We Interviewed Greg Prato, the Guy Who Wrote the New Meat Puppets Book

When scanning the music section at the local book warehouse on my lunch break, I’m always making faces over the amount of absolute dreck that finds its way onto those shelves. Who the hell needs another book about the Beatles, Motley Crue or Pink Floyd?

One band I always thought had a hell of a story that I’d love to read is those acid gobbling weirdos, The Meat Puppets. Well, it looks like author Greg Prato must have heard my psychic pleas, because he has gotten the band's entire twisted and glorious history down in his new book, Too High To Die: Meet The Meat Puppets. Prato has not only nailed down the story of the Puppets perfectly, but that whole SST Records crew who saw Punk as a wide open world of gelatinous freedom and not just a haircut.

I was so knocked out by the book that I tracked Prato down and bellowed many obnoxious questions at him while he answered in a polite and bemused manner. Quite the trooper.

VICE: How did you first become aware of the Meat Puppets?

Greg Prato: While attending college in the fall of 1991, my roommate brought a bunch of issues of Guitar Player magazine from the '80s—one of which had a feature on the Meat Puppets's Curt Kirkwood. The interview was unlike most of the other guitar-based ones at the time, and the description of the group's music sounded intriguing. I belonged to a monthly CD club at the time, and they had the Puppets' latest release for sale, Forbidden Places, which I bought, was blown away, and spent 1992 hunting down all of the Puppets' past albums.

Hiking back through the Meat Puppets back catalog after hearing something like Forbidden Places, were you taken aback at how loosely they took things in the beginning? What was your initial reaction to hearing something like that first 7" or the first 12"?

I wasn't entirely surprised, as the second Puppets album I bought after Forbidden Places was Meat Puppets II, which is much more raw and "punk rock." So that prepared me a bit for when I arrived upon In a Car and Meat Puppets I. But listening back to it nowadays, it's pretty amazing to trace the group's progress from their first albums to where they're at today. Or even comparing Meat Puppets I to an album like Mirage, which is full of guitar synthesizer and electronic drums.

You make a great observation in your intro to the book that the Meat Puppets always seem to get glossed over when it comes to a history of underground music of the 80's. Why do you think that happens?

I have no idea. But that was certainly one of the main reasons why I wanted to do the book in the first place—besides the fact that as a long-time fan, I always sought a book about their complete history, and was denied. So I took the plunge! The fact that they never had a book written about them was extremely puzzling since the Kirkwood brothers are always full of witty/funny quotes and insights in interviews and their on-stage banter.

When did you finally decide 'screw it' and start to put together this book?

The first person I contacted was the group's manager, Dennis Pelowski, to get the band's OK to do a book. Once I got the OK, Curt was one of the first interviews, and I interviewed him several times for the book. Dennis and the band were a great help in helping hook me up with interviews for the book—that's how I was able to interview such renowned chaps as Flea, Peter Buck, Scott Asheton, and Dean DeLeo, among others.

You do an excellent job of showing how the MP's affected a wide spectrum of musicians who came up in the early 80's. Were you yourself shocked at how this band affected everyone from Ian MacKaye to Duff?

Most of the people I spoke to I knew were fans of the band from reading old articles (Henry Rollins, Kim Thayil, Mike Watt, etc.). But one of the more surprising fans was the Stooges' Scott Asheton—I had no idea he was a big fan. I also wasn't aware that REM's Peter Buck was a big fan.

I think the thing that makes the Meat Puppets special—along with most of the early SST canon of bands—is it wasn't necessarily punk rock that made them pick up an instrument, but the aesthetic of it definitely empowered them to make the music on their own terms.

That's probably why the Meat Puppets are one of my all-time favorite bands—they were not afraid to take on any musical genre they wanted to…and make it their own. One of the great things about most indie record companies of the '80s is that they let their bands do whatever the heck they wanted to do—or for instance, in the Puppets' case, allowing them to issue two albums in one year like 1987's Mirage and Huevos.

Not to get all Dungeons and Dragons about them, but how do you think the Meat Puppets’ 'career' would have headed if they weren't accepted into the world of SST and instead headed down the more 'arty' path they initially laid with the Los Angeles Free Music Society and Monitor? Do you think life would have been 'easier' playing to a crowd like that rather than close-minded punkers?

It's impossible to say, but I'd assume that it would have been similar to how it turned out—them doing whatever the heck they pleased, musically. And I'm sure not all of the shows the Puppets played were to close-minded punkers—while the group talks about a brutal Black Flag tour they did back in '84, if you check out concert YouTube footage of the band from the '80s, the crowds don't seem hostile at all and appreciate the Pups.

How long of a process was the creation of the book? Is there anyone you wished you got to talk to that you didn't?

I'd say it took about one and a half years from the first interview to the book being released. Regarding the latter question, it would have been cool to speak to the producer of the Puppets' early albums, Spot. I tried getting in touch, but never heard back.

It seems like the band are right on board with the book. There are these bundle packs on their website that combines the book, a shirt, etc. Is it pretty wild to get such cooperation from a bunch of dudes you've admired for so long?

The band couldn't have been a greater help with the book. I guess due to the fact that Curt Kirkwood had done several interviews with me prior for website/magazine articles, he knew I could be trusted and knew what I was doing. So yes, it's always cool to find out when a band you've enjoyed for a long time turn out to be stand-up gentlemen, as well!

From looking over the books you've written, it seems you take on subjects off the beaten path—like Tommy Bolin for example. Is it a conscious effort to shed light on musicians like this or are you like me: a guy who's just damned to be interested in musicians most people don't give a crap about?

The reason I've done all the books so far was due to a simple reason—as a fan of the subject, I wanted to read a book about them, and never found one. So…I took the matter into my own hands! As far as liking bands that are popular or not, I learned a long time ago that good music is good music—I enjoy listening to everything from the Bee-Gees to the Bad Brains! In fact, you could say that the Meat Puppets' varied approach helped show me that you shouldn't discriminate against music styles. Every single musical style has its good artists and its bad artists…

Too High To Die: Meet The Meat Puppets can be purchased here.