1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,480 Speaker 1: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,319 Speaker 1: Please check the show notes for more information. Disgraceland is 3 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:22,599 Speaker 1: a production of Double Elvis. This is a story about violence, 4 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: about heroin, about the real man who made Liam Gallagher 5 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:31,319 Speaker 1: quit Oasis. Hint it wasn't his brother, And it's about 6 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:36,520 Speaker 1: some seriously underrated rock and roll great music. Great music 7 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: made by a man named Mark Lanigan, singer and leader 8 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:44,000 Speaker 1: of Screaming Trees and later one of the singers from 9 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:47,520 Speaker 1: Queens of the Stone Age. Mark's music was very much 10 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: unlike that music that I played for you at the 11 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: top of the show. That wasn't great music. That was 12 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: a preset loop from my melotron called Kurtz Nightporter MK one. 13 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: I played you that loop because I can't afford the 14 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: rights to we Don't Talk About Bruno by the cast 15 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: of Encanto. And why would I play you that specific 16 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: slice of weird animated Uncle Cheese? Could I afford it? 17 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: Because that was the number one song in America on 18 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: February twenty second, twenty twenty two, And that was the 19 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:23,000 Speaker 1: day that Mark Lanigan, after years of rough fights and 20 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: even rougher nights, after recovering from a nearly three week coma, 21 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: gave into his own demons and died at the age 22 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: of fifty seven. On this episode Violence Heroin, Matt Dillon 23 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: on fire, Liam Gallagher scared shitless, and Mark Lanigan. I'm 24 00:01:42,880 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan, and this this disgrace, Land Lanian, Are you 25 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: as dumb as you fucking look? You're a piece of shit, 26 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:20,799 Speaker 1: that much is true. But my mouth to God's ears, son, 27 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,919 Speaker 1: I know you're a piece of shit. Your mama knows 28 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:27,959 Speaker 1: you're a piece of shit. But don't be going all 29 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: dumb on me now too, got it? Okay, then I'm 30 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: gonna ask you one last time which one of your 31 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: ship bag friends is stealing all the goddamn stereos out 32 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 1: of the goddamn cars. Down at the dealership, fifteen year 33 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: old Mark Lanigan shifted uncomfortably in his chair while his aggressor, 34 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:54,080 Speaker 1: Captain olympdick Here from the local Sheriff's department, loomed over 35 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:56,240 Speaker 1: him from where he sat on the edge of his desk. 36 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: Of course, Lanigan knew who was taking the stack bad 37 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,799 Speaker 1: recognize as bad and all that, and when it came 38 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 1: to bad right now in the year nineteen seventy nine 39 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 1: in the dead end city of Ellensburg, Washington. Mark Lanigan 40 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,959 Speaker 1: was about as bad as a gout. He was a thief, 41 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:20,919 Speaker 1: a trespasser, He was drunk or stoned twenty four to seven, 42 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: covering public walls with spray paint and piss, Barely tolerated 43 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: by his teachers, and abused physically and mentally by his 44 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: miserable mother. He did what he had to do in 45 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: order to survive and what he saw as a dead 46 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: end town, and thus survived the authority, apathy, and stupidity 47 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 1: that ran him up there. And yeah, technically Ellensburg was 48 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: a city, but it was such a backwards, podunk shithole 49 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: of a city that it had that permanent small town 50 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: stink all over it. In just a few years from now, 51 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: by the time Lanigan was a senior, he would destroy 52 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 1: Rory's probation officer's van with a sledgehammer, the cherry on top, 53 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: as it were, of a long list of alcohol, drug 54 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: and theft related offenses, and those offenses in total would 55 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:16,279 Speaker 1: earn him an eighteen month prison sentence, a sentence that 56 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:20,160 Speaker 1: a lenient judge would suspend on the condition that Lannigan 57 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:25,040 Speaker 1: complete substance abuse treatment. The judge bless him, thought that 58 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 1: Mark Lannigan could change. Captain Limptick, on the other hand, 59 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:33,279 Speaker 1: despite all his obvious flaws, most glaring of which was 60 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: the cast he was currently wearing on one arm due 61 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: to an injury he no doubt sustained while beating on 62 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: some other unlucky miscreant, Captain Olymptick knew that change was 63 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:47,720 Speaker 1: in something a kid like Lannigan was capable of. The 64 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:50,520 Speaker 1: bottom was where he was born, and the bottom was 65 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: where he would stay. There was no amount of blackout 66 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: drunk knights that could make him forget that, and no 67 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: matter how hard he fought, he'd never caused way out. 68 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 1: That didn't mean that Lanigan wouldn't put up a fight trying. 