Often credited as one of the pioneering bands of the ’90s Seattle grunge rock scene, Mudhoney has humbly stood the test of time.  With a discography spanning almost four decades, the band faired better than the majority of their big-name peers. The quartet consisting of guitarist and vocalist Mark Arm, guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters, are keeping the DNA of the genre alive with head-banging, drum-heavy tunes riddled with hints of social commentary and dystopian world views on their latest release Plastic Eternity. The release of this project preceded a 31-stop US tour with all four members.

While Arm has avowed that he finds it a tad “irresponsible” to be currently writing love songs, this has not stopped Mudhoney from finding enough humor and lightheartedness to bring to their albums and performances. “An overall feel for any tour or show should be fun,” the Seattle native shared with us. Just a few days before their tour kickoff, mxdwn was given the opportunity to talk with Mark about all things Mudhoney.

mxdwn: Well, thanks for joining me. My name is Antara Holloway. I’m a features writer at mxdwn and of course we all know the famous Mark from Mudhoney. Ok, so first things first we know the band is kicking off a 31-leg fall tour on October 12th, so we just wanna know what do you want the overall feel to be for this upcoming tour?

Mark Arm: Fun. An overall feel for any tour or show should be fun.

mxdwn: Why does this feel like the perfect time to tour for you guys?

MA: The fall is generally good, you know. It’s not too hot and it’s not too cold. It’s just you know the snow isn’t happening yet and it’s not in the middle of a blazing insane summer like we just had.

mxdwn: That’s what I was gonna bring up. I was like the last time you guys had a tour this long was summer of last year, right?

MA: Well, we did about five weeks in Australia which was also in the fall down there–our spring. And also it just kind of works out because our guy, our bass player, moved back to Australia so it works for him to come out at this time.

mxdwn: So, speaking of the band all getting back together, I know that you guys have said that the band is used to typically writing songs while sitting in a room staring at each other and just playing some instruments. You’ve even mentioned that everyone in the band is actually friends, so instead of poker nights, you guys have the band. What is the creative process like now and how has it changed as the members have continued to grow together?

MA: Well, we haven’t really…Our practices since the last record and since Guy’s moved out of the country, have only been right before tours, when he comes, when we all get together and we’re just getting the songs ready to go on these tours. So, we haven’t actually indulged in much of the creative process since he’s moved to Australia, which was, like, in June 2022.

mxdwn: Oh, okay, so that kind of blends into my next question, because I was gonna ask if the band is still actively recording at the moment or just mainly gearing up for the tour? But it sounds like you guys are just kind of getting ready for the tour.

MA: Yeah, gearing up for the tour.

mxdwn: Ok, so besides having to record the album in nine days, what makes Plastic Eternity different from all the band’s other projects?

MA: Well it’s just the newest record you know. I don’t know if this is any different. Its the same four people that it has been since the early 2000s. It’s just our new batch of songs. I’ll leave it up to listeners to decide if it’s different– if it’s good or if it’s bad or if they like it or not. That’s just all completely out of my control.

mxdwn: Yeah, so it’s like once you put it out there, you’re like “I’m done with it. We made it for you. Let me know what you think.”

MA: Well, we’re not done with it. We still play the songs, yes. But you can’t um, influence other people’s thoughts. I mean, you can try but it’s not really worth the effort.

mxdwn: Understood. Understood. OK, so how has the release of this latest album served the band and what does it say about the direction that you guys are moving in going forward?

MA: Well, I mean it’s sort of the latest release and the certain latest batch of songs. And the direction, I mean there were a couple of things on the new record that were new for us. Dan wrote a lot more– Dan’s our drummer– and he wrote a lot more like, guitar parts than in the past. I mean, he’s been playing guitar for a long time but he just sort of kind of kept it to himself and I think he just sort of feels more confident in bringing his ideas forward.

And some of those ideas are really, really cool. For instance, the song “One or Two,” which is more kind of like this floaty, “acoustic-y” sort of thing with synthesizers, that came from him and also the riff from “Little Dogs.”

mxdwn: Why do you feel like he’s suddenly come out of his shell and he’s more like “Hey guys, like I’m gonna put I’m gonna put in some…”

MA: I don’t know, maybe thinks this stuff the rest of us come up with is bullshit.

mxdwn: I completely doubt it’s that! You know, you guys have been around for a long time. Okay well as you know Mudhoney is often credited as one of the foundational pioneers of the Seattle, kind-of-grunge scene. Are there any bands that have risen up behind you guys that you would also say are carrying the torch for the genre?

MA: Oh, I don’t know, I don’t give a shit about the genre. You know, I’m like, there’s bands that I like and love that you know, have come after us but, I’m not worried about, like what their genre is or what it is they’re, you know, trying to do. If I like it I like it.

mxdwn: So, who are you listening to right now? I guess [that] would be a better question.

