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"IT'S ALL JUST TO MAKE PEOPLE THINK WHILE THEY'RE HAVING A GOOD TIME!"
EEYOW!! Hüsker Dü! Holy-shit-face-rip-toe-grip-neck-break
speed-bleeding-faster-faster-hard-core band from Minny-apple-less.
Bob, Greg and Grant of Hüsker Dü have been together three years
and have evolved from a local garage punk band in the Twin Cities to a
breaking national hard-core group. Hüsker Dü has never
compromised its style to be more accessible and popular. In fact,
they've gotten even faster and louder and more hard-core so now their
shows are even more exciting and, of course, fucking exhausting.
WN "What makes you guys think you're gonna go national?"
Bob "Because we're working our asses off. We've been at it for three
years...I've seen bands who sit on their asses do it. And we've been
through a lot and we're working our asses off."
***One of the best things about Hüsker Dü is that they are
relying solely on their playing ability in their shows and records to
gain popularity...unlike so many of the fast breaking bands that need
some sort of gimmick to get noticed, be it horror lyrics and face paint,
trendsetting hair styles, drug use publicity, being somebody-famous'
brother, or whatever. There is no novelty that wears off after a
bunch of copy-cat bands jump on the new trend and water it down.
Hüsker Dü is
hard-working, hard-playing, hard-core and there's not a minute of rest from
the second the amps go on until the last squeal of feedback is shut off.
There's not even time to clap, just thrash!!
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WN:
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What do you think of Madison's scene? Sometimes it seems like there really
isn't one, like tonight, only 90 people showed.
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Bob:
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I thought tonight was great, because even though a smaller crowd showed
up, everybody had a lot of fun. The scene is doing extremely well as far
as I'm concerned. There's a lot of good bands in the Midwest.
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WN:
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Yeah, there are a lot of good bands but they got to have some places
to play.
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Bob:
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People gotta start making contacts in other cities. Minneapolis, Madison
and Milwaukee are kind of isolated, but there's good bands in each city...so
what are we all doing?
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WN:
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Are the crowds pretty much the same, or do they change depending on where
you are on the Midwest? Is there a definite Midwest-type of crowd or
does it change regionally?
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Bob:
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Madison's more "West Coast" than Minneapolis. Minneapolis is more
Midwestern.
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WN:
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Are the Minneapolis crowds like Milwaukee, where people just flail around
on the dance floor?
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Bob:
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Well, it's not ike Madison—there's no diving off the stage, or
full gainers, flips and all that shit like tonight. You just don't see that
in Minneapolis. People will just, like, push each other.
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..................
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WN:
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You toured out to the West Coast, didn't you? Did you play L.A.?
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Bob:
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We never got to L.A., unfortunately.
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WN:
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Who'd you guys get to play with when you were out on the Coast?
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All:
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Let's see, we played with the Subhumans, D.O.A., DKs, the Lewd...the
Lewwwwd, ha ha.
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WN:
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What are the Lewd like? I read an interview with 'em but I couldn't tell
what the hell they sounded like by the interview.
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Bob:
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They're L.A.-garde...1977 and that sort of style.
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Greg:
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Like, "Let's see how much leather and stuff we can wear."
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WN:
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I heard they're a bondage band or something like that, where the lady
that plays the guitar beats up the singer every time he gets it wrong
or something stupid like that.
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Bob:
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There's a lot of stuff like that in music that has to do with fashion, like
"kill, kill, kill!" or "drink, drink, drink!" or "be a junkie, be a junkie."
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Bucky
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(who was hanging around too): Isn't it depressing?
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Bob:
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I guess it's just...
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Bucky:
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I guess it's just what the world needs to keep itself going day by day.
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Bob:
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Is what?
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Bucky:
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Is drugs.
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WN:
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And good advice like that, huh?
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Bob:
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Well, when people won't wear short sleeves outside for fear of being a
human pincushion...
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Bucky:
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And the whole scene of "die, die, die" and "kill, kill, kill" is just
depressing, you know?
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Bob:
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If it was just "fight, fight, fight" it wouldn't be so bad—but instead
there are preachers...
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Bucky:
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The whole idea of punk as a fashion, too...there are these total faggots,
total faggots that...I hate fashion.
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Bob:
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Even in hard-core there are people concened with the latest fashion...they
wanna keep up with the latest look or the latest 1-2 beat. Bb-Bb-Bb-Bb.
All it is, is that most bands like the
Bloody Mattresses were, or like Die Kreuzen are...are just saying, "fucking
use your head," you know? I don't need somebody telling me not to smoke
pot. I don't smoke pot and I don't need somebody telling me
not to smoke pot and I don't really care for the shit—but I don't
want anybody telling me not to so anything! Everybody
seems to be doing it. Everybody seems to be preaching.
That's NOT what we do. I don't want to make decisions for other people.
I have enough trouble making decisions for myself.
I can express my ideas and maybe influence people...maybe the band can,
through our music.
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FUTURE PLANS..................................
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Bob:
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This summer we are planning on touring extensively, hopefully going back
in the same direction as last the tour and this time we will go
all the way down the coast.
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THEIR NEW ALLIANCE WITH NEW ALLIANCE RECORDS......................
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Bob:
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New Alliance took a gamble with us and everything is going better than either
of us expected--the gamble paid off. So like if IRS turns around this week
and says, "We want you on our label," or Alternative Tentacles
comes by and says, "We'll do up 3000 copies in England"—we wouldn't
do it!
We're real dedicated to New Alliance. They put their trust in us when we
needed help to put the record out. So we're not gonna jump ship. You
don't shit on people who help you...they're great guys.
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Greg:
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They signed us sight-unseen. They just heard the tape; they didn't care
what the artwork was or anything...they just said, "We'll do it!"
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WN:
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I really like the cover...it's great! Who did the cover?
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Grant:
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I did.
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WN:
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I think it's one of the best covers I've seen. It's really attention
getting.
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Grant:
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See, here's a bunch of kids waving flags with 48 stars and they're shipped
home in coffins covered with 50 stars. The coffins (on the cover) are the
first eight servicemen killed in action in Viet Nam.
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Bob:
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We've gone along with the idea of not using color, too. The first thing
is, it's cheap, and nothing's like B+W 'cause that's how people are with
us. They either love us or they hate us. I've never heard anybody say,
"Yeah, they're okay."
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HUSKER DU VINYL:
2 singles, a live album, a song on Charred Remains tape, and an EP coming out
soon.
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