MARK Lanegan has one of the most in-demand voices in music. Since his band Screaming Trees disbanded in 2000, he has collaborated with Queens of the Stone Age, Creature with the Atom Brain, Bomb the Bass and Soulsavers. Belle and Sebastian singer Isobel Campbell, Melissa Auf der Maur and Martina Topley Bird are some of the female singers who have weaved their voices with his deep caramel baritone.

His most recent muse has been his old friend Greg Dulli from the Afghan Whigs. Lanegan has appeared on three albums with Dulli’s recent band, Twilight Singers, and Dulli returned the favour on two Lanegan albums.

The pair have formed their own band, the Gutter Twins (a low-rent take on Mick Jagger and Keith Richards’ “Glimmer Twins”). In 2007, they released an album, Saturnalia, which they are currently playing in their show, An Acoustic Evening with Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan, alongside tracks from the Twilight Singers, Afghan Whigs, Screaming Trees and Mark Lanegan solo songbooks.

“It took quite a while because when we first started, we didn’t have plans to make a record,” Lanegan says of the Gutter Twins.

“We wrote a couple of songs here and there and then we decided to get serious and got the bulk of it done in a pretty short time. I enjoyed the process and we’re really good friends. I’m sure we’ll make another Gutter Twins record.”

The pair, whose relationship goes back to when they used to play Hank Williams songs in the kitchen of the house they shared in Los Angeles, have been known to burn the candle at both ends. But Dulli has said that the name refers more to how the two are perceived, rather than their current lifestyles.

“We’re pretty old guys, we take it pretty easy these days,” confirms Lanegan, 44.

It’s not as if Lanegan needed any help. Between 1990 and 2004, he released six brilliant solo albums. But he says he enjoys the challenge of collaborations and discovering how his voice can blend with others.

He says he receives “quite a few” requests from musicians wanting to work with him and he has declined many. So what does he look for?

“I’ve got to have an appreciation of what they do without me. Then I’ve got to see if there is a place for me in what they do, like a meeting point. If they’re cool people — that’s pretty high on the list. And it’s important to be challenged by someone’s point of view. I look to other people to be challenged.”

Lanegan’s next project is a second album and tour with Soulsavers, which will be followed by a third collaboration with British singer Campbell. Although it is easier to collaborate in the digital age, when you can email vocal parts, early recordings between Lanegan and Campbell suffered from the tyranny of distance.

But for their new album they will sing face-to-face in the studio, a la Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, to improve the chemistry.

“Obviously, I prefer being in the same studio,” Lanegan says.

“It’s always nice when you have the real thing in front of you.

“Singing with her is one of the great joys of my music life.”

Not many people would have the nerve to leave a revered rock band like Queens of the Stone Age but that’s what Lanegan did. However, he is keen to work with them again.

“They’re great friends … I just went out and had lunch with Josh [Homme] a couple of weeks ago.”

And when will he get that wonderful solo career back on track? “That’s a good question,” he says. “I’ve been so busy with other things I haven’t really gotten into it yet but at some point I will.”

“Sometimes I forget that I was in another band,” says Greg Dulli, discussing the legacy of his years as the frontman for The Afghan Whigs. The band released a string of albums through the ‘90s that earned Dulli a reputation as a dark and complex character. The Ohio band successfully melded rock, soul and RnB at a time when grunge was king. Since their breakup in 2001, Dulli has continued to explore the shadows of the soul in various guises.

A man who thrives on collaboration, Dulli’s focus of the last few years has been The Gutter Twins, with fellow prince of darkness Mark Lanegan. Like his partner, Lanegan has built a post Screaming Trees career as a singer for hire, following his muse through Queens Of The Stone Age, Isobel Campbell, The Twilight Singers and his own solo records. With their drama-soaked voices, both men gravitate towards angst and heartache – so working together seemed a logical step.

Dulli rates Lanegan’s voice as one of the best. “Aside from being my friend and collaborator he truly is one of my favourite singers that I’ve ever heard,” he states with conviction. The attraction to working together seems to be a mutual one built on respect for each other’s voices.

“When I heard his first solo record I was like, ‘my god’, I can’t really compare him to anyone,” says Dulli. “I can tell you as someone who has learned to sing with Mark over the years, his phrasing is utterly unique and unto himself. It’s almost like learning algebra. The song will bend to Mark and that’s to the song’s benefit.”

After releasing their debut album Saturnalia in 2008, The Gutter Twins toured as a full band, exploring their blues and soul-inflected rock at full volume. Then came phase two in January, with a USA and European tour dubbed ‘An Evening With Greg Dulli & Mark Lanegan’. Now expanded to Australia and South America, the idea was to strip away the musical layers from a variety of songs from both of their back catalogues, leaving just the duo’s voices to carry the performance.

Originally the idea was to tour the whole band, but logistically the stripped-down show proved to be more practical. “The full band costs a lot of money. Being asked to do this tour mean it makes more sense to do it acoustically. Plus we would have to re-rehearse the whole thing,” explains Dulli. The two singers are joined by an additional guitarist and Dulli is keen to point out the enjoyment he gets from the format. “I love playing this show, the interplay between me and Mark and Dave Rosser, I’ve never really had that in any other form so I’m totally looking forward to it.”

