Most people are familiar with Greg Norton as the bass player for the legendary Husker Du. He spent many years in that band and with the unfortunate passing of Grant Hart last year, it's unlikely that Husker Du will ever be active again. However, Greg is now part of another great band called Porcupine. They have just released a new six song EP called, "What You've Heard Isn't Real". A sixteen minute power punch to the gut that knocks you out in all the right ways. I spoke with Greg about the new record, touring, and what he's up to at the moment. Be sure to check out their website and Facebook page for upcoming shows in your area. And buy the new EP! You won't be disappointed.
Punk Globe: Porcupine has a new record out on DC-Jam. What can listeners who haven't heard it yet expect?
Greg: Well, Porcupine is a dynamic power trio with myself on bass, Ian Prince on drums who is an incredible drummer. Casey Virock, the guitar player, writes beautiful music and he also sings really great. I actually covered myself on it. Porcupine covers Husker Du's "Standing by the Sea" on this record. Kind of an homage to Grant. We decided to record that a few weeks after Grant passed last year. Power Pop, Prog Pop, good stuff. It's punchy. If you've never heard it, it's worth checking out.
Punk Globe: Is there an official single out? Any kind of 7 inch or specific song introducing the new record?
Greg: We haven't actually talked about putting a 7 inch out, "Lifetime", is the single we are pushing out to radio. The album is being put out on vinyl by Dead Broke Rekerds and I am really excited about having something out on vinyl again. It's pretty cool.
Punk Globe: You joined the band after they had been together for awhile. How did you integrate yourself into that situation? Were you at all nervous about any of it in the beginning?
Greg: I replaced the original bass player, Davey Reinders, who had been playing bass with Casey. I have big shoes to fill because here is a guy who has been playing side to side with Casey forever. Super talented bass player who came up with really unique bass lines, and initially the first year it was about learning a set of new material that wrapped around his approach. Obviously I'm not replicating his stuff note for note. Ultimately, these guys are so much fun to play with that it was pretty easy to overcome.
Punk Globe: How much touring have you done with the band? And are there any shows coming up?
Greg: Since I joined we have basically played the Minneapolis market. A little in Wisconsin and Chicago. A year ago we did make a journey to the Southwest. Meat Puppets wanted us to open for them in Phoenix the night after Thanksgiving, so we drove down for that and played that show, and then played Pappy and Harriet's the night after, and then drove straight home... so it was essentially a long weekend, but now that the record is out we are definitely looking at getting out of town more. Probably more Midwestern dates to start with and eventually get to both coasts. Probably won't be out on the road for two or three months at a time but looking to get out there for seven to ten days then come back to the Midwest. We follow the same format that Husker Du followed. Hit one area then come home for awhile.
Punk Globe: What about the south?
Greg: We call that the I-35 tour! I-35 goes through Minneapolis and straight down to Texas. That region is part of our plans and will hopefully come to fruition. It all kind of depends how well the record does.
Punk Globe: Much has changed over the years with technology. How has that changed the dynamic of being in a band. In terms of bringing a record to fruition and promoting and releasing it. Any specific differences between Husker Du and Porcupine?
Greg: Yes, technology has definitely changed from back in the day when Husker were recording. You go in and lay down the tracks and then do all kinds of crazy stuff, but now it's all digital and it gets thrown on a computer and you can move stuff around and cover up a missed note, which is pretty amazing to watch. I was talking to Jerry Casale, the bass player from Devo about a month ago. He was in Minneapolis and I had an opportunity to meet him and talk with him. Devo did seven world tours without any internet or cell phones and obviously when Husker toured...again, no internet, no cell phones and everybody managed to get along just fine. You still had to be accountable because if you didn't make the bus or didn't make the plane or whatever, you were kind of screwed so everyone was on top of it. Today, everybody is connected to everyone else on their cell phones. I'm not sure if technology is making life better, but it's certainly making it more complicated. Of course, now everyone is an engineer because they have Pro Tools.
Punk Globe: What about songwriting in general? Are you more involved with Porcupine in that sense? More so than Husker Du?
Greg: In Husker Du there was a lot of collaboration and we worked on music together. Someone would come in with an idea, we would bounce it around and come up with a song. The rule in Husker was that if you wrote the lyrics, then it was your song, but a lot of the music, especially the early music was created more organically from a group setting. That changed down the road as the Bob and Grant songwriting thing kind of took over. In Porcupine all three of us are working on the music and the arrangements and everyone is bringing ideas to it. Casey is writing the lyrics. Earlier today, I heard that Paul Simon never really finalized a lot of his lyrics until he was close to going into the studio. He always preferred to lay down what he called a mumble track, and I thought that was interesting because it's kind of how Casey works. He comes up with a concept and he doesn't necessarily mumble it, but he goes slow when finalizing the tracks and then he names the songs. I thought it was kind of cool that Paul Simon did the same thing. So, yeah, I am totally invigorated playing with these guys because there is the group collaboration going on when writing the music.
Punk Globe: You've been in Porcupine for a few years now. Do you see any major longevity with the band?
Greg: Absolutely, yeah. I can see playing with these guys for a very long time. They're super talented, they're really nice and we all get along. Right now the sky's the limit and now that this new record is out the goal is to get into the studio again hopefully sometime early next year. We're all bringing in ideas right now to rehearsal and I've got some ideas that I've been kicking around for a while that we've all been working on. Ian's bringing stuff in, Casey is always coming up with stuff. So, hopefully we will be able to record something 45 minutes long for the next release and that's the main goal. We're also hoping to get on the road and play some festivals
Punk Globe: Are you involved in any other bands or projects other than Porcupine?
Greg: Yeah, I am also in Gang Font and we've actually been together for 10 years. The unfortunate thing about Gang Font is we only play about one show a year, which is sad because I play with super talented musicians who are monsters in the jazz world. It's not a jazz project, it's kind of unclassifiable. It's definitely rock. Punk, prog, free funk math metal, if that makes any sense. It's all instrumental. Dave King is on drums who is one of the top jazz drummers in the world.
Punk Globe: How did Porcupine hook up with DC-Jam?
Greg: We were wrapping up our recording and I have a friend in town, Dennis Pelowski, who manages The Meat Puppets. I asked him about putting out a record and without hesitation he said to call Darron at DC-Jam, who is one of the best guys in the business. So we were introduced through an e-mail and I sent him the files and he listened to them and said he would be happy to put the new record out. DC-Jam does the digital side so we got hooked up with Dead Broke Rekerds to put out the vinyl and these guys have been great. I'm super happy working with them.
Punk Globe: What's next for you in 2019?
Greg: In 2019, what I would like to see Porcupine do is get back in the studio and record a full length LP, something around 45 minutes. Also, play as many shows as we can...east and west coast and Texas. We would love to get over to England and Europe. Like I said earlier, the sky is the limit and we're ready to strap in and blast off.
Punk Globe: What is the best way to keep up with Porcupine? And does the band have a preferred outlet to purchase merchandise?
Greg: Go like our Facebook page. That's what is being updated the most. We are in the process of rebuilding our webpage. We do have a Bandcamp page as well. Right now I would say go to Facebook and like us there.
https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=44139057762&ref=content_filter
