Metro Pulse/Music/J Mascis

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What:
J Mascis with Des_arc

When:
Friday, July 5, 10 p.m.

Where:
Blue Cats

Cost:
$12/$15

J Mascis finds his way through the fog

by John Sewell

As funny as it may seem in retrospect, one of the most hotly debated rock 'n' roll topics of 10 years ago was "Who is the father of grunge?" The list of candidates for grunge progenitor included Neil Young, any member of Sonic Youth or Replacements auteur Paul Westerberg. But the prevalent opinion was that the prime mover of grunge was Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis, the singer/ songwriter/guitarist who had melded Neil Young's countrified twang with Sonic Youth's megadistortion, adding his own punkified hardcore twist along the way.

Mascis' very delivery seemed to embody the grunge aesthetic. His guitar playing within the tight framework of Dinosaur Jr was always on the verge of spinning out of control. And despite the keen pop melodic sense of his songs, Mascis' hoarse hiccoughy vocals seemed as if they were recorded on the very first take, at the instant of their ideation.

If grunge ever had a poster boy, it was Mascis. Everything he did communicated the "who gives a damn?" attitude that personified the grunge generation.

Well, a decade has passed and the term "grunge" now belongs on the hipster's verbal scrap heap. (Incidentally, the term "emo" will soon be relegated to the same pile.) Oft cited as a prime influence on many of today's more innovative bands, Dinosaur Jr petered out in the mid-'90s. Mascis made his most obvious commercial resurgence with a 2000 solo album abetted by his backing band, The Fog. More Light featured the sort-of radio hit, "Back Before You Go." Since then, Mascis has trotted the globe playing solo shows and touring with The Fog, which has in some incarnations featured über indie rockers like Ron Asheton of the Stooges and former Minutemen bassist Mike Watt.

More Light was a definite triumph for Mascis. While the songwriting efforts on the last couple of Dinosaur Jr albums seemed nebulous and disinterested, the muted faltering of a band in its final throes, Mascis' solo efforts with The Fog attained newfound passion and focus.

Though Mascis may have regained some clarity with his music, in conversation the man is still something of an enigmatic zombie. After a comical series of phone tagging with Mascis' publicist, I finally managed to track J down for what surely proved to be one of the least illuminating interviews of my inauspicious career as a "rock journalist."

For days, I'd call Mascis' publicist and we'd set a time frame within which the interview could be arranged. The time would pass, I'd call the publicist again, and we'd repeat the process. After a week or so of this, I came home late one night to find a cryptic message from Mascis himself, asking me to call. It was 11 p.m. And I wasn't particularly thrilled about doing an interview at that moment, but I figured I'd better take advantage of any chance I had with the evasive Mr. J. So I called him and he seemed stoned—really stoned. I can only hope he was stoned...

There is no way I can convey within this text the resounding silences of this interview. I'd ask a question, J would pause for an embarrassingly long time, and then he'd answer in two or three monosyllabic words. Here's a couple of brilliant examples of the taped conversation that ensued:

JS: On the current tour are you playing with The Fog or just doing solo shows?

Mascis: (After a long pause...) Solo.

JS: So why not bring the band along this summer?

Mascis: (another long pause) I wanted to make money. It's hard, uh... Yea, I didn't, I just, it's a lot easier. I'm just kind of traveling around doing things on my own and (another long pause) playing here and there.

JS: I heard that around a year ago you were touring with one of the guys that used to be in The Stooges. How did that come about?

Mascis: (yet another long pause) Uh, well, [Mike] Watt, um, he invited Ron Asheton to play with us at a show in Ann Arbor. And then, um, I dunno, we invited him to some other shows. So we played with him, I dunno, five or six times or something... maybe more... like 10 times? And then, uh, um, and then Sonic Youth had that All Tomorrow's Parties thing in L.A. And then, um, we got Scott and then his brother, I mean, Ron's brother Scott, to play drums and just did some Stooges stuff.

Mascis seemed pretty out of it, and I can only hope he was thoroughly enjoying himself. At one point I asked him if he was still on Artemis Records and he said he wasn't even sure. I wasn't under the impression Mascis really cared what came across in the interview. Granted, he seemed like a friendly fellow from the few words I managed to pry out of him.

Mascis has never been known for his verbosity. And those in attendance at his upcoming Blue Cats show won't be expecting a display of oratorical skills, anyway. According to most reports, Mascis' musicianship is intact, despite or because of whatever blunted mental condition he might be in. At best, his show will be an infinite aural blast. And, at worst, he'll be infinitely blasted. Here's hoping for the former.