When you picture how your favorite heavy riffs come together, you may imagine epic battles with giants amid snowy mountain peaks or demons in the pits of hell. But, for Melvins frontman Buzz Osborne, his inspiration is slightly more mundane.
Speaking with ABC Audio, Osborne shares how he came up with sludge metal classic “Revolve” while “in San Francisco in a hotel out by the beach by the zoo.”
“I remember sitting on the edge of the bed and coming up with that opening riff and just realizing, ‘Oh, this is cool!'” Osborne says.
“Revolve” appears on the 1994 Melvins album Stoner Witch, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary. And while songs like “Revolve” had humble beginnings, Stoner Witch brought the Melvins into uncharted waters.
As one of the pioneers of grunge, Osborne and the Melvins were often cited as influences on Kurt Cobain. When Nirvana and Nevermind took off in the early ’90s, Melvins got signed to a major label, and with Stoner Witch, they found themselves recording at A&M studios in Los Angeles, the same studio where “We Are the World” was recorded.
Making Stoner Witch in such a large studio may have impacted the sound of the album, which Osborne now feels is “sterile.”
“I don’t fault anyone for that,” Osborne says. “I just think that I would approach it differently.”
Osborne does acknowledge, though, that his opinion is probably biased.
“I hear it warts and all,” he says. “I hear it with different ears than you would, and I’m not a good person to go by with that.”
Still, Osborne feels that Stoner Witch stacks up well within the Melvins’ discography.
“If I had to pick my five favorite records, that would probably be on it, that we’ve done,” he says.
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