The Noise, February 2003
You Laugh Now by Amanda Nichols

You may not know of Grubstake. You may not have caught their opening stints for their female counterparts in stripped down blues, Mr. Airplane Man, or local troublemakers The Takers -- but chances are, you'd dig 'em. Like Andy Warhol attempting an Impresisonist portrait of Elvis, Grubstake manages to mix the humor of Ween, Richard Hell's punk snickers and the "dropout blues" of early Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band with charm, skill, and reckless abandon. Two things that Grubstake has over Warhol in this department, however, are a toy piano and an accordion. While this may cause some to label the group as being "quirky" (tantamount to instant death in "respectable" indie rock circles), their odd instrumental arrangements only seem to add a sense of originality and rustic charm in the era of manufactured (and downloaded) music. The trio, composed of Pat McHugh (guitars, vocals), Rocket 1000 (drums) and John Buczkowski (accordion, bass) share a sense of sly wit and creative tale telling that would make Col. Parker blush. Grubstak (noun): 1: supplies or funds furnished a mining prospector on promise of a share in his discoveries. 2: material assistance (as a loan) provided for launching an enterprise or for a person in difficult circumstances.

Noise: So, how would you describe your sound?

Rocket 1000: There's a trend where people don't know what to make of us. I actually take it as a compliment... (but) the fact is, it's not any weirder than any other shit that's out there.

Pat McHugh: Dropout blues... a sound that came from years of noise experimentation and home recording. The songs are more folkie than rock tunes. There's a lot of space for other instruments to come in.

John Buczkowski: Swampy blues. Traditional more than folkie.

Pat: We've found a really nice critical mass between instruments.

Rocket: Some people don't get the accordion.

Pat: It's not jarring, "Hey, lookit our accordion!"

John: I don't know know if you can tell on some of the songs if it's an accordion or an organ. (I) try not to oompah; try to make it trippy.

Pat: We were really lucky to find John and have an accordionist so willing to try unusual music. I think musicians appreciate what we do.

The recently released Ghosts of Arkadelphia on Nine Mile Records (Rocket runs the label, by the way) os Grubstake's second full-length album. There was quite a cushy period of time in between this and their last release, Farm Use. What gives?

Pat: We (he and Rocket) both have been doing what you might call home recording for a long time. I was an avid 4-tracker.

Rocket: It takes about two and a half years to do an album. We do it all ourselves... on 8 track.

Pat: You couldn't get that Grubstake sound on a 4-track. Too rich. (But) I think that the Moldy Peaches might be a 4-track band.

Rocket: They're not one of those bands that just records in really nice studios but...

Pat:...makes it sound like crap? I don't think so. I've heard a lot of bad recordings, and I think that's genuine crap.

Noise: Uh huh...

Pat (getting back to his music): We wanted this album to have the feel of a good mix tape, where anything could be up next but everything is unified by a certain sound. The sounds we've built combine elements of traditional blues and folk with minimalist punk. The Blues Brothers was definately a film that was very influential on our musical development. It made me want to play any place -- a church, Bob's Country Bunker, the middle of the street in front of a fried chicken place...

Noise: Where's the strangest place you've ever played?

Pat: We played a graduation party in Worchester.

Rocket: In the rain.

Pat: It wasn't that weird. It just sounds weird. There was a 200-pound pig named Runt there. I actually went into his lair and visited.

Noise: Where is Arkadelphia? Is that a real place?

Pat: It's kind of fairy-tale sounding, yet it's a real city in the Deep South.

Rocket: It's in Arkansas. I was driving through Arkansas on my way to Texas and saw the name of the town and thought it was cool.

Pat: The funny thing, (is)my neighbor, completely randomly, is from Arkansas, from the same side of the state as Arkadelphia. It kind of drove him crazy.

Rocket: The entire state of Arkansas is like Area 51... Arkadelphia (as a title) doesn't mean anything (though).