69 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,520 Speaker 1: In fact, violence was one thing that Mark Lanigan trafficked 70 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 1: in from a very early age. Come on, kid, the 71 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 1: Captain said, I'm gonna ask you one more time, and 72 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:17,360 Speaker 1: you fucking a better give me a name this time. 73 00:05:17,839 --> 00:05:22,719 Speaker 1: Who took the goddamn stereos. Lannigan cocked his head upright, 74 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:29,159 Speaker 1: finally making eye contact, and said, I don't know. Captain 75 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,679 Speaker 1: Olymptick's face went red with rage. He launched at Lanagan 76 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:35,160 Speaker 1: and he swung his busted arm at the side of 77 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: Lanigan's head, connecting with a thud, knocking Lanigan off to 78 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: the chair and onto the floor, where the captain was 79 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:46,119 Speaker 1: now standing over his teenage prey, ignoring the throbbing pain 80 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:49,039 Speaker 1: shooting up and down his arm. He wanted to see 81 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:53,039 Speaker 1: the abject fear in the kid's eyes, but instead he 82 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: saw the eyes of a victor, a look of satisfaction 83 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: even down there on the grimy floor, and that pissed 84 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:04,640 Speaker 1: limp dick off to no end. You had this coming, boy, 85 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:07,840 Speaker 1: he said, grabbing, landing him by a shirt collar with 86 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:11,479 Speaker 1: his good hand, cocking back his bad arm, and then 87 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: the punch landed squarely on mark Land against jaw. He 88 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:22,560 Speaker 1: stumbled backwards the cold, salty air of Asbury Park, New Jersey, 89 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:26,360 Speaker 1: stinging his lip where it had been split open. He 90 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,599 Speaker 1: drunk himself into a stupor again tonight. So the pair 91 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,919 Speaker 1: of angry bouncers now standing before him looked like a quartet. 92 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:38,599 Speaker 1: These meatheads were planet fitness big, not brick shithouse big, 93 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: like the Conner boys, Van and Gary Lee or Barrett Marty, 94 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: the guys who collectively, along with Mark, comprised the tallest 95 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:50,840 Speaker 1: and most intimidating band from the Pacific Northwest, screaming trees 96 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 1: but Van and Gary Lee, where the hell are they going? 97 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,799 Speaker 1: Off to landing and grabbed a piece of wooden signpost 98 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:00,120 Speaker 1: that was rotting in the gutter and waved it at 99 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: the bouncers who were coming to finish what they started. 100 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:05,720 Speaker 1: He turned to see Barrett at his side, his arm 101 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: dangling in a way that was not natural, screaming, they 102 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 1: broke my arm. They fucking broke my arm. The piece 103 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: of wood felt too heavy in Lanigan's hand. It was 104 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: wasted enough that he knew that an attempt to wield 105 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: it would be a fool's errant, or at least of drunks, 106 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 1: So he tossed the weapon to the ground, put up 107 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:31,080 Speaker 1: his fists, and went in swinging. It was October nineteen 108 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 1: ninety two. Mark Lanigan had long since put Ellensburg behind him, 109 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,280 Speaker 1: saved from a life as a town barfly by the 110 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 1: only thing that mattered rock and roll, the sex Pistols, 111 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:47,800 Speaker 1: the Stranglers, Iggy Pot gun Club. Discovering music like that, 112 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 1: music that no one was listening to in Ellensburg. That 113 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: was like discovering a new language and While Mark Lanigan 114 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: may have felt like the only long haired punk rocker 115 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: in a city full of jocks, in reality there were 116 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: a few others. So when he met Van and Gary 117 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: Lee Conner, who not only understood his musical vocabulary but 118 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: made their own music too, Lannigan knew he'd found his 119 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 1: ticket out. Mark Lannigan didn't play an instrument, but he 120 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 1: could sing, and within a few years he had honed 121 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: his voice into the one we know today, the resonant 122 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:27,160 Speaker 1: baritone that was gruff like Tom Waite's and gravelly like 123 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 1: Billie Holliday if Billy Holliday sometimes had a beard. And 124 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:35,000 Speaker 1: by the early nineties, the Screaming Trees had evolved from 125 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:39,000 Speaker 1: Nuggets era garage rock into a powerful, behemoth sound that 126 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 1: was as formidable as they looked, while also being as 127 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:45,840 Speaker 1: catchy as anything the so called grunge scene was producing 128 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:50,559 Speaker 1: at the time. And just like Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alison Chains, 129 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:53,600 Speaker 1: and the other bands that they'd come up with, the 130 00:08:53,640 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 1: Screaming Trees quickly found themselves riding Seattle's rising tide. Sweet Oblivion, 131 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:03,479 Speaker 1: their second album for Epic Records in their sixth overall, 132 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:06,439 Speaker 1: also their first to feature Barrett Martin, who replaced the 133 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 1: original drummer Mark Pickerel, set them up for the big time, 134 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:13,640 Speaker 1: but never actually got them there. Months before it was 135 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: released in September of nineteen ninety two, Its lead single, 136 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:20,719 Speaker 1: Nearly Lost You, have been featured on the soundtrack to 137 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 1: Cameron Crow's movie Singles, a fictionalized take on grunge in 138 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: Seattle starring Matt Dillon. But when Mark Lanigan found out 139 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 1: that every other band on the soundtrack got paid while 140 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 1: the Screaming Trees were told to wave their sink feet 141 00:09:34,679 --> 00:09:37,839 Speaker 1: in the name of exposure, that pissed him off to 142 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,440 Speaker 1: no end. Mudhoney got twenty thousand dollars in the Screaming 143 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:45,440 Speaker 1: Trees got fuck all. It made landing and feel like 144 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:47,480 Speaker 1: he and the boys were swimming at the bottom of 145 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:50,839 Speaker 1: the barrel. At least he was familiar with the bottom 146 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:53,439 Speaker 1: of the barrel and glass being half full. In all 