Mark Arm
Encyclopedia
Mark Arm is the vocalist for the grunge
band Mudhoney
. He is also credited with coining the term "grunge" to describe his (and other Seattle rock groups) style of rock music (although Kurt Cobain
claimed that Sub Pop
executive Jonathon Poneman created the term). His former group, Green River
, is one of the first grunge bands, along with Malfunkshun
, Soundgarden
, Skin Yard
, the U-Men, and others. He is now the manager of the Sub Pop
warehouse.
rock scene in 1980, when he formed a band, while attending Bellevue Christian High School
, called "Mr. Epp and the Calculations". The band played its first show in 1981, opening for the band Student Nurse. In 1982 they released a 7" EP. The next year they added a second guitarist, Steve Turner
, and released a cassette. Mr. Epp and the Calculations came to an end the following year.
After Mr. Epp and the Calculations ended, Mark Arm and Steve Turner (who had become close friends) joined the band Limp Richerds
for a few weeks. Afterward, Arm and Turner took on future Pearl Jam
members Jeff Ament
and Stone Gossard
, as well as Alex Vincent
, to form the band Green River
. Green River released two EPs and a full length album before disbanding. Steve Turner left the band to finish college, and Arm was forced to find a new band again. After Turner returned from schooling, they resumed their Green River side project, the Thrown Ups.
, and bassist Matt Lukin
, formerly of The Melvins
. The new band renamed themselves Mudhoney. In 1988, Sub Pop
released Mudhoney's first single, "Touch Me I'm Sick
". After extensive touring and an EP album, Mudhoney released their eponymous full length debut
in 1989. Their next album, Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
came out soon after, just before the explosion of grunge spearheaded by Nirvana
's seminal Nevermind
. At the time, Sub Pop, their record label, was "on the verge of bankruptcy, having trouble paying its flagship band, severely delaying the release of the album to July 1991." In 1992, they signed to a major record label, Reprise
and released Piece of Cake
. The album did not sell well, due to a combination of the band's uncompromising sound and an oversaturation of the genre; according to Stephen Turner, the album references "how easily things had come to them...the songs were kinda half-baked... and Mark wasn't at his best."
Although they never achieved the fame of some of their contemporaries, Mudhoney is one of the few grunge bands that continue to release albums. In 2002 they released Since We've Become Translucent
. Their most recent album, The Lucky Ones, has been released in May 2008 on the Sub Pop label. Arm and Mudhoney's contribution to grunge music is especially significant.
In 2008, he told the Washington Post's Express, "I don't smoke pot all that much. I did get stoned last night, though [laughs] — after the show. I'm not opposed smoking pot or to people smoking pot. Every now and again I smoke a joint, but I don't get stoned and come up with creative ideas. I usually get paralyzed on the couch."
According to a recent article in magazine, MOJO, Mark Arm started using heroin in 1987 and by the summer of 1989, "...it had all caught up with me.". Apparently, the band had little patience for his addiction, so he would "use heroin when Mudhoney were off the road, then stop as they prepared to leave. 'So I was real used to quitting,' Arm says. 'You go through these flu-like symptoms for a couple of days, then you think about it for months.' " Arm hit his nadir on New Year's Eve 1992 when he overdosed for the fourth time. He met Emily, his now wife, after a Japanese tour later that year. She helped him kick his addiction.
He was a singer and guitarist for the group Bloodloss and singer for the Seattle supergroup
The Monkeywrench. Monkeywrench members include Arm, Turner, Tim Kerr (Lord Hi Fixers, Big Boys, Poison 13), Tom Price (Gas Huffer) and Martin Bland (Bloodloss). He has also made guest appearances on several albums, most notably on Alice in Chains
' 1992 EP Sap.
In 1998, he made an appearance on the motion picture soundtrack for the film Velvet Goldmine
with Ron Asheton
, Mike Watt
, Thurston Moore
, and Steve Shelley
under the name Wylde Ratttz.
In 2000, Arm, Turner, Peters, Scott McCaughey
, Tom Price and Bill Henderson recorded the album "The New Original Sonic Sound" under the band name "The New Strychnines". they recorded a compilation of 16 songs by the legendary mid-60's Seattle garage band The Sonics
. The album was released by Book Records.
In 2004, he toured with MC5
, standing in for Rob Tyner on vocals.
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
band Mudhoney
Mudhoney
Mudhoney is an American alternative rock band. Formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988 following the demise of Green River, Mudhoney's members are vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison, and drummer Dan Peters. Original bassist Matt Lukin left the...
. He is also credited with coining the term "grunge" to describe his (and other Seattle rock groups) style of rock music (although Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
claimed that Sub Pop
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
executive Jonathon Poneman created the term). His former group, Green River
Green River (band)
Green River was an American rock band from Seattle, Washington that was active from 1984 to 1988. Although the band had little commercial impact outside of its native Seattle, Green River proved to have significant influence on the genre later known as grunge, both with its own music and with the...
