Mark Eitzel does not care about nostalgia. He doesn’t romanticize his past, doesn’t fawn over old records, and certainly doesn’t want to be reminded that he has a “big birthday” coming up. “Let’s not,” he says with a laugh that sounds half like a plea. That’s Mark—self-deprecating, brutally honest, and never one to sugarcoat anything, even his own legacy.
That legacy, for the record, is one of the most revered in alternative music. As the frontman of American Music Club, Eitzel spent the late ‘80s and early ‘90s crafting some of the most heart-wrenching, beautifully miserable songs to ever crawl out of the San Francisco underground. With albums like California (1988), Everclear (1991), and San Francisco (1994), the band became unlikely critical darlings, though mainstream success always eluded them.
Now, three of Eitzel’s records are hitting milestone anniversaries—American Music Club’s United Kingdom turns 30, San Francisco hits 25, and his 2009 solo album Klamath is a decade old. But don’t expect him to get sentimental. “I listen back and think, ‘Rewrite the lyrics,’” he deadpans.
The Strange Story of United Kingdom
Of all the albums in the American Music Club discography, United Kingdom is the oddest child. Released only in the UK in 1989, the record was a Frankenstein’s monster of live recordings, covers, and studio tracks that weren’t originally meant to exist in the same space.
“The guy who ran the label wanted a live record,” Eitzel recalls. “I had all these new songs, but he didn’t care. So we spent a month prepping for this live album, and then it wasn’t very good. So we argued. Then the label guy said, ‘F*** it, just make a record.’”
The result is a strange but compelling snapshot of the band’s evolution. There’s “Heaven in Your Hands,” a raw love song that Eitzel calls an attempt at a “classic love song” but now hears as “mushy sentimentality.” There’s also “Kathleen,” named after his former partner, who—unsurprisingly—hated the attention. “I was really in love with her,” he admits. “I don’t think it helped that I wrote songs about her.”
But the real shift in American Music Club’s story came a few years later, when they were swept up into the major-label feeding frenzy of the early ‘90s.
San Francisco: The Beautiful Disaster
By the time San Francisco arrived in 1994, American Music Club had become an increasingly awkward fit in the mainstream alternative scene. “People would say, ‘Why don’t you just rock?’” Eitzel remembers. “And we’d say, ‘Because rocking is not cool.’”
But San Francisco—with its sleek production, bigger hooks, and moments of outright accessibility—suggests they at least gave it a shot. Songs like “Hello Amsterdam” and “Can You Help Me?” flirt with radio-friendliness, while “How Many Six Packs Does It Take to Screw in a Lightbulb?” delivers Eitzel’s trademark wit with a side of self-loathing.
The album, however, marked the beginning of the end. Warner Bros. had spent a ridiculous amount of money on it, and Eitzel—perhaps for the first time—felt a genuine pressure to deliver a hit. “I was complicit in it,” he admits. “I wrote those songs hoping there would be something to pay Warner back for all their dedication.”
Instead, the album became a beautiful mess, with Eitzel ultimately taking the reins in the studio. “I kicked the band out and mixed it myself,” he says. “And they didn’t like that. And that was basically the end of American Music Club.”
After a brutal tour with Pearl Jam, where they were met with blank stares and flying shoes, the band quietly imploded. “I told them, ‘If you’re not willing to go back to playing on floors, we’re done,’” he recalls. “And they said, ‘Yeah, we’re done.’”
A New Chapter?
Over the years, American Music Club has reformed, released a couple of albums, and dissolved again. But don’t expect another reunion anytime soon. “Every show was a disaster,” Eitzel says. “I don’t want to be around that anymore. I don’t have that much time left to be negative.”
That doesn’t mean AMC’s legacy is being buried. Next year, Eitzel and his team are remastering and reissuing the band’s first four albums, with a possible box set in the works. “We finally got the rights back after 20 years,” he says. “There’s gigabytes of outtakes, demos—so much stuff we need to go through.”
Meanwhile, he’s finishing up a new solo record with Bernard Butler (Suede). “It’s either the worst thing I’ve ever written or the best,” he says. “Probably the worst.”
Of course, anyone familiar with Eitzel’s history knows that “worst” for him is still better than most songwriters’ best. But he’s not out to prove anything anymore. He’s just writing, releasing, and—most importantly—moving forward.
As for whether he’ll ever feel like revisiting American Music Club in a more tangible way? His response is instant.
“Nope.”
Listen to the interview above and then check out the video below.