147 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:55,520 Speaker 1: that there was only one way to get out of 148 00:09:55,559 --> 00:10:01,959 Speaker 1: the bottom, but not tonight. On the boardwalk in Asbury Park, 149 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 1: outside a club called the Fast Lane, where the Screaming 150 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,240 Speaker 1: Trees were scheduled to play a gig tomorrow night, the 151 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: bottom embraced Mark Lannigan and tonight. When the bouncers told 152 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:15,840 Speaker 1: the Trees bassist Van Connor he couldn't take his drink outside, 153 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 1: Van told the guy to go fuck himself, and when 154 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 1: the bouncer told Lannigan the same, Lannigan knocked the tyrant's 155 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 1: ass off his little stool with one punch. The fistfight 156 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,680 Speaker 1: that followed ensured that the Screaming Trees would not play 157 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: at the fast Lane, not tomorrow night, or any other 158 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:35,880 Speaker 1: night for that matter. They did tape a performance of 159 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: their great song Nearly Lost to You on The David 160 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:41,240 Speaker 1: Letterman Show the next day, but did so with drummer 161 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:44,880 Speaker 1: Steve Faron sitting in for Barrett Martin since Barrett had 162 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:49,199 Speaker 1: dislocated his shoulder in the melee. Lannigan, however, was front 163 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 1: and center, Van and Gary headbanging behind him, lanning and 164 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 1: gripping the mic stand with both hands like he was 165 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: holding on for dear life, looking very much like the 166 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: last dude you'd ever want to fuck with, and sporting 167 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:05,839 Speaker 1: a huge shiner on his left eye for maximum effect. 168 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,520 Speaker 1: And this was not Matt Dillon with phony long hair 169 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:12,200 Speaker 1: in a soul patch up on a movie screen, trying 170 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:15,280 Speaker 1: to be a singer from Seattle. This was not singles. 171 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 1: This was the real deal. This was uncompromising rock and 172 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:25,319 Speaker 1: roll at its most violent, underappreciated best. It didn't give 173 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 1: into anything, and it didn't give anything up, just like 174 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:30,880 Speaker 1: young Mark Lanagan wouldn't give up any names to Captain 175 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:35,400 Speaker 1: Limpdick all those years ago. Some things are better kept 176 00:11:35,400 --> 00:12:05,640 Speaker 1: the secret. Some things you take to your grave. Did 177 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:08,920 Speaker 1: you call for the night Porter? You asked this of 178 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:12,280 Speaker 1: your buddy Kurt Kobain, who is looking at you through 179 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:14,320 Speaker 1: the crack of the half open front door at his 180 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:19,280 Speaker 1: house on Lake Washington. The night Porter is Kurt's nickname 181 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:23,920 Speaker 1: for you. Your friends call you all sorts of things. Old scratch, 182 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:27,439 Speaker 1: dark Mark, a homeless crack addict that he once ran 183 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 1: a scam with to scare up drug money, used to 184 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,640 Speaker 1: call you Whitey Ford. But only Kurk calls you the 185 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:35,439 Speaker 1: night Porter. He does so on account of the fact 186 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 1: that you run dope all over Seattle like a bike messenger, 187 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: but you don't have a bike, and you do your 188 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:44,560 Speaker 1: work under the cover of darkness. There's a gaping hole 189 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:48,199 Speaker 1: in town that needs filling, and just as you'd sing 190 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: in one of your later songs, you're there to janitor, 191 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 1: the emptiness. Everyone in town benefits from your quicksilver ass. 192 00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:02,000 Speaker 1: Barista is making minimum wage at Starbucks, tech millionaires at Microsoft, 193 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,440 Speaker 1: and your good buddy Kurt Kobean here, who just so 194 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:07,720 Speaker 1: happens to be the biggest rock star on the planet. 195 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:12,319 Speaker 1: You benefit too, because ever since you cut alcohol from 196 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:15,240 Speaker 1: your life and replaced it with heroin, your habit is 197 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:19,760 Speaker 1: all consuming, and that habit costs a pretty penny. You 198 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:24,360 Speaker 1: are not Kurt Kobean or Chris Cornell. Shit, you're not 199 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 1: even any fucking vetter. The money you make from screaming 200 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: trees and from your solo career, which is running on 201 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:34,120 Speaker 1: a parallel track next to the bands, it's not enough. 202 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:38,520 Speaker 1: It's never enough. So your side hustle helps make ends meet, 203 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:41,400 Speaker 1: and it also keeps you within arm's reach of some 204 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 1: killer brown. Anyway, when Kurt sees that it's you at 205 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:48,720 Speaker 1: his door, not some crazy fan who's figured out where 206 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:52,160 Speaker 1: he lives, this huge smile bursts across his face and 207 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 1: he shouts your name land again like some god fearing 208 00:13:55,520 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: old bitty shouts Amen at Sunday service. Because Amen, brother, 209 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 1: you are the light, You are the flesh and the 210 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 1: blood that you are the fucking night Porter, and you've 211 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:10,720 Speaker 1: got the goods. Kurt knows your situation and does what 212 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:13,679 Speaker 1: he can, and you understand that there are some things 213 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:16,439 Speaker 1: he can't do, like go out and score heroin. Now 214 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 1: that he's the most famous person in Seattle. Kurt always 215 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:23,200 Speaker 1: repays the favor. Once he took out three grand in 216 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: cash from the bank, stuffed it in your fists, just 217 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: for you being you, for being there, for for being, 218 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,120 Speaker 1: as he once told you, one of the only real 219 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: friends he had. Kurt didn't just have your back. He 220 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:39,080 Speaker 1: was your champion, and the two of you almost made 221 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:41,600 Speaker 1: a record of lead belly songs together, but when that 222 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:44,520 Speaker 1: didn't pan out, you had to settle for Kurt guesting 223 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:47,320 Speaker 1: on your cover the Bluesman song where Did You Sleep 224 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:51,000 Speaker 1: Last Night from your solo debut album, The Winding Sheet. 