Pat: It sounds like Philadelphia.

Rocket: I figure that's where Grubstake's sound is -- somewhere between Philadelphia and Arkansas.

Noise: I really love "2001 Recession Blues". That's based on real events, right?

Pat: It's a very non-fictional song. It's a true story. I know a lot fo people who've suffered from that general malady.

Noise: Tell me about Nine Mile Records.

Rocket: Nine Mile Records is something i started a few years ago to put out albums by a previous band. We just stuck with it. I don't know if you can actually call it a label. I think labels are supposed to make money.

Pat: They're supposed to put out music.

       Lost my job / Boss said he couldn't pay me off / Said he couldn't even lay me off / Took a long,long walk now...
                   - "2001 Recession Blues"

The band's music also tends to veer into psychedelia, either through instrumentation, lyrical content ("I think about brains a lot") or by having people show 16mm films on top of them while they perform, just as the Velvet Underground attempted to do in the 1960s. The difference mainly being that while the VU had the crowd-accomodating size of the Dom, Grubstake has done lots of these experiments in venues as tiny as the Druid in Inman Square.

Pat: We've been trying to show film and videos at the last few shows with our friends at Bus 27. The last few shows have had a lot of film -- 16 mm, videos... our own videos as well.

Noise: Are they projected behind you or on top of you? Or a little bit of both?

Pat: We've had an opportunity to (project it) a couple of different ways. The Druid actually has a nice projection system. I guess it's mostly for soccer... that explains why so many people walk into the wall there.

Besides being culpable for a small percentage of non-soccer related injuries at the Druid, the guys are always keeping an eye out for as many nontraditional areas to get their music heard as they can muster. From "telegrubbie" dolls to cool promo photos to (ahem) broadening their hockey-player fan base, no stone is left unturned.

John: Telegrubbie dolls!

Pat: I think in a way, our music is really good hockey soundtrack music.

John: Hockey players love it!

Rocket: I like when the hockey players come to the shows, but I have to say I think they scare some people.

Pat: We have a big hockey contigency.

Noise: Canadian or American?

John: They're buddies of mine...

Pat: He schools 'em. Let's not beat around the proverbial bush.

Rocket: He's from Canada, they're from America, therefore he schools 'em.

John (obviously embarassed): ...when they read this, my ass is grass.

Noise: There's a photo of the band where you're all wearing suits and blindfolds. It kind of reminded me of the photo of Richard Hell on the cover of Please Kill Me. It kind of evoked the same thing.

Pat: Coreen (mumbled last name) did that. She has taken lots of photographs.

Rocket: She's basically our staff photographer.

Pat: The nice thing about the photos are the integrity of them.

Presentation aside, the things that make their sound so unique (other than the accordion) may have something to do with the fact that it started as a drums and guitar duo, with the role of guitar being played by a Travis Bean (still used) through the singular sounding Sonic Chord Amplifier. Long since upgraded to a three piece, they're now watching bands that have similar instrumentation to their old ways become media darlings. Like the White Stripes, for instance, whose disc begins to play at the cafe while we're talking.

Rocket (laughing): Those motherfuckers stole our sound!

Pat: Husband and wife? Brother and sister?

Rocket: We went through that same controversy but no one bought it.

Pat:We should mention that there is a so-called original member of the band. The first Grubstake durmmer was named Cadillac Frankie Z.

Noise: He was your Pete Best!

Pat: Yeah... I knew him well for a long time. I don't know where the fuck he is now. He just disappeared.

Hopefully, no more band members will be on the backs of milk cartons any time soon. So, to sum them up quickly, : what we've got here is a three piece folk/punk/blues outfit that's as equally influenced by Howlin' Wolf as by The Voivods. There's some off-kilter instrumentation, but you may not notice that, being distracted by the films being projected on or around 'em. Bending the genres in every way, Grubstake seems dedicated to a motto that Rocket relates to me: "Confusion is good."