Article: A ten-part television documentary on...
A ten-part television documentary on the history of rock & roll inspired me to write Our Band Could Be Your Life. When the show finally got up to punk rock, I was really looking forward to hearing about the Eighties indie scene, which was not only a big part of my life but was also a heavy -- and often acknowledged -- influence on many of the biggest bands of the Nineties. But the narrative skipped straight from Talking Heads to Nirvana! What happened to Husker Du? What about the Replacements? How about Fugazi? None of them were there. I thought maybe I'd blacked out for about ten minutes and missed that part. But no, I hadn't. In fact, that whole era is routinely left out of the history books, as if it never happened.
"Someone ought to do something about that," I thought to myself, kicking back on my couch. Then I thought, "Why don't you do it yourself!"
Our Band Could be Your Life documents a lost history. To this day, many folks in the rock world speak in reverent tones about people like Steve Albini, Sonic Youth, Mike Watt, Calvin Johnson and other leading lights of the Eighties indie underground. But few really know why those names are so revered. So one of the main purposes of the book is to recount the "creation myths" of those personalities -- exactly why is Ian MacKaye one of the most respected citizens of the indie underground? Well, read the book and see!
People often ask me what was the best interview I did. And I always say former Minutemen bassist Mike Watt. To begin with, I was deeply moved by the experience of him taking me to Peck Park in San Pedro, California, to the very spot where he first met his best friend and bandmate, the late D. Boon. I'll never forget it. But that wasn't the only reason. The man is a deep fountain of wisdom and experience; he and the Minutemen illuminate the entire book.
And everything Watt says about the way the Minutemen conducted their career could equally apply to the way anybody could conduct theirs. That's why I called the book Our Band Could Be Your Life, because I hope that whoever reads the book will be inspired by the Minutemen -- and all the other bands in the book -- to think for themselves.
Copyright © Michael Azerrad