The Meat Puppets are the original band’s band, loved and respected by some of the world’s most influential musicians. In their career spanning over four decades, they’ve caught the eye of rock ’n’ roll royalty like Flea, Henry Rollins and the late, great Kurt Cobain, who personally invited the Puppets to appear alongside them at the now legendary gig, MTV Unplugged in New York, back in ’93.
Now, more than twenty years on the Meat Puppets are returning to our shores for the first time in two decades – and we’re in for a treat. As well as co-headlining AC/DC Lane’s CherryRock, the Puppets will play two very special shows at Melbourne’s Ding Dong on May 27th and 28th.
In a rare opportunity, I sat down with frontman and Meat Puppets’ founder, Curt Kirkwood, where the quietly-spoken singer talked about his love of playing acoustic, the joy of having his son as a bandmate and why he’s hoping to catch up with the Aussie band, Hard-Ons.
“I’m really looking forward to playing these Melbourne shows – it’s been so long since the last time and I have no idea what to expect!” Curt laughed. “I’m very excited. I love playing acoustic stuff, it’s always so fun. That’s what we have planned for the Tuesday night.”
Also in store for lucky Puppet fans will be a ‘meet and greet’ with the band, and the chance to view the 30+ piece art collection by Curt’s brother and Puppets’ bassist, Cris Kirkwood.
“We always enjoy doing a meet and greet – we have a lot of fun. When people take the time to come and see us, it’s nice and makes us feel good. Then on the Wednesday night we’ll put on a full band show, playing songs that span our entire career.”
The Meat Puppets have become a family affair over the last few years, with Curt’s son Elmo joining the band in 2011. “It’s great having my son with us now – we’re in a very good place at the moment. We’re having a blast right now, a lot of fun playing together, and he fits right in because he grew up with music all around him.
“This will be his first time with us in Australia. I wish we had more time but I always try to make the most of it and stay awake on the tour bus. It’s only a short tour, though I’m not complaining!” Curt assured me.
“This tour was a long time in the planning and now it’s getting close I’m very excited. We’re looking forward to seeing the Hard-Ons again – they played with us the last time we were in Australia, but that was a very long time ago. I hope we can catch up and have some fun.”
Fun seems to be a priority these days for the seasoned rockers, and it seems Curt plans to spend the summer in the sun working on some new material.
“We’re looking forward to taking most of the summer off after this. There’ll be a lot of sitting around while I try to come up with something new to record, then we’ve got some US stuff planned, and we’re thinking about going to England in the fall.
“It’ll be a good year ahead, but we’ve got to get through this tour first. It’s crazy being out on the road, somewhere different every night – we never know what will happen! Hope I see you there, and thank you Australia for your support!”
WHERE&WHEN: Ding Dong Lounge – May 27 & May 28. The band is also headlining CherryRock
Written by Natalie Rogers