Mark Arm
Mark Arm |
|---|
Mark Arm (born Mark McLaughlin on February 21, 1962) is the vocalist for the grunge band Mudhoney. He is also credited with coining the term "grunge" to describe his (and other Seattle rock groups) style of rock music (although Kurt Cobain claimed that Sub Pop executive Jonathan Poneman created the term). His former group, Green River, is arguably the first grunge rock band. He is now the manager of the Sub Pop warehouse.[1]
Early career
Mark Arm first entered the Seattle rock scene in 1980, when he formed a band, while attending Bellevue Christian High School, called "Mr. Epp and the Calculations". The band did not play their first show until 1981, opening for the band Student Nurse. The band was credited with being "the worst band in the world". In 1982 the band released a 7" EP. The next year they added a second guitarist, Steve Turner, and released a cassette. Mr. Epp and the Calculations came to an end the following year.
After Mr. Epp and the Calculations ended, Mark Arm and Steve Turner (who had become close friends) joined the band Limp Richerds for a few weeks. Afterward, Arm and Turner took on future Pearl Jam members Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard, as well as Alex Vincent, to form the band Green River. Green River released two EPs and a full length album before disbanding. Steve Turner left the band to finish college, and Arm was forced to find a new band again. After Turner returned from schooling, they resumed their Green River side project, the Thrown Ups.
Mudhoney
Arm and Turner took on drummer Dan Peters, and bassist Matt Lukin, formerly of The Melvins. The new band renamed themselves Mudhoney. In 1988, Sub Pop released Mudhoney's first single, "Touch Me I'm Sick". After extensive touring and an EP album, Mudhoney released their eponymous full length debut in 1989. Their next album, Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge came out soon after, just before the explosion of grunge spearheaded by Nirvana's seminal Nevermind. At the time, Sub Pop, their record label, was "on the verge of bankruptcy, having trouble paying its flagship band, severely delaying the release of the album to July 1991." [2] In 1992, they signed to a major record label, Reprise and released Piece of Cake. The album did not sell well, due to a combination of the band's uncompromising sound and an oversaturation of the genre; according to Stephen Turner, the album references "how easily things had come to them...the songs were kinda half-baked... and Mark wasn't at his best." [3]
Although they never achieved the fame of some of their contemporaries, Mudhoney is one of the few Grunge bands that continue to release albums. In 2002 they released Since We've Become Translucent. Their most recent album, The Lucky Ones, has been released in May 2008 on the Sub Pop label. Arm and Mudhoney's contribution to grunge music is especially significant.
Drug Use
According to a recent article in magazine, MOJO, Mark Arm started using heroin in 1987 and by the summer of 1989, "...it had all caught up with me." [4]. Apparently, the band had little patience for his addiction, so he would "use heroin when Mudhoney were off the road, then stop as they prepared to leave. 'So I was real used to quitting,' Arm says. 'You go through these flu-like symptoms for a couple of days, then you think about it for months.' " Arm hit his nadir on New Years Eve 1992 when he overdosed for the fourth time. [5]. He met Emily, his now wife, after a Japanese tour later that year. She helped him kick his addiction.
Solo and side projects
Arm released "The Freewheelin' Mark Arm", a solo single in 1990.
He was a singer and guitarist for the group Bloodloss and singer for the Seattle supergroup The Monkeywrench. Monkeywrench members include Arm, Turner, Tim Kerr (Lord Hi Fixers, Big Boys, Poison 13), Tom Price (Gas Huffer) and Martin Bland (Bloodloss). He has also made guest appearances on several albums, most notably on Alice in Chains' 1992 EP Sap.
In 1998, he made an appearance on the motion picture soundtrack for the film Velvet Goldmine with Ron Asheton, Mike Watt, Thurston Moore, and Steve Shelley under the name Wylde Ratttz.
In 2000, Arm, Turner, Peters, Scott McCaughey, Tom Price and Bill Henderson recorded the album "The New Original Sonic Sound" under the band name "The New Strychnines". they recorded a compilation of 16 songs by the legendary mid-60's Seattle garage band The Sonics. The album was released by Book Records.
In 2004, he toured with MC5, standing in for Rob Tyner on vocals.
For more information about Mark Arm refer to Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad.
References
- ^ Mojo Magazine "Nirvana: Spirt of '88" by Keith Cameron; August 2008; p. 84
- ^ Mojo Magazine "Come As You Are" by Michael Azerrad; August 2008; p. 94
- ^ Mojo Magazine "Come As You Are" by Michael Azerrad; August 2008; p. 96
- ^ Mojo Magazine "Come As You Are" by Michael Azerrad; August 2008; p. 96
- ^ Mojo Magazine "Come As You Are" by Michael Azerrad; August 2008; p. 96