(NOTE: I definitely did NOT intend to do another 'blast from the past' post this month. I was all set to write some sarcastic satirical piece about how President Trump does not understand basic 5th grade math. I was mulling over and over in my mind exactly how I would expose Trump for the moron he truly is. But... then something happened inside me...I discovered that I did not have the stomach, any longer, to write anything about politics. Any - ANY politics. Coincidentally, this week I also stumbled across this little 'band profile' I wrote in 1984, for the final issue of Attack Magazine - you can look it up, but it turns out these days there is also some kind of dance magazine with the same name, but you'll find the right one if you look deep enough. You can also look up the band Green River on Wikipedia. The short history is that they are considered a formative band in the creation of the 'grunge' movement. My old friend Mark Arm asked me at the tine to write him up as Mark Thomas for this - Thomas is his middle name. He told me in an email recently that he did not remember doing this, and was back to being Mark Arm shortly afterwards. The 'Stone' and 'Jeff' mentioned here are Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, who have spent most of their rock and roll lives in the band Pearl Jam. Mark and Steve of course formed Mudhoney, so together this band Green River did quite a lot to lay the groundwork for what was to come a handful of years later. This was early for them. It's a fun little piece, I think, made even more fun when you realize where they were once the 90s hit. -PW)
Band Profile - Green River (Attack Magazine - final issue, December, 1984)
"We want to rock the hell out of this city," says the smiling Green River guitarist, Steve Turner.
Green River is a Seattle based band formed last May in the wake of Mr. Epp and Splui Numa. Mark Thomas, former guitarist of Epp (with Turner) and Green River's lead singer, met us at his house one Saturday recently while he was cooking breakfast at 1pm. The rest of the band had not arrived yet, one or two calling up to say they had just gotten out of bed.
Mark lives with three roommates in the University District house, and showed us his room, which had a poster from the last Epp show hanging on the wall. He did not express regrets at the breakup of Epp. He keeps the memorabilia as a reminder.
Stone, Green River's second guitarist and the youngest member of the band, at 18, arrived first, with a beer in his hand. "I think I needed one this morning," he said to Mark. "Did you have a hangover?"
"Nope," said Mark, who later revealed that he had made it to bed at 3:00 the previous morning.
Steve Turner arrived around 1:30 and began skateboarding around the living room and out onto the deck.
Mark entertained us by reading Joe Bob Brigs from the previous day's Seattle Times, a tongue-in-cheek column about Charles (Chuck) Bronson's new movie, "The Evil That Men Do."
"We're kind of a funny band," said Steve, as he disappeared on the skateboard out the front door and made a sound as if he were falling down the front steps.
Stone wandered around the living room, sipping his beer and making jokes about Charles Bronson.
Alex Vincent, Green River's drummer, arrived around 2:00 with the bassist, Jeff Ament, and we made the three-block trek to Liz Schmoe's house, where the interview was to be conducted, because she had some Alice Cooper videos which the band wanted to see.
After Epp's last show, in February, Mark and Steve decided to stay together and approached Alex, former drummer for Splui Numa, the band Steve was in before joining Epp, and later asked Jeff, who was merely an acquaintance prior to the formation of the band, if he would like to play bass.
We played the same riff for three practices in a row," Jeff said, laughing.
"It was a good riff," said Mark.
Regarding Stone's entrance into the band, jokes were mixed with the truth in such a way that the truth itself seems somewhat vague. According to various band members, they let him into the band because he had, a) a Marshal, b) a car, c) carpet, d) because he brings treats to practice.
"Actually, we haven't decided if he's in the band," joked Mark.
"Yeah, I'm just brown-nosing it," Stone said on his own behalf. "I bring treats to practice so they'll let me play."
"Tootsie Rolls again, oh boy!" said Mark.
At any rate, he was on stage with them as they opened for Black Flag on September 25, and for the Dead Kennedy's on October 19.
"Why were you dumped off the DOA bill?" we asked, in reference to their scheduled opening for DOA on September 15.
"Because of Dismal," Jeff said.
"This town isn't big enough for us and Dismal," Steve said.
Green River lists The U-men as their favorite local band.
they also pay heavy tribute to Alice Cooper, and became restless the longer they had to wait to see the videos.
Peter Wick
November 15, 2025
