We recall the unique history of a great American band, with the help of Peter Ames Carlin, author of a new biography of the REM
Article published on January 31, 2025 at Rolling Stone, to read the original in English click here.
In the beginning, the REM He played anywhere that accepted them from pizzerias to gay bars and fraternity parties. Despite all the artistic elusivity of his initial music, the band that would eventually define the model for the 90’s alternative rock boom was more hungry and more strategic than it seemed – which is just one of the many revelations in the new enlightening book of Peter AmesCarlin, The Name of This Band is rem: Biography.
In the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Carlin Sit with the presenter Brian Hiatt to analyze the many dismantled myths and unearthed facts of the book. Some highlights below:
Michael Stipe And his best high school friend assumed that they would become rock stars. “They kept sitting in her room and looked at copies of Rolling Stone, Believe and Circus and bet with each other who would be interviewed first, ”says Carlin.
The father of Stipe He was a conservative -looking Air Force colonel, but he completely accepted his son. When one Stipe teenager came out a night dressed as Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), his father simply told him to have fun.
Stipe initially hated the university city of Georgia that would become synonymous with REM “He called athens hippie cows with cows – he says, ‘I hate it, I hate it, I hate it,’ he says Carlin.
The first presentations of Stipe They were so magnetic that their first show with the band ended in violence. “The girls’ boyfriends decided like, ‘Well, we better kick that guy’s ass…’ and became an entire street fight and someone cut with a bottle,” he says Carlin.
Peter Buck I would like to say that I couldn’t play guitar when the REM It was formed, but that was pure creation of myths. “In Athens, there was something very cool and casual to say ‘We couldn’t even play our instruments until we form our band.’” Carlin. “It meant that you were really in this by art and expression. It was simply not true. ”
Buck and Stipe They first joined the Jonral’s musical coverage Village Voicedreaming of the Punk scene of New York while still in Georgia. “THE Village Voice It was a salvation board, a passport to a whole world that was like, bitch shit, it exists, ”he says Carlin.
The rhythmic section of Bill Berry and Mike Mills brought serious musical experience for the band. “They played together in a very successful teenage cover band in the city of Macon when they were growing, playing all the FM rock hits of the time,” he says Carlin.
Berry He pressed the band to leave college and fully commit to music. “He made it very clear that if they didn’t leave, he would leave the band,” he says Carlin.
His first shows revealed a stark contrast to other Athens bands. “The guys from Pylon or the guys from Love Tractor They were telling me that when they saw the REM For the first time, the first feeling they had was, ‘Oh, Wow – these guys can play covers and you can really hear what music is’,’ he says Carlin.
Berry He played a unique role in the edition of the band’s songs. “When it started to get too long or Bill He was bored, he just threw his drumsticks up and said, ‘No, no, no, no, no. We have to cut that, ‘”he says Carlin.
Buck It was fundamental in the prevention of conflicts that normally destroy bands, convincing everyone to divide the credit for composition into each song. “Peter He realized that his reading of Rock & Roll literature proved to him repeatedly that there are always two things that separate the bands: one is credit and the other is the royalties, ”he says Carlin.
The father of Buck “Who was upset that he never finished college.” He remained unimpressed with his son’s success until the end. “Even when your father was dying, I think one of the things Peter Said was describing how your father looked at him and said, ‘Listen, you better earn a million dollars playing rock & roll, because you can’t do anything else,’ he says Carlin.
Their refusal to gather since the end of the band in 2011 no doubt fits the pattern of challenging expectations of the entire career. “Since basically all other bands whose members are alive eventually gather,” he says Carlin“Maybe they keep up without gathering – just to do what all the other bands don’t do.”
Listen to the full episode here:
+++ Read more: Michael Stipe (REM) calls for boycott to Facebook and Instagram to protest against far-right
+++ Read more: REM’s worst album in Mike Mills’s opinion
+++ Read more: When Michael Stipe was barred from the Rem show on Glastonbury
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