MA: I’ve always had Pissed Jeans and METZ in the mix of things. They’re like two of my favorite sub pop bands. Obits and Hot Snakes, [I’ve] been listening to a lot since like Rick Froberg passed and I was listening to a lot of them quite a bit before, but I mean that’s just a whole level of sadness. I always get kind of stuck on this. There’s a band called Skull Practitioners out of New York that I like. I don’t know.

mxdwn: It sounds like the playlist is still going though. You know, there’s a few names on there. So transitioning back to your music, I know a great deal of Mudhoney’s music has a social commentary aspect to it, like “Move Under,” “Human Stock Capital” and of course the politically heavy “Morning in America,” to name a few. I know that you guys say Mudhoney isn’t actually a political band, but would you say that the band feels that it has a sort of social responsibility to lean into, or is it just a case of real life bleeding into the music?

MA: I think it’s real life bleeding into the music. You know, it’s like you can’t ignore what’s going on around you. If you have any kind of empathy or awareness, you know.

mxdwn: It’s just gonna come out.

MA: And you just can’t. In these times. It just seems irresponsible to write a love song.

mxdwn: Okay! That is an interesting take!

MA: Except to maybe a little dog.

mxdwn: Which is definitely on Plastic Eternity! You know, which honestly, is something that I really appreciate because it’s like this super, thought invoking music and then you’re like “But I love this dog!”

MA: Well, you know, also the same with Digital Garbage, it has like a lot of heavy themes. And you know, a lot of frustration and in the records and then like, to lighten things up at the end, to have like this world there are good things out there. Like, little dogs just you know like it’s one of the things we all find light and happiness in.

mxdwn: And that’s a universal thing so it’s kind of just like, ‘let’s end on a good note’ kind of feeling. So are there any significant moments in time, routines, or rituals that you would say have contributed to the band’s longevity?

MA: Not giving a shit about a career.

mxdwn: Oh, interesting. What do you mean?

MA: Well, you know, for me, music is something we do to provide, you know, give us enjoyment right?

mxdwn: Right.

MA: And if you’re trying to second guess what an audience might want to hear, or try to tailor something in a certain direction that’s maybe unnatural to you, then you’re sucking the enjoyment out of that. And you know, we’ve all just, even in the grunge heyday, we never thought that we would break through on the same level as like, Pearl Jam or Nirvana or Allison Change or Soundgarden because we were aware of…the history of bands like us. You know, like The Stooges and the New York Dolls, they got signed to major labels and they probably thought “we have a chance, we have a shot.” Clearly, they didn’t, but they didn’t know it at the time. By the time we came around, we saw those records that we love and like how popular they were at the time and you know, we realized that would be our fate as well, at best.

mxdwn: Oh really? So even when you guys were kind of at this, at the height of like your commercial success “After Touch Me, I’m Sick,” there was never a feeling of like, let’s keep this momentum going?

MA: The commercial success of “Touch me, I’m Sick” was like, there was a thousand records pressed and they got played on college radio, you know. It wasn’t like it’d never gotten a chart survey.

mxdwn: Still, nonetheless, like you guys could have still been unheard of everywhere, but you weren’t. People knew who you were. You guys had kind of like a cult following, so.

MA: You know, we got very very lucky. I mean I think there were like hundreds of bands like ours around the country, probably around the world, that did not have friends who were just starting a record label that was about to be very successful. So we just were kind of in the right place, right time. And super lucky. None of us at the time anticipated that we would still be around, god forbid, 35 years later.

mxdwn: Doing long tours– 31-show tours–you know!

MA: Yeah, its kind of nuts!

mxdwn: So you would say this significant moment was basically having the right friends at the right time?

MA: For sure.

mxdwn: Nice. So that kind of leads me onto my next question. So with over 31 years in the game with Mudhoney, I’m sure there’s a lot of lessons that the band has learned along the way.
What’s a piece of wisdom or advice that you give to the version of the band that released “Touch Me, I’m Sick” back in 1988?

MA: I would say just kind of keep doing what you’re doing.

mxdwn: “it’s working!”

MA: Keep that same attitude you know. And keep a sense of humor about things. The world is absurd enough, so like the only thing you can. I mean, the way I deal with it, the overwhelming terribleness of it, is to just try to find like weird dark humor where I can.

mxdwn: I’m also a fan of weird dark humor where I can get it, so that makes a lot of sense. But I’m sure that you were probably even back then, probably still just trying to find some humor where you could find it. So is that just something that you’ve just taken from there throughout life?

MA: Yeah, I think that you know, I think that’s just sort of my personality.

mxdwn: Understood. Well that’s all I have for you today. Thank you so much for meeting with us at mxdwn. I hope you have a great day.