Dave Pirner, lead singer of Soul Asylum. Submitted photo.
Lead singer Dave Pirner talks about the band’s new album and old stories
by Michael Ray
The year of music in 1993 was a strange one. You had Whitney Houston covering Dolly Parton and making a ton of money with “I Will Always Love You.” Tag Team, UB40, Janet Jackson, and 4 Non Blondes were all on the Billboard “Year End Hits.” A hodgepodge of music styles pushed to the forefront, while the backlash of what was known as Hair Metal still reverberated through the industry.
The LA scene of sex, drugs, & rock and roll was replaced by a sound coming from a different part of the West Coast—namely the Pacific Northwest. The Seattle Sound, also called grunge, had established a foothold with the success of Nirvana’s Nevermind album along with massive play for the single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on MTV. Much like the hair metal rush of the mid 80s, bands under the grunge moniker came out of the woodwork. Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Mother Love Bone, and Soundgarden achieved success that have been avoiding them all.
The lifestyle of grunge resonated with a younger generation who were not into pretty boys with hairspray, but darker heroes and music that reflected the way they felt. The 1990s were extremely good times for these bands. Most of these bands formed in the early 90s or late 80s, but in 1981, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1,659 miles away from Seattle, a band that pioneered the grunge/alternative rock sound and look was formed. That band was Soul Asylum.
In support of their 13th album to be released next month, Slowly But Shirley, Soul Asylum will make a stop in Oxford at The Lyric on Monday, August 26.
I spoke with lead singer Dave Pirner about the new album, life on the road, the power of music, and life in general along with the oppressive heat in the South.
“Man I lived in New Orleans for 25 years! I’m used to it! I went to New Orleans to try and find a drummer and wound up finding a wife and having a daughter. I still have a place there and the studio.”
In the early years, Soul Asylum was signed to local record company Twin/Tone Records, an independent label that focused on the Twin Cities area. After a few years and releasing three albums, they signed to A&M Records in 1988. Despite incessant touring with bands like fellow Minneapolis natives Husker Du, mainstream success seemed to elude them still.
“Those early days it was all about touring. All we did was tour. You’re trying to make it work and we didn’t exactly fit the norm of the era. We wore what we wore, we wouldn’t shave, and our appearance was really disheveled, but were tight and could play. That shocked a lot of early fans when they saw us.”
Slow sales and tensions in the band almost caused them to call it quits after two albums for A&M. In an amazing turn of events, some acoustic shows led the band to get an offer from music giant Columbia Records. In 1992, the band’s most popular album to date, Grave Dancers Union, was released to both critical and commercial success. Sales of the album were bolstered by the first three singles off the record, “Somebody To Shove,” “Black Gold,” and the staple of radio and MTV, “Runaway Train,” which rocketed up the charts.
“We really didn’t do anything different on this one. We had five albums under our belt by then, so we really thought we knew what we were doing. For me the songwriting process starts as soon we leave the studio finishing the newest album. We have streamlined the process by then.”
“Runaway Train” was inescapable when it was released on June 1, 1993. Riding on the strength and popularity of the single, Grave Dancers Union was certified triple platinum.
“This was a song that I wrote when I was in a bad place. It was also the one that got Columbia’s attention. I have always loved trains and to me there was nothing more of a metaphor than a runaway train, for all the feelings I had at the time. We had Michael Beinhorn, producer of Chili Peppers and Soundgarden working this one with us. It was an interesting session that really brought out the best of us, but after singing it for what seemed like 100 times, I was ready to move on. Booker T of The MG’s fame laid down the keyboards in the studio for us, which was such an awesome thing to have a legend like that on the track.”
When the time came to make a video for “Runaway Train,” Soul Asylum did something most bands of the day did not: they showed selflessness and decided to use their medium to help a worthy cause.
“Tony Kaye, who went on to direct American History X, was directing the video for us and we really wanted to make a statement. If you cannot use fame for something good, then what is the point of it all? So, we came up with an idea that would show the abusive cycle in action and throughout the video, we would have photos and the names of missing and endangered children. With the audience reach of MTV and VH1 at this point, we knew we could do some good.”
Multiple versions of the video were released in the States. A total of 36 children appeared in the video and at the end of the video was a message from Dave asking the viewer to call the number on the screen if they had seen any of these children. In true MTV fashion, the beginning of the video was omitted from most spins because the station did not want the video to come off as a “public service announcement.” After the video was in heavy rotation, 26 of the children shown in the video were found.
