Photo Credit: Brian Fox
“It doesn’t matter what year this music was recorded cause it is undeniable …. but the fact that Duff, Greg, Todd and John created these fully realized songs in 1982 gives credence to the idea that this band, The Living, are ground zero for the Seattle sound.”
– Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam, Loosegroove Records co-founder)
(Seattle, WA) MARCH 25, 2021 – TOMORROW, Seattle Punk Pioneers THE LIVING, featuring iconic multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Duff McKagan, are releasing their ONE MINUTE and 56 SECOND scorching fireball of a punk anthem, “I Want” from their debut recording The Living: 1982. The album is set for release on April 16, 2021 via the Seattle-based Loosegroove Records, a label owned by fellow Seattle luminaries, Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam) and Regan Hagar (Satchel, Brad). The Living featured a 17-year old McKagan on guitar, frontman/vocalist John Conte, Todd Fleischman on bass, and Greg Gilmore (Mother Love Bone) on drums.
Every band needs a good teen angst number,” says Greg Gilmore,“Here, put your finger in this light socket.”“I Want” lyrics – feed the rich/tax the poor/ i’m sick about how everybody wants more …pounding the pavement (all in all) you got no experience/sorry kid, rejection, dejection/ don’t call us will call you… might be considered classic punk tropes but in this case they are genuine from the core of The Living. Singer John Conte explains; “We were in the first Recession under Ronald Reagan. Jobs were very hard to get but I happened to work consistently. I worked 5 different jobs during that time and I was still living at home with my parents. All the money I made went to the band. So none of the rest of the guys have jobs and Duff has been trying to get a job. He does not tell us about his experiences because he keeps getting rejected. This frustrates him and so I think that is what this number is about.” Conte continues, “Duff is letting out his thoughts and feelings about how to make money and/or get a job.”
The album’s recordings were unearthed by Gilmore who spearheaded the idea of releasing the music in some fashion. It made perfect sense to take the collection to the Seattle-based label, Loosegroove who had just resurrected the inprint September 2020. As Gilmore explains, “The Living was the beginning of all things Seattle for me –a turning point in my life. I joined a band and a community. These guys are still my brothers. I’ve cherished these recordings since the days we made them. This record is a fantastic document of a loaded moment. I love it.”
Featuring seven original tracks penned by McKagan, the album will be available digitally as well as in three different color variants of vinyl: white, canary yellow and translucent Ruby. First single, “Two-Generation Stand” is out now with album pre-orders available here.
The Seattle grunge scene has been well documented, but now, for the first time we trace the spark that ignited the early punk movement in the PNW. It started in a basement, like every Seattle music story does. The future Guns N’ Roses bassist, McKagan, at 17, had already appeared on 45s by Fastbacksand the Vains (even penning his first song “The Fake”) before starting The Living with Todd Fleischmanon bass, John Conte on vocals and McKagan taking on guitar duties. They found drummer Greg Gilmore after placing an ad in the local music paper, The Rocket. The band channeled the Clash, Germs, Generation X, with originals by McKagan and punk-fired covers like “Beg, Borrow And Steal (Ohio Express) and “You’re A Better Man Than I” (Yardbirds/Sham 69).
They opened for DOA in Vancouver and Seattle, “DOA was basically like my KISS”, McKagan recalls in awe. With the band in top gear, they went into a studio for a day, with no plans or ideas how to release it. The resulting session attests to the furious power of The Living at their peak. We are left with seven McKagan originals, delivered in pure blasts of adrenaline. The killer arrangements belie the youth and relative inexperience of the members. The angst, anger and energy in protest songs like “Live By The Gun” and “Two Generation Stand” are delivered with conviction, while “A Song For You” with its tight hooks, takes a more personal approach.
But it wasn’t to last. “Things happened so fast in those days,” mused Gilmore. Details are sketchy to the band’s demise — and likely best forgotten. McKagan and Gilmore turned to Ten Minute Warning, the missing link between punk rock and proto-grunge (whatever that is), before leaving to L.A. and the fables/foibles of history. Gilmore returned quickly to Seattle and helped form Mother Love Bone and eventually established the artist-centric label First World Music. McKagan has gone on to an amazing career, a lifer with staying power. 1982 stands tall and proud among the class of early-80s Seattle punk.
Reflecting back, McKagan wonders: “Would this even ever get out of our basement? We had something magical then, and it was ours, so who gives a fu*k!” After 39 years, The Living is out of the basement.
The Living: 1982 Track Listing:
- A Promise
- Two Generation Stand
- Live By The Gun
- A Song For You
- No Thanks
- Live Is A Terror
- I Want