225 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,640 Speaker 1: That's right, be proud of that man. Everyone connects that 226 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 1: song with Nirvana and their Unplugged album, as they should 227 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 1: because it's incredible. But you first with Kurt, you put 228 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: him onto that lead billy shit. And then two years 229 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:11,480 Speaker 1: later in ninety two, when the Screaming Trees were banned 230 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:15,120 Speaker 1: from all European festivals after you got blackout drug at 231 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:17,520 Speaker 1: ross killed and fought the stage crew at the end 232 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: of your set like a cornered animal. Kurt was the 233 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: one who orchestrated your redemption. He told the organizers at 234 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:26,560 Speaker 1: Reading the Nirvana would pull out of that festival unless 235 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:29,240 Speaker 1: the Screaming Trees were back on the bill at fucking 236 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:32,920 Speaker 1: Reading one of the most iconic Nirvana performances of all time, 237 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 1: and it almost didn't happen because Kurt liked you too much. Still, 238 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 1: after a while, it became a lot to manage all 239 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:45,520 Speaker 1: this night porter business because being a junkie was hard 240 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,760 Speaker 1: enough as it was, all the running around trying to 241 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:51,360 Speaker 1: find your guy and then finding out your guy got 242 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 1: pinched or he skipped town, so you got to find 243 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 1: another guy, and that guy is holed up in the 244 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 1: sketchiest part of town where if you don't have peace 245 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 1: stuff down in the front of your jeans either incredibly 246 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,800 Speaker 1: fucking stupid or you're about to be dead. And if 247 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: you're not at home when you score, then you gotta 248 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 1: find somewhere to shoot. And let's say you do you 249 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:10,280 Speaker 1: find a place, then you have to find a working 250 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:13,320 Speaker 1: vein to shoot in, because you're always running out of 251 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:15,840 Speaker 1: good veins. Next thing you know, you're pulling down your pants, 252 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,320 Speaker 1: staring at your cock, specifically at the big vein that 253 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:23,480 Speaker 1: runs upside it, wondering, well, it's a vein, isn't it. 254 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:25,760 Speaker 1: It'll only hurt for a second, right, And then as 255 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:28,200 Speaker 1: soon as the needle breaks the skin, you watch that 256 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:32,400 Speaker 1: same vein balloon up and you're like, fuck, am I 257 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:37,080 Speaker 1: gonna lose my cock now, just like you thought you 258 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: were gonna lose your arm that one time. In Quebec, 259 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 1: there was no such thing as a clean needle, at 260 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:46,640 Speaker 1: least not on tour buses in the nineteen nineties. Everyone 261 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:50,000 Speaker 1: shared everything, and once you were high, he didn't worry 262 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 1: about that shit anyway. But this time, before the bus 263 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: crosses the Canadian border, you shoot up with that dirty needle. 264 00:16:57,320 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 1: You hide in one of the vans interior pails, and 265 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 1: your arm just fucking goes puff it inflates to twice 266 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:07,159 Speaker 1: its size. It's fire red and hot to the touch. 267 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:09,920 Speaker 1: You wind up in a hospital where the doctors are 268 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:12,479 Speaker 1: telling you, monsieur, you are we may need to how 269 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 1: do you say? Remove it? So you're sitting there in 270 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 1: a bed waiting it out for twenty four hours to 271 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:20,720 Speaker 1: see if the blood infection raging away inside he was 272 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:24,440 Speaker 1: gonna come down, or if they're gonna amputate. You're doing 273 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:27,919 Speaker 1: this while also sweating out the final vestiges of the 274 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:31,560 Speaker 1: heroin left in your system. You're going cold turkey right there, 275 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:34,879 Speaker 1: and you feel like shit. Your drum tech takes pity 276 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:37,320 Speaker 1: on you and hits the bricks to find a Montreal 277 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:40,160 Speaker 1: prostitute with huge lips to come give you one last 278 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:43,080 Speaker 1: blowjob as a two armed man, but he can't get 279 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:45,760 Speaker 1: her past security, which is a huge buzzkill for your 280 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:51,560 Speaker 1: equally huge blue balls. The next day, the doc tells 281 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 1: you that you can keep the arm, which is great 282 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:56,960 Speaker 1: news because there's a mic stand somewhere that needs leaning on. 283 00:17:57,320 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: Its entire purpose is to be there for you to 284 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:02,920 Speaker 1: a bit tight with not one but two hands, and 285 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:06,520 Speaker 1: that gargoyle power stance you strike designed to scare off 286 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:10,120 Speaker 1: all comers, all posers, and if any shit talking roughneck 287 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 1: knows any better, they know to keep their distance from 288 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 1: Mark fucking Lannigan. The only thing you haven't figured out 289 00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:24,399 Speaker 