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http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/2007 … everal.php
Quote:J Mascis is a lot better guitarist, singer and songwriter than he is a conversationalist. As noted in the June 14 profile of the reunited Dinosaur Jr., which headlines the June 16 Westword Music Showcase, I quizzed Mascis back in 1991, when a group called Nirvana was opening for his band, and the chat became what I considered to be my most agonizing interview of a musician ever. Moreover, the sequel to this gabfest in reverse, which took place several weeks ago, hurt just about as much. The Q&A reproduced below captures the discomfort for posterity, complete with myriad attempts on my part to draw out the shredder in question, almost all of which fail miserably.Okay, Mascis doled out a bit of information. He touches on the quality of the Dino comeback disc, Beyond; his preference for reading interviews over participating in them; the rumor that he was once asked to join Nirvana; the question of whether or not Kurt Cobain was whiny; the pros and cons of fame; his dislike of Our Band Could Be Your Life, which contains a recap of the initial Dinosaur Jr. split co-starring since returned Sebadoh leader Lou Barlow; a confession that he borrowed heavily from the Birthday Party and Patti Smith on early albums, but did it so strangely that no one noticed; the reason he doesn’t bother practicing; his role in the reunion of the Stooges, complete with a tribute to guitarist Ron Asheton, a much more talkative recent Westword interviewee; an update on the Mascis-Barlow relationship today; and the issue of whether Dinosaur Jr. is back for the long haul.
As you’ll notice, the questions tend to be longer the answers. Feel my pain:
Westword (Michael Roberts): A lot of people seem surprised when a band puts out a reunion CD that’s actually good. Was it surprising how well yours turned out? Or was did it come out pretty much the way you expected?
J. Mascis: Yeah. I’m surprised whenever anybody puts out a good CD.
WW: I had the opportunity to interview you once before – back in 1991, when you were touring behind Green Mind – and I think I’ve only just gotten my confidence back. It seems that interviews aren’t your favorite thing to do. Is that fair to say?
JM: Yeah. They’re pretty strange, I think.
WW: Back then, when I asked you about that, you said, it’s “weird talking to someone you don’t know who you can’t see.â€
great interview especially by j’s standards. the most interesting part to me was the patti smith tidbit about "muck", one of my favorite songs on green mind.
you know, these writers always bitch about him, but what do they expect with like, multiple questions about nirvana and other stupid shit?
Seems like a good interview to me. My favorite was the Richard Thompson interview. They were so funny together.
"kasey " wrote:the most interesting part to me was the patti smith tidbit about "muck"That has`nt been mentioned before so it`s cool to find that out
This was a good interview.
If I was Lou and Jay, I would be sick of always being asked about the break-up and their relationship. It’s like that is all DJ is known for. Move on.
"Stormy320 " wrote:This was a good interview.If I was Lou and Jay, I would be sick of always being asked about the break-up and their relationship. It’s like that is all DJ is known for. Move on.
Exactly. The interview structures have been the same for two years now. Lazy journalism. The piece in Magnet was much better in that regard, especially when J runs down the metal that inspired them most in the early days (Venom, Motorhead, Sabbath). He mentions GBH in a recent interview, too. It’s cool that, like me, he still gets excited at the mention of old school early ’80s Brit punk.
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