Buzz Osborne


Roger "Buzz" Osborne, also known as King Buzzo, is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He is a founding member of the rock band Melvins, as well as Fantômas and Venomous Concept.

Biography

Born in Morton, Washington, Osborne moved to Montesano, Washington at the age of 12. He first started listening to the music of Aerosmith and Ted Nugent, then became greatly interested in punk rock after a few years. In the early 1980s, Osborne founded the Melvins with Matt Lukin and Mike Dillard who all attended Montesano High School where he graduated in 1982. The Melvins began playing fast hardcore punk after Osborne was introduced to bands such as Black Flag, Flipper, and MDC by a friend. When Dillard left the band in 1984, Dale Crover was recruited, and the band's rehearsals moved to a back room of Crover's parents' house in Aberdeen, Washington. They began to play slower and "heavier" songs.
In 1986, the band released their Six Songs EP on C/Z Records that was recorded live to a two-track. In October 1986, they recorded their first full album, Gluey Porch Treatments, at Studio D in Sausalito, California, which was released in 1987 on Alchemy Records.
In 1988, Osborne, with Crover, relocated to San Francisco, California where the band recorded their next album, Ozma, in May 1989. It was released later that year.
Osborne, along with the rest of the Melvins, knew the members of Nirvana. When Dave Grohl's previous band, Scream, disbanded, he approached Osborne for advice. Osborne, in response, introduced Grohl to Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic.
In 1997, Osborne appeared in the promo video for The Offspring's video "All I Want", as a masked pianist. Osborne also appears in the 1994 video for the Beck song "Beercan" which samples the Melvins' song "Hog Leg".
Osborne joined Tool onstage during their tour for Ænima. The Melvins also opened for Tool on the tour. In 1998, Osborne joined a new band known as Fantômas with Faith No More and Mr. Bungle vocalist Mike Patton, a band which he remains involved with to the present day.
Fantômas' latest studio album release is 2005's Suspended Animation. A concept album, it focused on the theme of holidays and featured a frenetic punk rock sound. The album was a commercial success and reached the No. 7 spot on Billboards Top Heatseekers chart and No. 12 on its Top Independent Albums chart.
In 2014, Osborne announced his first solo acoustic tour along with a 10" EP entitled This Machine Kills Artists and an album to follow in June on Ipecac Recordings.
Osborne makes a cameo appearance in the 2014 video game Sunset Overdrive as himself and performs a song for the soundtrack.
In 2017, he played as part of Crystal Fairy with Teri Gender Bender, Dale Crover and Omar Rodríguez-López. In that same year, he also co-produced the full length album Orenda by rock band With Our Arms to the Sun.

Influences

Osborne has remarked, "From a very early age I was interested in underground music. I never appreciated the big stadium shows in the first place—I cut my milk teeth musically on smaller shows. A much more intimate basis. That's the lessons I learned from punk rock that I never forgot. That extends to today." As referred to before, he had a very wide set of musical influences since his childhood, ranging from arena rock to glam rock to punk to power pop and more. Osborne has called himself a lifelong "musical anthropologist" and stated that "since I never grew up around people who gave me any indication of how one was supposed to act, I was equally excited seeing the Kinks as I would be by seeing a punk rock band. Or Cheap Trick." In terms of hip hop music, he has stated that his favorite rap album is Run-D.M.C.'s Raising Hell.

Legacy and praise

From their earlier slow metal style, the Melvins have been attributed with providing the framework for what would become the grunge, sludge metal and drone doom genres. Buzz Osborne's seminal influence on grunge have sometimes led him to be dubbed as the "Godfather of Grunge".
Labelled as an "icon of the alt-metal world", Osborne has been named a key influence by guitarists such as Kurt Cobain, Adam Jones, Dave Grohl, Kim Thayil, Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher, Matt Pike, Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley ))), Jimmy Bower, Hank Williams III and Nate Garrett )), which were heavily influenced by Melvins' slower pieces, based their amplifier choices on those of Osborne, as did Clutch as well.
After Corrosion of Conformity original singer Mike Dean left the band in 1987, they contacted Osborne to join in.
Emma Ruth Rundle called him "a worthy hero in all regards and a very genuine man."

Reaction to grunge's influence

Although the Melvins had a massive influence on the "Seattle sound", Osborne has constantly expressed negativity toward that scene. He has denounced what he calls the romanticization of it, which he instead describes as a "horrendous nightmare"; Osborne was a childhood friend of Kurt Cobain and remained close to Chris Cornell of Soundgarden until both singers committed suicide following their struggles with drug addiction. At the time, Osborne and his Melvins bandmates also used drugs, including toluene, but by 2014 he had been around twenty years sober. In a 2018 interview, asked if his feelings about that period changed after the deaths of Cobain and Cornell, Osborne replied:

Personal life and beliefs

Osborne has been married to graphic designer Mackie Osborne since 1993. They are dog owners, having kept several rescued dogs. The couple decided not to have children. Osborne does not believe rock musicians should make political statements and that people "should look for higher sources than entertainers for their political beliefs".
He is an avid golf fan and player.
Despite past use, Osborne has not drank alcohol or used other recreational drugs for some time.

