The Melvins’ Top Five Tips For Keeping a Band Together For 30 Years

The Melvins have been together for a long-ass time and have released a metric fuck-ton of albums. How many bands can claim they’ve stayed together for thirty years without once breaking up? Anvil doesn’t count.

If you’re in a band hoping to go the long haul you might wanna take this advice from Melvins drummer Dale Crover seriously; the man speaks the truth! In a guest column for Willamette Week [spotted via No Clean Singing], Crover keeps it awfully simple by listing the top five reasons his band has experienced such longevity. Some samples:

Never have a hit song.
As long as you never have a hit, you can’t be considered has-beens. We consider ourselves never-had-beens.

Kick someone out.
We’ve watched lots of successful bands at the top of their game break up because they can’t get along with each other (Soundgarden, I’m looking at you). Usually it’s one member of the band causing all the problems. Most likely it’s the bass player. Just kick them out and start fresh. We’ve done it numerous times.

Go on and read the rest over at Willamette Week.