Singer/songwriter Mike Johnson shares early 4-track recordings

Mike Johnson just shared his "Waste" cassette collection of his early solo 4-track recordings circa 1986-1989 via Bandcamp.

Here's the scoop from Mike Johnson...

My first solo venture was this 1989 very limited release cassette of 4-track recordings. I don't remember how many copies got made, certainly less than fifty possibly closer to half that. This stuff wasn't initially done with the intent for release but as sketches of songs for possible use by the band, songwriting experiments or just messing around. For some reason I decided to put out a cassette. Here's that cassette with 9 more tracks of the same vintage. 

*The audio is fairly haphazard due to my lack of experience and expertise in recording, dropouts and other audio imperfections are present due to that and the precarious state of the cassette master sources. 

Big thanks to Kathy Molloy and Jeff Cellers for helping me put this together as I have lost the majority of my tapes over the years.

Recordings from 1986-1989. 

All instruments played by Mike Johnson 

All songs written by Mike Johnson,  No One Cares, BMI. 

Get a digital version of Mike Johnson's "Waste"  cassette via Bandcamp right here.  Listen below. 

Mike Johnson - Waste (cassette)

1. Shut Your Eyes 3:11

2. Left To Say 2:24

3. Pass Away 1:45

4. Circle 2:45

5. Separation 3:47

6. World Outside 3:16

7. Destiny 2:11

8. What No One Knows 2:00

9. Tear It Away 2:55

10. Pass By 4:12

You can also get a digital download of Mike Johnson's "Bon Vivant" cassette – with J Mascis on drums! – right here.

Mark Arm and Steve Turner discuss Mudhoney's Superfuzz Bigmuff

Mudhoney's Mark Arm & Steve Turner spilled the beans about their Superfuzz Bigmuff EP with Life Of The Record.  

Here's the scoop...

Steve Turner & Mark Arm

For the 35th anniversary of Mudhoney’s first 12-inch record, Superfuzz Bigmuff, we take a detailed look at how it was made. After Mark Arm met Steve Turner at a show in Seattle, they became fast friends and began playing in multiple bands together. They started Green River with Jeff Ament and Alex Shumway and eventually added Stone Gossard on second guitar. Tensions over the musical direction of the band eventually caused Green River to dissolve with Ament and Gossard going on to form Mother Love Bone and Arm and Turner deciding to form Mudhoney. 

With Mudhoney, they had a vision for fuzz drenched guitars and blending 60s garage with punk rock. They eventually added Dan Peters on drums and Matt Lukin on bass and had their first practice on New Year’s Day in 1988. Bruce Pavitt of Sub Pop offered to pay for some studio time with Jack Endino so he could hear the material they were working on. From those sessions, they released the "Touch Me I’m Sick" single in the summer of 1988. At that point, they went back into the studio with Jack Endino to work on the songs that would become Superfuzz Bigmuff.

In this episode, Mark Arm describes his approach of “vocalizing” rather than singing, and how playing guitar with this band changed how he thought about song arrangements. Steve Turner talks about his discovery of vintage fuzz boxes and how they informed the Mudhoney sound at a time when fuzz pedals were out of fashion. From the early days of Sub Pop to rocking baby blue 60s guitars to Dan Peters’ unique drum patterns to Matt Lukin’s relief of playing simple songs to Sonic Youth knighting them as the next big thing to a pivotal moment in Seattle music, we’ll hear the stories of how the record came together. 

Listen to the Life Of The Record episode right here.

Check out Mudhoney's Superfuzz Bigmuff along with their early singles and follow the link below for a copy of Steve Turner's recent book "Mud Ride" which makes a lovely Christmas gift for the fan of late 80s or early 90s music on your list.   

Get a copy of Steve Turner's memoir Mud Ride: A Messy Trip Through The Grunge Explosion right here.

Bruce Pavitt reveals the story behind the Seattle grunge scene

Bruce Pavitt recently explained how he helped build the Sub Pop empire on the PBS show Northwest Now.

New album from Tuatara due in August

Barrett Martin's Tuatara project with Peter Buck & Mike McCready release Underworld on Aug 5.