Monster Magnet’s Dave Wyndorf Says the Band ‘Can’t Get Arrested’ in the States

If you ever find yourself wondering why your favorite band doesn't come to town more often, you might want to consider the case of Monster Magnet.

The veteran rockers have continued to tour and record steadily in recent years, but as frontman Dave Wyndorf recently told Smells Like Infinite Sadness in a lengthy, wide-ranging interview, he's had to focus on Europe because "we can’t get arrested in the f---ing States."

As Wyndorf sees it, it isn't a case of Monster Magnet's audience dwindling as much as another example of the way U.S. fans have changed their approach to live entertainment in the last generation or so. "It's like the investigative spirit from the live concertgoer in America has gone down the toilet," he argued. "They’re like, 'I checked this out online. It didn’t look too good for me. I won’t even give half the bands a chance by seeing them live. I watched a couple of YouTube shows. I don’t like the way the guy looks, I saw the video.' It's stupid! It's just like they got it all figured out, so they don’t go."

It's that spirit, added Wyndorf, that's enabled his band to continue growing its audience in Europe over the last 20 years -- and the lack of it here is symptomatic of what he seems to see as a cultural cratering taking place across America.

"The biggest thing in Middle America, the biggest bulk of what used to be touring ... people are into either s----kicking greatest hits like Lynyrd Skynrd, or hip-hop hop and s--- rock," he shrugged. "It’s like the worst thing I’ve ever seen ... no sense of humor. Art is like a dirty word out there. And you know the two cool guys in town? You know how like every one of those towns has like those two cool guys? Those two cool guys and that one cool girl are just f---ing lonely."