YOUR QUESTION

12/20/2020 Zemaraim

Hey Trevor, I'm curious what was behind the decision to go outside of the bandleader with the track "Zemaraim" for the Unknown Masada release in 2003, having you, rather than Patton, arrange it, and what was your approach--were you trying to sort of arrange like Mike/achieve the Fantomas sound, or were you simply thinking, "Ok, I've got rock guitar, electric bass, Dave Lombardo, and Patton, what can I do with this Zorn composition in this context?" It's interesting, but not surprising, that this is the one thing recorded by Fantomas that doesn't really sound like Fantomas. I think your metal roots really come through in this arrangement!

MY ANSWER

Zorn asked me to arrange that Masada tune and I can’t remember if he suggested using Fantomas or if it was my decision. My guess it that I was under a time constraint but also busy in the studio with those guys in California, so I used what was at my disposal, whipped up a fairly simple arrangement and had us blast through it during some down time. It is certainly not in the style of Fantomas, merely utilizing the players.

YOUR QUESTION

12/17/2020 PrimusFan

Hello Mr. Dunn! I got into Mr Bungle this year and was wondering about what inspired some songs. For instance, My Ass is on Fire. Where did that come from? As well as Carousel. The first album seems to be darker than the rest and was just curious what inspired them. Plus, personal favorites.
Also, you're a brilliant bassist keep doing what you're doing. Oh and loved the funk you bring to the table!
Hope you have a good day :)

MY ANSWER

I’m not sure how to answer the question “where did that come from?” Where does anything come from? The lyrics have to do with self-anger. Carousel is about the dark lure of the circus/carnival/funhouse what have you. They’re all pretty dark if you ask me.

YOUR QUESTION

12/15/2020 Marcus

Hi Trevor, I recently got a copy of Zorns Film Works V "Tears of ecstasy", brilliant album, love it, but I'm confused, the 12th track "Cusp" is a fragment of "Everyone I went to high school with is dead" off the masterful Disco Volante. The thing I'm finding strange is that the liner notes of "Tears" say all songs written by John Zorn and on Disco Volante it says the tune is composed by you, my question is who wrote it?
Many Thanks

MY ANSWER

I’ve heard about this though I’ve never heard the soundtrack myself. I am the sole writer of “Everyone….” but I guess it was sampled for that particular track in the film. Hilarious!

YOUR QUESTION

12/15/2020 Monicker

On the first SC3 record Trey wrote the refrain “Rock and Roll is a thing that needs to die,” but I was never convinced that you, Trevor Dunn, were personally committed to that mantra yourself, which leads me to a general question about band membership and lyrics:
Being that you’ve played in and attached your name to a handful of groups (Bungle, SC3, Melvins, Tomahawk) that have other lyricists, have you ever found yourself unable to get behind a particular lyric that another band member has written? Like has a line or two ever just made you cringe (at the time of recording/release, not years later in hindsight)?
I'm not necessarily asking you to name the exact line/band/lyricist, but rather if you've ever had such an experience before, and how you internally navigated that moment. I understand that compromise is part of the deal, especially when you’re a sideman in someone’s project. But my question is more about what is the thought process like for you—someone who cares deeply about music, and who plays mostly with close friends—when these divergences in ideology and aesthetics come up? Also, do you think it is the responsibility of the lyricist to explain to the other members of the band what the lyrics “mean”? Have you ever found yourself on either end of such a situation?
Thanks in advance for your answer and sorry for the preamble!

MY ANSWER

You may or may not be surprised to find out that I don’t know what all of the lyrics are about. Even in Bungle, we didn’t explain them to each other, and I don’t think anyone feels like grilling the lyricist about what some phrase “means”. That’s actually pretty refreshing. I don’t recall ever cringing in a collaborative band, so perhaps I’m just fortunate, or ignorant, or both. Other than Bungle, each of those bands you listed has a pretty clear leader/lyricist, or leaders in the case of Tomahawk. So in those cases it’s easy for me to ‘step aside’ and let the story be told. I feel that a lyricist’s choice of words has as much artistic merit as any particular chord or rhythm. None of these bands are making political spoken words records, for God’s sake.

