The Fluid was an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band from

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

which formed in 1985, disbanded in 1993, but reconvened in 2008. The group cited the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

and

MC5 MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...

as inspirations for their sound, and was the first group based outside the Pacific Northwest to sign with influential Seattle label

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...

History

The Fluid was originally called Madhouse. After early 1980s Denver punk band Frantix broke up, bassist Matt Bischoff, drummer Garrett Shavlik and guitarist Rick Kulwicki began playing as Madhouse. On July 5, 1985, with new band members James Clower (guitar) and John Robinson (vocals), they played their first gig at the German House (Denver Turnverein) as "The Fluid". That was the only name all five members could agree upon. In 1986 the Fluid released their first album, ''Punch N Judy'' on Rayon Records. The album was also licensed to and released by the German label Glitterhouse. They toured for the next two years in support of the album. In 1988, they released the album ''Clear Black Paper'' on Sub Pop. They were the first non-

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of ...

band to sign to the

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...

. According to

Mark Arm Mark Arm (born Mark Thomas McLaughlin; February 21, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the vocalist for the grunge band Mudhoney. His former group, Green River, was one of the first grunge bands, along with Malfunkshun, ...

, Glitterhouse and Sub Pop had formed an agreement. Glitterhouse wanted to release a Green River record in Germany, and the labels did a swap: Green River for the Fluid. In the same oral history, Greg Prato's ''Grunge Is Dead'', musician Rod Moody said that the Fluid sounded like no other band on the Sub Pop roster. The Fluid's second Sub Pop release was ''Roadmouth'' (1989), produced by

Jack Endino Jack Endino (born Michael M. Giacondino; 1964) is an American producer and musician based in Seattle, Washington. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands including Mudhoney, ...

. Writing for ''Trouser Press'', critic

Ira Robbins ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to a ...

described it as "geometrically more intense." The band followed up in 1990 with the six-song EP ''Glue'', produced by

Butch Vig Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the drummer and co-producer of the alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of the diamond-selling Nirvana album ''Neve ...

. Robbins called it "a buzzing punky blitz." The Fluid then signed to

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records ...

, putting out '' Purplemetalflakemusic'' in 1993. As a 2008 article from Denver's ''Westword'' put it, however, the band and label clashed frequently, the contract "turned out to be far less than advertised, ndthe band imploded in late 1993."

After The Fluid

After the Fluid broke up, drummer Garrett Shavlik started the band Spell (not

Boyd Rice Boyd Blake Rice (born December 16, 1956) is an American experimental sound/noise musician using the name of NON since the mid-1970s, archivist, actor, photographer, author, member of the ''Partridge Family Temple'' religious group, co-founder of ...

's band of the same name), which was signed for a time to Island Records. Bassist Matt Bischoff started the band '57 Lesbian. John Robinson talked with

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

about doing an album along with

Mark Lanegan Mark William Lanegan (November 25, 1964 – February 22, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and poet. First becoming prominent as the lead singer for the early grunge band Screaming Trees, he was also known as a member of Queens of the St ...

Screaming Trees Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington, in 1984 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner, and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the time ...

. Unfortunately, Cobain's death ended that possibility. Robinson joined Jim Wallerstein (a.k.a. Jim Walters) of Das Damen in New United Monster Show, which lasted until 1999.

Reunion

The Fluid reunited to perform at Sub-Pop Records 20th Anniversary at Redmond's Marymoor Park in Seattle in July 2008. This was preceded by a June 20 show at the Bluebird Theater in Denver. A series of dates in Hoboken, Brooklyn, and Seattle followed in 2009, but after that the Fluid disbanded again. Their guitarist, Rick Kulwicki, died on February 15, 2011, at the age of 49. In March 2011 and again in January 2012, the Fluid took part in fundraiser shows for Kulwicki's twin sons. The headline act in 2012 was

Mudhoney Mudhoney is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988, following the demise of Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. O ...

Members

*John Robinson -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music ( arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

*Matt Bischoff -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

*James Clower -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six string instrument, strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or Plucked string instrument, plucking the strings with the dominant hand, w ...

*Rick Kulwicki -

(died 2011) *Garrett Shavlik - drums

Discography

Albums

*''Punch N Judy'' (1986) (Rayon & Glitterhouse) *''Clear Black Paper'' (1988) (Glitterhouse &

) *''Roadmouth'' (1989) (Sub Pop & Glitterhouse) *'' Purplemetalflakemusic'' (1993) (

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

)

EPs

*''Freak Magnet'' (1989 - Glitterhouse) *''Glue'' (1990 - Sub Pop & Glitterhouse)

Singles

*"Tin Top Toy" b/w "Tomorrow" (1989) (Sub Pop SP57) *''Split 7" with Loveslug - Madhouse (live) b/w Free Fire Zone (live)'' (1989) (Glitterhouse GR0057) *''Split 7" with

- Candy (live) b/w Molly's Lips (live)'' (1991) (Sub Pop SP97) *''Spot the Loon EP (CD)'' (1992) (Fellaheen) *"On My Feet" (Hollywood - white vinyl promo) (1993) (Hollywood) *"Live 1988" (bootleg) *"Cold Outside" b/w "Tell Me Things" (2012) (Blitzkrieg Records BR-001)

Compilations

*"Oh Shit" - ''Something's Gone Wrong Again: The Buzzcocks Covers Compilation'' *"Is it Day I'm Seeing" - ''

Sub Pop 200 ''Sub Pop 200'' is a compilation released in the early days of the Seattle grunge scene (December 1988). It features songs (many of them first releases and otherwise unattainable) from Tad, The Fluid, Nirvana, Steven "Jesse" Bernstein, Mudhoney, ...

'' *"Tomorrow" - '' The Grunge Years'' * "Don't Wanna Play" - ''Colorado Crew Vol. 3: Is This My Donut?'' (Donut Crew Records, 1990)

References

External links

The Fluid at Sub Pop
* The Fluid at AMG {{DEFAULTSORT:Fluid, The Grunge musical groups Musical groups from Denver Sub Pop artists Musical groups established in 1984 Musical groups disestablished in 1993 Musical groups reestablished in 2008 Musical groups disestablished in 2008 Glitterhouse Records artists Hollywood Records artists Rock music groups from Colorado