Bob Bert has spent more than four decades at the center of underground music, from his early years with Sonic Youth and Pussy Galore to later work with bands including Chrome Cranks, Knoxville Girls, Lydia Lunch Retrovirus, and Jon Spencer’s HITmakers. Despite that long and varied career, Beach Bongo Bloodbath marks his first album released under his own name.
Recorded in Hoboken with longtime friend and collaborator Mark C of Live Skull, the album grew out of a series of solo performances Bert began doing after an unexpected break from touring. Mixing original material with radically reworked covers, Beach Bongo Bloodbath is built around percussion, keyboards, and theremin, deliberately avoiding guitars while drawing inspiration from garage rock, punk, campy horror films, and underground pop culture. The result is a playful and highly personal collection that reflects both Bert’s musical history and his willingness to approach familiar material from unusual angles.
Beach Bongo Bloodbath is out June 12, one of several notable releases by Bar/None in celebration of its 40th anniversary. Over Zoom, Bert discusses the making of Beach Bongo Bloodbath and the unconventional approach behind his first solo album.
Having done so many different projects over the years, how did you come to do a solo album at this point?
Bob Bert: Well, it wasn’t really a planned-out, thought-out thing or an ego thing. In 2012, after my wife died, I hooked up with Lydia Lunch Retrovirus and toured the world for 11 years with her. Toward the end of that, I started doing all these tours with John Spencer and the Hitmakers. Both of those things came to an end in the beginning of 2023, which was actually kind of good timing because, due to a situation I had at home here, I wasn’t able to travel for a while. I have this space in the Neumann Leather Building in Hoboken that I share with my longtime friend Mark C from Live Skull. I started doing a few solo performances just because I was asked to. I had this weird setup where I was playing all this percussion and singing at the same time and doing a lot of experimental things.
They got a good reception. I mean, I was playing tiny places or whatever, but people seemed to dig it. So as long as I had the time and I was stuck here in town, I figured I would lay it down on tape. It was very piecemeal. I would go in for a couple afternoons. I wasn’t even doing it with the intention of it being a solo album.
I did it really casually. I would go in for a couple afternoons and lay some stuff down, then take it home and listen to it for a month and think about what it needed. After several months of doing that, I had what I could call an album. Then I handed it in to Bar/None Records and they loved it, and that’s that.
Given that process, did the material evolve much from the initial performances to what we hear on the album?
Bob Bert: A hundred percent. When I recorded the thing, the basic tracks were live versions of what I was doing when I performed, but it needed so much more. So there’s lots of overdubs, and then things that were created in the studio or at home and brought in. It evolved into a totally different thing.
Did all of the material come from that specific timeframe, or were there older musical ideas you revisited?
Bob Bert: It was pretty much conceived during that timeframe because the album has eight cover versions and then five songs that are under a minute. The songs I chose were basically songs that I really liked and that I was able to play percussion to and sing at the same time. That’s how those choices came about. Every cover song on the album I had performed in my solo set except for “Oink Oink” by David Peel, which came later on.
What draws you to a song as a cover choice, and how do you decide how far to take it away from the original?
Bob Bert: Well, first of all, there are no basses or guitars on this recording, so right there it’s not going to be anything like the original. And nobody likes a cover version that sticks really close to the original. You have to make it unique in one way or another for it to even matter. I didn’t go into the studio thinking, “Hey, I’m going to do a better version of ‘Mississippi Queen’ than Mountain did.” Like I said, the reason I picked those songs is because I could play them and sing them at the same time, and that’s pretty much how I came to it.
There wasn’t a lot of conceptual thought put into this. It was done so piecemeal and I just took my time. There was no pressure because I didn’t even know it was going to be a record. I was just having fun and taking advantage of the fact that I had access to this recording studio and Mark to help me.
When you go back and listen to the completed album, does anything surprise you?
Bob Bert: No. I’m just really happy with the way some of the songs turned out. In fact, I just filmed a video for “Love Comes in Spurts” by Richard Hell. I actually got his email address and sent him a copy of the song. I had interviewed him for my fanzine BB Gun back in 2001, so I kind of said, “Hey, do you remember me, blah, blah, blah?”
