More than 11 years have passed since brothers Curt and Chris Kirkwood played music together.
The two original members of the Meat Puppets went their separate ways due to Chris Kirkwood's heroin addiction and prison sentence. He served time for assaulting a post-office security guard. He was released last year. And he emerged from the experience ready to play music again.
"When Chris was going through the drugs and stuff, I basically turned away from it," said Curt Kirkwood. "When he started doing dope it was interfering with the band and our lives. But we've been around addicts all our lives, and it got to a point for me that I had to stop worrying about it. I mean people can choose what they do, and if they're not smart enough to avoid bad things in life, well that's their fault."
While his brother was sliding down the downward spiral, Curt continued to play music. "I was influenced by a lot of different people. The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath. Also Anne Murray's 'Snowbird' was a huge influence on me.
"But when I saw David Bowie while I was in high school, I knew that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to be different and an individual. So that's why I started a band. I started playing a band to be different. And all through the years, I have always had music as the main focus of my life."
When the Meat Puppets started back in 1980, the band consisted of the Kirkwoods and drummer Derrick Bostrom. It was a contemporary of the Violent Femmes and other "cow-punk" bands. Through the years, lineups came and went, and while Chris was battling drugs and Curt decided to go off and make music with other bands — most notably with Eyes Adrift and Volcano — Bostrom kept the Meat Puppets name alive by maintaining its official Web site.
In 2006, Curt decided he had had enough of his other bands and decided to get back to business with the Meat Puppets. "I'm not a side-project kind of guy. When I was in Eyes Adrift with (former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic), there were a lot of reviews that said the band could be considered another Meat Puppets. And I think that made Krist mad. And I thought to myself, why not go and do the Meat Puppets again?"
So, that's exactly what he did. "I had talked with Derrick, and he wasn't interested in doing it again. And I had talked with Chris, who just got out of the slammer, and he felt he was clean and ready to make good music again."
The two had originally announced Tim Alexander as the new Meat Puppets drummer, but schedules and other commitments got in the way. "Tim also drums for Primus and A Perfect Circle, and while I love the guy, he was never available because he was on tour with Primus or A Perfect Circle."
A change was made and Ted Marcus became the drummer. "Ted is one of the people involved in making a Meat Puppets documentary that will be released later this year. He's the sound man. And he knows our music and then some. So we asked him to play with us and he really wanted to."
The band's first reunion gig was at last year's South by Southwest Music and Media Conference, held each year in the Kirkwoods' hometown, Austin, Texas.
"Playing music hasn't changed," said Curt. "It felt like before. And Chris is up to it."
The band went into the studio with some songs to create the new Meat Puppets album, "Rise to Your Knees," which will be released in July. "It was a no-brainer to come back and do the Meat Puppets again."
If you go
What: The Meat Puppets
Where: Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East
When: Monday, 9 p.m.
How much: $15
Phone: 467-8499 or 800-888-8499
Web: www.smithstix.com
E-mail: scott@desnews.com