In 1999, having released six studio albums, The Jesus Lizard called time on their tenure as one of the world's leading noise rock bands, and one of the most fearsome live acts in any genre, ever.
The original line-up – frontman David Yow, guitarist Duane Denison, bassist David. Wm. Sims, and drummer Mac McNeilly – regrouped almost a decade later for a series of sporadic ‘reenactment’ shows, with no sign or obvious inclinations to record new material.
But this summer, the band surprised fans with a new single Hide and Seek, world tour plans, and the promise of a brand new album, the brilliant, newly-released Rack, maintaining their running theme of four-lettered titles some 26 years on from the release of 1998's Blue.
We caught up with Yow – sporting a pair of tartan pajama bottoms and a Punk Rock Aerobics T-shirt on a Zoom call from his home in California – to discuss the record, remote working, Nirvana, sadistic witches and much more.
It’s been 26 years since The Jesus Lizard released a studio album. Why now?
“I think that the other guys – Duane in particular – had some ideas that they had to get out, so they'd been messing around with a few ideas before they brought them to me. I was going, Well, cool, what do you what do you want to do with this? And and they said, ‘We should make an album’. I was hesitant, just because I didn't know, like, Why? Why would we do that? Like, you know, we broke up. We're not a band anymore. But, you know, we did a lot of shows and stuff in 2009 and then a few other times, but I'm glad we did. I really like the record, and it seems like it’s being well received.”
Rack was recorded with Tomahawk producer Paul Allen at Audio Eagle in Nashville, Tennessee. Tell us about the experience of working with him.
“We practiced these songs at a pretty nice rehearsal space in Nashville over a year ago and Paul brought in some some mobile recording equipment. He recorded our practice and gave us the recordings, and they sounded amazing. And they weren't, they weren't really mixed or anything. It was just kind of a rough mix, but it sounded so good and I couldn't believe it. And so that, I think, probably helped with the confidence of going forward with record and having Paul do the the production.
Hide and Seek, the band's first music in over two decades centred around a grumpy, sadistic witch. What sparked that unsettling story?
“I was really inspired by Lhasa de Sela, the Canadian singer, particularly her album The Living Road. And there's a line in the song Anywhere On This Road where she sings, 'If I can stand up to angels and men, I’ll never get swallowed in darkness again'. That made me think of like a witchy character, this battle axe. I just love that phrase so much. There’s a part in Hide and Seek about getting dragged down the street. Did you see Lars von Trier’s film The House That Jack Built? It was based on the scene where he kills a woman and ties her behind the car and drives home. She was pretty much sanded off. I really like that movie and every time you watch it, you go, ‘God, people suck’.”
You almost appeared in that film, as well.
“Yeah. I’ve done some acting in the past few years, and I got an audition for that movie. When I was doing a self-tape, they said that that my character wouldn't even be seen for like three-quarters of the movie, and it would be more like narration. And so I thought, Hmm, narration in a Lars von Trier film. Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, Dogville. Who was the narrator? John Hurt? I guess I’m not getting the job. Bruno Ganz got the role I auditioned for. I really like Lars von Trier's shit, and that movie is just amazingly depressing.”
We’re still the same four guys, but not as handsome as we used to be
Your bandmates live in different parts of the US and worked remotely while working on Rack. What was this process like, considering you’d previously lived in each other’s pockets while recording and touring?
“It felt unnatural. It was not as nearly as organic, and I think, even less collaborative than what we were accustomed to. I don't know right now if we'll do another record. If we do, I don't want to write it the way we wrote this one. It took forever and ever to write. It was difficult and sometimes kind of arduous.
“It's just so much more fun being in the same room and sculpting and shaping songs, instead of thinking about what my part will be and send it to them. Then a few days later, some parts wouldn’t be right for this and that reason. I know in the modern world, it's kind of the norm these days, but yeah, I don't like working that way.”
Technology also allows people who are cat lovers – you released a book called Copycat: And A Litter Of Other Cats – to waste hours watching videos of cats. Have you noticed a spike in the quality of cat content or has it had its day?
“I think the actual quantity of cat content has gone haywire, but quality? I think it’s improved. My wife will sit there and be laughing at something and it’ll be a video of a cat riding on a goat’s back. I love that shit. You can get lost in the kitten vortex for hours.”
Going back to this remote way of working. Did it feel like homework, having to sit down out of the practice room environment and and write lyrics for one big batch of songs?
“Yeah, a little bit, a little bit. I was not a very good student and I didn't do very well in school.”
Given that the last Jesus Lizard album, Blue, was released in 1998, did you feel the pressure when writing your parts and performing?
“People’s reactions to the music do not cross my mind. I mean, I hope they like it, but if they don’t, I don’t really care. I don’t think there was any pressure to recreate the kind of shit we’d done in the past. We’re still the same four guys, but not as handsome as we used to be.”
When not performing with The Jesus Lizard, Qui, Flipper, you’ve made a living making movie billboard posters for the likes of The Incredibles, Cars and Garfield: The Movie. Are you still involved with that?
