Photo Verité

Today's photo from the archives documents my one foray into rock photography. I went to interview the Melvins at Tim Green's home studio on June 24, 1999 -- I know because Pavement's Terror Twilight came out that day-- at a time, ironically enough, when the power was out. It was my first interview -- unless you count my high school interview with Sigmund Gorski about the state of the sciences at Queen Anne School -- and I was very nervous. But the surreality of eating Thai food with a band that I had ritually seen as an undergrad -- thanks Tim Pratt! -- that had unexpectedly become "unplugged" helped me through the worst moments.

After the interview, I gave the band a ride over to Amoeba in the Haight -- yes, the Melvins rode in "Old Red" -- where they made a beeline for the used film section, looking for obscure B-material from Europe. I stayed with them for a while, then slipped off to buy the Pavement album before I headed home. It seemed incongruous, coupling Pavement and the Melvins. But you have to follow your pleasure wherever it leads. And I did have a Stockton connection for both.