Past
Pavement
Words by Ruvan
Photos by Dustin Klein
Pavement
was one of the most loved and adored indie-rock bands of the
90’s, influential in so many ways to the progression of
the scene it helped found. Pavement’s unique and inspiring
lo-fi rock-n-roll terrorist sound rose out of punk’s second
wave back in the late 80’s amongst Dinosaur Jr., Sonic
Youth, Nirvana, and other pop-punk and grunge bands. The day
they split up was a sad day for many an indie-rocker.
Preston School of Industry is an old reform school- for delinquent
boys- located close to Spiral’s hometown of Stockton. When
he was growing up, his parents would say, “If you don’t
behave, we’ll send you to the Preston School of Industry.”
It’s always been in the back of his head…the place
of his nightmares.
Lurking behind Steve Malkmus- Pavement’s frontman- was
the shyer of the two original Pavement members, Spiral Stairs.
“It’s not my birth name- just a punk rock name that
I made up when Pavement started. I’ve kept it ever since,”
he says with a mischievous smirk as he prepares to step out
of the shadows of Pavement with his new project, Preston School
of Industry and its debut, All This Sounds Gas. He has been
scarce and busy, having decided to pay more attention to the
process of making music in its entirety- from themed lyrics
to longer hours recording in the studio.
“Preston School’s sound is more straight forward,
and the songs are more soulful than the songs by Pavement were.
I think a little more care was put into it. Pavement songs were
made fast- like in a week. There was a little more craft involved
in these songs- it took me a couple months to do these. Lyrically,
it’s different- I’m trying to tell stories. You’re
not confused by the lyrical imagery as much as you would be
with Pavement. The music is similar. The sound’s also got
a bit of my influences from over the last few years- Granddaddy,
The Flaming Lips, Smog, John Prine, and weird stuff like that.
So, it’s more songwriter-ish,” says Spiral Stairs.
Preston School’s sound is mellower than Pavement’s,
attributed to having grown older. Despite the mellowing, his
voice is hoarse from screaming lyrics on stage.
“I tried to make a record kind of like those records- you
know, a record that you can listen to in 45 minutes and not
get bored of it. It has a story behind it with a theme, rather
than being just a collection of songs. Almost everything has
some familiarity from Pavement. ‘A Treasure at Silver Bank’
or ‘Idea of Fires’ [songs on the album] are more poppy,
soulful songs that are more my style than Pavement’s. Those
songs come from me.”
Although several other people collaborated on the recording
of All This Sounds Gas, Preston School was not recorded as a
band. Mr. Stairs came up with the music and lyrics by himself,
and is feeling a little apprehensive about putting a band together
and having to face the role of being the leader. “I’m
the dictator! It’s weird, though. I’m not used to
it. I’m used to being shy and I don’t really like
being in charge- it’s hard to be in charge and tell [the
band] what to do, even when they’re looking to me for it.
It’s different from Pavement. I guess Steve was in charge
musically, and I was more in charge of the business side of
things.”
The songs are about his experiences- those with Pavement, some
are about growing up in California’s Central Valley as
well as the history of the area. “More than anything,”
he says, “the album is about discovery…an expedition
on the high seas!”
SPIRAL STAIRS on PAVEMENT… Why did Pavement break up?
I guess the same reason that other bands break up. We got tired
of what we were doing, and we had been doing it for ten years.
We could have kept going on and doing cool stuff, but I think
Steve didn’t want to do it anymore. I think he felt like
he had to do something on his own without the help of others. What was your favorite Pavement album?
Well, I look at Pavement almost as two different bands. I look
at Pavement up to Crooked Rain as a certain…well, a three
piece punk rock band that just got together to do records. Once
our drummer left, we got these other guys- Mark and Bob and
Steve West- and we became more of a traditional touring band.
So, I’d say, in the first phase, Slanted and Enchanted.
It was such a fun record to make. Brighten the Corners was my
favorite in the second round of Pavement. The other ones are
good, too. I like them. Wowee Zowee would have been a great
album if it didn’t have all the B-sides on it!
SPIRAL STAIRS on SKATEBOARDING… Where did you grow up?
Central Valley. What about skateboarding? Did you skate?
I was a huge skateboarder. I was part of the first wave of skateboarders
in my town. When I first started, I had a thin Alva board and
it was my life. We had a skatepark in Stockton, and another
in Modesto, and there was one in Sacramento. We’d go to
these places and skate every weekend. Before street skating
[became popular], we’d skate the street. I had Skateboarder
Magazine. I think it turned into Action Now. It was a good magazine-
Skateboarder Magazine. I just heard that Stacy Peralta has a
movie out about the early days of skateboarding. I was really
into skating. It was big for suburban kids, and then all of
a sudden the skateparks closed down because of insurance and
nobody did it anymore. Then, all of a sudden, street skating
got big. Now it’s huge, which is good. It’s a fun
way to spend your boring life. What about skateboarding’s relationship with music?