I have had fellow bandmates eyeball me over an obtuse or curious lyric. If they really want to know where it came from I’m happy to explain, but usually the takeaway is simply, ‘you’re a weirdo’. Another thing to consider here is that not all lyrics mean something, or have some discernible narrative. Sometimes words are used non-programmatically, which I suppose, is not easy to understand by someone who doesn’t mess around with words. Suffice it to say, I don’t always know what my own lyrics mean.

YOUR QUESTION

12/15/2020 Michelle

Hi Trevor
big fan. I want to ask you about the process of naming songs. I saw the conan interview the other day where Buzz talked about that and I became curious about your own process... and also about some songs in particular. dawn's early vengeance??? Equation Of The Found Object???? liver colored dew?????????

MY ANSWER

The process varies. I have notebooks with lists of title possibilities; Occasionally, like in the case of my last duo recording with Buzz, we wrote quickly and titles had to be generated “automatically” or in the moment without over-thinking. Sometimes a title is the first thing that comes to me even before one note is written (i.e. Platypus, Egg). Other times I struggle with it even after lyrics are written. And variations in between. “Equation...” is the name of an essay by André Breton. “Dawn’s…” just came to me during some Bush-era Gulf War shit. And “Liver…” was a phrase I came up with during an automatic writing session that I liked and later transferred to a list of possible titles. Sometimes I have a title-less song that needs one and then I have to find a match which is not always easy.

YOUR QUESTION

12/14/2020 Johnny Bates

Hi Trevor,
Since none of the 738 interviewers asked these important questions during the insane press cycle of the glorious RWOTEBD release...I have to:
1. Please explain the Donut Shop mascot. What does it refer to?
2. How the hell did you guys come up with Tom Leydecker for the cover of the original tape? I mean...why him and not a band member? What was his connection to the band and what does he think about appearing in thousands of new pressings?
3. Bungle bootleg aficionados know that by late 1986 you weren't playing much metal at live shows. Do you recall how many actual gigs you played between the first ever gig (setlist in the yearbook CD) with Jed and the switch to Bowel of Chiley era type shows hat he bowed out of?
4. Once life returns to "normal" do you dread having to re-learn these tunes for the hoped for tour or do you feel like you played them enough to get right back into it?
5. In the past you've mentioned penning a Bungle coffee table book. I still want it. The Yearbook CD doesn't count. Is that still in the realm of possibility?
6. What's more painful...playing thrash metal for 90 minutes or signing hundreds of posters?
7. Not a question - years ago I asked Steve Lederman about being a roadie on the first Bungle tour. He told me he had all the videotape footage from it and he was waiting for the band to ask him for it so they could "make a CD-ROM". Yeah...it was a long time ago. The anniversary of that album is next year..hope something special is planned! Regards,
JB

MY ANSWER

Damn, no less than seven questions. Might have to put a cap on you bastards.
1. Don’s Donut Shop and geek rights.
2. He was a fellow “Logger” at EHS who happened to fit the description of what we imagined Mr. Bungle to look like in human form, probably based on the ‘50s hygiene film. We didn’t know him at all. Just asked, hey wanna let us take photos of you doing weird stuff with trains? How could anyone say no? We, of course, tracked him down to get permission to use the photos. Apparently he runs a successful beef jerky company in McKinleyville.
3. Five? Six? I’m only guessing.
4. This stuff comes back pretty quickly, and much of it is deeply ingrained. With other bands I play in, the dread is real.
5. There’s plenty more where that came from; I’m not sure what the boundaries of that realm are anymore.
6. The latter, 100%.
7. Something like 48 hours of footage….

