DAZ: Firstly, how the hell are you and where the hell are you?
MARK PICKEREL: I’m good. I live in Ellensburg, Washington, where I’ve owned and operated a record store for ten years. It’s called Rodeo Records. It’s turned into one of the best record stores in the Northwest with the help of a couple of really great employees. We stock just about every genre that we have access to; we specialise in Underground and Psychedelia, Country, Blues and Jazz.

DAZ: Let’s start right at the beginning. You were there right at the start – what were your initial impressions of the Conners?
MARK: I loved them right away. We shared a passion for music, laughter and the insane. We had a blast together in the early days, just like most bands will tell you, the best stage for a band is the early part of their career, when people are naïve and still have a romanticized dream of what the band can become.
Everyone was full of ideas and concepts of where the band could go. We spent all our free time together rehearsing, recording listening to records and getting in and out of trouble together. Those are the things that really make a band great!

DAZ: Lee was saying that you were the ‘metal’ influence in the group – Judas Priest and Def Leppard covers no less?!
MARK: Actually, the person he is referring to was a replacement named David Frazinni, although I did secretly enjoy some of that music, I never tried to move the band in that direction.

DAZ: What memories have you got of Explosive Generation?
MARK: The practising was more fun than the shows, although playing for the elementary school and the Special Olympics Summer Camp Dance was a hoot!
We played everything from Echo and the Bunnymen to Cream, the Stones, Black Flag…you name it. It was fun but not to be taken too seriously. We were desperate to get out of Ellensburg and converse with people with the same interests and we viewed this as a way to do that – it worked!

DAZ: What were your intentions at that stage – did you expect the band to take off?
MARK: Some days we imagined we would be world famous, other days we felt like the losers we were, but we were always laughing (another key ingredient to a successful partnership).

DAZ: How did you meet Lanegan? What did you make of him?
MARK: Lanegan was a big scary guy on campus; at first glance I never imagined we would share the same interest in music and film. I always thought he would be one of those guys who might beat me up for wearing pink trousers. Somehow, Van found out, while in a drama class with Lanegan that he was into Black Flag and Motorhead, two of Van’s favourite bands at the time. Lanegan was the only other person that I’d ever met who loved the Gun Club as much as I did. We decided to star a band together.
At the time, Van and his older brother, Gary Lee, were fighting about something so we decided this band would not include Gary Lee. I would sing, Lanegan on drums and Van on bass. Lanegan flailed around on drums, I couldn’t sing above Van’s feedback – it was a mess. Just about the time I noticed what a horrible mess the whole thing was, Van’s mom came barging in with Gary Lee, screaming, “Van Conner, you’re going to let your brother play in your band or I’m going to take away your weekend privileges, and I know how much you want to go to the school dance!”
Van argued a little. His mom would have none of it! “This is Gary Lee’s room you’re practising in and HE WILL PLAY IN YOUR BAND!!!”
Lee walked in, plugged in his guitar, I asked Mark if he’d like to trade spots. Next thing I remember we were playing a Doors song. I couldn’t believe the resemblance to (Jim) Morrison.

DAZ: On the ‘Clairvoyance’ sleeve, you’re the only one who doesn’t look an absolute disgrace! I take it image didn’t come into it much?
MARK: We were a bunch of misfits and it seemed that we were always into opposing fashion statements. Gary Lee would be dressed up in a really far-out psychedelic costume and I would be trying to pull off some tuff punk look. Lanegan was still looking like a hickoid, Van would be wearing a trenchcoat and wingtips. We could never seem to pull ‘a look’ together.

DAZ: Didn’t you try and copy the Cramps trick of playing at an asylum, or am I making that up?
MARK: Yes, we played at the local home for some ‘special people’. We went over really big. I think Van got lucky, if I remember right.

DAZ: Did you have much influence with regards to songwriting?
MARK: Not really, I think I helped craft the direction of the songs but I didn’t know the first thing about playing the guitar or anything like that. I expressed my opinions and made suggestions and what-not.

