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Dust Interview with Marky Ramone: Paying Homage to a Heavy Legacy

Posted in Features on July 16th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

In the influential and seemingly ever-expanding canon of formative ’70s proto-heavy, the name Dust has echoed for much longer than its four letters might lead you to believe. Aside from launching the careers of future Ramones drummer Marc Bell (aka Marky Ramone) and KISS producer Richie Wise (guitar/vocalist) and bassist Kenny Aaronson, who went on to play with Bob Dylan, Blue Öyster Cult and many, many others, Dust‘s two albums, 1971’s Dust and 1972’s Hard Attack stand as documents of the formation of what would soon become American heavy metal, full of the riff-led, blues-driven sensibility that  collectors have hounded after for years both from Dust and similarly-minded acts from the era.

The 40th anniversary of Hard Attack passed in 2012, but Sony/Legacy stepped in to reissue both Dust albums earlier in 2013 on a limited single-CD and double-LP collection in time for Record Store Day. Both albums are remastered for a full, louder sound, and with liner notes documenting the young trio’s getting together, writing, recording, touring and disbanding, it’s as complete a recounting of what Dust was able to accomplish during their time and their enduring influence over heavy rock as one could ask. What’s more, the songs sound fantastic, whether it’s the driving-but-melodies thrust of “Chasin’ Ladies” from the first album, or the Beatles-meets-Who exploration of “Walk in the Soft Rain” from the second. Whatever they’ve gone on to accomplish in the years since, there was still obviously a sense of reverence on the part of the band in putting Hard Attack/Dust together.

All the better to talk to Marky Ramone about putting the complete package together. In the interview that follows, the former Dust drummer recounts some of what it was like to be in the band circa 1971 and how they got started, still in high school, what brought about the end of Dust and how the reissues came about now, how it felt to revisit the material and so on. His current outfit, Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg, is currently on tour in Europe and will hit the road in the States as well this fall, while Wise has continued his work with KISS, Gladys Knight and others, and Aaronson can be found in the modern incarnation of influential glam rockers New York Dolls.

Hard Attack/Dust is available now on Sony/Legacy. Please find the Marky Ramone Q&A after the jump and please enjoy.

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