Mudhoney: 'We do feel lucky'

Though it never achieved the mainstream success of bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, Mudhoney was just as big a part of the '90s Seattle scene as those grunge luminaries. And while it might have been awhile since Mudhoney last performed in Atlanta, the band remains a presence on today's underground rock scene. As the band prepared to come to town this week in support of last month's CD, "The Lucky Ones," founding guitarist Steve Turner took a moment to discuss the band's history and influence.

The name of the latest album is "The Lucky Ones." Is that a reference to anyone in particular?

I'm sure it's a reference to a bunch of different things. Obviously there's some irony in it, but we actually do feel really lucky as far as still being a band and making the music we make and still being together.

Mudhoney had a strong influence over grunge bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but would you agree that you've likely had a similar influence on other modern movements like garage rock and stoner rock?

I'm not so sure how much of an influence we've had on even the Seattle bands. I think everybody was trying to influence each other at the time. Pearl Jam doesn't sound anything like us. We used to be in a band with some of them and love them to pieces, but we were definitely going in different directions and coming at it from a whole different point of view. We were just fellow travelers in the whole weird Seattle explosion.

Aside from a brief stint on Reprise Records in the '90s, Mudhoney has been sort of the flagship band for Seattle-based Sub Pop Records. Does it feel odd that both the band and label are celebrating their 20th anniversaries this year?

Twenty years is a long time, but the thing about it is it doesn't seem like 20 years. As you get older, time seems to start going faster and faster anyway. I'm amazed when I think back that something happened 20 years ago, or even things that don't seem that long ago to me are well over 10 years ago. It's strange, but at the same time it happens to everybody.

You're playing a rather small venue in the EARL. How will such a small room be able to contain the Mudhoney energy?

It actually contains it much better than a really big room, I think. We play best in small places. It's kind of clichéd, but we're very used to playing small places. We're not some huge thing and I honestly enjoy it more. It's great that we haven't seen a barrier yet on this tour and hopefully we won't. It'll be sort of like playing our home in Seattle called the Sunset Tavern.