For the first time the Twins will also be looking back to their former bands and breathing new life into some of their favourite songs. “I’m playing a couple of Whigs songs in this show we are doing,” Dulli says. “I really hadn’t done any Whig songs in ten years so it’s been fun to revisit them – in a new way. People sure do like them.”

Rather than just singing their own songs, Dulli and Lanegan mix up their roles to give the audience a different perspective. “We’re both singing all the songs, whether as the lead singer or harmony singer or a straight-up duet. One of us pipes up at some point during the other one’s songs. It’s cool, I sing a couple of lines from his songs and he sings a couple of lines from my songs too, so it’s cool,” he enthuses.

Reinterpreting other people’s songs has always been a big part of Dulli’s live shows, where he has been inspired to tackle everything from Prince, to old soul classics, to Fat Freddy’s Drop. Recently the tables have been turned with the imminent release of Summer’s Kiss, A Tribute To The Afghan Whigs, featuring the likes of Lanegan and Joseph Arthur. Dulli is flattered by the tribute and is looking forward to hearing the different versions – though one key song is missing. “I used to say I wished Whitney Houston would cover one of mine just to make some money,” he jokes.

Dulli is currently recording the next Twilight Singers album and is taking time out from that for the upcoming tour. Though it interrupts that project, there is still some continuity as both his travel mates are involved with the new record. “Rosser is in the Twilight Singers so we can work on things in hotel rooms, it’ll be good. Mark is singing on the Twilight record as well.”

As for future plans, Dulli is confident that the Gutter Twins will reappear at some point. “I’m certain we’ll do another Gutter Twins record some day; there’s no reason why we won’t. I’ve been lucky to be able to do things when I want to do them and that worked for me. I’m not going to fuck with the situation.”

The Gutter Twins land this month for Splendour In The Grass and two ‘acoustic evenings’ presented by FasterLouder.

An Evening with Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan
July 1, 2009 – Bourbon Street Music Club, São Paolo, Brazil

Thanks to Andre for assembling and notating the setlist -

01 – Gutter Twins – The Body [from: Saturnalia (2008)]
02 – Gutter Twins – God’s Children [from: Saturnalia (2008)]
03 – Gutter Twins – The Stations [from: Saturnalia (2008)]
04 – Afghan Whigs – If I Were Going [from: Gentlemen (1993)]
05 – Screaming Trees – Sworn and Broken [from: Dust (1996)]
06 – Gutter Twins – Down The Line (Jose Gonzalez) [from: Adorata (2008)]
07 – Gutter Twins – We Have Met Before [from: Adorata (2008)]
08 – Mark Lanegan – Creeping Coastline of Lights [from: I'll Take Care
of You (1999)]
09 – Mark Lanegan – Resurrection Song [from: Field Songs (2001)]
10 – Twilight Singers – The Twilight Kid [from: Twilight As Sung By
The Twilight Singers (2000)]
11 – Twilight Singers – King Only [from: Twilight As Sung By The
Twilight Singers (2000)]
12 – Mark Lanegan – Sunrise [from: Whiskey For The Holy Ghost (1994)]
13 – Afghan Whigs – Summer’s Kiss [from: Black Love (1996)]
14 – Mark Lanegan – The River Rise [from: Whiskey For The Holy Ghost (1994)]
15 – Gutter Twins – Sunset Machine [from: London 01.19.09 (Bootleg) (2009)]
16 – Washington White – I am in the Heavenly Way [from: Goodbye,
Babylon (Disc 3) (2003)]
17 – Afghan Whigs – What Jail Is Like [from: Gentlemen (1993)]
18 – Screaming Trees – Dollar Bill [from: Sweet Oblivion (1992)]
19 – Nick Drake – Three Hours [from: Five Leaves Left (1969)]

Fan-shot video of “Dollar Bill” -

The Body
God’s Children
The Stations
We Have Met Before
Hard Time Killing Floor
Creeping Coastline of Lights
Resurrection Song
The Twilite Kid
The Lure Would Prove Too Much
Kimiko’s Dream House
Summer’s Kiss
Sunrise
Sunset Machine
I Am In The Heavenly Way
________________

One Hundred Days
All I Have To Do Is Dream
Tennessee Waltz
I Get A Kick Out Of You

01/15 UK, Glasgow Oran Mor SOLD OUT
01/16 IRELAND, Dublin Academy SOLD OUT
01/17 IRELAND, Galway Roisin Dubh SOLD OUT
01/19 UK, London Union Chapel SOLD OUT
01/20 BELGIUM, Hasselt Muziekodroom SOLD OUT
01/21 BELGIUM, Brussels Ancienne Belgique SOLD OUT
01/22 HOLLAND, Haarlem Patronaat SOLD OUT *new*
01/24 GERMANY, Berlin Babylon
01/25 AUSTRIA, Vienna WuK
01/26 ITALY, Milan La Salumeria Della Musica SOLD OUT
01/27 ITALY, Rome Auditorium Parco Della Musica
01/28 ITALY, Florence Auditorium Flog
01/30 SPAIN, Barcelona Apolo
01/31 SPAIN, Bilbao Kafe Antzokia
02/02 SPAIN, Madrid Teatro Calderon
02/04 GREECE, Athens Gagarin 205

