Melvins' Buzz Osborne Praises Band's Latest Creative Challenge

At four decades-plus into their career, Melvins' Buzz Osborne still finds ways to keep it interesting. Case in point is their 2026 collaborative record with Napalm Death under the moniker Savage Imperial Death March.

Osborne was beaming to Full Metal Jackie about the experience on her weekend radio show, explaining, "I didn't know what it was gonna be like. I knew it was gonna be cool, but I had no idea."

The Melvins frontman says the idea of the unknown was appealing to him, knowing they had a limited amount of time and unsure of how much material they might come up with during their pairing. "it's doing stuff like that that keeps me interested in everything that we're doing and also keeps it interesting," shares the singer.

Within the chat, King Buzzo also spoke about the band's long-running friendship with the members of Tomahawk with the two bands teaming up once more on tour this year. He speaks of his fondness for where Melvins are at at this point in their career and the lineup of musicians he's playing with. And he hints at something big in his world on the horizon.

Check out more of the chat below.

It's Full Metal Jackie and it is a pleasure to welcome back to the show King Buzzo. Buzz Osborne. 2026 is turning into a fun one for the band as you already paired up with Napalm Death on Savage Imperial Death March, and of course, a Melvins tour with the reformed Tomahawk. There's a long history there as peers, labelmates, and Trevor [Dunn]'s obviously played with you in Melvins. What's it been like reconnecting with those guys?

I'm a big fan of those guys. especially Trevor. I've worked with Trevor on a lot of different things. We did a big huge U.S. and European acoustic tour almost two years ago. That was great. Hope to do that again with him with on standup bass and then we're hoping that those guys or some of those guys will jam with us onstage when we do our sets.

But we've all worked together a lot. I think the last time we played with Tomahawk was the better part of 20 years ago and our last show was in Sydney, Australia with them. So that was a lot of fun. That was a Melvins, Phantomas, Tomahawk tour of Australia. It was really cool. We loved it. It was really fun. That was really fun. I think I was the only person on that tour that wasn't drinking.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

And can still call it a fun tour?

Oh, I had a blast. I'm there to do my job and have fun playing music and then I am completely content to go straight back to my room at the hotel and watch a movie and maybe email my wife or call her if the time changes aren't too bad.

I'm totally fine with that. I don't need a whole lot to keep me occupied or happy on tour. You got a good bookstore or something like that. I'm a bookworm, so it all helps.

Melvins + Napalm Death, "Rip the God"

This wasn't the first time for you have crossed paths With Tomahawk. Back in 2003, there were dates together. What are your recollections from those early shows and were you immediately a fan of their music upon hearing them?

With Tomahawk? I knew all the guys really well so I was happy they were doing anything together. It wouldn't really matter to me. You put those guys together, they're gonna come up with something good without too much trouble.

We did a European tour with them, a U.S. tour and a big Australian tour, so basically the whole world. Didn't play Japan. I don't know why we left Japan out. For some reason we left them out. No Japan for this tour. No dice.

This time it's four weeks across the U.S. I wish it was longer but we're gonna end in Los Angeles at two shows at The Belasco, which will be really fun. I love The Belasco. Do you like that venue?

Yeah, It's cool. I have to say that I feel like they try to make downtown a thing and I don't know that downtown's a thing, but there's definitely some cool venues now downtown.

Well, you can drink cheap wine and score heroin and go to the show. And there's an amazing bookstore down there called The Last Bookstore.

Oh, yeah.

That place, that's one of my favorite bookstores certainly in L.A., so I'm always happy to go downtown.

We're talking about this summer tour that finds Melvins back with their four-piece lineup. Musicians have come and gone throughout the years, but Dale Crover has been there the longest with you. What has it meant to have someone to share this musical journey with throughout and can you talk about that working relationship?

Well, we've been working together since 1984. But we've also worked with Coady Willis, who's the second drummer on this and we've done shows without Dale when he was incapacitated and that went really well because Coady's a great drummer.

It's nice to know that I have these musicians and including Steve McDonald, who plays bass, that I can rely on and that are really good in their own right. We can make it work. To me, these guys are all top-notch musicians.

I feel honored and, and privileged to have them as my side mates in a musical endeavor that has lasted me the better part of 50 years.

Looking back at the history, it's easy to call Melvins one of the more prolific bands of their generation. We've got 29 studio albums, multiple collaborative albums, EPs and live albums after starting off in 1986. You don't get to this point without pushing the boundaries and keeping it fresh. At this point, how do you go about keeping it challenging and interesting for yourself? What makes a recording and creative process one that's something you always wanna come back to?

Well, not being afraid to do what we just did on our newest album, which is a collaboration with Napalm Death, which is a true collaboration. It's not like Melvins put in songs and Napalm Death put in songs. We collaborated as a band in writing the songs and recording them.

And so it was really like putting a new band together with the members of both those of Melvins and Napalm Death, which I think came out. I didn't know what it was gonna be like. I knew it was gonna be cool, but I had no idea.

I also didn't know how much material we'd come up with, because we had a limited amount of time to figure it out. So I had some material, they had some material. We combined them, figured out what we were gonna do, and then once we were done, we sent it to Barney, the singer, and he put his magic on it.