“I’ve been doing that but the Hollywood writers’ strikes did damage to the industry somewhat, and I’ve not had as much work as I had in the past. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I haven’t had any work in over two months which is not cool. But outside of that, it's really fortuitous with all the Jesus Lizard shit that we're doing, because with touring and press and whatever, I don't have time to do my regular job. We have so much planned for all the way until the fall of next year. I hope I don't have to go back to my job! We'll make some cash with The Jesus Lizard while we’re doing this. My wife and I plan on moving to Europe, and it it's conceivable that I could retire in Portugal.”
Why Portugal?
“It's great. We’re aiming for Porto. Somebody made the analogy that it’s like California. Porto would be San Francisco, Lisbon would be Los Angeles, and then the Algarve would be San Diego, and Morocco would be Mexico. The climate is similar to those places and I love it.”
You’ve mentioned acting. Your role as the scumbag Marshall in I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore is a personal highlight. What do you get out of acting that you don't get from playing on stage?
“When everything was going really right with acting, like if I'm doing my part the way it should be done, and it's actually working, and and whoever you're acting with is going great. It’s so personal. There’s almost nothing like it. When the director says cut, it's like, Holy fuck, I wasn't me, and you weren't you, and we weren't here’ It’s just magical and I don't know of any other art form like that.
“I mean, the collaborative work with music is really great, and making that kind of connection is really great, but it's not as sort of magical to me as the acting can bee. Doing that movie was one of the best experiences of my life. And it's funny, if you ask the rest of the cast, they'll say the same thing. We still have a WhatsApp group with the director Macon (Blair), Elijah (Wood), Robert (Longstreet), Jane (Levy) and Melanie (Lynskey). Making that movie was such a blast. I really feel fortunate to have been involved in that project.”
I understand that when you were in Qui, drummer Paul Christensen gave you some vocal lessons after Krist Novoselic approached you to work with the surviving members of Nirvana at an Experience Music event in Seattle a number of years ago.
“Yes. When Krist asked me to do that, I was completely freaked out because it was going to be televised. And I was thinking that anybody watching it would be like, ‘Who the hell is this weird little old man singing this shit?’ There was a lot of pressure. I just tried to sing the songs, and I couldn't do it. And so Paul helped me for about three months. He taught me learn how to sing more traditionally. You know, how to find the key instead of just like willy-nilly, doing whatever I always used to do. So, yeah, but I remembered what I was taught and the vocals are louder in the mix more than most of the previous records. What Paul taught me helped a lot.”
What happened in the end?
“Dave (Grohl) wanted Neil Young and Paul McCartney instead.”
How many times did The Jesus Lizard play with Nirvana?
“We played at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1990. Then we played in Denver, Colorado the following year a few months before Nevermind came out. Dinosaur Jr. headlined that one. The last time was when we opened for them at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City in 1993. Kurt was really fucked up that night, it was heartbreaking.”
You're about to go on tour again and will play the UK in January. You’ve been known to make something of a heroic dent in a box of beer in order to loosen up and play. Is that something you still do?
“I’ve toned it down a little bit. I do have a few beers before we go on but I don’t allow myself any bourbon before the shows beers before we go on. When we were starting in Austin – the old Scratch Acid days – we didn't call it punk rock. We called it drunk rock. We’d get fucking wasted. I’ve hired a personal trainer to help me get sort of in better shape and get some stamina and endurance and stuff. And I've been doing that since February, pretty much three times a week. He just puts me through about 45 minutes of hell, but it's been very helpful. The other guys drink far less than now than they used to, so I sort of feel more of an obligation to take it more seriously. I’ll do a better job if I'm not too fucked up.”
The Jesus Lizard’s new album Rack is out now via Ipecac.
The Jesus Lizard tour dates
Oct 13: Las Vegas Best Friends Forever Festival, NV
Oct 31: Dallas Longhorn Ballroom, TX
Nov 01: Austin, TX TBA
Dec 09: Pittsburgh Stage AE, PA
Dec 11: Brooklyn Brooklyn Steel, NY
Dec 12: Boston Roadrunner, MA
Dec 13: Philadelphia Union Transfer, PA
Dec 14: Washington DC Black Cat
Dec 18: Atlanta Variety Playhouse, GA
Jan 07: Glasgow QMU, UK
Jan 08: Manchester, UK Academy 2, UK
Jan 09: Leeds Brudenell Social Club, UK
Jan 10: Bristol Fleece, UK
Jan 11: London Electric Ballroom, UK
Jan 12: Brighton Concorde 2, UK
Jan 14: Belfast The Limelight, UK
Jan 15: Dublin Button Factory, Ireland
May 02: Solana Beach Belly Up Tavern, CA
May 03: Los Angeles The Fonda Theatre, CA
May 05: San Francisco The Fillmore, CA
May 08: Portland Revolution Hall, OR
May 10: Seattle Neptune Theatre, WA
