Milwaukee bassist joins Tommy Stinson’s band
Whenever Justin Perkins recorded albums, there was one whose warm production he tried to emulate: “Friday Night Is Killing Me,” the 1993 debut from Tommy Stinson’s post-Replacements rock band, Bash & Pop.
Nearly a quarter-century later, the Milwaukee-based Perkins worked on the follow-up.
Perkins, who runs Mystery Room Mastering out of his home near Mitchell International Airport, mixed and mastered Bash & Pop’s sophomore album “Anything Could Happen,” out Jan. 20. When Bash & Pop previews new material at the Cactus Club Friday, Perkins will be by Stinson’s side: He’s the resurrected band’s official bassist.
“Justin is sort of my secret weapon,” the New York-based Stinson told the Journal Sentinel. “As shy and quiet of a guy as he is, he’s got so much he brings to the table. When I needed a bass player and he filled in, I was like, ‘Whoa (expletive), he can sing.’ Then later I found out, ‘Oh (expletive), he’s got his own studio and knows how to mix and master records.’ It’s one-stop shopping with this guy.”
Bash & Pop’s debut was a key album for Perkins’ musical journey. In 1999, the Neenah native was at Simple Studios in Green Bay to record an album with his high school band, Amazing Larry, when he spotted a CD copy of “Killing Me” on a rack and put it on.
“It’s one of my favorite-sounding albums,” Perkins, 36, said. “I would use it as a goal, and was able to get close to the drum sound.”
Perkins worked as an audio engineer at Simple and the late Smart Studios in Madison, owned by Garbage’s Butch Vig and Steve Marker, before moving to Milwaukee in 2007. He started Mystery Room two years later.
Around this time, Perkins’ friend, Milwaukee-native Ben Perlstein, became Stinson’s manager. Through Perlstein, Perkins was hired to play bass for Stinson at a record store show in Chicago in 2011 and handled sound for some Midwest gigs in 2015, including a concert at Club Garibaldi in Milwaukee.
Perkins was booked again to do sound for an early 2016 tour, but when Stinson’s bassist, Cat Popper (Jack White, Ryan Adams), had to drop out, Perkins filled in and has “played ripping bass” since, Stinson said.
That’s high praise, considering Stinson also played bass for one of rock’s heaviest hitters, Guns N’ Roses. But Perkins himself wasn’t intimidated by the job.
“I had to show up prepared and not sit around and wait for anyone to get up to speed,” Perkins said. “(Stinson) is a pretty easygoing guy. He trusts people if you earn his trust.”
Perkins also earned Stinson’s trust in the studio after mixing and mastering “Force of Nurture,” the 2015 album from Milwaukee band Midnight Reruns that Stinson produced.
That led to a mixing and mastering gig for Stinson’s “L.M.A.O,” released in summer 2015. The seveninch release’s two raw rock tracks, “Breathing Room” and “Not This Time,” appear on the new Bash & Pop album “Anything Could Happen.”
“When I played this stuff, people said, ‘This reminds me of that Bash & Pop record,’ ” Stinson said, inspiring him to resurrect the band name.
Last April, he called on Perkins to mix and master “Anything.”
“Had I been asked to work on the Bash & Pop album in 1999, I would have been very overwhelmed,” Perkins said. “But having gone through everything I’ve been through, I felt more confident. It was a really exciting project to do.”
Perkins captured Stinson’s wishes for “a live, loose feel,” with a few smart additions. He spent weeks walking around his neighborhood, listening to his mixes on headphones, to identify key moments for incorporating acoustic guitar. Perkins also added backing vocals to “Same” and handmade maracas from Belize, a gift from his father, to the single “On the Rocks.”
“(Perlstein) FedEx-ed me a tambourine and shaker from Guitar Center, but it was too nice. ‘On the Rocks’ has a dirtier, Rolling Stones-vibe, and the ones from Belize sound like there are actual rocks in them,” Perkins said.
Stinson is thrilled with the result.
“With Justin, he knows how to get the best of what’s there,” Stinson said. “That’s why he is forever going to be in my fold.”