1: yet is how to ward off the demons. Lannigan stood 290 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:26,480 Speaker 1: at the foot of a set of stairs outside Kurt 291 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:31,000 Speaker 1: Kobaine's house. Smoking a Lucky Strike nonfilter, he exhaled and 292 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:33,800 Speaker 1: looked up the stairs to where they led a room 293 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:38,280 Speaker 1: above the garage. Kurt was missing. He had escaped from 294 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:41,320 Speaker 1: a detox facility in la and caught a plane back 295 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:43,880 Speaker 1: to Seattle, but no one knew where he was now, 296 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:47,920 Speaker 1: and his wife, Courtney Love, was freaking out. Geffen Records 297 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,280 Speaker 1: was freaking out too. Lannigan's lawyer, the one he shared 298 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 1: with Kurt, he was also freaking out. Lannigan shadowed a 299 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:59,200 Speaker 1: private investigator, took him to drug houses on Capitol Hill, 300 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: bought dope with the pi's money, going everywhere and anywhere. 301 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:06,159 Speaker 1: He thought Kurt might be hiding out, places to fix, 302 00:19:06,359 --> 00:19:09,639 Speaker 1: places you checked into but would never leave. But no dice. 303 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:15,679 Speaker 1: They called Kurt's friends and searched Kurt's house, nothing outside. 304 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:19,919 Speaker 1: Lannigan took another puff off his cigarette. Just days earlier, 305 00:19:20,359 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 1: Kurt had called three times and left three messages on 306 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:25,480 Speaker 1: his answering machine, said he wanted to hang out and 307 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:28,920 Speaker 1: listen to music. In other words, cop some dope, bro 308 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,800 Speaker 1: and bring it over and let's get high. Lannigan never 309 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,960 Speaker 1: answered and never called him back. All that night. Porter business. 310 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,919 Speaker 1: It was too exhausting, and Lannigan had no idea that 311 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,919 Speaker 1: Kurt was a wall when he called, and now he 312 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:47,600 Speaker 1: wished he had picked up. He looked up at the 313 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:49,880 Speaker 1: stairs and at the door leading into the room above 314 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:53,200 Speaker 1: the garage. He didn't feel compelled to make the climb, 315 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:57,080 Speaker 1: so instead he tossed the butt on the ground, crushed 316 00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:03,000 Speaker 1: it with his boot, and left. The next day, his 317 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:07,720 Speaker 1: phone rang. Kurt Cobaine was dead, and they found his 318 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:12,160 Speaker 1: body in that room above the garage, just steps away 319 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:15,840 Speaker 1: from where Lanigan had stood. Courtney called him soon after 320 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:17,919 Speaker 1: and told him that Kurt had been listening to Lanagan's 321 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:21,159 Speaker 1: new solo record, Whiskey for the Holy Ghost for days 322 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:24,480 Speaker 1: before he pulled the trigger, which just fucked Lanigan up 323 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:28,239 Speaker 1: to no end. He didn't need to hear that, but 324 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:31,000 Speaker 1: there was no one hearing it now, just like there 325 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:33,560 Speaker 1: was no unthinking the thought that he was the last 326 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:38,840 Speaker 1: person Kurt ever called. His friend was gone on his watch, 327 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:43,439 Speaker 1: and Mark Lanigan was left to contemplate his place in it. 328 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:59,280 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this. We're we're where reputation 329 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:03,400 Speaker 1: is everything in the music business, or though whatever business 330 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:07,560 Speaker 1: doesn't matter, your reputation precedes you if you're doing it right. 331 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:11,040 Speaker 1: Some have to work on building the reputation, but for 332 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:16,200 Speaker 1: Mark Lanagan it came naturally authentically just by being himself. 333 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:20,359 Speaker 1: Did his reputation evolve to where it was firmly established 334 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,880 Speaker 1: in the mid nineteen nineties, and it didn't really change 335 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:27,920 Speaker 1: from there. Everyone knew Mark Lanagan took no shit. Didn't 336 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 1: matter who you were. If you got on Lanigan's bad side, 337 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:34,200 Speaker 1: if you pissed him off, watch yourself. And that goes 338 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:37,320 Speaker 1: for Heckler's in the audience calling his bandmates fat, or 339 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:39,840 Speaker 1: even for those same bandmates when they did something that 340 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:43,200 Speaker 1: he felt was deserving of his well documented physical retaliation. 341 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:47,200 Speaker 1: I mean, have you seen Van and Gary Lee Conner. 342 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:51,400 Speaker 1: Those dudes were nine foot tall, Andre the giant looking motherfuckers, 343 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:55,280 Speaker 1: But shit, man, sheer size did not phase Lannigan one bit. 344 00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:58,840 Speaker 1: He even challenged Liam Gallagher to a fight when The 345 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:03,200 Speaker 1: Screaming Trees opened Oasis's brief American tour in nineteen ninety six. 346 00:22:04,359 --> 00:22:07,959 Speaker 1: This after Liam insulted him, insulted his band and in 347 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 1: general acted like a proper cunt, as they'd say in 348 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:16,280 Speaker 1: his native Manchester. Liam fancied himself a brawler but Lannigan 349 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:19,080 Speaker 1: knew the type. His idea of fighting was a loud 350 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:22,040 Speaker 1: mouth that wouldn't shut the hell up. So when Liam 351 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:25,040 Speaker 1: Gallagher told Mark Lanigan that he throwed down Mono Amano 352 00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:28,520 Speaker 1: at the tour's final stop in Miami, Lannigan could rest 353 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:31,280 Speaker 1: assured that all this time spent around this prick would 354 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:33,639 Speaker 1: be worth it when he got to break Liam's nose 355 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:36,560 Speaker 1: at the end of the line. But they never got 356 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:38,960 Speaker 1: to the end of that line, because right before the 357 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:43,160 Speaker 1: Miami date, the final night of the tour, Liam Gallagher bailed. 