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<\/p>\nIt can take years to become an overnight sensation; just ask Dave Pirner. His band began in Minneapolis in 1981 as Loud Fast Rules. Renamed as Soul Asylum, the group released its debut EP Say What You Will\u2026<\/i> in fall 1984. Produced by Bob Mould (then of alternative rock heroes H\u00fcsker D\u00fc), that release enjoyed success in the band\u2019s hometown, but went largely unheard elsewhere. The record did attract the attention of Twin\/Tone Records, a local outfit that would establish a reputation as the label of record for Minneapolis\u2019 punk and alternative scene.<\/p>\n
And while Pirner looks back fondly on that local scene, he believes it was somewhat insular, not greatly influenced by (or even taking much notice of) what was going on in music elsewhere. \u201cWhen one band would play, most of the 30 people in the audience were in bands,\u201d he says with a laugh. \u201cThat was your group of friends, people you were meeting and hanging out with through the connection of music.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Pirner notes that there was a collegiality, an \u201call for one and one for all\u201d mentality among that Minneapolis community. \u201cWhen a band like H\u00fcsker D\u00fc got discovered and started to play bigger and bigger gigs, not only did they take us along as their opening band, but the scene in Minneapolis was 100% on their side,\u201d he says. \u201c\u2018Go on, fucking go for it, man. You’re representing our scene!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
In contrast, Soul Asylum\u2019s rise to fame would prove to be a very slow burn. But that didn\u2019t bother Pirner. \u201cIt was kind of important to not think about the future,\u201d he says. \u201cThat was not only sort of a punk rock credo, but there was a kind of [thinking that] \u2018If you’re making plans for the future, you’re wasting your time.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Twin\/Tone reissued an expanded version of the first LP, following up with two more albums (Made to Be Broken<\/i> and While You Were Out<\/i>, both 1986). Positive critical notices would earn the band an offer from A&M Records. Signing with the nationally distributed label in 1988, Pirner\u2019s group would release two more albums, 1988\u2019s Hang Time<\/i> and the 1990 LP And the Horse they Rode In On<\/i>. But when those records failed to sell in satisfying numbers, A&M dropped the group.<\/p>\n
Yet Columbia Records A&R representative Benjie Gordon believed in what Soul Asylum was doing, and signed the band to the major label. Popular tastes had been changing, and the time seemed right for Soul Asylum\u2019s brand of thoughtful and melodic yet ragged-edged alternarock.<\/p>\n
With a solid clutch of new songs and a strong push from Columbia, the band recorded and released Grave Dancers Union<\/i>. And where none of the band\u2019s first five albums had even made an appearance on the national charts, album number six did, and then some. Debuting in October 1992 \u2013 a full decade after the band played its first gigs as Soul Asylum \u2013 Grave Dancers Union<\/i> rose to the #11 spot on the Billboard<\/i> 200.<\/p>\n
Pirner describes that period as \u201can immense fog of constant activity.\u201d Every day seemed filled with phone calls, gigs and bus travel. (\u201cI know I don\u2019t want to be a bus driver,\u201d he emphasizes.) It was mostly fun, but the non-musical activities could feel like work. \u201cThe thing that was strange to me was how much time we spent not making music,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Soul Asylum\u2019s \u201covernight\u201d success \u2013 they were new to a major label, anyway \u2013 extended beyond American shores. Grave Dancers Union<\/i> would chart in nine other countries in Europe and Australasia, going Gold in several while eventually earning double-platinum status (2 million units sold) in the U.S. The band\u2019s runaway success included four singles from the album, led by the #5 \u201cRunaway Train.\u201d The band toured widely, which suited Pirner\u2019s goals. \u201cThis is my opportunity to see the rest of the world, so I’m going to take it as far as I can go,\u201d he recalls thinking at the time.<\/p>\n