TAD — (Left to right) Gary Thorstensen, Kurt Danielson, Josh Snider, and Tad Doyle

By RUSS BENGTSON
Big Shout Magazine, July 1994

Another SubPop Records band, Tad has done the two things necessary for fame. Lead singer Tad Doyle, who looks like John Kruk after a year of off-seasons, appears in the movie Singles (he gets a misplaced call from Bridget Fonda) and they signed to a major label, Mechanic.

Their sound combines Seattle hardcore and East Bay thrash — pounding anti-aircraft riffs and gutteral, grizzly-in-heat vocals. They don’t worry too much about innovation and concentrate on being the aural equivalent of a biker brawl instead. Hell, Pushead, the artist behind nearly all of Metallica‘s recent shirt designs even sings backup vocals on “Paregoric.”

Tad are currently touring with Soundgarden, supporting their latest release, Inhaler. They’re planning on re-entering the studio in about two months to work on the follow-up, and drummer Josh Sinder says it’s going to be just as hard and nasty as the last one. “It won’t be like these little pink flowers; it’s more like gonna be the boot stepping on the flower.”

In honor of our fashion issue, we spoke to Sinder about fashion, fame, grunge, and O.J. Simpson. Here’s what he had to say…

Big Shout: Okay, what are some qualities you look for in a flannel shirt?

Josh Sinder: I don’t care…

BS: Do you wear flannel? Are you a flannel kind of guy?

JS: Once in a while, if I can find a nice solid green or black flannel…

BS: You’re not into the plaid thing?

JS: No, I have nothing against it, but people who — it’s stupid grunge fashion bullshit!

BS: You get to do a segment of MTV‘s House of Style with Cindy Crawford. What would you do?

JS: Well, I really don’t know — it could probably be — I probably would never do one with her.

BS: Not your kind of thing?

JS: Well, maybe it’s just that I’m too stoned right now to even thing about something that crazy.

BS: If you guys had broken in 1985, would you have gone with the pink fishnet shirts and eyeliner?

JS: No. I think we probably would’ve went duct tape when everybody else was going pink spandex.

BS: What do you think of “grunge?”

JS: As soon as it was invented, it was killed. It means nothing to me.

BS: How about O.J. Simpson?

JS: I’m thinking “fallen hero.” I think he was driven to snap himself, and — boy — I just couldn’t even begin to think of what that guy’s going through in his head.

BS: Now that you’re famous, have you slept with Madonna yet?

JS: No, I haven’t… and I don’t think I’m famous, so…

BS: You’re getting there…

JS: Fame is evil, but success, that’s where we’re looking for. Fame to me is people seeing other people for what they aren’t. That’s how I see fame, and I see that as pretty fuckin’ shallow.