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Doom daddyScott “Wino” Weinrich kept it
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Scott Weinrich, probably better known as simply “Wino,” has been slinging doomy, post-Sabbath sludge since Kyuss, Trouble and other so-called second-generation “stoner rock” bands were still in short pants. Borrowing Black Sabbath’s formula of slow, low and crushingly loud, Wino’s first band, the Obsessed, and likeminded bong-bubblers such as Pentagram (whom Wino would later collaborate with in the short-lived Place of Skulls) churned out a style of doom-laden heavy metal in the early ’80s that flew directly in the face of the thrash style bubbling up at the same time in San Francisco’s Bay Area and New York. Despite the lack of speed, with the pummel of the Obsessed Wino oddly enough had stronger roots in hardcore than Megadeth, Metallica, Exodus and such. Years before metal and punk would begin their cross-pollination process, Wino was at ground zero of the burgeoning and highly influential early-’80s D.C. hardcore scene that still proves to be one of his biggest musical impacts. “I remember the first time I saw Bad Brains, when they had the ROIR cassette out [1982],” recounts Wino. “The Obsessed were supporting them and they were doing a sound check, and the amount of energy coming off of the stage just pinned me to the back wall. I saw all of those shows back then, like Rites of Spring, Minor Threat, Void and Black Flag, but nothing could touch Bad Brains in those days. They were just untouchable. Back then, though, there was a very visible line—I remember supporting the Dead Boys and nobody would even come near the stage because we didn’t look like punk rockers. I mean, I fucking loved the Dead Boys and the Damned and those bands, but that’s just the way it was.” With the current explosion of doom bands like Bloody Panda, Eagle Twin, Sunn O))), Nadja and many others, Wino and his work with bands like the Obsessed, the highly influential Saint Vitus, Spirit Caravan and the Hidden Hand has garnered him praise from stalwart fans like Henry Rollins, Fugazi’s Joe Lally and Ian MacKaye, members of Neurosis and Dave Grohl, who handpicked Wino to contribute on his Probot solo project. But the humble man takes all of the hyperbole in stride. “It’s always nice to have people respect you for your art, and it’s a hell of a lot more gratifying than money, but I’m not really the kind of guy who gives it much thought.” With Wino’s most recent record, his first solo effort Punctuated Equilibrium, released on the highly lauded Southern Lord label, as well as his imminent Shrinebuilder project featuring members of Melvins, Neurosis and Om, Wino insists that the unwashed masses only now digging into his dirge-y drones are simply a matter of zeitgeist. “Doom music, or whatever you want to call it, is just the perfect soundtrack of the times we live in—which are total shit. The banks have raped people, society is crumbling, we have war and people are suffering, and this kind of music is really emotional and it’s speaking to people who are drawn to darker sides, where other styles of music just don’t speak to them anymore.” WITH CLUTCH AND REVOLUTION |
