Photo credit: Kelly Davidson Studio
Tell us about your tour vehicle.
We sold our touring van a Dodge Ram in the 1990’s that had over 250k miles! I borrowed $10k from my dad to buy the van before our first US tour in 1989 on our first SST self-titled album produced by J Mascis. Our record label actually paid him back. Since then we rent vans in US and Europe – very expensive but safer.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
We seek out local food like Anthony Bourdain taught us – and try anything – like calf’s brains in Barcelona at 2am, alligator bites in Tuscaloosa, AL, sour cherry venison in Norway, or curry doner kebab in Kreuzberg/Berlin. In Japan, we ate ramen and fried octopus balls from street vendors.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
Good question. When we started, we would play very physically and break lots of string and change them all every night – even bass. My bass pick-ups were covered in blood at the end of a tour and needed to be removed and deep cleaned :-(. Then as the years went on, we quieted down a bit, though Bill Janovitz still changes strings on all of his guitars every night.
Where do you rehearse?
We rehearse at a place called Jamspot in Wakefield MA. Based on the Tokyo model of rehearsal spaces you rent with PA and amps provided in house. On one side is an AC/DC cover band, on the other side of us is a Billy Joel cover band – which can be very distracting.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
I didn’t write song lyrics until our second album Birdbrain – a song called ‘Baby’ where I reference one of our big influences Husker Du! “I’m hiding your lies in, I’m digging New Day Rising”.
Describe your first gig.
First gig was a college party at UMass Amherst in 1986. We were all guitarists as kids – so this was the first time we switched instruments and became the bass, drum, guitar – trio we are still today. At that party was a teenaged J Mascis who would produce our first album for SST Records.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
I’ve only had one job for over 40 years – a music booking agent – I negotiate fees and develop tours for bands.
How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?
Buffalo Tom has had a long career, and luckily the nostalgia for our post-punk era of music keeps us touring and recording. I look forward continuing to record and perform concerts in the next 5-10 years although, honestly, I would be just as happy to retire and raise a cat.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
I wish I had read Marcus Aerelius’ Meditations before I started out. You need to be stoic to get through a career in music and touring – don’t sweat out the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff kind of thing. Ha.