The Making of Houdini by Melvins - featuring buzz osborne

For the 30th anniversary of the Melvins’ 1993 classic, HOUDINI, we take a detailed look at how the record was made. Buzz Osborne, Mike Dillard and Matt Lukin had formed the Melvins in 1983 when they were teenagers living in Montesano, Washington. Drummer Dale Crover ended up replacing Dillard early on and has remained with the band to this day. When Osborne and Crover decided to move to San Francisco, Lori Black took over on bass, and they began a series of releases with indie label, Boner Records. By the time, they got to their fifth album, they decided to sign to a major label as the Northwest music scene had exploded in popularity and had attracted the attention of the major labels. After they signed with Atlantic Records, they enlisted their old friend, Kurt Cobain, to produce the album.

In this episode, Buzz Osborne describes the difficult sessions that took place while making the record. Kurt Cobain was dealing with a heroin addiction at the time and would often not show up for sessions. Osborne talks about making the decision to fire Cobain right in the middle of the sessions. Ultimately, Cobain did have a hand in co-producing six tracks on the album and played guitar and drums on a couple songs. Osborne describes this period when the Melvins had already seen success on indie labels but decided to sign a contract with the major label powerhouse, Atlantic Records. Osborne describes his initial shock when Atlantic didn’t interfere with their creative process at all and let them make the record they wanted to make. From Osborne’s often nonsensical lyrical approach to the importance of dynamics in heavy music to a rotating cast of bass players to Dale Crover’s mastery of tempo and feel to combining classic rock with punk rock attitude to the Melvins belonging on a legendary label, we’ll hear the stories of how the record came together.

Notes and transcript

Purchase Houdini

Episode Credits:

Intro/Outro Music:

“Black Dust” by Omega Sun from Roadkill

Episode produced, edited and mixed by Dan Nordheim

Additional mixing and mastering by Jeremy Whitwam