#3. Got Warmduscher here, calling on his burner.
I sit down with Clams Baker of Warmduscher AKA Mutado Pintado to move some black and white pieces around.
Dear friend,
I’ve used this newsletter as a celebration of all my favourite music over the past couple of weeks, and it’s been fun. But I need to start by addressing something that is not my favourite music.
Today, Jehnny Beth and Bobby Gillespie announced a collaborative album, and shared a new single. ‘Remember We Were Lovers’. I’ve been a prescient observer of musical goings on for the two and a half decades I’ve been alive, and an open minded one at that, but without a single shadow of a doubt this is the worst music I have ever come across. A languid powerless ballad, a banal transmission from the middle of the road, everything about it stinks. It sounds too cynical to even be saccharine, and too dull to be emotional, and I hate it.
What compounds my misery is that, whilst most bad music is simply easy to avoid, I just know that I’ll be hearing it every hour on 6music until I die. Shame on you Gillespie! Just come out as an anti-vaxxer and leave my ears alone!
Now that I’ve got that out of my system, I’d like to welcome you to the third issue of Zugzwang. I’ve been playing a lot of chess this week, and I’ve been listening to a lot of music. Especially during an international break, and a pandemic, these are life’s greatest pleasures. More on that later, but I’d like to immediately signpost you in the direction of this week’s guest. It’s a big one and I’m very excited to share it with you all.
Chess Clash #3 – Clams Baker of Warmduscher and Paranoid London
Clams Baker, Mutado Pintado, Craig Louis Higgins Jr. Paranoid London, Warmduscher, Sworn Virgins. That’s one hell of a CV.
I reckon I first became aware of Clams Baker and his indomitable oeuvre about five years ago. Pre-Wunderground fandom I stumbled across Warmduscher’s Speedy split single with Windmill veterans Meatraffle. Beefheart and Minutemen, scuzz and charisma, ‘Sweet Smell of Florida’ is one mighty fine nugget, but that’s just the start.
Clams Baker moved to London from New York in 2008, and has spent the last 13 years causing all sorts of musical trouble. First with Black Daniel, then with acid-house miscreants Paranoid London, and solo under the moniker Mutado Pintado, Clams has done all sorts.
My favourite of his releases is the latest Warmduscher record, ‘Tainted Lunch’, 2019’s finest album. Red-eyed rock ‘n’ roll mischief, it features Kool Keith and Iggy Pop, taking influence from blistering US hardcore, a litany of funk and hip-hop and wacky garage rock, what an album it is. A record of propulsive dinner-bringers, never letting up on momentum or bombast.
With all these musical strings to his bow, it’s a wonder Clams finds time for anything else. But as with all guests on this newsletter, the man has a passion for moving the black and white pieces around the board. Maybe my most impassioned guest so far, Clams is a chess man, and before we sit down for the interview we have a very heated game. I have the white pieces, and he has the black.
I play d4, a rare queen’s pawn opening from me, and he responds with the Mediteranean version of the French Defence, according to my chess engine, and as Clams castles on move 4 we are already at a position that has never been reached before. Free flowing, dynamic chess. End to end stuff. I leave my queen hanging and lose it, and Clams immediately does the same; I lose both bishops cheaply, but win both of his cleverly; there’s definitely some mistakes from both parties, but it’s a very entertaining game.
On move 24, I get both my rooks to the end of the board and start to hunt down his king; it takes a while. Checkmate with two rooks while there’s opposing pieces on the board is a bit like changing a plug with oven gloves on, but on move 38 I get a pawn involved and force a checkmate.
“You got me good there didn’t you?” he cackles down the phone. “I made a lot of mistakes but that’s what it is.”
“I was playing in my twenties, nothing serious,” he says. “I used to play with a friend from London when I was living in New York. Nothing too crazy. But in the last year or two, I’ve been playing a lot with this group of guys. Playing I-R-L – that’s in real life – all the time. But my earliest memories of it are with Patrick, the former drummer in Meatraffle.”
Clams is from Cape Cod, MA, but lived in New York a while before moving to London. I recently watched the Wu Tang dramatisation series An American Saga, where old dudes and hustlers seem to frequent the parks to play chess. Rather than asking about ‘Tainted Lunch’ or ‘Whale City’ or any of my other favourite albums of Clams’ I immediately have to know more about these public chessers.