Well, first of all, skateboarding magazines have things in them
on certain types and styles of music. When I’d go to skateparks,
they’d always be blasting music. One of the bands that
they’d be blasting was Devo. I was twelve and didn’t
know what was going on, so I went out and bought the Devo record
and got hooked. They would also play the Sex Pistols- Nevermind
the Bullocks, you know, at the skatepark. Then I had to get
that, too. A lot of the guys I was hanging out with- especially
the older skaters- were into punk rock. Back then, everyone
would have designs on their skateboards. One guy had Exploited
written on his board. I had the Devo record cover on mine! It
was cool, man. Skateboarding was one of the reasons I got into
music. The older guys were playing this new, cool music that
wasn’t classic rock and boring me to death. I still don’t
like Led Zeppelin- it’s too Dungeons and Dragons for me!
(laughter). I can’t stand them!
Preston School of Industry is an old reform school- for delinquent
boys- located close to Spiral’s hometown of Stockton. When
he was growing up, his parents would say, “If you don’t
behave, we’ll send you to the Preston School of Industry.”
It’s always been in the back of his head…the place
of his nightmares.
ROCK SHIT… What is up with indie-rock these days?
I think indie-rock is pretty healthy these days. I was surprised.
I started a label and I’ve become friends with other indie-rock
labels. There are some great bands out there. It’s harder
now for bands to play around. Because the economy was so good
for so long, a lot of clubs shut down because they could make
more money via DJ or via Jukebox. Nobody wanted to do live music
anymore. That made it harder on bands. But, it’s been forced
underground. A more all-ages scene has sprouted up within indie-rock.
It used to be punk and emo-core. Now indie rock bands are playing
all ages. The scene is getting younger, I think. When we first
started Pavement, we played for a 21+. Now, as an indie band,
you almost have to play for an all-ages crowd. Plus, if you’re
a smart kid, you’re going to say, “Fuck this shit
they are pushing on me- I need something else.” Imagine
being a 13 year old kid now with all the garbage they are forcing
down your throat. What is the new Punk Rock- or pure energy for kids to hang
on to?
Hip-hop might be what is doing it for kids now. What about Hip-Hop being saturated with the “bling-bling”
bullshit?
Oh, yeah. It is, isn’t it? What’s doing it for the
kids is a combination of everything. Before, it was just one
kind of music. Kids now can be into a lot of different things-
there’s so much, and information is readily available online.
There is something that will hit a nerve with kids, though…like
Nirvana did, like punk did, like Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth
did. There’s something out there, but I’m not sure
what it is. Did you ever tour with Nirvana?
No, we played a show with them in the Redding Festival, though.
They were nice guys. We knew them through friends and stuff.
It was so weird to see how big they got, because they were like
any other band. If it wasn’t them, it could have been Jon
Spencer or someone like that.
Slanted and Enchanted is one of my favorites- crucial to the
development of my youth and ears. You guys toured with Sonic
Youth around that time, too. How was that?
Oh…it was amazing! Absolutely amazing! They taught us a
lot. They were one of my favorite bands. It was like playing
with my idols. What’s the best thing about touring?
Seeing how people in different places deal with music and life.
It’s great. Meeting other people from different places
and understanding their outlook on life. Where is the weirdest place you’ve played?
Probably Prague, with Sonic Youth. Well, Japan is pretty weird.
There’s such a language barrier, and people go crazy. Did you experience the accelerated rock-star status factor?
Oh, yeah! For such a small little band, you have like 500 people
following you around the whole time. Autographs and the works.
It’s fun to an extent, but then you start seeing it as
uncomfortable. You can only think, “I was in that position
once too, and I would love to see them and follow them around
to different shows. I’d get excited about an autograph,
but, you know, some of these fans want an autograph, and they
want their picture with you, and it goes on and on. But then
you think to yourself, “wait- that’s not what this
is about. I didn’t make my record for this.” It’s
not that serious of a thing. But then you have to look at the
lives of these people, and it’s freaky. The happiness they
get from meeting this band from America is unmatched. Is there a line up for Preston School?
None. I plan on putting a line-up together, though. I need another
guitar player, a trumpet player. We’ll be going on a world
tour around October. Europe might be a little better for us,
initially. Hopefully the states will come around. Why do you say that?
Music is bigger there. There are more outlets for music. Here,
it takes longer for everything to build up- it’s more word
of mouth. There are no mainstream magazines covering this music.
It’s hard to get coverage on a national level. What makes your sound work?
I think because it’s got soul and there’s a story.
There’s good lyrics, good melodies.
Scott would be doing urban planning if he wasn’t doing
music.
Pavement
was one of the most loved and adored indie-rock bands of the
90’s, influential in so many ways to the progression of
the scene it helped found. Pavement’s unique and inspiring
lo-fi rock-n-roll terrorist sound rose out of punk’s second
wave back in the late 80’s amongst Dinosaur Jr., Sonic
Youth, Nirvana, and other pop-punk and grunge bands. The day
they split up was a sad day for many an indie-rocker.