He wrote back the nicest response ever and agreed to do a cameo for the video, which was so cool. That really made me happy because the whole time I was recording it, especially that one, I kept thinking, “I wonder what Richard’s going to think of this because it’s so crazy.”
He really loved what I did with it, and that was so cool. As a fanboy, that really made my day.
Was the absence of guitars part of the concept from the beginning, or did you consider bringing them in at some point?
Bob Bert: I did consider it a few times. And believe me, I have access to a lot of great guitar players. Mark C himself. I recently sat in on drums for a Live Skull show. I’m also still close with Lee Ranaldo, and he has a space in the same Neumann Leather Factory building.
So there were thoughts here and there, but then I just said, “Nah, I’m going to do this all on my own.” And I’m kind of glad I did. I like the fact that there are no guitars. It kind of makes it unique.
Do you plan on performing this material live? If so, how do you think it would differ from the album versions?
Bob Bert: I have no intentions of performing live. It’s a lot of work, first of all, pulling all that stuff off the shelf and setting it up and being on my own. I just don’t really have the ambition. I also have a lot of other things going on. I have performances with different people, and I’m working on a photo book that’s going to come out in the fall. I get asked that question all the time, and it’s not beyond the realm of possibility. I might do a performance here and there, but I’m definitely not going to load all that stuff into my car and go traveling around.
I’ve been touring the world since 1982 with several different bands, and I’m just getting lazier in my old age.
The album seems to have a bit of a B-movie feel at times. Do you feel drawn to that aesthetic?
Bob Bert: Well, B-movie, that’s the first time I’ve heard that. I understand it from the title. It sounds like a ’60s beach movie.
But it’s so weird. Bar/None has been setting me up with so much press. I’ve been doing Zoom interviews like this every day, and I get so many different responses. Someone was interviewing me the other day and said, “This is the perfect album to listen to around the campfire.” Other people have told me, “This is great in the car. It’s really good driving music.”
The simplest reaction I’ve gotten is people just saying, “Yeah, it’s fun.” Even Howard, my publicist, when I first talked to him I was like, “Well, did you listen to the record?” and he just said, “Yeah, it’s fun.” A couple of people have said that to me. I’ll take that over “Yeah, it sucks.”
There are a lot of shorter pieces on the album. Did much thought go into the sequencing and overall flow?
Bob Bert: Not really. I was listening to it so much and going into the studio as it came along. The sequence came to me really quickly, and I think pretty much the first one I laid out, maybe I switched a song or two around, but for the most part I just liked the way it flowed. I mean, the whole album, with 14 songs, is only 26 minutes. Growing up, the average side of an album was 20 minutes.
Do you see this as a one-off project, or could you imagine making another album in this vein?
Bob Bert: People are asking me that, and at this point it’s not even out yet. If it comes out and does well, or even if it doesn’t do well, it’s definitely a possibility. It’s very easy for me to do because the studio’s right here in town and I go there all the time anyway. It’s great because Mark and I share it, but Mark’s the one with all the equipment, and I just utilize everything in there, including the piano and all the keyboards and bells and gongs and whatnot.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Bob Bert: The release date is June 12th, and on June 15th, the Monday following that, I’m having a big record release bash over at the Bowery Palace, formerly the Bowery Electric. It’s going to be an all-star event. I haven’t advertised the lineup yet, but I’m sure as soon as I do, it’s going to sell out pretty quickly. So if anyone’s reading this and wants to get a ticket before that happens, now’s the time.
Beach Bongo Bloodbath will be released June 12 via Bar/None Records on 12″ vinyl, CD, digital download, and streaming platforms. Recorded at Deepsea Studios in Bob Bert’s hometown of Hoboken, New Jersey, the album was produced by Bert and Mark C (Live Skull) and features guest appearances from Julia Cafritz (Pussy Galore, Free Kitten) and Mary Hanley (Bunny X).
For more information and to purchase Beach Bongo Bloodbath, visit:
https://therealbobbert.bandcamp.com/album/beach-bongo-bloodbath
