MELVINS' BUZZ OSBORNE On METAL CHURCH's KURDT VANDERHOOF: 'He Really Hates Our Guts'

In a new interview with A Fresh Face In Hell, the podcast hosted by Jonathan Evison, MELVINS leader Buzz Osborne — who shaped the band's signature sludge-metal sound by blending early BLACK SABBATH's heavy riffing with the raw energy of BLACK FLAG, FLIPPER and punk rock — spoke about the heavy metal influence on the MELVINS' early songwriting approach. He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I wanted to do something that had more heavy metal in it. I've always felt like if you look at a hardcore heavy metal band, they're pissed off. Same as punk rock bands. To me, I didn't see a whole lot of difference in the attitude as far as how angry they were and things of that nature. And I always liked that stuff. I didn't stop listening to JUDAS PRIEST… Some of my favorite memories are dropping acid and going to see JUDAS PRIEST with [founding MELVINS drummer] Mike Dillard at some big concert. I mean, I was not opposed to BLACK FLAG and VAN HALEN concerts in the same week. It was fine with me. And I still don't see how it's not cut from the same thing. To me, it's heavy-duty rock music."

After Evison noted that METAL CHURCH's founding guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof had an early influence on Osborne, Buzz concurred. "Well, I always liked Kurdt," he said. "I never felt that he had much interest or much respect for what we were doing at all. I felt like he thought we were kind of an annoyance. I wanted to be friends with him. That wasn't gonna happen. I mean, I knew he knew a lot about music. He had a lot of records that he turned me on to, like THE VIBRATORS. I thought that was really good. And a bunch of stuff like that. He'd lived in San Francisco prior to that, and he moved back. And he really hates us now; he really hates our guts. And I think it's because I wrote… We released a record [in 2005] called 'Mangled Demos From 1983' — that's the original MELVINS lineup with Dillard — way after the fact. The record never came out [when it was originally recorded]. And I wrote liner notes about how I felt that [Kurdt] was kind of a dick. And somebody pointed that out to him. Also, at that time I was not very aware of things like this, which was he was gay. I didn't know. It didn't bother me. I mean, once I found out, it didn't bother me, but I didn't know that [at the time]. And I wrote that in there. And I think he kind of took offense to that."

Buzz continued: "I didn't say one thing about [Kurdt], whether I liked or disliked him at all, but he was constantly looking for a reason to have some kind of beef with us. I don't know. And I think it always irked him that we had any kind of a music career because he just thought we were talentless boobs. Which is, like, okay, fine, whatever. So you don't wanna be friends? Fine with me. And so I lost track of him. And then somebody had showed him this ['Mangled Demos From 1983' record with my liner notes]… I talked about how we played a show with them in Aberdeen and how they were strutting around like they were playing Madison Square Garden. It was really a rat-infested hellhole, and you don't need to act like that. I'm punk rock to the bone, as far as attitude goes, and I don't like that kind of… And I've dealt with that kind of stuff a lot since then. We've done all kinds of arena tours and stuff like that, opening for other bands, and I, to this day, cannot stand that kind of shit. I don't do it, and I don't like it when people do it. It bothers me, and it always has. So, I wrote about how kind of disappointed I was in all that, and he took offense: 'Fuck those guys.' Well, whatever."

Buzz added: "There's some people where you just know it's never gonna be right. It's never gonna end right. No matter what you do, no matter how much you kiss their ass, you're always gonna end up somehow not working out; it's not gonna work out. 'Cause it's not in them to have it work out."

Back in 2016, Kurdt spoke to the "Talk Toomey" podcast about METAL CHURCH's relationship with the bands from the early Seattle "grunge" scene like NIRVANA. Kurdt said at the time: "I know Krist [Novoselic, NIRVANA bassist]; he was kind of a friend of mine. They kind of came out to our rehearsals and stuff when we'd have party rehearsals where we started. But, for the most part, we were a big joke to them. They were the cool guys and we were the old metal guys. Even on [NIRVANA's] 'Bleach' [album], [Kurt] Cobain spelled his name like mine — Kurdt. I could never quite figure that out, but I kind of put two and two together, and they were poking fun. Like the MELVINS think I'm just obnoxious and all this stuff, 'cause they're too cool. And we're a bunch of rock stars, and they're too cool. So, you know, fuck 'em."

Kurdt added that he "never had any trouble" with NIRVANA and said that he "always liked" their music. "I thought it was great," he said. "And I liked the MELVINS, and I thought we were friends, especially Buzz and I. And then I come to find out later that we were a big joke, and I was a big joke to all these guys."

He continued: "I never did anything to them. I always liked them. I thought they were great. I thought we were friends. But the whole NIRVANA thing, I kind of figured out later through talking with people that when they were doing their thing, 'cause they were all punky and cool, that we were the metal guys and we're stupid and we're posers and rock stars. So it was really cool not to like us — especially me, being from Aberdeen, and those guys being from Aberdeen, they were, like, 'Fuck those guys!' Oh, well."

According to Vanderhoof, not all the bands from the Seattle grunge scene were disrespectful to METAL CHURCH. "[The ALICE IN CHAINS] guys are great," he said. "Yeah, I like all those guys. Those guys have been really cool, and still cool to us and everything too. But the Grays Harbor bands — you know, the NIRVANAs and the MELVINS and all that kind of stuff — they, again, especially had something against me, apparently. So I thought we were friends, but apparently not. So… fuck those guys."

Buzz Osborne photo credit: Chris Casella / Kurdt Vanderhoof photo credit: Rick Moyer