EVERYBODY LOVES OUR TOWN

The Melvins on the road, circa 1986. From left: Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover and Matt Lukin. Photo © Matt Lukin

In the lead-up to next week’s release of the trade paperback edition of Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge (out March 13; order info here), I’ve been sharing some of the book’s better outtakes for my faithful blog readers. Today’s outtake—cut from the book for space purposes—involves bassist Matt Lukin’s acrimonious departure from the Melvins. The entirety of the first quote and part of the second appear in the book and set up what follows:

MATT LUKIN (Melvins/Mudhoney bassist) When [the Melvins] recorded Gluey Porch Treatments, we stayed at this house in San Francisco where Lori [Black] and her boyfriend Mark Deutrom lived. I think that’s when Lori and Buzz kind of hit it off.

Then she started to come visit Buzz, and then they started dating. Buzz had Dale tell me, “Buzz is moving out to San Francisco, quitting the band, going to live with Lori in San Francisco.” And I’m like, Okay, that sounds familiar, that’s exactly the same story he had me tell [drummer Mike] Dillard when we kicked him out.

I called Buzz and I go, “So you’re moving to San Francisco to be with Lori, huh? I think you’re moving to San Francisco, and Lori’s going to be your new bass player and Dale’s going to follow you.” A month later, they’re down in San Francisco playing shows, Dale’s living in the house with them—everything that I accused him of. Fucking spineless asshole.

BUZZ OSBORNE (Melvins singer/guitarist) I didn’t really want to go with Matt Lukin—it wouldn’t have worked. He didn’t want to leave. I think he stayed in Montesano for a really long time after he started playing with Mudhoney. I told him, “I’m moving to San Francisco. I’m either starting a new band or I’m starting this band up again.”

Lukin was okay with it, no problem, and then later he got all pissed off because we were “lying” about the whole thing. Which is fine. I wanted to get out of there, and I didn’t care what it cost me. There was nothing for me there. Nothing. We’d do a show with Soundgarden and Green River and advertise it for a month and have 50 people show up.

MATT LUKIN So I hated Buzz for a long time and would fuck with him any chance I had. Back in the day, when you’d get a stolen credit card number, you could call anybody for free from a pay phone. It would be two or three in the morning, and I’d be all drunk and I’d call Buzz: “Hey, motherfucker, you suck!”

A friend from Aberdeen had a girlfriend down in the Bay Area and was going to visit her, so I go, “Hey, I’ll go along,” thinking, I’m going to go down to San Francisco and find Buzz and let him know what I think. I ended up staying at the house of a mutual friend, Strephon Taylor, the singer from this band Sacrilege, and Buzz and Lori were coming over to hang out at the garage where the band was practicing. When he got there, I just bitched at him: “You kicked me out! You lied to me!”

BUZZ OSBORNE We knew he was coming. We got wind of it from people that we knew up in Washington. He confronted us, and we’re just like, “Yeah, whatever.” I mean, it was pathetic.

MATT LUKIN I started out being Mr. Tough Guy, but it turned into me being all wimpy and crying. I always cry. And I think Lori felt really bad, like she was the cause of all of this and that she didn’t want to be the one to steal my spot. I was like, “No, it’s not your fault.” Buzz was being the cunt. I liked Lori. She was awesome. Just a cool, fun chick who was into cartoons and The Munsters.

Previously:

• Everybody Loves Our Outtakes, taking one for the team edition: Ex-Pearl Jam drummer Dave Abbruzzese gets smacked in the face over “Jeremy”
• Everybody Loves Our Outtakes, horrifying kitchen accident edition: How Babes in Toyland’s Maureen Herman got her first bass
• Everybody Loves Our Outtakes, drunken horseplay edition: Tripping Kurt Cobain at Reading ‘92