Buzz Osborne Discusses New Melvins LP, Celebrates Black Sabbath

On April 18, Buzz Osborne will celebrate the release of his third album under the name Melvins 1983, Thunderball. The band name references the fact that Melvins’ original drummer, Mike Dillard, is on the record with King Buzzo.

Osborne joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday (April 1) to dive into the record and many, many other things. Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

“I’ve remained friends with Mike Dillard since we were in high school,” Osborne told host Chuck Armstrong.

“We met and I’ve been friends with him ever since and talk to him, probably, on a weekly basis, whether we’re working or not.”

As Osborne put it, their initial friendship in high school was centered on a mutual love of music.

“He was one of the few people that was interested in the kind of music I was interested in,” he said. “I didn’t know anybody that had any interest in that kind of stuff I was into, so it was kind of nice to meet somebody that was at least a little bit open-minded.”

Osborne explained that it was actually Dillard’s idea to write music together as Melvins 1983 back when they released their first album under the moniker in 2013, Tres Cabrones.

“He’s a union machinist, that’s his day job and that’s what he does,” Osborne said.

“We’re working musicians, that’s all we do, so you take that in mind as a songwriter and write to what his abilities are. It was something I’d never really thought of and it was a lot of fun to do. I had a great time doing it. So we’ve done it three times. It’s been really fun.”

How Buzz Osborne Discovered Music In a Small Town

Osborne grew up in a small town in Washington, which was one reason why it was so significant to meet a guy like Dillard who was into the same music that he was into.

“I mostly didn’t talk about music to anyone,” Osborne admitted. “I had no older brothers or friends that turned me onto anything. I found it all on my own, so I was just like an island.”

He said that he was a big fan of Led Zeppelin and never lost his love for that band, even as he discovered other acts.

“Even though I’m punk rock to the bone, I still love Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, all those bands. I never saw any reason for me to disregard that stuff, you know?”

Even in a small town, Osborne made it a mission to find new bands to listen to.

“I started buying weird records — what I considered weird — like Bowie in about ’77,” he recalled.

“I would buy them on mail order. You bought magazines like Creem, Hit Parader, that had pictures of rock bands in them. I would see pictures of a band like The Clash or Sex Pistols and then I would have no way of hearing what that sounded like, so I would order the records.”

Bowie seemed to be the artist who really pushed Osborne into a rabbit hole of discovering more and more music that he would become a fan of.

“[He] turned me onto lots of other things,” he said.

“Once I found the Sex Pistols, I realized, oh, they did a cover of this band called The Stooges. And then I found The Stooges. And then I found MC5 and I thought it just worked like that … Then lots of other punk rock, once it got to the early-’80s…just on and on and on.”

Buzz Osborne Names His Favorite Black Sabbath Song

In addition to reflecting on his early days of finding new music, Osborne also shared his respect for Black Sabbath ahead of the original lineup’s final show on July 5 in Birmingham.

“The first song of the first album is the song ‘Black Sabbath’ — to me, that says all of it,” he said about what Sabbath means to him.

READ MORE: Tony Iommi Reveals Why He Never Wanted to Change Black Sabbath’s Name

“I think that was the best song they ever did. That’s got the energy, the vibe — if I had to pick one song, that would be the song. If I had to play one song for someone who’d never heard Black Sabbath, it would be the song ‘Black Sabbath.’ What is this that stands before me? Indeed.”

Osborne admitted he was never a fan of Ozzy Osbourne’s solo career, but he was always into Ronnie James Dio’s time with Sabbath.

“I think he kind of saved their asses,” Osborne shared.

“I think those records are really good. Sabbath, I think, is really great.”

What Else Did Buzz Osborne Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• Why he stands by calling Metallica’s Lulu his favorite record by the thrash metal legends: “If I had to pick one album of Metallica to listen to, it would be Lulu. That’s the one because it’s so different and such a head-scratcher for most people out there. I’m really, really happy and proud that those guys would do something like that with Lou Reed … They all had storied careers long before that, let these people do what they want. Don’t give them shit for being different. You’re giving them shit for shifting out of the mainstream? That’s fucked up.”
• How he keeps pushing himself in new directions with every Melvins album: “We’ve had all kinds of people tell us what we were doing was wrong, and most of those people aren’t in the business anymore … I’ve always been of the belief that you’re not going to out-practice me. You’re not going to out-think me. You’re not. And I know what I’m doing. I realize I have good taste in music. If I write music that I like, then there will be other people out there who will like it. It won’t be millions, but it’ll be enough. It should be millions.”
• What’s next for Melvins: “I’m always working on all kinds of new stuff. I always have. It’s just what I do. I write lots of music, I enjoy it. I’m a professional musician. I make my living playing music. I make music live and I make records. That’s my deal.”

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

Buzz Osborne joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday, April 1; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.