Sometimes rock fans have a tendency to take their favorite bands for granted. Very rarely do our rock n roll heroes strike big on the first try. More times than not, they go through a series of bands and fellow musicians; a musical trial and error of sorts. Greg Gilmore was no exception. Before drumming in the groundbreaking hard rock outfit, Mother Love Bone, Gilmore played in a punk band called The Living. On guitars was Duff McKagan, who’d go on to play bass for a little band you may have heard of called Guns N’ Roses. Nearly 40 years since their formation and breakup, The Living have reconvened to release The Living 1982. This brief 15 minute blast of aggressive US punk was a sign of things to come for both its bandmembers and the town they hailed from. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Gilmore to discuss The Living, Mother Love Bone, punk rock, and more.
Greetings Greg and welcome to Defenders of the Faith! How are you doing this afternoon?
Greg Gilmore: I’m doing alright. I guess it is afternoon technically.
Yeah it’s 2:03 here in Chicago. Would that be 12:03 for you?
GG: Yeah, just after noon.
Well, I’m excited because we’re gonna be going back in time today. Let’s start from the beginning. When did you first start playing drums and who were your favorite drummers growing up?
GG: I got a snare drum at 11 and a drum set at 12. My first favorite drummer was Nigel Olsson who played with Elton John, particularly in the early years.
Madman Across the Water?
GG: I think on that record there were still a lot of session guys. It didn’t seem to be a solid, consistent band until the next record, Honky Château.
That was with Davey Johnstone on guitars.
GG: Yeah and Dee Murray on bass. They were so killer.
They were quite the unit.
GG: Yeah, Olsson was a great drummer. Super musical. It’s one of those things you don’t really realize until you sit down to play it. Then you realize, it’s a little bit weird. It’s a little bit different. The way he plays his fills in particular is very cool. He could really play a song. It was awesome. My next favorites were Bill Bruford and Ian Paice. John Bonham, of course. Tony Williams and Simon Phillips as well.
After discovering all these great drummers, when did you first become aware of punk rock?
GG: I don’t know that I really started paying attention to it until I moved to Seattle when I was 18. I had some awareness of some alt stuff going on. Being aware of it versus beginning to explore it or play it are different things. For sure I had an awareness of the sensationalism of what was happening in the UK. London, in particular. Safety pins through their faces and that kind of thing which was outrageous *laughs*. In terms of really being around it, hearing it, and playing it, I guess not until I was in Seattle and immersed in a scene which happened when I joined The Living. That was the beginning of everything Seattle for me. Friends, community, music, a band, family.
Could you give us some background on how you joined The Living? Were you friends with them beforehand?
GG: No, I didn’t know them. I did not know a lot of people in Seattle at that time, outside of my roommates in a shared house. There was a magazine that was mostly music, but it was probably more broadly arts and entertainment, called The Rocket. It had a classified ad section. They (The Living) had an ad and I answered it. I imagine it was John Conte, the singer, who probably put the ad in and answered the phone. I called them and went over to where they were rehearsing, in the bassist Todd Flesichman’s mom’s basement. I knocked on the door, stepped back down a couple of steps off the porch, and Todd kicked the door open. He’s a big imposing figure with blue hair *laughs* and so it began. Have you seen the cover of the record?
Yes.
GG: That’s what answered the door. That was my introduction, but his hair was blue.
How soon after you joined did you start playing shows and what were some of the most memorable shows The Living played?
GG: You know, I don’t remember how long it was. It could not have been long because with the aid of Kurt Bloch and Kim Warnick, we recently reverse engineered the timeline, trying to figure out how long it lasted and when things happened. It had to have been January, 1982, when I started playing with them. Our last show, according to Kurt, a reliable source, was July. So it was 6 or 7 months. I don’t remember when we started playing, but at that time, there were no clubs supporting music like that. Everything was done in some sort of improvised situation. There were a couple of little private art galleries, down, in, and around Pioneer Square in Seattle. It was an old part of town. So we played there. In fact, the last show was in one of those galleries. D.O.A. was a great show.
I guess I don’t remember specifically really great shows. I just remember it was always fun to play. I remember some moments of shows. I don’t know how much we played. We played as much as we could and it wasn’t a lot. We did go up to Vancouver at least once, maybe twice. The show with D.O.A. was down here. I believe it was a dance studio called Monroe’s Dance Palace. Another non-club show that somebody pulled together. D.O.A. were sort of our idols and mentors. Great guys to hang with. I just really enjoy them. They were a lot of fun and a great band, obviously.
This upcoming archival release, The Living 1982, is the first time The Living’s music is seeing the light of day. When you recorded these songs, was there any intention of releasing a demo or 7 inch single?
