During a recent conversation with Spin, Buzz Osborne named the all-time best live band while sharing 40 life lessons learned from 40 years with the Melvins.
The rocker said the following as his 37th life lesson:
“Listen to bands like the Who, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones. I will never tire of those bands, and I don’t trust people who don’t like them. Whenever I hear someone say, ‘I don’t like the Beatles or the Stones,’ I think, ‘You can’t find one song of theirs that you like? That’s just crazy.’ The Who, to me, are the best live band of the ’60s, if not the best live band ever. They’re definitely my favorite band and have been since I was 12. I think there’s a lot people can learn from those bands.”
Osborne also gave a piece of advice for the young musicians, explaining:
“Work on your instrument. If you’re gonna play guitar or if you’re gonna be a painter, you need to do this. You need to do this on a level that makes it where lots of other areas of your life fall by the wayside. If you want to be a writer, or you want to be an artist, a painter, or a guitar player, other areas of your life are gonna have to suffer as a result of that, or you will never be any good.”
In a 2022 conversation with Bryan Reesman, the singer also admitted that he primarily looked to Pete Townshend for inspiration when incorporating heavy elements into acoustic songs. Speaking of the inspiration behind their 2021 album ‘Five Legged Dog,’ he said:
“Long time ago, I got turned onto this record, probably 40 years ago, by a live record that Pete Townshend was a part of, the guitar player from the Who. He did three songs on acoustic, ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again,’ ‘Pinball Wizard, ‘and ‘Drowned.’ Because I was such a big fan of them, I got that record and listened to that. His acoustic versions were just as powerful as the band would’ve been. I never lost that idea through this record. I did two solo acoustic records with that in mind.”
During another interview with Metal Hammer in June 2023, Buzz again noted that he was a big fan of the Rolling Stones. He also mentioned that they covered ‘Sway,’ a lesser-known Stones song, and he’s impressed with the dynamics and quality of the ‘Sticky Fingers’ album.
