Superchunk: Press

Flagpole-Athens,GA.'97
by Ballard Leesman

The prolific Chapel Hill band Superchunk will be performing at the Fabulous 40 Watt this week alongside their Merge labelmates Ladybug Transistor. Superchunk is in the middle of a lengthy tour In support of their new album Indoor Living. It's been a while since the last Superchunk gig in Athens and the Flagpole felt inclined to check in on these self-described "ordinary people," demanding a phone interview with nice guy drummer Jon Wurster.

Wurster who joined Superchunk back In 1991 shortly after moving down to North Carolina from Philadelphia, seemed genuinely excited to return to Georgia on this tour. "The last time we played Athens was on my birthday, in support of the 'Laughter Guns' EP", he says. "The one that kind of fell through the cracks". Apparently after a couple of years of recording, touring

the States, Europe and Australia, and playing the States, Europe and Australia, and playing first-hand witness to the continuing disintegration of rock and roll in general, the band has found itself comfortably back at square one. Superchunk still lives in Chapel Hill, still records when and where they want, and still couldn't give a rip about MTV commercial radio and the various bullshit trappings of the music business.

"MTV is basically just game shows nowadays, and commercial radio is just the same twelve songs over and over again," Wurster says. "It's funny. There's no band loyalty these days, only 'song' loyalty. People go 'oh, I like that

Squirrel Nut Zippers song.' Then when the next record comes out, they don't care."

Meanwhile, the fiercely independent Merge Records (created and run by guitarist Mac McCaughan and bassist Laura Ballance) has somehow. managed to fend off those pesky "major label hostile takeovers" that plagued much of the '90s. "All the small labels got gobbled up and then they got dropped. Now, a lot of bands are back at square one, which I think is great," Wurster says. "It took several years for bands to realize that nothing good was going to come of those takeovers, except for getting a huge advance... once!"

Wurster mentions the "no-man's land," the nebulous gray area where semi-famous bands like Superchunk dwell; they are often ignored by more underground oriented college radio stations, yet they're not quite fully integrated in "120 Minutes Land" (although Wurster himself was the "star" of Superchunk's "Hyper Enough" video back in late '95.

"We're still fortunate enough to get a lot of play on college radio stations," he says. "That's the only place where one can hear our music anymore which is fine with me because that's where most of the good stuff is being played anyway."

The band seems happier touring the Southeast these days, playing their familiar haunts. "We Just toured Europe. That was a big drag. Europeans have convinced themselves that don't like rock and roll anymore."

To avoid road burnout, Wurster evokes the ethos of some of his favorite drummers (Charlie Drayton, Steve Jordan, and Levon Helm), drinking very moderately, and keeping his mind clear on stage. "I never think about the show I'm playing, you know? If I'm thinking about the song we're playing at the time, I know I'm not doing it right"