from the last 30 years. As with any rule, however, there are exceptions. Unfortunately for this rule, the exceptions are few and far between.

MI: Every band seems to hate being asked about influences, but are there any particular bands/musicians that made the members of Mudhoney decide they wanted to start making music?

Mark: To understand why Mudhoney do as they do, and sound as they sound, one must travel back in time to the Punk Explosion of the mid 70's. Now, our heroes were too young to reap the benefits at the time of the Big One, but the residual aftermath (i.e. late 70's "Post-punk" and early 80's "hardcore") had a profound impact on the then youngsters who would later join as one to become Mudhoney. Bands like Devo, Gang of Four, Black Flag, Flipper, Void, Minor Threat, Joy Division, the Adolescents, Pil, the Birthday Party, and the Angry Samoans charged the young and impressionable Mudhoney minds.

These bands pointed back to the bands of the Punk Explosion, you know, like the Ramones, Sex Pistols, Damned, Suicide, Dead Boys, Motorhead, Saints, and Pere Ubu etc. And these bands had left signposts that pointed at other bands even farther like the Stooges, MC5, Velvet Underground, New York Dolls, Neil Young, Alice Cooper, Blue Cheer, the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Hawkwind, Can, the Sonics and hundreds of 60's garage and psychedelic bands that existed long enough to maybe record one single.

Mudhoney are still exploring the past in order to better understand what's up with the present, and perhaps in the process, right some musical wrongs.

MI: Why did you choose the name "Mudhoney" in the first place?

Mark: The first time Matt Lukin, Steve Turner, Mark Arm, and Dan Peters got together in a stinky little rehearsal space to "jam" on the riffs that would become You Got It and Sweet Young Thing (Ain't Sweet No More) was January 1st, 1988. They seemed to enjoy themselves, so they kept getting together. At one point they decided that they needed a name. The word Mudhoney (a semi-obscure Russ Meyer film) came up. They liked the name and decided to make it their own (hoping that no one would lump them with either Vixen or Faster Pussycat).

MI: Do you have a favorite song on the new album?

Mark: I believe it was John Lennon (or perhaps John Philip Sousa) who once said, "Choosing a favorite song is like choosing a favorite child." Since no one in Mudhoney has any children and therefore has never shown favor to any particular son or daughter, how can anyone expect us to choose a favorite song? As far as My Brother the Cow is concerned however, the band does agree that the best song on the album is either Judgement, Rage, Retribution and Thyme, or 1995, or one of the other songs between these two.

MI: Do you think that all of the attention the Seattle music scene has gotten has been good or bad for the band? In other words, do you mind that while it increases your exposure it also associates you in people's minds with bands that you may not really be similar to?

Mark: Seattle, Schmeattle. Mudhoney grew up there, live there, and would continue to do so even if no one ever heard of the town.

If people can't differentiate between bands based on how they sound, then there's really no reason for these people to listen to music