Paul Leary, from Butthole Surfers, reveals that the band "sold out" during their peak in the 90s
In an exclusive interview with Far Out, Paul Leary, guitarist and occasional vocalist for Butthole Surfers, made a candid revelation about the band's trajectory: they "sold out" the period in which they achieved mainstream fame, especially around their 1996 television debut on The Late Show with David Letterman.
Butthole Surfers, an iconic band that emerged from the underground alternative scene in Texas, saw its career gain new momentum with the growth of grunge in the 90s, a movement that dominated the music scene from Seattle onwards. Leary recalls that, at the beginning of their success, they couldn't believe what was happening. "It seemed like it wasn't real, I expected someone to turn everything off and say it was a big joke," he told Far Out. The surprise was even greater when they realized that, contrary to what they imagined, they weren't going to "starve to death", but rather signed with a major record label, worked with the legendary John Paul Jones and achieved a hit on the charts.
The peak of this phase came in 1996, when Butthole Surfers reached the top of the US Modern Rock Chart and had the opportunity to perform on The Late Show with David Letterman, a milestone for the band. However, this success had consequences for the relationship with its original fans. "We lost a lot of fans who thought we had sold our soul, and yes, we did," admitted Leary. For him, this "selling out" was part of the band's humor and irony: "That was the whole point. The joke was complete. We were the Butthole Surfers, and the fact that we sold out. It doesn't get more absurd than that."
After this period, the band released their eighth studio album, Weird Revolution, in 2001, and performed their last full show in 2017, at the Growlers 6 festival. Now, they return with their ninth album, After the Astronaut, which was originally supposed to be released in 1998. Paul Leary explains that the intention with this new work was to preserve the original essence, without trying to modernize it or transform it into something different. "It's dated, and that's fine with me. We're dated, we're old men now," he said.
Far Out's reviewer rated After the Astronaut with three and a half stars, highlighting the mix of hip-hop, psychedelia and electronic elements that point to an artistic direction that the band could have followed, while at the same time appropriately ending Butthole Surfers' chaotic trajectory between underground punk and mainstream pop.
This account by Paul Leary offers an honest and thoughtful look at the complex relationship between commercial success and artistic authenticity, showing how Butthole Surfers navigated between these worlds, often with humor and self-criticism.
