There for a blessed moment we had bands that didn’t seem to care about image:  Black Flag, Husker Du, The Descendents, Beat Happening, Nirvana.  Yes, they all had an image but it didn’t seem as contrived as say, Vampire Weekend, The Shins or any number of “indie” bands playing the festival circuit this summer.
 
That is why it was so refreshing when I received a CD from the Wichita, Kansas-based band Black Gasoline.  No, they weren’t extremely original but the influences that ring through on their album, She Gave Us Magic, all mix well to create a 1970s heavy music lover’s equivalent of a giant hash brownie. This is indeed stoner rock. And what is wrong with that?
 
The band’s love of classic rock is entirely in your face.  They create a sound that is as thick as sludge and meddles into a sound that is reminiscent of Van Halen, The Who, and recent champions of the sound, Queens of The Stone Age.  Taking their name from a 1940s barely refined type of homemade fuel, the band (Bryan Seely on vocals, Paul DeCeglie on guitar, Larry Donaldson on keyboards, Kendall Newby on drums and Scott Mackey on bass) seem ready to make their namesake proud; using driving guitars, pounding drums and bowel loosing bass lines as accelerants, they’ll set the Midwest on fire.

I “spoke” with the band via MySpace.
 
When did Black gasoline come together?
 It’s been about four years now.
 
What music has had the biggest impact on you as a group? She Gave Us Magic sounds very rooted in 1970s rock to me…
I think we have stylistically gravitated to the feel of 70s hard rock, but I don’t think you could call that a genre or even say that that would make us any easier to explain if you did. I do think it would be correct in that during the 70s you saw bands like Deep Purple or Black Sabbath make increasingly diverse, ambitious and dynamic albums, so I hope that’s what you mean. But as we’ve continued developing and finding our artistic voice, we’ve moved towards a genre that really didn’t exist, in that most of your 70s era bands only made one or two heavy psych albums, a piece which was usually peppered with a lot of R&B and blues, whereas we’ve been attempting to make a career out of that era’s accidents instead of the easy “heavy metal” outs.

As far as what’s been getting our goat lately, and I hate to answer this for everyone else, but the last few years worth of Swedish hard rock like The Hellacopters, Graveyard, Baby Woodrose, Dungen, and Witchcraft are absolutely awesome. Black Mountain, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, High on Fire, The Flaming Lips, Midlake, and Dead Meadow are some American bands we’ve been into. Not surprisingly, a lot of oldies are in rotation: The Pretty Things, Grand Funk Railroad, Hawkwind, Blue Oyster Cult, Cheap Trick, E.L.O, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, The Who, Queen, The Byrds, The Beatles. In the Ipod era, it’s almost more difficult to convey the logic of musical influence because after a point, and this is more likely for a musician, it gets almost more scholastic than it should be on the surface, because it is, after all, just pop music.
 
Is She Gave Us Magic your first full-length record?
 Yes it is, but we are more than half-way into a new record that will either make us or break us. I’m always appreciative of any interest in us, but it’s hard not to have more interest in the future than the past. So keep an eye on us; we’re hoping for summer or fall.
 
Is the process of songwriting a group effort or does one member take the reins more often?
I think one of our greatest strengths is our creative process. By the time a riff or a melody is filtered through the band as a whole, the original idea is, in many cases, unrecognizable. Without the collective input of all five of us, it just wouldn’t be the same.
 
Is there much of a rock scene around Wichita?
It ebbs and flows. I don’t want to be unfair to a core group of people that really do work hard to ensure that there’s always some sort of scene, but sometimes it’s music, sometimes it’s more like really loud fashioned. Like most American cities there’s a faction that is birthed from corporate radio and guitar stores which will always be shit, but there’s an underground that has no set sound but has been very interesting, for instance Wichita spawned Manilla Road, Split Lip Rayfield, so wrap your head around that!
 

What do you think of the current trend of bands becoming famous and getting signed to deals strictly from internet buzz?
It’s great if you don’t mind being famous and working a day job.
 
Do you think that it takes away from a band if they don’t have to tour the country and build their own fan base?
They certainly won’t be that cohesive. Making an ambitious record is not that hard in this day and age. Having taste is another matter, but neither will matter if you can’t pull it off live. You might have to play after us, and we won’t make it easy for you.
 
I saw your band play a club in Lawrence, Kansas, a few years ago and your energy was explosive. How do you stoke that fire every night?
Blood, sweat, practice, need for attention, energy drinks… Mostly practice, and all that energy that a good crowd reflects back to you.
 
With “indie rock” being the big thing as of this moment, do you think heavier bands like Black Gasoline suffer?
Do you mean any worse than it already has? Personally I think it’s great for a band like us; it makes us even more different. If we’re back to back with a really trendy indie band, we look like Viking plunderers when the reality is that, compared to modern metal bands, we’re not really that heavy, just louder. With music the way it is now we’re a mystery, and, personally, I think it works in our favor. Styles change, a few years ago it was that rap rock thing. How smart does that Limp Bizkit guy look now?
 
How is the tour in support of Magic going?
We’re still promoting it and selling it, but at this point, we’re really revving up to the next record.
 