GG: At the time, there was not. It wasn’t that we intended to not do anything with it. It’s funny. I was going through this lately, trying to remember what was the state of mind at the time. I don’t know if it makes sense, but it was as if this idea of “the business”…we didn’t really know what to do or how to do it. We were so focused on just playing. This kind of pervaded the scene of that time, which was very small. That’s not to say nobody was making records. Fastbacks were there and they were making records. It’s not as if it was unknown to make records. At the same time, there were some bands, us, who just enjoyed playing. We hadn’t yet developed the next phase where you say, “So how do you do something with this?” We hadn’t gotten to that point yet. It still seems kind of silly, but it’s the best way I can imagine why we didn’t do anything. We had these great tapes. We all thought it was great. Loved it. Everybody we played it for liked it. And that was about it. Every young musician, somewhere in the back of their mind, harbors this fantasy, at least loosely, of success, large crowds, big venues, records. It wasn’t as if that didn’t even exist, but at the same time, that was so far away. It wasn’t until just a few years later that that part of the music business in Seattle started to pervade everyone’s consciousness. In the early 80s, it was just so nascent. There was just so much enthusiasm for playing. That was it.
Was this one of those “lost tapes” or had you been holding onto it for some time?
GG: I think we’ve all been holding onto our cassette copies for quite a while, but John Conte had the multitracks, so they were not lost. During all that time, I don’t know if I actually knew where they were. But had I started investigating, I would’ve found out quickly that John had them. Our manager, mostly in name *laughs*, was a big fan of the band. About 8 or 10 years ago, he had an encounter with a couple of young guys from Portland who were starting up a boutique label. Somehow, this idea came up that they’d put out The Living record. It started then. John had the tapes transferred digitally and I got a hold of the files and mixed it. That deal ended up coming undone and didn’t happen. There was another label a couple years after that and similarly that fell apart. Then there were a couple more. We had a meeting with Sub Pop, but neither I nor they pursued it further. Then Stone (Gossard) and Regan (Hagar) got involved and enthusiastically picked it up. Frustrating as all those years were of these near releases were, what’s happening now far surpasses anything that would’ve been happening before. I guess in the end, it all worked out.
It was worth the wait.
GG: Yeah, it’s already much bigger than I had ever hoped for. It’s just great. Now I’m just sitting and wondering how far will it go? What are people gonna think of this when it’s finally released?
What lessons did you learn from The Living that you applied to your future bands, Ten Minute Warning and Mother Love Bone?
GG: That I liked and couldn’t imagine doing anything other than playing original music. It was like, I dig this. It’s fun. Let’s do more.
This next one might be a loaded question. Having been part of the Seattle scene and sound, what are your thoughts on the term “grunge”?
GG: *laughs* I try not to use it, but sometimes you just can’t avoid it. I do have some idea of what it means to me. Often when I hear what the rest of the world thinks it means, I just think, “Really?” Those kinds of things are a double edged sword. It’s cool to have been a part of something that seems so interesting or unique to the rest of the world that it’s been named. On the other side of the coin, when something is named, I think you’re already shortchanging it. Between “grunge” and “Seattle sound”, I prefer to just call it the Seattle sound. It was infusing hard rock into punk rock. An example of a band that I just find it a little bit curious that the rest of the world labels a “grunge” band is Mother Love Bone. We were leftfield of a lot of other bands. Not to say there isn’t that “Seattle thing” present in Mother Love Bone’s sound. That’s something I should look back on and ponder for myself. Maybe it is fair to call us a grunge band, but I don’t know.
Last year marked the 30th anniversary of Mother Love Bone’s first and only album, Apple. Looking back, are you amazed on the impact it’s had on hard rock music since?
GG: I’m pleasantly surprised. Generally at the time you’re doing any huge thing, you think, “This is the greatest thing that was ever done.” I don’t know if I really thought it would have such a long impact.
What was the band’s songwriting process? Would Andrew (Wood) come in with a set of lyrics and you guys build around that in the studio?
GG: Most, not all, but most of those songs were guitar ideas of Stone’s. He’d come in with them and we’d all just go at it from there, including Andy and his vocals. Of course, some of those, like “Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns”, was Andy. I imagine his process was…I imagine he would just sit down and images and music at the same time. He did have notebooks full of lyrics and ideas. He probably had a lot of things kicking around that he’d find to fit whatever musical thing he was playing was.
Over the years, many important short lived bands such as The Stooges, The Velvet Underground, and Sex Pistols have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Others like MC5 and New York Dolls have been nominated. Do you think Mother Love Bone will ever be inducted?
GG: Wow, I’ve never even thought of that. I don’t know. If I had to wager on it, I would say probably not. It’s hard to say why. Even though it had some long term impact, to me it doesn’t seem like it had an MC5 or New York Dolls impact, but I don’t know. I guess leave that to others to say. I’m not sure.
Finally, are there any new bands or projects you’ve been working on lately?
GG: No regular bands. There’s random little projects. Right now, a friend of mine from Scotland, Andy Collier, has me working on a handful of songs of his for an EP. We’re working long distance, which you can do now with the aid of the internet. That’s the one current thing. Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of my energy on motorcycles. I’m getting ready to do some travelling, hopefully this year.
Check out The Living 1982, out now on Loosegroove Records.