POSIES STILL BLOOMING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
The two principal Posies live some 5,000 miles apart. But Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer, who formed the band back in the late 1980s, have found a way to keep their power-pop group circulating despite the distance. The Posies never had a big breakthrough moment. But 30 years later, the group has endured admirably while never really hitching its wagon to any popular rock ’n’ roll trend during that time.
“Musicians love our band,” Stringfellow said. “I guess we fall into that category: bands that musicians like. That was Big Star’s m.o. until they were noticed by a broader audience. But, look, a nerdy mixtape-type band is a great place to be.”
Not coincidentally, when Big Star would reunite, Stringfellow and Auer were roped into the band; that, on top of Stringfellow’s longtime duty as a hired hand for R.E.M.
Despite the detours, the two repeatedly returned to the Posies. Stringfellow and Auer recently took out the classic ’90s version of the band for a tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of its “Frosting on the Beater,” which was a sprightly powerpop album made at the height of alterna-grunge. The group is now working up new songs for the followup to its 2016 album “Solid State” and will have a few new tunes that
might be in the mix when they come to Houston next week.
Q: “Solid State” has been out awhile now. I guess this isn’t technically a tour for that record, right?
A: Yeah, we had a great time touring it, but then we did the anniversary thing with the vintage lineup. So it still kind of feels like a new release even though it’s old.
Q: I admired how unmoored from time it sounds. It sounds like a record that could’ve been made any time in the past 40-plus years.
A: Well, thank you. That’s sort of a space the Posies seem to occupy no matter what the era. And I should say, we’re working on new material now. That’s what these shows are about. We’re far-flung now, geographically. Jon’s in Seattle, I’m in France, and our drummer’s in Los Angeles. So we book some shows and get together and start doing things. We’ll get new songs written and demoed, and then to play them live. We always discover new things playing the songs in front of people. Live there’s this physical stuff that happens, and you really let go and put your body into it. The role of the body is underrated. That whole limbic system working together. So you do your homework, then you do that. It’s almost like the difference between a screenplay and an acted performance. We try to use all of it.
Q: You guys started out making guitar-heavy pop in the Pacific Northwest right about the time rock ’n’ roll was doing this primal scream thing. Were you deliberately trying to zag when others were zigging? It’s interesting because your music wasn’t void of dark themes. You just didn’t bust a
vessel about it.
A: Those were conversations we were having at the time. It wasn’t like we didn’t enjoy that primal-scream-type music around us — that all-or-nothing rage and angst and expression of depression. But we thought there was more to life than that. And people there seemed like they had to keep upping the ante. I don’t believe in that, and never
have. I was virtually a professional outcast. I know it sounds funny for a guy with a pop sensibility. But I loved punk, though I was less drawn to metal, which was anti-sensitivity while falling into its own conformity. But I just heard something more interesting than brutality. Kurt Cobain did a great job writing about that angst and anger, but he did it as a sensitive individual. David Geffen Co.
Q: It’s funny how there was more of a secret-handshake thing with music for a long time. I remember when the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” was issued on CD for the first time. Now it’d be unthinkable to delay putting it into a new format. And that sounds like how you found Big Star.
A: Yeah, I mean, luckily their records were reissued, and the older, wiser guys at the record store pointed us in the right direction. And it really did blow my mind. I fell in love, and I think then I kind of realized we were on a good path. I can look back on it more intelligently now, too. Those albums were beautifully produced. The melodies were great. They all sang together wonderfully. And you think they were doing that when rock was at its most “Lord of the Rings” with leather costumes and codpieces. Big Star was different. They spoke to you like a normal person. Maybe I didn’t think of it exactly that way at the time. But I was being drawn forward.
Q: A hit song would’ve certainly been nice for you guys. But on the other hand, I think of really good bands that are unfairly tagged one-hit wonders. Do you think there are benefits in not having had a hit?
A: Oh, yeah. And I mean, we still have this great fan base that rolls with us no matter what changes. People still come to us for a certain experience that they think we can deliver. So yes, the swimming pool and the Bentley would’ve been nice, but imagine having to play a hit at a county fair the rest of your life and nobody giving a (expletive) about anything else. We just didn’t have those casual listeners. And we sold enough to keep going, and retained those people. So I guess that is one reward for not having a massive hit.