O: Other than supporting the reissues, is there a particular reason why you've returned in 2005? Do you feel like maybe the world is finally ready for this reunion?
LB: I don't know why it would be any more important now. I mean, people talk about all these bands that are really influenced by Dinosaur. Dinosaur's influence has become so subsumed into—it's not even an issue any more of whether we've influenced people. There was a brief time I thought in the '90s where it was pretty obvious, like "Creep" by Radiohead, where you're like, "Whoa." And the shoe-gazer bands. But at this point, it just seems like we probably could have done this at any particular time, and people would be like, "Wow, I never thought that would happen."
JM: Yeah, it seemed like a good time for all of us. Kevin Shields from My Bloody Valentine was saying, "Yeah, that would be good for you guys to play again, to show people that you influenced a lot of people." Like we influenced them and, I don't know, some other bands at the time. And kids don't realize at this point.
O: After everything you've been through, was it possible for your shows to feel like old times? Would you even want them to feel like old times?
JM: No, not really. [Laughs.] It definitely felt better than old times. More like earlier times, before we were all hating each other.
M: People always talk about how we didn't get along, and it's true, but we still paid a lot of attention to the music, regardless, and we took a lot of time to learn the music and do it really well to the best of our ability. And I think it paid off, because it's still there—Lou and I got together at first, like two months ago, and practiced at his rehearsal space in California, and within an hour, it felt we were back in J's basement in the old days. [Laughs.] It feels way like old times. We've played a bunch of festivals and stuff already in Europe, and I just feel like we're so punk, like we're just really heavy and aggressive. It definitely feels like the '80s all over again, as far as the early-'80s hardcore scene or whatever. I definitely feel like that energy is still coming through, and it's cool.
LB: It feels exactly like old times, minus the part where I think everybody hates us. [Laughs.] Minus the part where I think I'm doing something wrong. Or minus the part where I just feel cripplingly self-conscious.
Dinosaur Jr., continued...
O: Back in the day, a lot of the band's problems cropped up on tour. How are you guys holding up on the road?
J Mascis: So far, so good. We had Lou's wife and Lou's new kid on the bus. And my wife. And then we had some other people who were all kind of old-time fans working with us—usually people who me and Lou both like. And Murph gets along with most people.
Murph: Everything's been awesome. It's been really, really cool. I'm still kind of shocked—I'll be numb, just kind of sitting around going "Wow." I'm not used to it, 'cause I'm still programmed from the old days. The biggest thing is, back in the early days, it was more just us, whereas now we have a couple techs with us—a really good drummer and guitar player. They've actually played with J. So it's more like a family. I mean, yeah, it's the three of us out there, but I feel like we're coming from a much bigger foundation where we have this whole family of musicians, so we can laugh about stuff and joke. I can screw up a song and look over at whoever and laugh, and he'll be laughing, like, "Yeah, that was a good one, you fucked that one up pretty good." In the old days, that would have never happened, and that brings a whole new kind of fun light into it.
Lou Barlow: Those were literally the first tours that we were doing, and in the 15 years since I was in the band—or whatever it is—I've toured constantly, and so has J. And Murph has toured, too, with Lemonheads and some other bands. So we're, like, veterans of what we do. Those first tours would be hard on anybody, and in my opinion, back then, J and Murph were rather spoiled. [Laughs.] So it was extremely difficult for them, as the youngest children in their family, to have to share everything. [Laughs.] It wasn't easy to share your space, and it was devastating for J to have to be near people while they were eating and stuff. [Laughs]. It was really hard for him. But that was a long time ago.
O: As a music fan, are you usually skeptical of reunions?
JM: Um, depends. Yeah, sometimes. Definitely skeptical of reunion records. [Laughs.] I think the first reunion that I was really into was Fleetwood Mac—I thought Stevie Nicks was singing a lot better than she used to sing. That inspired me in some way—I really liked that live concert they recorded. The music seemed better. Mission Of Burma, I've seen quite a few times—I saw them in the old days, and they seem better now that they've reunited. The shows I've seen were better than the shows I saw when I was a kid.
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