Bassholes

courtesy of Noises in the Garage

DH: Don Howland-vocals, guitar
B: Bim-drums

Noise Junkie: On this new album (Deaf Mix, Vol, 3), you've got Bim on drums. How'd you meet up with him?

DH: Bim and I have been playing together now for about two and a half years. Bim filled in one night when my old drummer had another obligation and we just clicked. It stuck. The old drummer in the Bassholes, who was also the last drummer for The Gibson Bros., he was married, like me, and had a lot of obligations that, between the two of us, maybe for better than worse, we had to blow off a lot of stuff, we both had so much going on. Bim's a young guy and he's ready to go all the time, so it's worked out pretty well.

NJ: How long does it take you to record a typical album?

DH: It seems like I kind of have spurts of writing a whole bunch of songs. It depends. We're working on a record that's really obsessing over, but we get a good song and within two days and record it and then I'll think about it a while and put some vocals on. It doesn't take long at all. Most of the stuff we record we record right away. It kind of varies depending on how much money anyone's willing to spend, but most of the songs are recorded on a 4-track in a basement. As soon as we get something we like, we record it. It just takes a while to get the pieces together. But the magic and the joy of recording a 4-track is that you just have it done. You don't have to wait in a studio with some songs that are six months old and songs that are two weeks old. It's right when it's fresh.

B: Don's got a lot of good shit, man.

NJ: So, Bim, how did you meet up with Don?

B: Actually, I was gonna replace Rich for just a couple of dates. He ended up not doing the dates, but later on, he got back with. We were supposed to do some shows with Sebadoh. He hit me up to fill in for a show and later on down the line he got back with me to fill in for another show, but after that show, it was on then.

DH: We blew off that Sebadoh show, by the way, I'm proud to say. (laughs)

NJ: What's the concept behind titling your albums 'Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3, etc.?

DH: Just consistency.

B: Chronological order. Down the line, it's an encyclopedia kind of thing, y'know?

DH: It's just a way of tying one to the last to the one before that. There's no real concept, but I like to think of them all as part of the same thing.

B: I do think there's a concept.

NJ: I noticed on this new record, you still had a lot of rawness, but you were trying for a different kind of feel. Would you say so?

DH: I'm getting older all the time, and as I do, I'm getting more into mellow stuff. I don't know if your finding that, but not necessarily mellow, but quieter stuff. We were talking earlier about hearing loss and stuff.

B: The Haunted Hill stuff was recorded at a studio they used to do Gibson Bros stuff in, so maybe it was the rock they never let come out, or maybe he could do a lot of shit with the 4-track at his own time. It wasn't like he was trying to rock out or anything.

DH: The next In The Red record we recorded in a big studio and it sounds like 'Haunted Hill' X 4. It's just real loud, real loud guitar. It just kind of depends, but I like the way the third record sounds. I just don't know if the world needs any more big production records. Loud guitars have had their time.

B: If there wasn't a whack-ass movement when we recorded these records, it wouldn't be no big deal, but now, they talk about 'low-fi' or this, that and the other...

DH: I think that's over, too.

B: over a trail of bad records. That's just the way he goes about it and I'm just now getting used to it.

DH: When I really started thinking about ever being in a band, I used to listen to pretty much stuff that was cleaned up a little bit off of 78s. I just like that sound. There's a lot of stuff that can live in that hiss..Late last night, I was recording a riff and putting some stuff over it and my wife and kids came in the front door above me and you could hear the KLOMP, KLOMP, KLOMP. It sounded great. It's not arty, but I like accidents like that.

B: As far as what he's capable of doing with the 4-track, if he's got it in his hands, it's gonna be dope, y'know what I mean?

NJ: Tell me about the new album on Matador.

DH: Well, I went down to North Carolina last week with my wife and she likes The Bassholes, but I kind of have to use her as a bullshit detector, and I played it for her, and the one thing about using a 4-track is that the only person hearing it is me. So, I played it past her. Soundwise, it's like 'Deaf Mix,î but she said, "Man, it's way, way sicker, real twisted. She gets it. I trust her and she said, "Yeah, it's gonna be good, but it's gonna be real creepy.' I had a bad year last year. I teach inner city middle school and over the course of a year, I've had four of my ex-students involved in some criminal things, y'know, kids basically murdering people. On top of that, I just had a psychotic group of kids. I was in Hell. I couldn't sleep. The whole year was just a miserable year, and I think some of that came out in the music. It's anti-social, let me put it that way.

THE BASSHOLES: Long Way Blues 1996-1998 CD (Matador)

This record is indeed as creepy as Mr. Howland says it is. It's a soundtrack for the darkest parts of your soul. Weird sound effects, weird guitar parts, songs that rock out, tales about kids a long way from home, psychotic screams, psychedelic instrumentals with a surf feel, devils at play, angels of death--say what you want, but this is not an album for the faint of heart. And I say that in a good way, because The Bassholes are not a band where you can put an easy handle on what they do. One minute, they play the blues, the next minute, they're rocking out in the garage. This album's like a drawing done by a hand that's killed before you may be repulsed or you may not understand, but you're always fascinated as the darkness pulls you in and buries you. This album will reveal even more layers to you with repeated listenings.

--Noises from the Garage, summer 1998, c/o Brian Marshall, 8811 Rue Riviera, Apt. 3A, Indianapolis, IN 46226