“Some had happy endings, and some didn’t, but it’s a hell of a thing to know that we did what we could. We helped with a song and video and fame had a purpose then.”
There were quite a few people paying attention to the alternative rock band that showed heart and an honest need to use the spotlight for just reasons. One of those was the presidential elect Bill Clinton. Upon the urging of his daughter Chelsea, President Clinton requested Soul Asylum at the Presidential Gala that MTV threw in his honor after all the work put into the “Rock the Vote” movement which helped elect the first “Rock n Roll President.”
“I met Michael Bolton. I remember that. But yeah, it was a gala. Everyone was being fantastic, and people were excited. People were rallying. I mean, it was a relatively young administration. And when we went to the White House, I was really surprised at how young all the staffers were and everything. And to be invited back by the President later that year to play on the South Lawn of the White House?! Surreal. I actually told President Clinton that the lawn needed mowing,” Pirner laughed. “I also asked him to pardon Leonard Peltier when I had the chance too, but his answer on that was ‘I’ll think about it.’”
It’s obvious that Dave was growing uncomfortable with the massive success that followed the release of “Runaway Train” and Soul Asylum’s triple-platinum 1992 breakthrough LP, Grave Dancers Union. It was a whirlwind that included not only high-rotation MTV airplay and a visit to the White House, but also a music video starring Claire Danes; and a much-publicized three-year romance with another 90s actress, Winona Ryder.
“The LA scene is crazy. The paparazzi are relentless and just going anywhere when you are dating an actress, especially one so in the headlines all the time, was just horrendous,” Pirner said. “It was a culture shock for me for sure to have all that around me. I was just me. Punk rock me. So it was really hard to not let that really settle in.”
Of course with stardom there can be perks.
“I’m at a party one night in LA and you won’t believe who comes up to me … Harvey Weinstein. He tells me that he has this guy making movies for him that’s a big fan, Kevin Smith. He would really love to collaborate and have some of our music in his movies. I gave him my number and really didn’t think anything about it, you know, just chalked it up to your typical ‘LA talk’ but my phone rang the next day and it was Kevin. We wound up with songs in two of his Clerks movies and I did the score for Chasing Amy. We just got back from playing the Cruise Askew. Everyone was there and it was a great time. It was my first time playing on a ship like that, which was interesting to say the least. I love Kevin Smith fans. I can’t imagine being on a cruise with like some death metal band and their fans, but I love when people tell me that they discovered our music through one of his movies.”
1995 saw the release of Let Your Dim Light Shine, which was not quite the follow up that Soul Asylum had hoped for. The single “Misery” broke the Top 20 Billboard charts, but the record stalled. The group released Candy from a Stranger the following year. The album was unsuccessful, and the band was dropped by Columbia Records.
“It was the same thing that had happened to the previous cycle of music styles, the market was over saturated with ‘grunge’ and ‘alternative rock’ bands. We felt the need to kind of stand back and take a look at where we were and what we really wanted to do from there.”
In 2005 tragedy struck when bassist and founding member Karl Mueller passed away after being previously diagnosed in 2004 with esophageal cancer.
“That was a gut shot. Anytime you lose a founding member and friend, it’s something you really have to look at and see exactly how you carry on.”
Hurry Up and Wait, the band’s twelfth album was released in 2020 and a full world tour was scheduled, only to be a victim of the COVID pandemic.
“That was a bummer. I was in a hotel in San Diego and there was a knock at the door. I opened it and our tour manager just looked at me and said ‘It’s over. Tours over, we’re going home.’ To be a band that is so used to being on the road, this was a bit of a shock to not be able to go out and promote your brand-new album. On top of that, I had written a book that came out in March of 2020 called Loud Fast Words: Soul Asylum Collected Lyrics and I couldn’t even do the book promo tour. So it kinda left us in oblivion.”
Next month Soul Asylum’s thirteenth studio album Slowly But Shirley will be released and the band is on tour with a stop at The Lyric in Oxford on August 26.
“I love playing the old songs along with the new. I love seeing kids in the audience with their parents who are fans, and I absolutely love it when I am told that we were someone’s first concert. People want to hear ‘Runaway Train,’ and I am happy about that, I mean, I’m perfectly OK with it. That song and the video are a legacy and one that I am extremely proud of.”
Doors open at 7 pm, with opener Charlie Mars starting at 8 pm and Soul Asylum taking the stage at 9 pm. Tickets are available online at TheLyricOxford.com.
