As underground minnows and progenitors of the stoner-rock genre, Monster Magnet shockingly became the toast of the mainstream in 1998 when their fourth full-length record, Powertrip, was hailed as album of the year in both Metal Hammer and Kerrang!
Below, frontman Dave Wyndorf, who still leads the New Jersey band, previews their 35th anniversary tour.
Do you sometimes scratch your head and wonder how on earth Monster Magnet have lasted thirty-five years as a band?
[Laughs] There’s a part on the left-hand side with no hair left from my scratching. I never expected this band to go anywhere, or to play to more than four or five people. But when it was time to go left I went right, and when it was time to go right I headed left, and somehow we managed to go places.
Can you cherry-pick a few of the highs – pardon the pun – from the story so far?
There were so many high moments. Monster Magnet had only existed for around six months, and I’d never played guitar or written a song, so doing that for the first time was an important moment. Our first record [Spine Of God] was essentially a demo, but Spin magazine listed it as one of the ten best records of the year [1991]. Suddenly we were being chased around by major labels as being some sort of ‘next big thing’. Before we knew it we were having hit singles and everything. It was nuts.
And what about moments of downturn?
After that bubble burst, I knew it was time to go [and leave A&M Records]. I wanted to go back to being a cult band, which is what I had sought all along. All I’ve ever sought was a life in music. And there’s one thing about me – I never take no for an answer.
Being an anniversary tour the band are doing, can you give us an idea of which songs will be in the set-list?
My own band is asking me that question, to which I reply: “We’re not Springsteen – we won’t play for two and a half hours.” It’ll focus on the early-to-mid-period of Monster Magnet, which is what we do anyway. Most bands realise their first four records are the ones people want to hear. The songs will be chosen on what makes a good set, and not which ones I haven’t played in a while.
Will the anniversary be commemorated by something like a book or a boxed set?
That’s something we’ll probably save for forty years. Being truthful, this whole thirty-five thing didn’t come up till somebody reminded me. I don’t look back too much, because there’s a lot there [laughs]. Let’s save the good stuff for five years’ time.
Monster Magnet’s last two albums, A Better Dystopia and Mindfucker, were a covers set and a punk-rock record respectively. We have to go back more than a decade for an album in the band’s best-known style. Are you feeling that itch again yet?
It probably will come back, but no, not right now. The record I’m working on is really weird. It sounds like Monster Magnet, of course, but its main influences are 1960s movie soundtracks – James Bond, Brian Eno and Ennio Morricone – plus some King Crimson, a little Roxy Music and Joe Meek. It’s strange, it’s dreary and at times it’s pretty. It’s also melancholy. With a couple of exceptions, it’s not very fist-in-the-air. There’s less of a Hawkwind vibe, but a different kind of spacey-ness.
When might we get to hear it?
It’ll be out next year. Just getting everyone [in the band] around the table ain’t easy.
For a Monster Magnet virgin who might consider seeing the band, what can you tell us about the shows?
It’s all-energy. It’s rock excitement, psychedelic glory and space-rock hooks. It’s not completely original, because we are derived from all of my favourite stuff, but you won’t find another band that sounds quite like us.
Monster Magnet's 35th-anniversary European tour kicks off in Manchester on September 22 and climaxes in Berlin on October 24. For dates and tickets, visit Monster Magnet's Events page on Facebook.