“One day when we were out, Patrick gave a hustler a game,” he says. “Washington Square Park. The guys just sit out there, and what they do is say ‘you can pay me five bucks for a lesson, or play me for five bucks’. If you’re asking for a lesson they’ll go through and teach you, and if you play them it’s a wager. Patrick played them and they beat him in 15 moves, they were just trash talking the whole time. It was really funny.”
Onto the task at hand, I have a lotta love for this man’s music and a whole lotta questions. I’ve decided it’s best for all involved if I simply present them as a Q&A, in a Zugzwang first.
CC: How have you spent the lockdown period? And what are you working on?
CB: I’ve been doing a lot of music. And a lot of chess.
I’ve personally written so much stuff in the lockdown period. I’ve got a new Sworn Virgins album ready to go, and 15 Warmdsucher tracks. I’ve been doing this other project called Future Sounds of Chelsea, which was actually the first thing I ever did. When I first moved to New York City, me and some friends had a lock-in in an apartment and just did this bizarre album that we put up online. I think its gone now – that was 20 years ago. But anyway, we did a whole new one of those! We did 30 tracks. I’ve got loads of USB sticks, and I’m just going to stick it on those, sell them, see what happens.
We’re (Warmduscher) going to record in May with Dan Carey again, so we’re really excited for that. I’ve just started doing stuff with Felix the Housecat too, with Dan Carey, but the new Warmduscher album’s gonna be insane.
I know I would say that, but nonetheless. It goes from hardcore influences, to funk, to hip-hop, all the way through. I think people are getting used to it now; before they were more like “what the hell is that?!” You get people that don’t know what they think you’re doing, but they’re slowly figuring it out now.
CC: When did you move to London, Clams? What came first London or Paranoid London?
CB: I moved here 13 years ago, 2008. I was in another band, when I moved here, called Black Daniel. We were tryna get off the ground.
Quinn, The Witherer, was doing Paranoid London, and one day whilst I was working as a set builder, he asked me to stop by on my way to work. He asked “can you do me a favour? I need a vocal on this”. I stopped over and did Eating Glue, and that was it. The record took off. We toured it for five years.
CC: I think Kool Keith is a favourite of both of ours… how did you get him on Tainted Lunch?
CB: Just through online; I’m a big fan of his. Years and years ago, I was doing a Mutado Pintado album, and I was asking him if he’d do a feature. If you follow him online, he’s like: “hit me up for verses”, as a way to make extra money or whatever. That never materialised. So I’ve been speaking to him for years. I was doing the new album (Tainted Lunch), and this track ‘Burner’, and I was like lemme just try it. I don’t have a close relationship with him or anything, but it’s a solid thing. I tried to meet up with him when I went to New York for the record release, but I couldn’t pin him down. Par for the course with that good man.
CC: What’s your favourite album of his?
CB: My favorite album of his is ‘Sex Style’; love that album. That, and I love a few of his recent records, and Ultramagnetic MCs, the Black Elvis stuff, Blue Flowers, all of that.
CC: Now Keith’s off the bucket list, who would be the dream MC to get in on a Warmduscher tune?
CB: My favourite MC is dead… Easy E. I love his voice. He’d have been the dream, his voice is so distinguished, but that won’t happen... cos he’s dead.
I also love Ren from NWA, I like the way his voice just is if that really makes sense. Q Tip, obviously, and I like a lot of the new things too. Maybe get some dancehall guys in; I like the quirky voices like Tyga, Terror Fabulous, all that kinda stuff.
CC: Tell me about the album cover for Tainted Lunch. I love that photo.
CB: For Whale City, we used a guy called Brian Rose. He photographs areas run down, documents the change of places. For Whale City, we picked one photo, it’s on the Bowery, and we put the skull from Fear City (1975 travel guide) over the top of it.
Skip to Tainted Lunch. We were trying to stick to an idea, putting drawings over images. I went back to Rose’s photos, and picked one. It’s from Grand Central station, the restaurant there. It’s perfect. The idea is it’s called Tainted Lunch, and the guy’s just cooking it like: “eurgh”. The idea stemmed from this dude that was poisoning his workmates in Germany; but that was too dark to work with visually. Then I think Jack took the writing from Cluster, I had no idea, because I’ve never listened to them… I think they’re called Cluster… that was that!
