Ask Curt Kirkwood what brought veteran punk/alt-rock band Meat Puppets back together, and he's brutally honest.
"It was an option, and it hadn't been," he said by phone recently from his Austin, Texas-area home, where he's lived the last 12 years. While the band had broken up a second time in 2002 (following an original split in 1996), his younger brother Cris' convictions on a variety of charges made a reunion impossible until he was released from prison.
Curt kept busy with solo projects and other bands, but said that when he writes electric songs, he writes them for the Meat Puppets.
"If I'm doing rock songs, that's what I'm thought of and that's what I've done."
Besides, he pointed out, "I wanted to make another electric record.
"I've just never done anything else. That's what was strange about 'Eyes Adrift.' They would have been Meat Puppets songs, if it wasn't for the fact that there were two other guys.
"The solo record was the only record I've ever done that wasn't Meat Puppets.
"There was a time I definitely wrote more stuff that wasn't good for the band, but then I started writing for the three-piece. That's about all I know, really."
He and Cris re-formed the band in 2006, minus original drummer Derrick Bostrom. In 2007, they released "Rise to Your Knees," and are on tour (which brings them to the Belly Up Tavern on Sept. 17) in support of "Sewn Together," released in May.
San Diego County has been a regular stop on the Puppets' itinerary since the Kirwoods and Bostrom founded the band in Phoenix in 1980, and Curt said there are many fond memories with local fans.
"We've played there a lot. We played at a place called the Bacchanal. We opened for the Penetrators, played at The Spirit."
Looking back at those early years, Kirkwood said it was easier for a young band to break into the scene back then than it is now.
"We had the opportunity to hit a wide-open arena in terms of indie punk bands, and you could see that there was a place. Every town had a place for it, people to put it up.
"Now every neighborhood has its own thing and its own hair style. There's a million bands, and a lot of them can play pretty good ---- and there's no money in it. They're just trying to get somebody's attention. Who cares if it's compelling music anymore? What's going to knock me off my feet? I don't know.
"I look at my son's band starting out ---- it's like, 'Yeah, another free gig.' Any way they can get an audience. If you have nothing to lose, the world's your oyster. But it's hard to put yourself in that mindset.
"I can't give advice, because you couldn't do it the way I did it. It was a very giving scene ---- it meant something."
While today, more and more bands are either releasing their albums themselves or going with a small, independent label ---- and finding success doing so ---- the Meat Puppets were part of the first generation of bands to make it clear that going indie could be a route to financial success. Signed to indie label SST, the Puppets were already a national act before they moved to London Records in 1991.
"We were not opposed to big labels; it was just what was happening. We'd have gone with a major, but they weren't interested in us.
"By '85, '86, Husker Du got signed, and they were kind of sniffing around and they were like, 'Oh, we don't know how to market you,' and I was like, 'We don't need you anyway.' We were making a living on the road. The records weren't selling.
"Nobody ever raised an eyebrow at SST about what we did ---- the more different it was, the more they got a kick out of it. There was never a question about what we did.
"Even among the eclectics, we found ourselves in an eclectic place. It promotes creativity to a certain degree. No matter what anyone else says, success predicates creativity."
Kirkwood said when they did move to London Records, there were advantages to being on a big label.
"Everyone wants a big audience. I always thought that about punk ---- you say it's not about the money, but you know with a big audience you can experiment more. My time at the majors was a pretty creative time, they were open to it because of the Nirvana thing, Pearl Jam, Jane's Addiction. Even if they didn't get it, they saw money in it.
"Going through the majors was a painless segue ---- we'd gotten to a point where we needed that distribution.
"Now, we're back ---- we kind of faded away. I don't know if there's a place for us at a major today. We've gotten kind of back to where we were, for a different reason. Back then, majors were thriving, they weren't faltering."
With the rise of the Internet and the growing popularity of social networking sites, bands no longer need a major label to get national exposure, Kirkwood said.
"They're not the only game in town.
"I think people are going the indie route because the majors aren't there.
"With the indies now, still, you're going to find in a way a lot of the most creative stuff, just like it was in the '80s ---- but for different reasons.
"I don't think anybody knows where it's going, but it's more of a focus on the art."
Meat Puppets, with Dead Confederate and Ume
When: 8 p.m. Sept. 17
Where: Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach,
Tickets: $16
Info: 858-481-8140 or bellyup.com