What’s been the biggest crowd you’ve play for to date?
Probably The Riverfest in Wichita with fellow local luminaries Split Lip Rayfield. I think that was two or three thousand people.
 
What is your inspiration for songs like say, “Lady Iron Wing” and “The Boy That Destroyed The World”?
 
“Lady Iron Wing” starts off sounding like it’s another “dangerous chick” song, like Motley Crue’s “Looks that Kill or Deep Purple’s “Lady Double Dealer”,etc. but as the song moves along the listener hopefully” discovers that “The Lady” is actually a world war II bomber and as for “boy” your guess is as good as mine.
 
Do you think a band having an “image” is important at all?
That’s an interesting question in that we’re aware that our image is an absolute lack of image, which has its own hipster appeal. It’s interesting in that we are aware BG has this burnout image, but it’s not something that we think about because we would rather shop at thrift stores and have bad ass equipment then waste too much time really dwelling on it. If there’s any method to our image, it’s that so long as nothing dates you, your on the right track.

Lots of what has been written about Bob Mould revolve around his involvement in music being seminal (punk band Hüsker Dü), groundbreaking (indie Sugar), and boundless (his solo projects). But what’s fun to see is that beneath a man who keeps a stoic front is a guy who clearly cares about not only his craft, but is attuned to the changes impacting us societally and worldwide.

It’s also refreshing to see that he’s not afraid to branch out as well –- into DJing, activism, or wrestling scriptwriting.

During a pre-show interview at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco, where Mould was prepping for his Saturday headliner slot for the Noise Pop Festival, the New York native sat down with me to discuss other aspects of his life usually held on the reserve: his sexuality, observations and fears regarding technology, and how it feels to be celebrating a body of work two decades later. Mould may come off as looking stern or solemn in pictures, but in person he radiates a demonstrative intelligence I’ve not found in many people in general, let alone musicians. His articulation exhibits a keen eye on the revolving world of music around him, and his ability to hold an attentive conversation is something to wholly admire.

TW: So there’s a rumor that you will be moving to San Francisco sometime soon.
BM: Ah, wow… I would like to relocate [from current home of Washington, D.C.] but I’m not sure if I can sell my house. I moved there in the summer of 2002. It’s a great city, good chemistry. It’s also an odd place to live too. The racial division was pronounced because of the Bush administration, so everything was and still is slightly tense. But on election night at 10 p.m., the town changed. People started to walk U Street [a main drag], we all went out.

Valencia Street here was a similar sight. Lots of people shut down the streets to clang on pots and pans and dance.
People hanging out of fire trucks, celebrating; it was a seismic change. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of people all came out in D.C.

A couple weekends ago, I had the pleasure in seeing John Cameron Mitchell do a performance called “The Origin Of Love” live, and there was a screening for one of his films after. You did some work on Wig In A Box in 2001. How did you get involved with Hedwig and the Angry Inch?
I was living in New York at the time and was friends with Stephen Trask [composer for Hedwig]. He was also in Cheater, which was the Hedwig house band. I was actually interested in producing the music but it just wasn’t able to happen. Steven and John developed a club called Squeezebox, this queer male night, and I got to watch the show develop. I mean, here in San Francisco, there are things like the Folsom Street Fair, Dore Alley… all communities I am familiar with.

There is actually a festival called Hairrison Street Fair with something similar.
Really? Related to Bear Week? Nice. The bears are my people.

What are some things you didn’t know going ino your craft that became evident as your progressed? You have been in the game a long time, and successful at that.
One of the most important things to have watched is how technology is affecting music; this online presence, an online life. The way recording music and the responsive to it have been affected, I think it’s killed the record industry, in a way. But it’s also created these communities that everyone can be a part of and participate in. A comment I made in this panel I was apart of yesterday was “If you were a music fan back in the day, it was a commitment to move.” But at the same time [with the invention of the Internet], I can find new music, I can social network.

You recorded “If I Can’t Change Your Mind” for Wed-Rock, a same-sex marriage compilation for the legalization of gay people to marry. With the debates heading to the state Supreme Court, how do you think everything is going to pan out?
For that track in 2004, it was to support the Freedom To Marry organization, which I’ve done a lot of work with. I wasn’t surprised with the passing of Prop 8 in November, though. The politics of hate and fear are still strong. It’s just going to take time and education. It could also galvanize if people are ready to fight. With all those things combined I have hope. I don’t think the topic of gay people getting married presents a problem to anyone, really. But there are also bigger issues to think about. Minorities fighting discrimination can very well say, “This is not important to me because there is more to deal with.” There are other things taking precedence. People are losing their homes and jobs.

With all that’s happened in your career, especially in this current social climate, how weird is it that you’re celebrating Workbook 20 years later?
It’s a little odd to be revisiting that success, but it’s also so great at the same time. Every time I get to put out a new record, I’m still amazed. I’m very grateful.

Is there any question you feel never gets asked in all your years in interviews?
Not particularly; but I do always get asked about the Hüsker Dü reunion. It’s not going to happen. My autobiography that’s being worked on is coming out next fall. There will be things in there you didn’t know about me, I’m sure.