lavor írta Magazin kategóriában (19-07-12)
I have became acquainted with Bob Bert through Instagram and I didn’t just think it would be cool to interview him because he was playing drums for Sonic Youth in the ’80s (after Richard Edson and before Jim Sclavunos), but also because looking at his insta, I was convinced he knew every single soul in the so-called R’n’R underground. I asked him about a lot more than just stars and SY. I stole all the attached photos off his Instagram account. Sorry, Bob.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Bob Bert (@therealbobbert) on
– In an interview you said: “I’ve lived in Hoboken most of my life, and I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.” “…home of Frank Sinatra and Steve Shelley.” But Kerouac wrote about Hoboken in OnTheRoad also.: “Dean had a fight with Marylou in their Hoboken apartment — God knows why they went there.” What’s important to know about Hoboken? Are there any places and events you consider cultic about Hoboken and do you think they are important for today’s Hoboken youth, including you, Sonic Youth and your generation?
– Funny, yesterday I was with a friend walking in NYC and he pointed out the apartment where Kerouac wrote On The Road. Hoboken is only a square mile and is right across the river from Manhattan. It was a cool working class place filled with artists musicians, a great rock club Maxwell’s and than soon after the great record store where I worked called Pier Platters. Now it’s a very hard to afford place to live filled with rich people popping out kids and if filled with sports bars and drunken jocks. I still have a few friends here but most of my social life and music life are in NYC and Brooklyn.
– You contacted Sonic Youth after you saw a flyer in a downtown record store saying Sonic Youth needs a drummer. What bands were in Hoboken those days you might have joined and in what respect did SY stand out, what made it special?
– Sonic Youth and pretty much every band I’ve been in has been based out of Manhattan, the bands that were well known in Hoboken in the 1980’s were the Bongos, Yo La Tengo, Individuals. But like I said we had the Club Maxwell’s where every great band played, I practically lived there. Nirvana, REM, Sonic Youth, Beck, Pixies, they all played there on the way up.
– I read that you came to Lausanne with the first SY’s Eurotour in June 83, on your birthday, which turned out to be quite irregular: “…When we finished the set, a riot broke out with small fires, it was nuts and things got crazier. … Sonic Youth definitely paved the way for indie US bands touring Europe. … No one knew who these freaks from NYC were in their nice little towns and we blew whoever was there heads off.” What was your impression, was Europe ready for your music at that time? Did you have a European band you met, whom you knew and did something important at the time?
– Yes what I said before is all true. Europe has always been more receptive to artier out there music than the USA. On one of those early Europe tours we met the band Einsturdste Neubauten, the industrial band from Berlin who blew our minds still a big fan.
– “Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon introduced Bert to Pussy Galore – who happened to be looking for a drummer at the time – at an Einsturzende Neubauten show in Manhattan, and that launched the next stage of his career.” – was your break-up really so friendly that your old band recommended a new one?
View this post on InstagramCool photo of @thurstonmoore58 & me by @reuben_radding ? @hozacrecords #sonicyouth
A post shared by Bob Bert (@therealbobbert) on
– Love it He’s amazing!
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Bob Bert (@therealbobbert) on
– Which are those new bands that we should pay attention to as organizers when they are heading towards Eastern Europe?
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