YOUR QUESTION

12/09/2020 Steve

Do you like Varese?

MY ANSWER

Yep. Every single piece.

YOUR QUESTION

12/08/2020 Vagina Kushner

How many bows do you have? Do you have a primary one that you use? Have you tried any carbon fiber bows? If so, what do you think?

MY ANSWER

Looks like I have about 7 bows. My main one is indeed carbon fiber. I like it quite a bit, but also switch off between that and a cheap wooden bow which is lighter and less stable (in a good way). I still have several French bows from when I used to play exclusively on that, none of which are very expensive.

YOUR QUESTION

12/07/2020 Mount Analogue

Hi, just a little curiosity I had about the new recording of Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny. Did you guys record onto tape at Studio 606 or did you track digitally? Oh, I forgot I had another question: The Secret Song on Disco Volante, I know that's Bär on drums, but who is on bass, Mike or Bär? It's Mike on bass on the second half of Backstrokin', and the first half is an upright bass preset on a keyboard, correct?

MY ANSWER

How nuts do you think we are? Tape? Who tf records on tape anymore? That was all digital.
Pretty sure that’s Mike on my Alembic on Secret Song. You can tell by the bad technique ; D Speaking of which, I don’t think I played at all on Backstrokin’. That song was one of Mike’s hotel recordings whist on tour. I think you’re correct about the first part, but the 2nd part is electric bass through an envelope filter.

YOUR QUESTION

12/01/2020 Bobby Vinton

Hi there Trevor. As a musician and composer, you are perhaps (I don’t know if this is actually true) best known as a member of Mr. Bungle. Bungle was a band that made big, elaborate record productions with meticulous arrangements. But for a longer period of your career now you’ve operated predominantly within a jazz/live band setting as a sideman. My question is: do you ever long to be involved again in something that is production and arrangement heavy that would result in a "studio record"? I’m asking because you (and your compatriots) were so damn good at that every time you gave it a try. Cheers!

MY ANSWER

It’s harder and harder these days to do big production stuff mostly for financial reasons. That said, I’m doing some of my own producing at home. But, yeah, it would be nice to have a budget of $100k and a month in an actual studio again. I wouldn’t say no.

YOUR QUESTION

11/22/2020 David Mirrione

Hello Mr Dunn! I am 14 year old from California and You inspired me to play bass.I have two questions my first is, What is the story behind secret song? I have heard a lot of different things so I would like to get that cleared up and my other question is, What bass did you use on Disco Volante? Disco Volante is one of my all time favorite albums and I have always wondered that question. Have a nice day.
-David

MY ANSWER

Glad to hear it! The Secret Song came from a string of riffs, something we called a “snake”, that had the potential to become an actual song. One night during the DV sessions I left the studio early, probably to go make my $50 at a jazz gig. In the meantime, Bär, Danny, Trey and Mike arranged and recorded the instrumental. Later I found the tape and was all, wtf?! Mike wasn’t around when I found it, so we didn’t tell him and I recorded the vocals on it. Somehow Mike got wind of that but he and I didn’t tell the other guys that he knew. They all thought it was going to be a surprise when the album came out, which Mike pretended it was and acted like he was pissed off about it. Then we put it in a hidden groove on the vinyl and didn’t I.D. it on the CD. Meta-secret.
On DV I mostly used my Alembic Europa 5-string, my upright and my Ken Lawrence fretless. I also used a Guild Ashbory on parts of Golem and possibly a beater Vox that wasn’t mine.

YOUR QUESTION

11/19/2020 sara

did u know that faxed head ripped off sudden death and didn't even credit u guys ? they fucked up the song like it sounds like its breaking and dying and shit. u should sue those coalinga r*tards
take care trev!

MY ANSWER

Scourge ripped off Spreading the Thighs of Death and Fantomas ripped of Methamatics (see an upcoming question). But “ripped off” is the wrong term. We’re like a village of folk musicians, or a dub DJ, using melodies in homage as a development of the larger cultural milieu.

