Ali On The Air interviews Mike Doughty on Antiquiet

Mike Doughty led the one-of-a-kind Soul Coughing in the 90s, one of the original “alternative” rock bands, and one that really tested the limits of the genre, with improv jazz, odd samples and glitch-punk experimentation.

Soul Coughing broke up in 2000; Doughty was battling a heroin addiction when he wasn’t battling band mates over credits and publishing money. Doughty however, didn’t break pace, continuing on as a solo artist, selling handmade CDs from the stage at gigs before running into Dave Matthews at Bonnaroo in 2004. Matthews professed to being a fan of both Soul Coughing as well as Doughty’s solo records, and Doughty was eventually signed to Matthews’ ATO label.

ATO released Doughty’s Haughty Melodic to critical acclaim, and its single Looking At The World From The Bottom Of A Well brought more success than is usually expected of a kicked-the-heroin-and-gone-solo front man of a sort-of successful defunct 90s alt rock band. And Doughty has been going strong ever since. – Skwerl

Below is an interview with Doughty – party two, really of a dialogue that began at the Vlaze Studios a year ago. Mike is on tour with his bassist/guitarist/cellist Scrap for the Question Jar Tour. Definitely check it out if it comes to your town.

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Lions and Tigers and Wolfmother, Oh My.

The Los Angeles Museum of Natural History hosts First Fridays intermittently, where people can go to the museum for wine, food and some polite music. I’ve skipped these shows though a few, like Sea Wolf and The Little Ones, piqued my interest. When I heard the new line up of Wolfmother was the headliner this month I had to laugh…and then get my ass there pronto. Could the stone mausoleum walls contain the frenetic noise of the grammy winning Wolfmother?

As we arrived at the sold out show, people were queued up to enter the main room where the bands would be playing. In the opposite hall, wine tasting and food was being served. Dinosaur bones and bug exhibits were swarmed by hipster hair and hoodies. Well-heeled thirty somethings, looking out of place without a cigarette and coffee, wandered through the exhibits of other mammals in their natural habitats. I took a shine to the rocks and gem collection which featured gold and precious stones under lock and key.

My veteran rock journo friend, Kevin, quipped “Will they feature Wolfmother under the wolf section or the rock section?”. True, they bridge the gap between both with their hard rock guitars and Andrew Stockdale’s lupine howling and Page style wails.

Andrew of Wolfmother

Set up in the Mammal Hall, alongside the cougars (both feline and human female) and wolves, Wolfmother took the stage and kicked off a set loud enough to wake the dinosaurs in the main entrance. I haven’t seen a crowd this excited in a while, and that includes all three days at Coachella.

wolf - mother

rocking the horns

previous horn rockers

Ok, much of the scene looked like that old movie Airheads, but with a better soundtrack. And true, one of the guys sported a pilgrim hat and several others wore bedazzled items.

airheads

But the music was so searing and hot, no one could complain about fashion…not even me.