358 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:48,080 Speaker 1: He quit Oasis and flew back home to England. Yes, 359 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,840 Speaker 1: Liam Gallagher briefly quit his own band in nineteen ninety six, 360 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 1: and it wasn't because of his dysfunctional relationship with his 361 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:58,400 Speaker 1: brother Noel. It was because he was terrified that Mark 362 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:02,240 Speaker 1: Lanagan was going to beat the shit out of him 363 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:05,960 Speaker 1: if Lannigan shared something with Liam. It was that intimacy 364 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:10,760 Speaker 1: with dysfunction. The Screaming Treees's function was one thing pushing 365 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:14,399 Speaker 1: them further into a solo career, But in ninety six, 366 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:18,000 Speaker 1: the Trees remained an important part of Lanigan's revenue stream, 367 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,360 Speaker 1: which was necessary in order to maintain his all consuming 368 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,720 Speaker 1: drug habit. That was the other part of Lanigan's reputation. 369 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 1: He was known as a junkie and a fiend and 370 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:30,439 Speaker 1: an amateur cook who made crack cocaine in his kitchen 371 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:32,200 Speaker 1: that he could sell on the side when he wasn't 372 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:34,560 Speaker 1: shooting or smoking whatever he could get his hands on, 373 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:39,040 Speaker 1: with friends like Lane Staley from Alison Chains, who incidentally 374 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,520 Speaker 1: filled in for Mark Lanigan at the Screaming Tree Show 375 00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:44,280 Speaker 1: at Montreal when Lanigan was laid up in that hospital, 376 00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:46,199 Speaker 1: wondering if he was going to lose his arm. But 377 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:51,720 Speaker 1: I digress. But in a bad part of town in Rockford, Illinois, 378 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:54,640 Speaker 1: home of Cheap Trick, where the trees were passing through 379 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:57,840 Speaker 1: as part of the lollapaloozatur that same year in nineteen 380 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:02,840 Speaker 1: ninety six, Mark Lannigan his reputation didn't mean shit. He 381 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:05,560 Speaker 1: was just another Mark with crumpled up bills in his pocket, 382 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:09,399 Speaker 1: looking for a fix, some brown, some rock, some of 383 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:13,160 Speaker 1: whatever came easy. And the old guy standing guard outside 384 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:15,760 Speaker 1: this dilapidated drug den said it was ten bucks to 385 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 1: get inside, and then he looked over at the tall 386 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:22,359 Speaker 1: dude standing next to land again. Josh Hami formerly of 387 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:25,600 Speaker 1: Kaius in a new addition to the trees. As they're touring, 388 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:30,080 Speaker 1: second guitar player, short red hair, white puka shell necklace, 389 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:34,480 Speaker 1: nice polo shirt, His palm desert jocko Fucko vibe was 390 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:38,399 Speaker 1: in direct conflict with Mark Lannigan's strung out shoulder length 391 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:42,120 Speaker 1: hair and beard. And that's ten bucks each, the old 392 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:45,919 Speaker 1: guy corrected. Lannigan forked over the cash, and then he 393 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:51,560 Speaker 1: and Josh walked inside. The place was dark. Cigarette smoke 394 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:54,760 Speaker 1: hung from the ceiling, ready or not, but the fujis 395 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:57,320 Speaker 1: was blaring from a set of shitty speakers behind a bar, 396 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:00,000 Speaker 1: where a dope he had nodding off made a show 397 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:03,920 Speaker 1: liquor from a dirty glass. Some skinny piece of ass 398 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:06,879 Speaker 1: draped herself on Lannigan's arm. Give me a twenty and 399 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:10,280 Speaker 1: I'll take you to score. Lanigan reached into his pocket 400 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:13,680 Speaker 1: and pulled out another Andrew Jackson Price had do him business, 401 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:16,439 Speaker 1: and the woman stuck the money down her bra and 402 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:19,960 Speaker 1: began to walk up a set of old stairs. She stopped, 403 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:24,119 Speaker 1: turned back, emotioned at Lannigan and Josh should follow, and 404 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:29,199 Speaker 1: Landinggan could feel it already, the rush, the high, the escape. 405 00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:32,399 Speaker 1: They reached the second floor, where the woman knocked on 406 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:36,200 Speaker 1: a wooden door. It opened and no sooner had Lanigan 407 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:40,520 Speaker 1: and Josh stepped inside. The three dudes, big dudes, leaped 408 00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:43,800 Speaker 1: at them, chests out and ten up. The fuck is 409 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:46,119 Speaker 1: he doing here? One of the guys yelled, are you 410 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:49,640 Speaker 1: a fucking cop? Lanigan had never been accused of being 411 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:53,240 Speaker 1: a cop before, but then he realized he wasn't being accused. 412 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 1: They're all staring at Josh Hamie. Shit, Lannigan thought, looking 413 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:00,280 Speaker 1: at his friend through the eyes of a parent nod 414 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:04,159 Speaker 1: drug dealer. Yeah, he could see it. Josh had a 415 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:08,680 Speaker 1: nark written all over him. Look, man, we're not cops, 416 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:12,280 Speaker 1: Lanigan said, trying to diffuse the situation and get his 417 00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:15,600 Speaker 1: fix and get out. You may not be a cop, 418 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:21,639 Speaker 1: but he is motherfucker. Landing and panicked, and Josh slowly 419 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:24,480 Speaker 1: began to reach for his back pocket, which is where 420 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:29,760 Speaker 1: as Landing and knew he kept his switchblade. Shit. All 421 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:32,240 Speaker 1: three of these mean looking bastards were no doubt strapped. 422 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:36,720 Speaker 1: If Josh snapped open his blade, they were fucked. Landing 423 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:39,640 Speaker 1: and put his hand on Josh's shoulder has to say 424 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,800 Speaker 1: cool it, clingings to it, and then calmly addressed the room. 425 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:46,880 Speaker 1: Excuse me, gentlemen, but I think we've made a mistake. 