CC: What would you say your biggest non-musical influence is?
CB: Movies. Films. Any kind of film. Visually I’m more stimulated than I am musically.
CC: Favourite director?
CB: This one’s really difficult for me. Oh man. Abel Ferrara, I like the way he films things. Or Ken Russell. He does a movie called China Blue, it’s really twisted; it’s got Anthony Perkins in, and he’s a preacher. Maybe John Carpenter? Fort Apache, The Bronx is one of my favourite movies, and it inspired also heavily Whale City.
I like a lot of the new films too. The Safdie Brothers, and Panos Cosmatos.
Actually, right before we did Tainted Lunch, we went as a group and watched Mandy. I went four or five times. It’s one of my favourite movies. Maybe it doesn’t really translate to the album. But we all went to the movies and watched Mandy; literally went from there, into the writing room and started the album.
CC: What music have you been listening to recently?
CB: There’s this one song I’m listening to right now that just blew me away. I don’t know how I’d never heard it before. Skatt Bros, Walk the Night. When I found it I was like: “FUCK! I’ve got to do a record like this, it’s insane.” It’s 1979 disco or whatever. I listen to it over and over and over, which isn’t something I normally do. Recently I’ve been listening to stuff like that, and I’ve been listening to Gino Scoccio a lot too.
CC: Do you know any more musical chess players?
CB: Sebley from Pregoblin plays, I used to play him quite often online. He’s pretty good. The person that’s the best that I play is Jay Johnson, the current drummer in Meatraffle. He’s 1600. He’s really hard to beat. Who else are you planning on interviewing?
CC: I heard today that Steve Albini’s big on online chess, so I’m trying to chase him down, actually.
CB: No way! Albini is one of my all time favourites. Big Black are like one of my top three bands of all time. A lot of Tainted Lunch was inspired by Big Black, actually. Midnight Dipper is nothing to do with a Big Black song, but Fish Fry is what made me start off the lyrics. “Got my eight track playing really fucking loud!” inspired “Here he comes in his four wheel drive, up night he’s ready to die”. That’s what made me do that, but in a different way, funnily enough. Convince him to play in a tournament, I’d love to play him.
CC: Thanks for chatting to me Clams, I look forward to playing you again.
Indeed, since this interview, we’ve played a few more games. Clams followed the defeat up with a couple of very strong victories, including the obliteration below. Great guy, excellent chess player. Godspeed any new music that man might have on the way.
On repeat this week this week
This week I’ve been really digging Primus, and I think it’s time we all entered the Claypoolsphere. In lieu of the fantastic new Black Midi single sounding exactly like the few Primus tunes I was aware of, I dug deeper – what a band they are.
‘They Can’t All Be Zingers’ is the perfect entry point. It’s a singles collection that you can listen to here. The songs are all called shit like ‘Mary the Ice Cube’ and ‘Shake Hands with Beef’. It’s like a gearhead take on Beefheart, ultra-wacky über-wanky music. So fucking good. So extra.
‘Tommy the Cat’ is my favourite; CB radio vox atop ridiculous slap bass, revving instrumental breakdowns, it has everything. I don’t want to come off all Monster Energy but Primus are well on their way to becoming a favourite band ever.
I’ve also been loving the new Drug Store Romeos song, What’s On Your Mind. They’ve been favourites for a while, but this is their most luscious and luxurious delight yet. Wispy dream-pop, with Stereolab fingerprints all over it. Very nice. It precedes a debut album in the Summer too, which I can’t wait to hear.
Chess, Lazarus, Chess!!!
This week I’ve played a lot of chess. I’m not back at work yet, and everyone else I know is. This week I’ve learned to play the Traxler Counterrattack, and it must be the most overpowered trick in the book. When white hits you with the Fried Liver, one of the most common attacks, you pull out the Traxler, setting yourself for an explosive bishop sacrifice attack.
The game below is the one which took me above the 1100 rating for the first time in months. My opponent definitely made a meal of it, but I crushed them. What a feeling!
That’s all from me for this week folks. It’s been a busy week, and I’m going to have some mid-week beerskis and watch the Circle. As always, please share this if you like it, and make sure you subscribe for more Zugzwang. Next week, like this week, like every week, will be a good one.
As ever,
cal