"I STOPPED WRITING SONGS FOR PEOPLE WITH MOHAWKS TWO AND A HALF YEARS AGO."1984 has been a busy year for Hüsker Dü. They just released a new album Zen Arcade, as well as having done two tours, the last being a two week stint with two nights off. We interviewed them during their first tour on March 25'th at the City Gardens in Trenton NJ, where Grant kept us amused with interesting stories and bug imita- tions. It starts of kind of silly, but gets more interesting as it progresses.
Grant: Can you answer me a question?
How come the scarecrow had a
heart? How come the tin man had
a brain?
Ron : I don't know. Do you fight with
your mother?
Grant: No. I fight with my father
though.
Ron : That's too bad.
Grant: Well, that's really bad necause
my dad just happens to be
half of the world tag team
championship wrestlers.
Ron : Do you steal food to get
along while you tour?
Grant: Fuck no!
Ron : What's your favorite color?
Grant: You wouldn't believe this man
but I've always wanted someone
to ask me what my favorite color
is. If you had asked me that
about two months ago my answer
would have been blue.
Ron : So what is it now?
Grant: Red! For a couple of reasons..
Someone gave me a red leather
jacket, I started smoking
Marlboros, drinking Budweiser.
I just sort of tailored my life
to fit around red things. I
became a communist, a redneck,
I got scarlet fever.
Ron : Why do you play the drums
barefoot?
Grant: It started with the hardcore
thing. I would do my soundcheck
in the boots that I always
wear, big engineer boots, and
it is like the theory of warm-
ing up with a couple of bats and
then batting with one, Right?
Then I would strip down and
take the boots off.
Dianne:Who takes the garbage out?
Grant: I always do.
Ron: Oh, that's right, you're from
Minnesota. Who shovels the snow>
Grant: I made it through most of the
winter with somebody else to
do that.
Dianne: What's your mother's maiden
name?
Grant: Augustine, which is a
bastardization of D'Agostino.
My ancestors were in the
circus.
Ron: What's it like in Minnesota?
Grant: I walk into a club, they
play a song off our album,
I get uptight and leave.
Greg Norton: Can I borrow a pen?
Ron: Yeah. I guess. You wouldn't
let me interview you before
so I don't know if I should
let you use this. How'd you
guys get started?
Grant: It's really funny. Me
Greg, and Bob were originally
in a band called Three Guys
with Skinny Ties. Then I
left, and then Bob left,
then Greg left and each time
"A vote for Bozo is a vote for Reagan"
a replacement guy would
come in, and then we found
ourselves in Husker Du.
Dianne: Does the name mean anything?
Grant: Well, there was Greg, Bob
and I, which was three guys
part and we were into skinny
ties.
Dianne: I'm talking about Husker Du!
Ron: It was a game, wasn't it?
Grant: Yeah. That's how we got it.
Exactly.
Ron: That song "Diane" is pretty
interesting. Just what are
you trying to convey there?
Grant: That goes way back. That
was written before "Land
Speed Record".
Greg: Are you talking to me?
Ron: We're talking to anybody. We'll
interview you too, but we've
got to get this preliminary
shit out of the way. What's
your favorite color?
Greg: Really dark purple, almost
black.
Dianne: Who shovels the snow?
Greg: I do.
Dianne: Who takes the garbage out?
Greg: Whoever is handy.
Dianne: What's your mother's maiden
name?
Greg: Guzman; is that it?
Dianne: These are just our basic
questions.
Greg: Did you take a lot of photos?
You were working for the
band you know. (Since Dianne
is underage, Husker Du
courteously lied to get her
in by saying that she was
a photographer for the band.)
Dianne: I don't even know how to use
that camera. That was our ploy
to get in last time.
Ron: I shot a roll. Neither of us
drink anyway. What did you
think of the great crowd here
tonight? They didn't seem to be
discouraging to you.
Greg: No. Not really.
J.C.: It was a stupid crowd. Half
of them didn't know what
they were doing here.
Ron: Yeah. I thought so too.
Grant: Half of them went, "Husker Du,
what's that?"
Greg: If they're just standing there,
the chances that they're
listening are better than if
they're jumping off the stage.
Grant: Yeah. But if they're dancing
around, chances are that
they've heard it before. Was
that an audience or a still
life painting? That's all
I want to know.
Ron to J.C.: Are you their manager?
J.C.: Yeah.
Grant: Nah. J.C.'s like our spiritual
adviser, our guru.
Greg: Palmreader. (laughter)
That's an inside joke.
Grant: Actually, he's out lover, all
of our's. Why do you think he
looks so old? He's really
only thirteen.
J.C.: I make 'em take me along or I
fuck 'em, because I'm so bad.
Grant: J.C.'s father owns all the
nightclubs in the twin
cities and he said, "You take
my boy along or you'll never
play in this town again."
Ron: Back to the song, back to
"Diane". It was written before
"Land Speed Record" and?
Grant: There was this girl, and what
was done to her is what happens
in the song. That's about it. I
hope people realize that it is
DEFINATELY* not a pro rape song.
I've had people on this tour
as me...
Ron: I didn't think that at all. I
just couldn't figure out what
you were saying.
Grant: It's a very real song--
Ron: Taken in the right light.
Grant: It's kind of expressing-- I
can sympathize with a need for
love and I can take it a step
farther and see through Joseph
Tourrie's eyes, who's the
guy that did all the nasty
business. It's just kind of
a--I hate to generate any