02/10 USA, West Hollywood CA Troubadour
02/11 USA, San Francisco CA Independent
02/13 USA, Portland OR Doug Fir
02/15 USA, Seattle WA Showbox

- Go see the Gutter Twins: I was afforded this opportunity last September in Spain and it was an almost religious experience. It is not very often these days for me to be completely awed by a band or artist, so I am completely pleased when it finally does happen. The Gutter Twins are not something you can quite put your finger on musically, they are just equal parts “kick-ass” all the way around!

thx rlv

The Independent asked a few dozen artists to name their favorite records of 2008. Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver) and Isobell Campbell chose The Gutter Twins.

Duff McKagan – Velvet Revolver
The moment I heard Saturnalia by The Gutter Twins I knew it was a classic. Master songwriters Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli have been moulding their band for a few years now and have at last produced something as cool as one might hope for. I got to see them live this past September at a festival in Spain and it was nothing short of a religious experience. There have been bigger hard-rock releases in 2008, but for sheer substance you can’t fault The Gutter Twins.

Isobel Campbell
I’m biased, but I love what The Gutter Twins do together. My favourite Saturnalia track is “Bete Noire” – it’s groovy and dark, with Mark Lanegan singing “a long dead animal is on your trail”.

No. 32 – The Gutter Twins Saturnalia

No big surprise that the long-awaited collaboration between ’90s-vintage gloom kings Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli wasn’t exactly the feel-good hit of the year. But the former’s narcoleptic, baritone moan and the latter’s mischievous, soulful wail give these mid-tempo dirges, awash in revelations and Revelation, a touch of grace that recalls their classic work without repeating it. The most upbeat moment: the synthy “Idle Hands,” in which the word suffer pops up only four times. S.K

.

Goes On Sale This Friday November 14th

Sub Pop veterans Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan will return to Europe beginning January 15th 2009 for sixteen special intimate performances. Dulli and Lanegan along with guitarist Dave Rosser will perform a ‘Stripped Down In The Gutter’ set. By sheer virtue of the intimacy of the show, it will be unique, as neither Dulli nor Lanegan have toured in this capacity before.

“Since our instrumentation for this tour is going to be radically different, the shows will include many songs neither of us have performed in quite sometime or ever,” Dulli commented.

“An Evening With Greg Dulli & Mark Lanegan” will kick off on January 15th in Glasgow at the Oran Mor and will run through February 2nd in Athens, Greece at Gagarin 205. Tickets will go on sale this Friday (November 14th) for all sixteen shows.

The Gutter Twins have had a massively successful year with the release of their debut album Saturnalia, and their follow up EP Adorata for Sub Pop Records. It’s been a welcome homecoming to Sub Pop for both artists.

Mark Lanegan rose to fame as singer for the much-loved Seattle band Screaming Trees and Greg Dulli as the magnetic leader of the Afghan Whigs. Following the break up of both groups, Lanegan and Dulli went on to achieve significant notice on their own. Lanegan continued to release successful solo albums, as well as create vivid partnerships with the likes of Belle & Sebastian singer Isobel Campbell and Queens of the Stone Age. Dulli, meanwhile, innovatively fused indie, soul and electronic sounds in his post-Whigs ensemble the Twilight Singers, who released their first album, Twilight As Played By The Twilight Singers, in 2000; the most recent Twilight effort, 2006’s Powder Burns. Saturnalia is sure to make many ‘Best Of 2008′ lists.

Following the conclusion of this tour, Dulli will begin work on a new Twilight Singers album; while Mark Lanegan has an upcoming project with Soulsavers and will begin work on his first solo album in five years.

‘AN EVENING WITH GREG DULLI & MARK LANEGAN’
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009 TOUR DATES
1/15 UK Glasgow Oran Mor
1/16 IRELAND Dublin Academy
1/17 IRELAND Galway Roisin Dubh
1/19 UK London Union Chapel
1/20 BELGIUM Hasselt Muziekodroom
1/21 BELGIUM Brussels Ancienne Belgique
1/22 HOLLAND Haarlem Patronaat
1/24 GERMANY Berlin Babylon
1/25 AUSTRIA Vienna WuK
1/26 ITALY Milan La Salumeria Della Musica
1/27 ITALY Rome Auditorium Parco Della Musica
1/28 ITALY Florence Auditorium Flog
1/30 SPAIN Barcelona Apolo
1/31 SPAIN Bilbao Kafe Antzokia
2/2 SPAIN Madrid Joy Eslava
2/4 GREECE Athens Gagarin 205

The Gutter Twins’ Saturnalia comes in at number 84 on Amazon.com’s Best of 2008 list.

thx burton