DAZ: I think the SST albums stand up remarkably well. What memories do you have of making those albums?
MARK: We spent a lot of time rehearsing in the back of the Conner’s video store (New World Video) – I’m sitting right across the street form it as we speak. I have more memories of hanging out that I do of making music.

DAZ: How did you find touring? I take it you were on a shoestring budget?
MARK: $5.00 each a day for food at first, then things improved a bit after the first couple of tours. We had a hell of a time touring, highlights included touring with fireHOSE [Minuteman Mike Watt’s band], shows with Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, Meat Puppets, Nirvana, we even played with Alice Cooper. It was a great time but also physically and emotionally draining. We had a lot of ‘ego’ to protect and didn’t always problem solve the way that adults should. Too bad, youth is wasted on the young.

DAZ: Were you working at Sub Pop after or during this period? How did it affect your viewpoint?
MARK: During. It was fun to experience the excitement of working for the hippest label on the planet at the time. Back then, all the bands supported each other a lot, no-one had really ‘made it’ yet, so no-one had developed an elitist attitude. I still remember loaning Kurt Cobain $3.00 so he could buy some chips and a coke. He was so thrilled that he kissed me!

DAZ: Go on then, why did you leave?
MARK: I was laid off when they were experiencing one of their low points. It was sad but it all worked out well in the long run. I loved working with Jon Poneman [uber big cheese, quit acrimoniously] and Megan Jasper; I still visit them a few times a year. Their art department does the graphics for my band’s cds.
[Readers! Hilariously, I actually meant ‘why did you leave the Trees’. Due to my gibbering and incompetence, a misunderstanding ensued and the moment to ask again was lost. We’ll take Lee’s word as gospel, eh?]

DAZ: Weren’t you instrumental (pardon the rotten pun) in convincing Lanegan to try a solo project? Do outtakes of the first album exist, more Jury Project stuff, for example? [Jury Project was a late-night doss around with Lanegan, Pickerel, Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic. “Where did you sleep last night?” cropped up on Lanegan’s debut, ‘Winding Sheet’]
MARK: Yeah, he tells me that I talked him into the whole thing; he still hasn’t forgiven me. I have a few tapes of stuff lying around somewhere. ‘Winding Sheet’ is still one of my proudest moments.

DAZ: Did you follow the Tree’s career after you’d left? Do you keep in touch with them? Any regrets?
MARK: I still talk with Lanegan now and then. I haven’t seen the brothers since the last Trees show a couple of years ago. I miss them all. Regrets? Too many to mention.

DAZ: Truly followed on quite quickly. Is this still a going concern?
MARK: I played on some recordings with Robert [Roth, vocals] last year; his solo cd should be out soon.

DAZ: After breaking out of the Trees, you must have been frustrated when Hiro ‘retired’ for a second time?
[Bassist Hiro Yamamoto cut his teeth with the fledgling Soundgarden, only to retire from the music business. He changed his mind and joined Truly with Mark and Robert, only to ‘retire again’ two albums later]
MARK: Yeah, Hiro is a great player and a great guy. It was sad to see him go.

DAZ: Tell us a bit about Dark Fantastic.
MARK: We’ve released two cds on Up Records; we’re recording demos for Emperor Norton right now. I picked up the guitar a few weeks after Kurt died, he asked me to play on the next Nirvana record. I was sad on so many levels, I lost a friend, a great musician and missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime. I decided it was time to carve out my own musical path. That’s what Dark Fantastic is all about, something I can rely on when there’s no-one around to employ me. It keeps me busy it’s very rewarding and we’ve been getting some great press and some radio airplay.

DAZ: What are you up to know?
MARK: Running the shop, maybe some touring with Neko Case in the Fall. Looking for more work.

DAZ: You’ve sold some ‘unique’ Trees items over the years – what’s been the most ‘one-off’ item you’ve sold?
MARK: I just sold a copy of ‘Clairvoyance’ for $200.00!

 
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