And I think he really elevated it to another level that wasn't there before. And it's doing stuff like that that keeps me interested in everything that we're doing and also keeps it interesting. I don't think any of other two bands have ever done this, that have made a true collaboration, not that I know of have done that.

So it was really cool to be able to do that. Those guys are very open-minded and super nice guys and I could not be happier with the way the record came out. And I think it's a really great addition to what we're doing. And things like that is what keeps it interesting for me.

I've done a lot of records and being able to collaborate with people and do those kinds of things just makes it all the more interesting and certainly keeps me interested in it as far as like what I know that you throw that many people that are creative into a room, you're gonna come up with something good.

Buzz, it feels like you're always working but given the long history of the band, do you ever get a chance to reflect or take it all in? This year's gonna mark 40 years since the first EP. Obviously there are gonna be highs and lows throughout that time, but I was curious if you had a period within the band's history that you felt mostly present about enjoying the moment where everything was to your satisfaction.

I'm really happy with what we got going on now. Usually I've always enjoyed whoever I'm playing with and I'm playing with them for reason. Sometimes problems arise, but we've moved on from a few situations along those lines.

It would've been, the better part about 20 years ago, 10, 15 years ago, we decided that we had some trouble and we decided that whatever me and Dale were doing was The Melvins. And whatever we come up with now, you were not really gonna have a solid anything. We Just leave it at that.

We've played with these guys for a long time now. I really like the two drummer thing. I don't think we're gonna sway from that. I really like playing with Steve McDonald, who was from Redd Cross. I think he's one of the hottest bass players out there, both the way he looks and the way he plays. So it's a win-win. He's a great addition and a great musician, and I could not be happier, um, in that department. And so the double drummer thing to me is difficult to do, but I think the payoff at the end is really cool.

I really like it and there's not a lot of people doing that either. And we're gonna be doing a new record sometime soon with the double drummer lineup again and it's going to be drum centric.

King Buzzo with us on the show this week. As we mentioned earlier, in addition to Melvins, earlier this year saw you team up with Napalm Death for the collaborative album, Savage Imperial Death March. How long had you been a fan of Napalm Death and can you speak about how the collaborative experience went for you?

I really enjoy it. I've been knowing them since their very first tour of the U.S. I saw them on their very first tour, which was late '80s, early '90s. I met them not tremendously long after that. We'd done various shows here and there with them prior to this thing. And then we did a big tour with them in 2016, which was a big U.S. tour that I worked really hard with our booking agent to make a tour that I thought those guys would really enjoy.

And then they loved it and then we did another one last year with them. It was even bigger. I think it was 52 shows or 54 shows, something like that, in the U.S. We played literally everywhere we could. The drummer said something really funny. He was like, "This is about five weeks longer than I would've liked." Which I thought was really funny. But they loved it. They thought it was really fun. And they came back and did a tour this year.

I would love to do Europe and Australia and everything with those guys. Doing the record, this time when it came around, I said, "You know, we should do some kind of recording and put it out as a limited edition EP or something like that, that we can record, or we can sell as we tour on the road." They go, "Great." And so two of the guys came over, Shane and John, and we went to work.

It was such a collaborative effort that I can't remember exactly who played what on what. I know I played some bass and guitar, and I know I sang. I can tell that. And I know those guys all did that too. They all played guitar, they all played bass.

And it was really like, "You know, we need a guitar solo in this spot." "Um, you do it." You know? "Okay." So it was really like that. There was no egos. We laughed our way through the whole thing. It was really fun. And then in the end, we had enough stuff for a whole album and then we gave it to Barney.

And Barney added his magic to it and I think brought it to another level and it was very, very cool. And I am really proud of that record and really happy it came out on Ipecac eventually. Not just a EP that no one, not that, not that many people would ever hear.

Now it gets a full release and people seem to dig it and I think it's a surprise for them. And I don't really know any other bands that have done that kind of thing. A true collaboration where we are really letting each other form one new band. It's not like I contributed songs. Melvins contributed songs and Napalm contributed. It's a true collaborative effort. I can't think of any. Can you think of anybody?

I can't think of anybody that's done that. Probably too many egos involved, and so it would never, they'd never let it work. But we're all, "Nah," we split everything evenly, and everybody does what they want. And this is to have fun and make something really cool.

There is always something going on for you. Obviously touring is gonna be taking up some time. But where do things stand in your world beyond the summer tour and all that we know about at this point?

We have a few other shows after that. We're playing Sick New World Festival and a few other festivals. Then we're doing some shows that haven't been announced yet. But not any more touring like that. Next year we got a whole bunch of stuff planned.

But I also have something that's gonna get announced soon. It's a new thing for me that we've been working on with some guys. I can't tell you exactly what that is just yet, because we're not ready to announce it yet. But when that happens, I think that you'll really be into it.

Thanks to King Buzzo, Buzz Osborne of the Melvins for the interview. Stay up to date with the band through their website, Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube platforms. Find out where you can hear Full Metal Jackie's weekend radio show here.

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