, is one of the first grunge bands, along with Malfunkshun
Malfunkshun
Malfunkshun is a band formed in 1980 by Andrew Wood and his brother Kevin Wood. Malfunkshun, along with Skin Yard, Green River, U-Men, and Melvins are considered the "godfathers" of grunge, with Malfunkshun being the first of those bands to form.-History:...
, Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
, Skin Yard
Skin Yard
Skin Yard was an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, who were active from 1985 to 1992. The group never gained a mainstream audience, but were an influence on their contemporaries – most notably Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, The Melvins, and Green River – alongside whom they are considered...
, the U-Men, and others. He is now the manager of the Sub Pop
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
warehouse.
Early career
Mark Arm first entered the SeattleSeattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
rock scene in 1980, when he formed a band, while attending Bellevue Christian High School
Bellevue Christian School
Bellevue Christian School, home of the Vikings, is a 1A school in Clyde Hill, Washington and is a part of the Emerald City League. The school was founded in 1950 by Dr...
, called "Mr. Epp and the Calculations". The band played its first show in 1981, opening for the band Student Nurse. In 1982 they released a 7" EP. The next year they added a second guitarist, Steve Turner
Steve Turner (guitarist)
Steve Turner is an American guitarist, most famous for his work with Seattle band Mudhoney.-Biography:Turner was born in 1965 in Houston, Texas. His first band was called The Ducky Boys. The line up included future Pearl Jam member Stone Gossard. The Ducky Boys split around 1983.Turner later found...
, and released a cassette. Mr. Epp and the Calculations came to an end the following year.
After Mr. Epp and the Calculations ended, Mark Arm and Steve Turner (who had become close friends) joined the band Limp Richerds
Limp Richerds
The Limp Richerds were a hardcore punk rock band from Seattle, Washington which featured Mark Arm and Steve Turner in one of their many lineups...
for a few weeks. Afterward, Arm and Turner took on future Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
members Jeff Ament
Jeff Ament
Jeffrey Allen Ament is an American musician who serves as the bassist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of Pearl Jam...
and Stone Gossard
Stone Gossard
Stone Carpenter Gossard is an American musician who serves as the rhythm and lead guitarist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of Pearl Jam...
, as well as Alex Vincent
Alex Vincent (drummer)
Alex Shumway was the drummer for the bands Spluii Numa and, later, one of the pioneers of the grunge scene, Green River. After Green River had broken up, Shumway moved to Japan...
, to form the band Green River
Green River (band)
Green River was an American rock band from Seattle, Washington that was active from 1984 to 1988. Although the band had little commercial impact outside of its native Seattle, Green River proved to have significant influence on the genre later known as grunge, both with its own music and with the...
. Green River released two EPs and a full length album before disbanding. Steve Turner left the band to finish college, and Arm was forced to find a new band again. After Turner returned from schooling, they resumed their Green River side project, the Thrown Ups.
Mudhoney
Arm and Turner took on drummer Dan PetersDan Peters
Daniel Joe Peters is the drummer for Mudhoney. He joined Bundle of Hiss when he was fifteen years old. He also played drums for Nirvana, appearing on one single, "Sliver". Peters' only live appearance with Nirvana was on September 22, 1990, in Seattle, Washington, at the Motor Sports International...
, and bassist Matt Lukin
Matt Lukin
Matt Lukin is an American musician, best known as a bassist and founding member of the Melvins and Mudhoney.-The Melvins :...
, formerly of The Melvins
The Melvins
The Melvins are an American band that formed in 1983. They usually perform as a trio, but in recent years have performed as a four piece with two drummers. Since 1984, singer and guitarist Buzz Osborne and drummer Dale Crover have been the band's constant members...
. The new band renamed themselves Mudhoney. In 1988, Sub Pop
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
released Mudhoney's first single, "Touch Me I'm Sick
Touch Me I'm Sick
"Touch Me I'm Sick" is a song by the American alternative rock band Mudhoney. It was recorded in March 1988 at Seattle's Reciprocal Recording studio with producer Jack Endino. "Touch Me I'm Sick" was released as Mudhoney's debut single by independent record label Sub Pop on August 1, 1988...
". After extensive touring and an EP album, Mudhoney released their eponymous full length debut
Mudhoney (album)
Mudhoney is the debut studio album by American grunge band Mudhoney, released in 1989. It was their first LP after several singles and an EP ....
in 1989. Their next album, Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge is the second studio album by the grunge band Mudhoney. It was recorded in 1991, at a time when the band was thinking of signing to a major record label, but decided to release the album on Sub Pop...
came out soon after, just before the explosion of grunge spearheaded by Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
's seminal Nevermind
Nevermind
Nevermind is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991. Produced by Butch Vig, Nevermind was the group's first release on DGC Records...
