Melvins’ Buzz Osborne on Chris Cornell: “Chris was always a solitary guy, very somber”

The Star Tribune recently conducted an interview with Melvins frontman Buzz Osborne. A couple of excerpts follow below.

On recently deceased Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, who, like Cobain, toured with and learned from Osborne: “We knew all those guys since the early ’80s. Chris was always a solitary guy, very somber. But I liked him a great deal. I was always happy about their success. I thought they deserved it.

“[His death] really is a complete tragedy. There’s not much more to say about it than that. I just can’t go near their music now. It’s the same thing with Nirvana. I don’t want to listen to Nirvana. I don’t have happy memories about Nirvana anymore, because of what happened. It really ruined the music in my mind.”

On the movie companion to “A Walk With Love and Death,” still in the works: “Let’s just say it’s about a man in trouble. It’s mostly been me working on it with a guy from Atlanta, Jesse Nieminen, using a lot of footage we’ve shot together, and some of my photography. It’s like everything else we do: Some people are going to have a problem with it, but some will like it because it’s so unlike anything else. I don’t think Spielberg is going to call us up or anything, but I think some people will really like it.”

The Melvins are currently on tour promoting their latest double album, A Walk With Love And Death, released on July 7, 2017 through Ipecac Recordings. It includes two distinct albums: Love, a fourteen song soundtrack to a short film by Jesse Nieminen, also known as A Walk with Love & Death, and Death, made up of nine standard songs.

“This was a huge undertaking,” explained Osborne. “All three things: the album, the soundtrack and the film are benchmarks for us.”

Drummer Dale Crover added, “A Walk With Love and Death is one giant, dark, moody, psychotic head trip! Not for the faint of heart. You’ll sleep with the lights on after listening.”

The albums, which include guests Joey Santiago (The Pixies), Teri Gender Bender (Le Butcherettes/Crystal Fairy) and Anna Waronker (That Dog), were co-produced by the Melvins and Toshi Kasai.

Melvins 2017 Tour Dates

A Walk With Love And Death Tour (with Spotlights)

July 26, 2017 – Grand Rapids, MI – The Pyramid Scheme
July 27, 2017 – Detroit, MI – El Club
July 28, 2017 – Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop
July 29, 2017 – Columbus, OH – A&R Music Bar
July 31, 2017 – Pittsburgh, PA – Rex Theater
August 1, 2017 – Syracuse, NY – The Westcott Theater
August 2, 2017 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
August 3, 2017 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza
August 4, 2017 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
August 5, 2017 – Asbury Park, NJ – The Stone Pony
August 6, 2017 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar
August 8, 2017 – Richmond, VA – The Broadberry
August 9, 2017 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
August 10, 2017 – Knoxville, TN – The Concourse
August 11, 2017 – Louisville, KY – Headliner’s Music Hall
August 12, 2017 – St. Louis, MO – The Ready Room
August 13, 2017 – Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck
August 15, 2017 – Englewood, CO – Gothic Theatre
August 17, 2017 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
August 18, 2017 – Las Vegas, NV – Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (Psycho Fest)
August 20, 2017 – San Jose, CA – The Ritz
August 21, 2017 – Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst
August 22, 2017 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo
September 5, 2017 – Phoenix, AZ- Crescent Ballroom
September 6, 2017 – Tucson, AX – 191 Toole
September 8, 2017 – Austin, TX – The Mohawk
September 9, 2017 – Dallas, TX – Tree’s
September 10, 2017 – San Antonio, TX – Paper Tiger
September 11, 2017 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live (Studio)
September 13, 2017 – New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jack’s
September 14, 2017 – Pensacola, FL – Vinyl Music Hall
September 15, 2017 – Jacksonville, FL – Jack Rabbit’s
September 16, 2017 – Tampa, FL – The Orpheum
September 17, 2017 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – The Culture Room
September 18, 2017 – Orlando, FL -The Social
September 20, 2017 – Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club
September 21, 2017 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade (Hell Stage)
September 22, 2017 – Nashville, TN – 3rd & Lindsley
September 23, 2017 – Memphis, TN – Hi-Tone
September 25, 2017 – Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon
September 26, 2017 – Rock Island, IL – Rock Island Brewing Co.
September 27, 2017 – Des Moines, IA – Wooly’s
September 28, 2017 – Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room
September 30, 2017 – Ft. Collins, CO – Aggie Theatre
October 2, 2017 – Albuquerque, NM – The Launchpad
October 3, 2017 – Flagstaff, AZ – The Green Room

A Walk With Love And Death European Tour (with Redd Kross)

October 9, 2017 – Bristol, England – Exchange
October 10, 2017 – Leeds, England – The Brudenell
October 11, 2017 – Glasgow, Scotland – SWG3
October 12, 2017 – Manchester, England – Gorilla
October 13, 2017 – Birmingham, England – Birmingham Institute 2
October 15, 2017 – Antwerp, Belgium – Desertfest
October 16, 2017 – Hamburg, Germany – Logo
October 17, 2017 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Jazzhouse
October 18, 2017 – Gothenburg, Sweden – Pustervik
October 19, 2017 – Oslo, Norway – Bla
October 20, 2017 – Malmo, Sweden – Babel
October 22, 2017 – Berlin, Germany – Festsaal
October 23, 2017 – Leipzig, Germany – UT Connewitz
October 24, 2017 – Vienna, Austria – Arena
October 26, 2017 – Milan, Italy – Live Club
October 27, 2017 – Zurich, Switzerland – Rote Fabrik
October 28, 2017 – Schorndorf, Germany – Manufaktur
October 29, 2017 – Cologne, Germany – Gebaude 9
October 30, 2017 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Paradiso Noord
October 31, 2017 – London, England – Electric Brixton