JULY 2019 • UNCUT• 83
LANEGAN:We’dsortofbrokenup
rightbeforeSweetOblivion. Allofour
previousrecordshadbeenbasically
songswrittenbyGaryLeeConner,
andwedecidedif weweregonna
makeanotheronewe’dmakeit more
inclusive,anddoit asa teameffort
andwritethesongstogether,orwe
weren’tgoingtodoit atall.
GARYLEECONNER:I don’tthinkwe
everdecided,“Well,that’sit”,butwe
werehavingtrouble.thingsweren’t
ona solidfooting.
V CONNER:Wekeptlosing
drummers,Spinaltapstyle.Sowhen
wegotwithBarrettMartin,werushed
inbecauseit justworkedsoeasily.
LANEGAN:Barretthada big
impact.Allourpreviousrecords
hadbeena mixtureofpunkrock
and’60spsychedelia,butSweet
Oblivionendedupbeingmoreof
a classic-rock-soundingrecord.
Weweresuddenlydoingthingsa
differentway– wewerefinallydoing
somethingwecouldallbeproudof.
GLCONNER:[Previousdrummer]
MarkPickerelwasmorelikeKeith
MoonstyleandBarrett’smorelike
JohnBonhamstyle,sowehada
differentvibegoing.
LANEGAN:I waslisteningtoevery
demothatLeehadmade,then
Van Conner gave me a tape of him
playingguitarinhisgaragewhile
hewastrippingonacid– it wasn’t
realsongs,justhimmessingaround
fryingonacid.I wasjustabout
fallingasleepbecauseit wasso
boring,thenallofa suddenthis
minute-and-a-halfpieceofmusic
poppedout,wherehewasplaying
thiscatchyriffandhisvoiceveryfar
awaywassaying“nearlylostyou”.
VCONNER:I don’tcondonetheuse
of[acid], butthatmayhavebeen
thecase...It wasa longtimeago!
thesongjustcameoutwhenI was
thinkingabouta friendwho’dhad
issues.Hewaskindalosinghismind
andit wasabouthim.Notsomebody
inthegroup,I shouldsay!I was
reallyintoMinutemenatthattime,
sotheversesoundedlikethem,this
bouncyrhythm.I thoughtit was
junk,butMarkreallygravitated
towardsthechorus.thenBarrett
joined the band right about thattime,andthat’swhenweworkedout
thatwholemiddlesectionwithhim.
GLCONNER:Weknewthiswas
probablygonnabethefirstsingle,so
weusedtorunthroughthegroove
fora whiletogetthefeelofit.We’d
neverdoneanythinglikethatbefore;
wereallydidn’tliketopractise.
DONFLEMING:BobPfeifer,their
A&RpersonatEpic,hadreally
pushedthemtofine-tunetheir
songwriting,sotheycametothe
sessionwitha setofgreatsongs.
V CONNER:Whenweshowedupin
NewYorktorecordSweetOblivion,
thelabelhadputusintheHotel
StMoritzbyCentralPark.A fancy
hotel.It wasa prettywildtime.
GLCONNER:Whenwefirstgotto
NewYorkI gotmadatMark,hegot
madatme,andI don’tknowif we
actuallysaidweweregonnabreak
up.Butwewereinthestudioa
couple of days later, so it didn’t last.FLEMING:Rehearsalwasthree
days,February20–22,attheJungle
RoominMidtown.thentracking
andoverdubswereatBabyMonster
on14thStreet,February 23 toMarch- thenovertoSearSoundforfour
days,March3–6,todoMark’s
vocals.thenbacktoBabyMonster,
March8–22,tofinishoverdubsand
doroughmixes.So,withtwodays
off,thealbumwas 30 daysofwork.
LANEGAN:Donwasgreat.Hewas
seriousbutveryenthusiastic.John
Agnellowassortofoff-the-wall,
andtheteamofthosetwoguys
wasgreat.It wasa bigpartofit.
FLEMING:I wasSgtRock.I hada
scheduleandwasnotshyabout
runningtheshow.thatsaid,I would
alsobringboardgameslikeHappy
DaysandChickenOuttogetfolksto
chilloutonceinawhile.Vanmadea
drawingofmetitled“DonFleming’s
ProductionWorkshop”witha funny
noteabouthowI decidewhenit’s
timefor“clowningaround”.
AGNELLO:BabyMonsterwasreally
great.A great-soundingconsole,an
oldNeve.Wewereabletorecordthe
wholebandlivewithLaneganin
a boothsingingliveasa reference.
Andit wason14thStreet,sowe
couldalwaysleavethestudio and
get in some trouble.
“Thesongwasabouta friendwhowaskindalosinghismind.Nobodyinthe band, I should say!”VAN CONNER