YOUR QUESTION

11/18/2020 Rudie

What do you think of Darth Vegas or Rahsaan Roland Kirk?
Your playing on Mr. Bungle's debut album reminds me of Jamaaladeen Tacuma, but was he an influence?
Happy to have Mr. Bungle return.

MY ANSWER

Never heard of Darth Vegas. I love Roland Kirk. The Inflated Tear rules as does The 3-sided Dream. Tacuma was/is definitely and influence, but I don’t think I heard him til much later. I can’t think of anything on a Bungle record that sounds like him.

YOUR QUESTION

11/18/2020 The Scruff

My mother decided on the sobriquet. Not me.
1. Do you have a favorite key or musical mode to perform in, either for your selection's tone or the range it provides with chord/scale progressions?
2. Do you prefer fretless bass guitars (which I am postulating given your proficiency with contrabasses, unless your smiles and concentration belie your frustration) or fretted basses?
3. Danny Heifetz in a 2013 interview briefly explained how Theo Lengyel became disillusioned with the band, but he credited Theo to playing the trombone and flute. When did he use either (or you with the student clarinet you fear) in a live or studio setting?
4. I am not asking for them to return or Mr. Bungle to cease playing what initially and currently united them, but why are saxophones seemingly making a resurgence in heavy metal? I prefer bass and contra-alto clarinets in the genre.

MY ANSWER

1. No, but I’m always exploring. I will say that Db is a pain in the ass on the upright, but not all my choices are based on ease or comfort.
2. I rarely play fretless and though I do enjoy it, I’m more at home with the frets. The difference in scale length and hand positions is so different on upright and electric that knowing one doesn’t necessarily facilitate the other.
3. Theo played mostly alto sax and occasionally trombone on tour; the latter usually on cover songs. I played clarinet in Danny’s band Dieselhed at a live show in SF once, and again at the Women’s March in NYC around 2017, and on some film music I’ve written.
4. Well, Scruffy, you can’t always get what you want. I have fortunately not heard any metal with sax in it.

YOUR QUESTION

11/18/2020

Hey Trevor, I've been really enjoying listening to some of your solo bass works lately. I love all of the different techniques and unexpected sounds you manage to get out of your instrument. I've never even heard a prepared contrabass piece before. I love the way you push its voice to its limit! I ended up throwing some of "Pentagram" into Ableton to experiment with and all of the different sounds and eccentricities led to some really interesting discoveries with the just simplest of manipulations.
This got me wondering. Have you ever worked with any electronic musicians or dipped your toes into electro-acoustic music yourself? I'd love to hear it if so! Your playing seems like perfect material for an experimental producer to work with. I'm just imagining all the various textures and sonic intricacies that you could create with this extra set of tools at your disposal. Sounds like a dream.
Anyways, I'm gonna look for some more of that solo work. Hope you're well!

MY ANSWER

I owe a lot of my knowledge about extended technique on the contrabass to Bertram Turetsky, Mark Dresser and Fernando Grillo. I’ve worked with several electronic musicians over the years. If you haven’t yet, check out my duo SpermChurch. I’m playing electric bass, and sometimes it’s impossible to tell who’s doing what, but you might dig it. I’ve also used an array of stomp boxes with contrabass. Probably something I’ll do more of eventually.

YOUR QUESTION

11/17/2020 Cain

Imagine the sight of middle-aged Brooklyn hipster Trevor slapping and popping the Mr. Nice Guy bass line in front of his computer in his Park Slope apartment with his painted nails and leather wristband. R U laughing as much as I am? What if Fiona Apple was thinking about maybe hiring you as her new bassist but then she caught wind of the song titles on the new thrash metal demo with the pentagram bunny skull and she went on to the next bassist on her list? What's your go-to home cooked meal when you're feeling lazy and don't have much time? Keep the dream alive.

