On the ‘Beach’ with Bob Bert
The legendary drummer talks about his long-overdue solo debut
Bob Bert’s résumé looks less like a career arc and more like a bar tab from the golden age of downtown noise bands — Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore, Chrome Cranks — and a deep, permanent imprint on the Maxwell’s scene back when Hoboken actually mattered.
He’s one of those guys who somehow turned up everywhere at the right time, bashing away behind the kit while cooler heads argued about what it all meant. If you spent any time lurking around that orbit, you’ve seen him play — probably more than once, whether you remember it or not. The man’s been everywhere, knows everyone and has probably played in their band a few times.
Bob Bert briefly grabbed the mic in the ’90s with Bewitched, which came and went like a hangover, but mostly he’s been the guy behind the kit, not the one hogging the spotlight. Now, nearly 50 years in, he’s finally stepping out front with his first solo record, Beach Bongo Bloodbath, landing June 12 on Bar/None Records.
It’s a gloriously unbuttoned affair — part unkempt originals, part covers that have been chewed up and spit back out — with Bert going gonzo on drums and percussion while a few fellow travelers wander in to make noise alongside him. The whole thing feels like a late-night jam that got out of hand in exactly the right way: scrappy, weird, with zero interest in following the rules.
The first question has to be, why a solo album now? Is this something that’s been on the back burner for years, or did you just get the yen to make a record?
It kind of happened like this. From 2012 to early 2023, I was touring the world and recording with Lydia Lunch Retrovirus and then with Jon Spencer & the Hitmakers. Both of those tours ended around the same time. My girlfriend had health issues, so I needed to stay home and be her caregiver. I put together a percussion set up and did a few solo performances. Since I have access to a recording studio/practice space in Hoboken that I share with longtime friend Mark C from the band Live Skull, I decided to lay down what I had been performing. It was done very casually over a course of months. This turned into an album. It wasn’t anything I had thought about or needed to do for ego or anything like that.
There are several interesting choices but the most glaring is probably the fact that there are no guitars. Was that a conscious decision you made at the start of the project or did it evolve organically as you started working through the songs?
At a certain point, I thought of maybe adding some guitar but decided not to. This album is sort of what I wanted Bewitched to be when I recorded the first 12-inch in 1986. Most if not all the covers on Beach Bongo Bloodbath are known as songs that feature guitar and bass. I performed these songs live by myself and wanted to keep them in that vein.
Having known you for ages, the album seems a perfect reflection of your personality to me, but could you talk about how you feel the album presents you as an artist and songwriter?
Well, it’s a solo album, it’s all me down to the cover artwork. I guess you can say it’s got beatnik psychedelic crazy beats and fun, laid-back, don’t-give-a-fuck vibes. Which is me in a nutshell.
What was more fun, coming up with all the percussion on the record or getting to sing? Is this the first time you’ve played frontman since Bewitched?
Yes! All the songs that were chosen for this record were because they were songs that I liked but also because I could play the percussion set up and sing at the same time. Of course, the album became more complex with all the overdubs and effects. After the experience of Bewitched – which turned into a touring band that I was in charge of – I was more than happy to go back to just drumming. Tell me where to be and I’ll be there. (As a side note, Bert mentioned that all of the members of Bewitched never played music professionally again. Some even sold all their gear after the last show.)
Other than the big album release show in NYC, do you have any plans to perform these songs on tour?
No, I don’t have the ambition or the ego to deal with that, too much work. I’m not saying I will never perform solo again, but I get offers to do fill-in shows all the time, and I’m also working on a photo book and having more photo shows. I’ve been touring the world intermittently since 1982.
Some of the deconstructed covers are a lot of fun. Were there any influences you consciously sourced for the arrangements? What song was the most fun to record and was there any musician you especially enjoyed working with?
Not really, the whole album was fun to make because there was no pressure or deadline. I wasn’t even sure I was making an album. I couldn’t have made it without Mark C, who recorded it and owns most of the equipment. He laid down the melodic keyboard on “Pablo Picasso.” The only other people on the album are some vocals from Julie Cafritz on “Fuck You, Man,” which was done over the phone, and Mary Hanley’s vocals on “Love Comes In Spurts” and “Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl.”
VIDEO: Bob Bert “Love Comes In Spurts”
You’ve seen generations of music come and go, what are your feelings about the current state of the music industry? Do you think it’s sustainable given the current economic models and the prospect of AI? What do you see for the future of music, and what would you like to see?
Well, I’ve always been a part of the indie, more underground part of the so-called music Industry. I’ve also seen more like 55 years of music come and go! I just dig making and listening to music. I’m sure I’ve been ripped off plenty of times. Just grateful that at my old age, I’m still getting turned on by new music. I still buy vinyl & CD’s. Glad that there are labels like In The Red & now Bar/None that manage to survive and prosper and support some of my musical efforts. The good thing about the future of music is that the past still has so much to explore.
On that same topic, some of the bands you were in — Sonic Youth and Pussy Galore, to name two — fit into that “middle class” of music where you weren’t getting rich but you could live off making music. That seems to be what’s most endangered today, do you think there’s a way forward for bands to find sustainable careers?
BB: It’s great that I still see some money from Sonic Youth and Pussy Galore but I definitely did not get rich from my musical career. With the country and world in the state it’s in now, any kind of survival is gonna be tough. Whenever I’m asked what advice I have for young or starting musicians to succeed, I say find an original concept, do it well, have fun and whatever happens will happen. Stay away from bad addictions.
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