. At the time, Sub Pop, their record label, was "on the verge of bankruptcy, having trouble paying its flagship band, severely delaying the release of the album to July 1991." In 1992, they signed to a major record label, Reprise
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
and released Piece of Cake
Piece of Cake (album)
Piece of Cake is the third studio album by the grunge band Mudhoney. Recorded and released in 1992, it was their first album released through Reprise Records...
. The album did not sell well, due to a combination of the band's uncompromising sound and an oversaturation of the genre; according to Stephen Turner, the album references "how easily things had come to them...the songs were kinda half-baked... and Mark wasn't at his best."
Although they never achieved the fame of some of their contemporaries, Mudhoney is one of the few grunge bands that continue to release albums. In 2002 they released Since We've Become Translucent
Since We've Become Translucent
Since We've Become Translucent is the sixth album by the grunge band Mudhoney, released in 2002. The album was the first to be recorded after the departure of their original bassist, Matt Lukin, three years earlier...
. Their most recent album, The Lucky Ones, has been released in May 2008 on the Sub Pop label. Arm and Mudhoney's contribution to grunge music is especially significant.
Drug use
When grunge exploded in the early '90s, Arm wrote a comedic nonfiction essay about smoking pot and going to the Clinton White House with Pearl Jam.In 2008, he told the Washington Post's Express, "I don't smoke pot all that much. I did get stoned last night, though [laughs] — after the show. I'm not opposed smoking pot or to people smoking pot. Every now and again I smoke a joint, but I don't get stoned and come up with creative ideas. I usually get paralyzed on the couch."
According to a recent article in magazine, MOJO, Mark Arm started using heroin in 1987 and by the summer of 1989, "...it had all caught up with me.". Apparently, the band had little patience for his addiction, so he would "use heroin when Mudhoney were off the road, then stop as they prepared to leave. 'So I was real used to quitting,' Arm says. 'You go through these flu-like symptoms for a couple of days, then you think about it for months.' " Arm hit his nadir on New Year's Eve 1992 when he overdosed for the fourth time. He met Emily, his now wife, after a Japanese tour later that year. She helped him kick his addiction.
Solo and side projects
Arm released "The Freewheelin' Mark Arm", a solo single in 1990.He was a singer and guitarist for the group Bloodloss and singer for the Seattle supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
The Monkeywrench. Monkeywrench members include Arm, Turner, Tim Kerr (Lord Hi Fixers, Big Boys, Poison 13), Tom Price (Gas Huffer) and Martin Bland (Bloodloss). He has also made guest appearances on several albums, most notably on Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
' 1992 EP Sap.
In 1998, he made an appearance on the motion picture soundtrack for the film Velvet Goldmine
Velvet Goldmine
Velvet Goldmine is a 1998 British/American drama film directed and co-written by Todd Haynes. The film tells the story of a pop star based mainly on David Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust' character and is set in Britain during the days of glam rock in the early 1970s.Sandy Powell received another Academy...
with Ron Asheton
Ron Asheton
Ronald Frank Asheton was an American guitarist and co-songwriter with Iggy Pop for the rock band The Stooges.Asheton is ranked as number 29 on Rolling Stones list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time....
, Mike Watt
Mike Watt
Michael David Watt is an American bassist, singer and songwriter.He is best known for co-founding the rock bands Minutemen, dos, and Firehose; , he is also the bassist for the reunited Stooges and a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan as well as many other post-Minutemen...
, Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
, and Steve Shelley
Steve Shelley
Steven Jay Shelley is an American drummer, best known as the drummer of alternative rock band Sonic Youth.-Biography:...
under the name Wylde Ratttz.
In 2000, Arm, Turner, Peters, Scott McCaughey
Scott McCaughey
As a singer and songwriter, Scott McCaughey is the leader of the Seattle and Portland-based bands The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5.He is also bassist for Robyn Hitchcock's most recent touring band, The Venus 3, along with Bill Rieflin and Peter Buck....
, Tom Price and Bill Henderson recorded the album "The New Original Sonic Sound" under the band name "The New Strychnines". they recorded a compilation of 16 songs by the legendary mid-60's Seattle garage band The Sonics
The Sonics
The Sonics are an American garage rock band from Tacoma, Washington, originating from the early and mid-1960s. Among The Sonics' contemporaries were The Kingsmen, The Wailers, The Dynamics, The Regents, and Paul Revere & the Raiders...
. The album was released by Book Records.
In 2004, he toured with MC5
MC5
The MC5 is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan and originally active from 1964 to 1972. The original band line-up consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson...
, standing in for Rob Tyner on vocals.
Further reading
- Michael AzerradMichael AzerradMichael Azerrad is an American author, journalist and musician. He grew up in the New York City area and received his BA degree from Columbia College in 1983...
, Our Band Could Be Your LifeOur Band Could Be Your LifeOur Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991 is a book by Michael Azerrad. It chronicles the careers of several underground rock bands who, while finding little or no mainstream success, were hugely influential in establishing American alternative and indie...
, (USA: Little Brown, 2001, ISBN 0316063797) has a chapter on Mudhoney.