Political and social views

In a 2011 interview with the music magazine L.A. Record, Osborne stated when asked about American politics that "I hate conservatives, but I really hate liberals. Here's the thing. I have my own opinions about everything, and it's basically classic liberalism." In 2008, he told the magazine Alarm that he opposes what he sees as both modern socialist and fascist thought, stating that he's "into true liberalism, which means you mind your own goddamn business; you take care of yourself." In a 2014 interview with Tonedeaf, Osborne expressed that American economist Thomas Sowell has been a major influence on his career. "I consider Sowell the greatest philosopher of all time." Osborne explained. "He is a PhD economist and he's written more than 30 books about everything you can imagine, from social commentary to how economics works."
In a 2008 interview with City Newspaper of Rochester, when asked about his collaboration with Jello Biafra on two albums, Osborne stated that "I don't relate at all to his politics. I believe in personal freedom, personal responsibility. And nobody tells you what to do more than the left wing. They're a bunch of fascists."
In terms of issues covering copyright and illegal file-sharing of songs, Osborne's remarked, "The internet downloading—people need to get over it". He's also added, "Is it stealing? Sure, yeah—but it doesn't matter. It's over. Things have changed. We have to move on." In an earlier interview, he argued, "For me musically, I wish I woulda had something like YouTube when I was a kid so I could go, 'Oh, what's this Captain Beefheart?'"

Collaborations and guest appearances

Beyond his primary work with the Melvins, Osborne has collaborated widely across genres. He played second guitar on Tool’s live recording of “You Lied,” included in the 2000 release Salival. He also appeared in Beck’s 1994 music video for “Beercan,” which sampled the Melvins’ song “Hog Leg,” and in The Offspring’s 1997 promo clip for “All I Want” as a masked pianist.  
Osborne has contributed guitar and vocals to experimental composer Lustmord’s albums Juggernaut and O T H E R, and more recently played guitar on Redd Kross’s 2019 album ''Beyond the Door.''

Musical equipment

Osborne primarily uses Gibson Les Paul guitars from the 1960s and 1970s, played through Boss effect pedals, and an assortment of vintage amplifiers.

Discography

Release dateTitleLabelCatalogue number
1986Six SongsC/Z RecordsCZ002
1987Gluey Porch TreatmentsAlchemy RecordsVM103
1989OzmaBoner RecordsBR16-2
1991Your Choice Live Series Vol.12Your Choice RecordsYC-LS 012
1991BullheadBoner RecordsBR25-2
1991EggnogBoner RecordsBR28-2
1992Salad of a Thousand DelightsBox Dog VideoBDV002
1992King BuzzoBoner RecordsBR32-2
1992Lysol Boner RecordsBR35-2
September 21, 1993HoudiniAtlantic Records82532-2
August 5, 1994PrickAmphetamine Reptile RecordsAmRep 031
October 18, 1994Stoner WitchAtlantic Records82704-2
July 15, 1996StagAtlantic Records82878-2
May 5, 1997HonkyAmphetamine Reptile RecordsAmRep 064-2
August 26, 1997Singles 1–12Amphetamine Reptile RecordsAmRep 063
1998Alive at the Fucker ClubAmphetamine Reptile RecordsAmRep 072
May 17, 1999The MaggotIpecac RecordingsIPC-002
August 23, 1999The BootlickerIpecac RecordingsIPC-004
February 7, 2000The CrybabyIpecac RecordingsIPC-006
November 27, 2000Gluey Porch TreatmentsIpecac RecordingsIPC-012
February 6, 2001ElectroretardMan's Ruin RecordsMR2002
April 16, 2001Colossus of DestinyIpecac RecordingsIPC-014
April 1, 2002Millennium Monsterwork 2000 with FantômasIpecac RecordingsIPC-019
April 15, 2002Hostile Ambient TakeoverIpecac RecordingsIPC-020
March 11, 200326 SongsIpecac RecordingsIPC-038
September 16, 2003Melvinmania: The Best Of The Atlantic Years 1993–1996Atlantic Records5050466574428
March 9, 2004Neither Here Nor ThereIpecac RecordingsIPC-047
August 23, 2004Pigs of the Roman Empire with LustmordIpecac RecordingsIPC-054
October 19, 2004Never Breathe What You Can't See with Jello BiafraAlternative TentaclesVirus300
May 31, 2005Mangled Demos from 1983Ipecac RecordingsIPC-063
September 26, 2005Sieg Howdy! with Jello BiafraAlternative TentaclesVirus350
May 16, 2006A Live History of Gluttony and Lust
Houdini Live 2005		Ipecac RecordingsIPC-076
October 10, 2006 Senile AnimalIpecac RecordingsIPC-082
2008Melvins vs. MinneapolisAmphetamine Reptile Records/Burlesque of North America Records
July 8, 2008Nude With BootsIpecac RecordingsIPC-105
June 1, 2010The Bride Screamed MurderIpecac RecordingsIPC-112
March 13, 2012The Bulls & The BeesScion A/VSA/V 18-12
June 5, 2012Freak PukeIpecac RecordingsIPC-136
April 30, 2013Everybody Loves SausagesIpecac RecordingsIPC-144
November 5, 2013Tres CabronesIpecac RecordingsIPC-150
October 14, 2014Hold It InIpecac RecordingsIPC-164
April 1, 2016Three Men and a Baby with Mike KunkaSub PopSP 1147
June 3, 2016Basses LoadedIpecac RecordingsIPC-178
July 7, 2017A Walk with Love & DeathIpecac RecordingsIPC-195
April 20, 2018Pinkus Abortion TechnicianIpecac RecordingsIPC-201
February 26, 2021Working with GodIpecac RecordingsIPC-234
October 15, 2021Five Legged DogIpecac RecordingsIPC-238
September 13, 2022Bad Mood RisingAmphetamine Reptile RecordsAmRep 145
April 19, 2024Tarantula HeartIpecac Recordings

Release dateTitleLabelCatalogue number
June 29, 2004Retroactive AbortionIpecac RecordingsIPC-051