426 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:50,320 Speaker 1: We will see ourselves out. You're fucking right, you will, 427 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:56,640 Speaker 1: old man. Take your bitch ass cop with you now. 428 00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:58,920 Speaker 1: Lannigan and Josh were back out on the streets of 429 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:03,159 Speaker 1: Rockford for dollars lighter with no direction home. They'd been 430 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:05,560 Speaker 1: dropped off in this neighborhood earlier and had no idea 431 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:09,399 Speaker 1: which way was out, so they started walking up the 432 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:13,720 Speaker 1: road apiece. Lannigan spotted some dudes loitering under a broken streetlight. 433 00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:16,959 Speaker 1: Definitely looked like they were holding and he still had 434 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,119 Speaker 1: a few bucks on him, so he told Josh to 435 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:22,560 Speaker 1: hang tight for one minute and went to score. Josh 436 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:27,600 Speaker 1: stood stone solid, watching helplessly, and before Lannigan could say 437 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:29,480 Speaker 1: anything that the guys he hoped had what he so 438 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:33,000 Speaker 1: desperately needed, he heard footsteps come up on him fast 439 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 1: from behind, and then the feeling of cold steel pressed 440 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:39,440 Speaker 1: into the back of his neck, followed by the sound 441 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 1: of a pistol cocking. Keep walking caught. Lannigan wasn't running now, 442 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:48,479 Speaker 1: but he was moving faster away from another potential score. 443 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:51,879 Speaker 1: Those early symptoms of dope sickness beginning to set in. 444 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:54,800 Speaker 1: Josh Homie was there with him every step of the way, 445 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:59,520 Speaker 1: freaking out but trying not to show it. Then headlights 446 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:03,719 Speaker 1: a car was making its way toward them, engine humming, 447 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:07,280 Speaker 1: the muffler doing God's work. It began to pick up speed, 448 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:09,840 Speaker 1: and as it got closer Landinggan and Josh could see 449 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:12,040 Speaker 1: the barrel of a gun hanging out the rear driver's 450 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:15,200 Speaker 1: side window. They had no time to react. The car 451 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:18,159 Speaker 1: was rumbling directly past them now and the kid holding 452 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:20,879 Speaker 1: the gun was squeezing the trigger and suddenly, landing In 453 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:29,879 Speaker 1: and Josh were sprayed with water, standing there soaking wet, 454 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:33,240 Speaker 1: the car's tail lights fading into the night. Landing and 455 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:37,119 Speaker 1: Josh laughed. It was the only appropriate response to thinking 456 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:39,040 Speaker 1: you were just about to lose your life on some 457 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:42,680 Speaker 1: back end street in Cheap Tricks hometown, only to find 458 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:47,320 Speaker 1: out that the joke was on you. Moments later, Hommy 459 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:51,320 Speaker 1: went quiet, his smile fading, and he said, if you 460 00:28:51,640 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 1: ever do that to me again, I'll fucking kill you. 461 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 1: Josh Hami did not kill Mark Lanigan, but a few 462 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,360 Speaker 1: years later he did hire him as a secondary lead 463 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:27,520 Speaker 1: singer in his new band, Queens of the Stone Age 464 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:30,880 Speaker 1: being asked to join Queens. In the year two thousand, 465 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:33,640 Speaker 1: when Lanagan was thirty six and at a personal and 466 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:37,680 Speaker 1: professional crossroads, it saved his life. And I'm not being 467 00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:42,640 Speaker 1: hyperbolic here either. Let me set the scene. Screaming trees 468 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:45,840 Speaker 1: had finally broken up, but not before that close call 469 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:48,880 Speaker 1: in Rockford, Illinois some years prior had gone full blown 470 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:52,600 Speaker 1: bad omen and Lannigan was robbed in Amsterdam at knife 471 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:55,840 Speaker 1: point while trying to score. And then in London it 472 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:59,920 Speaker 1: happened again, only this time Lanigan's old school captain Limp Dick, 473 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,160 Speaker 1: defying fight or flight instincts kicked in and he beat 474 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 1: the living shit out of this would be mugger. And 475 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:08,280 Speaker 1: when he got home to Seattle, he was broke his 476 00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:11,360 Speaker 1: phone and his electricity had been shut off. And before 477 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:14,520 Speaker 1: he got himself evicted, he was frantically cooking up batches 478 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:16,520 Speaker 1: of cracked cocaine that he could sell for a few 479 00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:21,120 Speaker 1: bucks on a Coleman propaying camping stove. Soon he was homeless, 480 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:26,320 Speaker 1: sleeping under a tarp near the freeway. Lannigan was then 481 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:31,040 Speaker 1: saved not once, not twice, but three times, first by 482 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:34,680 Speaker 1: Courtney Love, his unexpected benefactor who put up cash when 483 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,880 Speaker 1: Lannigan needed it most, just like Kurt used to do 484 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:40,560 Speaker 1: back in the day. She paid for Lannigan to live 485 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:43,880 Speaker 1: at drug treatment facilities and halfway houses in California for 486 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:47,280 Speaker 1: nearly a year so that he could get clean. Next 487 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:51,040 Speaker 1: by Seattle resident Duff McKagan, bass player for Guns N' Roses, 488 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:54,600 Speaker 1: his unexpected sponsor who helped Lannikin get back on his 489 00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:58,080 Speaker 1: feet as the caretaker of his two houses. And then 490 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:02,080 Speaker 1: by Josh Hami and Queen's the Stone Age, his unexpected 491 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:05,760 Speaker 1: new boss who gave Lanagan a new creative Lisan life. 492 