by: Bert
Catweed: Hi Bert...good day.
[talking about
grunge music]
Bert: Hi, good day. Well I heard that
you are really into the grunge, tell me more about it.
Catweed: Well, Bert...you see..grunge is not anything hype or cool. To me it is only a word to define the music business which bloomed in the early 90’s where Seattle is the mecca at that time. If you define grunge as a 20 years old long-haired guitarist who came from Seattle (taken from ‘the Rock’),well that is the stereotype of it at that era but grunge is now becoming a fashion or a label for record companies to boom up record sales.
Bert: Well okay..but how do you define that type of music? Is Pearl Jam a grunge band?
Catweed: You see it depends on the
listener itself to call it what you want but to me I rather call it Hard
rock.
Nirvana sounded different from Alice
in Chains and Soundgarden sounded heavier than Pearl Jam.
You can't categorize any band by the
trend. You can’t say Pearl Jam isn’t grunge or Nirvana was punk.
It is all bullshit...call it what
you want and it still sound much the same.
Bert: Referring to Seattle bands, I really digs out Alice In Chains.
Catweed: yeah...Layne (the main vocalist of AIC) have the greatest voice compared to Vedder (Pearl Jam)but Pearl Jam is still my favourite. I also like the older stuff like the Doors and I think Jim Morisson had influenced Vedder in some way. He’s a great poet and so is Vedder. I think Vedder and Morisson have something in common...maybe the talent.
Bert: You yourself is a guitarist and what is your main influence?
[talking about
guitar influence]
Catweed: I started playing guitar
when I was 16 and at first it was Nirvana, Green Day and Weezer...the easy
one first but later I was really into serious jams and Pearl Jam was my
guru. More often I play PJ than anything else. In my band we play a lot
of PJ songs and I was really influenced by Gossard guitar playing. I also
play some of the Doors and Alice In Chains.
Bert: Yeah..i like the tune of the Doors..kinda psychedelic stuff.
Catweed: Right. I notice some of the songs in PJ sounded like the Doors. There is in one song where the solo was the same..in Alive’s solo ...in the solo part of Five to One-the Doors...later I read in the magazine that Mike copied the Alive solo from Kiss and Kiss copied it from the Doors.
Bert:[laughing] Quite a coincident...
Catweed: yeah...i think the Doors influenced PJ more than the Who or Hendrix.
Bert: In some way...well what do you think about the bands today compared to the old days?
[talking about
new bands]
Catweed: Well I think that the bands
are becoming more electronic..i really like the early 90’s bands like Pearl
Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in chains, STP, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead,
Blind Melon, RATM and the new breed like Silverchair, Bush, Creed and Korn.
I also like Nine Inch Nails..still one of the greatest band on earth. I
think RATM is more politically correct than Bill Clinton....but nowadays
new bands like Marilyn Manson, Limp Bizkit and Korn are becoming more politically
correct of young people.
Bert: I can see that..alternative is dead, grunge is dead...welcome electronica!!
Catweed:[laughing]yeah....welcome electronica!!
Bert: Lets talk about something else..like your favourite movies or your favourite pet?
[talking about
trainspotting]
Catweed: No, lets talk about my favourite
movie..there is quite a few.. I like Austin Powers and Trainspotting..both
are cool movies.
Bert: Who is your fave person in Trainspotting.. I think Mark Renton is the coolest of all.
Catweed: I still like Sickboy. he’s kinda cool and not fucking around..a real junkie.
Bert: Yeah, a true junkie..i like the part where Renton dives in the toilet bowl to get the smack..really disgusting.[laughing]
Catweed: yeah...cool..my fave part was when Mark ran away with the money...never trust a junkie even so he is your friend..’you can’t understand the user’s mind,try with your books and degrees’-AIC
Bert: ‘we are high in our race of our own, the stoners, junkies and freaks’-AIC
Catweed: Cool...you really dig out Alice In Chains. What do you think about their last album?
Bert: A little electronica but still dark...the same old grunge spirit.
Catweed: Well nice talking to you Bert.
Bert: Yeah nice talking to you too..well hope to see you again..
Catweed: ‘RESTLESS SOUL, ENJOY YOUR
YOUTH!’