Punk-leaning indie rock veterans the Supersuckers have started recording their first full-length set since 1999's Evil Powers of Rock and Roll. "It's been way too long since our last rock record," frontman Eddie Spaghetti says from their Seattle studio. "We got stalled out a lot putting out our last one: We actually recorded it for Interscope and then put it out on Koch. We thought we would have a home there, and then we didn't -- and before you know it two or three years go by."

Frustrated by those label woes, Spaghetti and his band mates -- all friends since junior high -- started their own label, Mid Fi Records, last year. "We've learned a lot over the years," he says, "and maybe we aren't quite as dumb and drug-addled as we were. So we got hooked up with Chris Neal, who we call our 'Mid Fi' guy. He comes from the major-label world and actually scouted us for RCA. He figured that another major label wasn't right for us, which is what we had been thinking, and then helped us make some good decisions in terms of distribution and publicity and spending some money to make some money . . . it feels great to cut yourself a royalty check for the first time in your career."

Supersuckers' upcoming, untitled set will be Mid Fi's second release; the label debuted last year with their Must Have Been Live, a set Spaghetti credits with keeping the band above water n the three years between studio releases: "It fell into our laps," he explains. "We were just going to put it out on the Internet, or sell it at shows as a little bootleg, but then we decided it would be a good project to get our own label off the ground a little bit. And it's been as successful as any of our records in the past."

But even though the band is growing up in a business sense, their famously salty brand of rock isn't mellowing. "I hate it when you read reviews and it's like, 'This is their mature record,'" Spaghetti says. "Translation: It sucks. We endeavor to remain as remedial as possible. My favorite bands are AC/DC and the Ramones and Motorhead, and these are the kind of bands that put out the same record every year. For better or for worse, that's what I like."

Spaghetti says the band is cautiously targeting early 2003 for a release, but they know better than ever now how the vicissitudes of literally making records -- manufacturing, distribution, promotion -- can hold things up. "It could be as late as June," he says. "It's strange to see that everything our old labels had been telling us, that you need X amount of set up time and this and that, is actually the truth."

Once they work out the system's kinks for themselves, Spaghetti says that they'd like to add other bands to the label -- younger bands that could similarly benefit from equal doses of professionalism and artistic freedom. "We want to providing them with the same opportunity that we have," he says, "which is to work smart, and to have high goals, but reasonably high goals, and to have each project be a success. I mean 'success' financially and also in the public eye, to have their profile go up."

For now, the band is planning to keep working out the track list on a month's worth of dates that follow a European outing. "We do pretty well in Spain, and we'll spend a lot of time there," Spaghetti says. "And we've done pretty well recently in the U.K. and Scandinavia. Our records for whatever reason have been a big influence on a lot of bands that are the new wave of rock from Northern Europe. That doesn't exactly pay the bills, it is flattering, and it kind of validates what you thought you were doing all along -- which is kicking ass."

Supersuckers tour dates:

10/18: New York, Knitting Factory
10/19: Brooklyn, NY, North Six
10/20: Philadelphia, The Khyber
10/23: Pittsburgh, Metropol
10/24: Richmond, VA, Canal Club
10/26: Atlanta, Echo Lounge
10/29: New Orleans, Howlin' Wolf
10/30: Houston, Engine Room
11/13: Minneapolis, 400 Bar
11/14: Milwaukee, Reed St. Station
11/16: Ann Arbor, MI, Blind Pig
11/21: Lawrence, The Bottleneck
11/22-23: Denver, Bluebird Theater
11/24: Fort Collins, CO, Aggie Theater
11/29: Seattle, Crocodile Cafe

AUGUSTIN K. SEDGEWICK
(September 24, 2002)