MY ANSWER

Hipster? Well, I can tell you I’ve never slapped a bass in Park Slope. I think Sebastian has the Fiona gig locked in. And who’s to say she’s not totally into that record? I boy can dream.
A quesadilla with half an avocado and plenty of sour cream.

YOUR QUESTION

11/16/2020 Who?

Hello Trevor. I don't really have a question, I'm just here to say that I'm amazed by the discovery that Trey's Scourge project was actually from 1990, which means Jed Watts was still in the fold that late, even after OU818, which blows my mind. I always thought that project was from right after Raging Wrath and that Jed was then out of the picture by 1987 at the latest. Also, you might be mildly amused hearing that some websites say that on that Scourge demo you played keyboards (lol) and that John Wayne Law played bass.

MY ANSWER

Trey and Jed had a friendship that pre-dated Bungle and continued after we made our musical decisions. Also, Eureka is a small town. Scourge didn’t last long. I think we did 3 or 4 shows total, and those websites you read are correct! I did not play bass in Scourge, I played the Ensoniq SQ80! John Wayne Law played bass. He was also in Bungle’s rival band F.O. and later a weirdo alt-skate art rock band called Terminal Sickie. Now you know.

YOUR QUESTION

11/16/2020 Mariana Kaeme

Hi Trevor! I am from Buenos Aires, Argentina and I would like to ask you some questions:
1_ In "Disco Volante" there is a song: "Violenza Domestica" where you can see the bandoneon of the Argentine musician Lisandro Adrover. Do you like tango? Do you have knowledge about orchestras or musicians of this genre?
2_ One of the most famous tango composers is Astor Piazzolla, very resentful in my country for those who did not tolerate his innovation. His grandson, Daniel "Pipi" Piazzolla, has a band that fuses jazz, tango, folklore, called "Escalandrum". What do you know? Very interesting!
3_ I have listened to your "Playlist For The Dead" and I find in it "Las Simples Cosas" interpreted by Chavela Vargas. This song is also sung by an Argentine interpreter: Mercedes Sosa. Do you know her? If you don't know them ... I recommend it! Her voice is beautiful.
4_ In relation to the previous question: the lyrics of "Las Simples Cosas" are from an Argentine poet: Armando Tejada Gómez. Do you speak Spanish or do you understand a little?
5_ You came to Buenos Aires with Mondo Cane and Tomahawk. What memories do you have of my city?
I really appreciate this opportunity, your time and dedication.
I don't know if artists can save the world (it's not their obligation either), but an art like yours saves my life every day.
I send you a lot of love from here, the south of planet earth!

MY ANSWER

1. Yes I do like tango and I know of a few Argentinian artists.
2. I don’t know anything about Pipi!
3. I will check her out. Any relation to Julio Sosa?
4. Entiendo un poco
5. Mucho carne! I was also there with the Nels Cline Singers. Good food, good people, nice football.

YOUR QUESTION

11/14/2020 Hola

Hi Trevor !
What are your favorite punk bands ????? :)))

MY ANSWER

COC, DRI, 7 Seconds, Die Kruezen, Siege, Descendants, Bad Brains, Melt Banana

YOUR QUESTION

11/12/2020 Chuck

Hi. When you’re (small) talking with someone who doesn’t know you, like in line at the DMV or at an awkward family party or whatever, and they ask what you do and you say you’re a musician, what is your answer when they inevitably ask “what kind of music?” I struggle with this a lot so I’m looking forward to hearing about your experience with this conundrum! Thabks!

MY ANSWER

I don’t know how to answer that question about specific bands much less in a more general way. I usually say it’s “rock” or “jazz” and leave it at that. If someone conveys that they know subgenres or niches than we can dive further but usually I tell them that they won’t hear my music on the radio and then I name drop all the people I work with who are more famous then me. Eventually the subject turns to Dave Mathews.