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:09,680 Speaker 1: Not to mention a great gig, Lannigan used to say 493 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,760 Speaker 1: that being in Queen's was the best because he only 494 00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:14,720 Speaker 1: had to be the center of attention for one third 495 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:18,120 Speaker 1: of a show. And following his brief but impactful tenure 496 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:21,200 Speaker 1: with Queens of the Stone Age, Mark Lanigan continued making 497 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:25,600 Speaker 1: great solo records and continued to find inspired collaborations with 498 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:29,120 Speaker 1: Greg Dooley, the Afghan Wigs, and Isabelle Campbell of Belle 499 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:34,040 Speaker 1: and Sebastian, and with soul savers Moby and Uncle. He 500 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,080 Speaker 1: was the go to guy for discerning musicians and their 501 00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:41,240 Speaker 1: fans with a voice like top shelf bourbon, and it 502 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:44,200 Speaker 1: was a voice that only comes around once in a 503 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:48,200 Speaker 1: great while. You can't learn that voice or teach it. 504 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:51,920 Speaker 1: It's just always been inside you, just like your attraction 505 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:56,120 Speaker 1: to violence and hard drugs and conversely to close fellowship 506 00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:58,200 Speaker 1: with those who get you and are worthy of your 507 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:02,000 Speaker 1: good graces. It's all part of what makes you so authentic, 508 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:07,200 Speaker 1: for better and for worse, because above all else, inauthenticity 509 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:11,440 Speaker 1: is the greatest sin. And to that end, you find 510 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:13,560 Speaker 1: yourself in a bar in New York one night after 511 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:16,920 Speaker 1: a show and someone taps you on the shoulder. You 512 00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:19,640 Speaker 1: turn around, you take a drag off your lucky strike 513 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:23,440 Speaker 1: and narrow your eyes. Mark do you know Matt Dylan? 514 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:26,760 Speaker 1: And the actor sticks out his hand to shake yours, 515 00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:30,960 Speaker 1: says he's a big fan. Yeah, thanks, man. You don't 516 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:33,160 Speaker 1: have much beyond that to say to him. So you 517 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:37,720 Speaker 1: stand there, smoking your cigarette and feeling awkward. Nothing personal. 518 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:40,040 Speaker 1: But every time you see this guy, all you can 519 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:42,800 Speaker 1: picture is him wearing that stupid wig and that stupid 520 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:45,520 Speaker 1: movie that turned your friends into a cartoon and screwed 521 00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:48,800 Speaker 1: your band out of thousands of dollars. Someone else catches 522 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:51,600 Speaker 1: Dylan's attention and he turns his head away from you, 523 00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:54,160 Speaker 1: and as he does, you drop what's left of your 524 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:57,760 Speaker 1: lit cigarette and Dylan's suit jacket pucket, and it begins 525 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:01,600 Speaker 1: to smolder. And then Dylan's jacket catches fire and he's 526 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:04,800 Speaker 1: wildly stamping out the flames with his hands, now looking 527 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:07,480 Speaker 1: around to see who did this to him. But you're 528 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:11,760 Speaker 1: long gone out the door, onto the sidewalk, and there 529 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:15,240 Speaker 1: but for the grace of God, into the emptiness. 530 00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:35,840 Speaker 2: I'm Jake Brennan in This is Disgraceland. 531 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:36,440 Speaker 1: All right, hope you dug this episode. Apple podcast listeners, 532 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:38,800 Speaker 1: make sure you have auto downloads turned on so you 533 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:41,520 Speaker 1: never missed an episode of Disgraceland. This week's question of 534 00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:45,960 Speaker 1: the week, Guys, who is your favorite but most underrated 535 00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:48,520 Speaker 1: rock star? Is it Mark Lanigan? Is it someone else? 536 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:50,239 Speaker 1: I want to know who, and I want to know 537 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:51,160 Speaker 1: why you love them? 538 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,400 Speaker 3: Hit me up voicemail and text six one seven nine 539 00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:55,680 Speaker 3: oh six sixty six three. 540 00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:57,640 Speaker 1: Eight and let me know. I can also be reached 541 00:33:57,720 --> 00:34:02,240 Speaker 1: on Instagram, Facebook, x at, disgrace sampod and disgracelampod at 542 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:04,520 Speaker 1: gmail dot com. From one do the email thing, leave 543 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:06,960 Speaker 1: a review for the show on Apple Podcasts through Spotify, 544 00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:09,520 Speaker 1: and win some free merch All right, here come some credits. 545 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:14,279 Speaker 3: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 546 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:17,719 Speaker 3: partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be 547 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:21,120 Speaker 3: found on the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. 548 00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:24,560 Speaker 3: If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank 549 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:25,640 Speaker 3: you for supporting the show. 550 00:34:25,680 --> 00:34:28,399 Speaker 1: We really appreciate it. And if not, you can become 551 00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:31,800 Speaker 1: a member right now by going to disgracelampod dot com 552 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:36,080 Speaker 1: Slash Membership. Members can listen to every episode of disgracelan 553 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:40,200 Speaker 1: ad free, Plus you'll get one brand new exclusive episode 554 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:44,480 Speaker 1: every month, weekly unscripted bonus episodes, special audio collections, and 555 00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:49,400 Speaker 1: early access to merchandise and events. Visit disgracelampod dot com 556 00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:52,600 Speaker 1: slash membership for details, rate and review the show, and 557 00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:56,680 Speaker 1: follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook at disgracelampod 558 00:34:56,800 --> 00:34:59,960 Speaker 1: and on YouTube at YouTube dot com slash at disgrace 559 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:04,080 Speaker 1: Slam Pod, rock a Rolla. 560 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:08,160 Speaker 2: He's a bad, bad man.