{"id":26801,"date":"2025-08-07T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=26801"},"modified":"2025-08-03T14:35:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T13:35:25","slug":"white-trash-a-q-a-with-dave-alvin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/?p=26801","title":{"rendered":"White Trash – A Q & A with Dave Alvin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The band initially formed in the mid-80\u2019s. What were the early days like, and how did the band\u2019s sound come together?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We all lived in the same neighborhood and jammed together for years. We all listened to different styles of music, but we were all primarily metal heads. I brought in the Prince and Parliament influence, Ethan brought in the progressive rock elements and Mike & Aaron added the Chili Peppers to the mix. The horn players really filled out the sound when we added them in and made us stand out from the other bands on the scene.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your debut album was released at a time when some monumental rock albums were released, such as Nevermind, the Black Album, Use Your Illusion, Ten\u2026 I can remember the \u2018Apple Pie\u2019 video getting the Buzz Bin with MTV, and it bummed me out that the song and album didn\u2019t lead to a big surge in popularity. What are some of your memories from that first album?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first album for me was a non-stop party. It was a dream come true to get signed and then be all over MTV. Lots of women and booze. It was liking living in a musical porno movie.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Who would you have liked to tour with to support that album? In my review of \u2018Si O Si, Que?\u2019 I suggest Ugly Kid Joe might have been a good match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We played a bunch of shows with Scatterbrain while touring for the first album. I always liked playing with those guys.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between the debut and second album, there is a massive change within the band where you continue as White Trash and other members form Hash. I remember \u201cartistic differences\u201d being the reason for the split, which appears to be the case based on the differences in Hash\u2019s album and where White Trash went. What was it like rebuilding the band? What did you think of Hash\u2019s album?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We split up because we couldn\u2019t get along or agree. Ethan hated the funk aspect and the horns, so he quit and Aaron and Mike jumped into a different project because they hated me. They didn\u2019t write any of the material in Hash, that was Seth\u2019s project. They just wanted to do something different.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did the recording of \u2018Si O Si, Que?\u2019 go? Was Elektra supportive? It seemed like there were consistent changes in who was working at each label back then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elektra was always supportive of us and the Si O Si Que recording sessions is still the best experience of my professional career. Getting to jam with Bernie Worrell was so fucking cool!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When \u2018Si O Si, Que?\u2019 was released, I liked the debut album more. I missed the full horn section and didn\u2019t think the songs were as memorable. The album became a real grower though, and I probably play it more than the debut now. What was the response like to the record?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are horns on Si O Si Que, just not as much, but I didn\u2019t want to just go and try to make a sequel to the first album, especially with a different crew of musicians, that would have been really cheesy I think. We went out of our way to do things much differently on that album. That<\/em> probably hurt us, but the scene had changed so much that we were going to be on the outside looking in no matter what. I am really proud of that album because we didn\u2019t really give a fuck what anyone thought and we just did everything 100% the way we wanted to. It was a rare and special opportunity, but of course we wish that it had been more successful.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my review, I mention \u2018Come Tuesday\u2019 as being an obvious choice for the label to release as a single. It\u2019s not a ballad but a soulful rocker with a huge hook. I cannot remember what shows were on Tuesday night back in the day. Was there a specific character or actress you had in mind at the time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think the music industry had become adverse to releasing power ballads and even though I agree with you that Come Tuesday is not really that, it was classified that way by the label. That was a big mistake on their part. As far as what the title refers to, that would be Tuesday Weld, who I had a crush on ever since seeing the movie \u201cPretty Poison\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Is there anything you would have done differently with the album, if you could go back in time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I could have somehow gotten it released earlier by inventing a time machine or use the portal gun from Rick and Morty then I would have liked to have done that. The timing was all wrong.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things went quiet after that record until 13 years later when a new album (\u20183D Monkeys in Space\u2019) was released, followed by another album. What brought you guys back together?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, I lost interest in the music industry and started pursuing other things. I move away to Florida, then I got a master\u2019s degree and got involved in filmmaking for a while out in California. Eventually I moved back to NY and ran into the old gang and so much time had passed that we didn\u2019t hate each other anymore. Our friend, DJ Bagel, worked at a club on Long Island and he asked us to do a reunion. That led to a bunch of other shows and we decided to start recording and gigging again.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both of those albums are out of print. About a year ago on Facebook, I brought up the idea of releasing them on bandcamp, iTunes, etc, for download purchases. Are we any closer to making that happen as I still need both of those albums and am sure others do too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I considered doing that, but the music streaming platforms really suck. I don\u2019t want to participate in that. Bandcamp is ok for downloads and selling CD\u2019s, but it doesn\u2019t really provide the experience that most users want. In a digital age where everything is available immediately, I guess I am revolting against that. There is something cool about having an out of print CD or album.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, we did get a new release with \u2018C.O.C.K. in a Box\u2019 being a compilation of unreleased songs and different mixes of previously released songs. How did you decide what songs to put on the album?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was much harder than I thought it would be. I had to relisten to all of these old tapes and have them transferred and then listen through multiple takes and mixes. Ultimately, I picked what I thought sounded best and tried to release stuff that nobody had ever heard before.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have seen it mentioned that there may be another release of some sort down the road. Are there any details you can share on that one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well prior to the band breaking up again, we had started recording a new album. I am hoping to finish that up and release it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know the band is gone. Are you still writing any music?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, always. I jam all the time, mainly with the guys that I played with in Two Ton Turntable. I did a few side projects with those guys.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you could only have five albums when stuck on a deserted island, what would they be?<\/p>\n\n\n

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Axis Bold As Love \u2013 Jimi Hendrix<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Black Album \u2013 Prince<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Physical Graffiti \u2013 Led Zeppelin<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Live at Ronnie Scott\u2019s \u2013 Jeff Beck<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The White Album \u2013 The Beatles<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to new releases, I have been doing a few retro reviews like I did for \u2018Si O Si, Que?\u2019 These have included controversial releases like \u2018Endless Nameless\u2019 by the Wildhearts and ones that did not have much success such as \u2018Butterfly\u2019 by Earth Eighteen. Is there an album you would nominate that needs to be spotlighted?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither Fish Nor Flesh – Terrence Trent D\u2019Arby<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions by Gerald Stansbury<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The band initially formed in the mid-80\u2019s. What were the early days like, and how did the band\u2019s sound come together? We all lived in the same neighborhood and jammed together for years. We all listened to different styles of music, but we were all primarily metal heads. I brought in the Prince and Parliament […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26802,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[8833,714,1681,1680,8832],"class_list":["post-26801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","tag-dave-alvin","tag-gerald-stansbury","tag-rpmnews1","tag-rpmonline","tag-white-trash"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26801"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26806,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26801\/revisions\/26806"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rpmonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}