Tad - Biography
By Brad Austin
The 300-pound Thomas A. Doyle once worked as a butcher. For Sub Pop, a little-known Seattle-based label that badly needed an angle in marketing its music at the end of the 1980s, he was an unexpected publicity dream. Sub Pop co-founders Bruce Pavitt and John Poneman cultivated the “white trash” image of Doyle, selling it as something that was primal, purely American, and purely rock and roll. The gimmick worked, especially on the British press who bought into the mystique of Doyle the lumberjack: a giant man who wore flannel and carried a chainsaw. Doyle and his band TAD steamrolled along, achieving a modest popularity with their crushingly dense style of doom metal. They were as close to sludge rock as the Seattle Sound ever got (besides the Melvins, that is), with painfully slow songs that begged to be sped up. It is a testament to the music industry’s mass confusion of the 1990’s (i.e. the complete inability to predict what would sell) that TAD was offered a record contract from a major label just like everybody else. They were one of the last of their breed to make the jump, but once they did, they were quickly dropped. After completely sputtering out a few years later, TAD's legacy had been cemented as the grungiest and heaviest of the Seattle bands. They were the band that most embodied the Seattle image, and also the band that didn't make it.
Doyle had been a drummer in the band H-Hour and was briefly a member of Bundle of Hiss, a seminal band whose drummer Dan Peters went on to play in Mudhoney. TAD (named for Doyle's initials) was borne out of the ashes of Bundle of Hiss, as he and bassist Kurt Danielson continued to play together. They were joined by guitarist Gary Thorstensen and drummer Steve Wied, who had recently played two shows with Skin Yard as a replacement for the Soundgarden-bound Matt Cameron. The band was amongst the first signed to the burgeoning Sub Pop label. They were paired with another Skin Yard descendant who was now Sub Pop's go-to producer, Jack Endino. TAD’s debut album God's Balls (1989 Sub Pop) was issued in 1989. The song titles on the album say it all: “Cyanide Bath,” “Boiler Room,” “Pork Chop,” “Satan's Chainsaw.” TAD worked at embodying the white trash image just as much as Poneman and Pavitt were marketing it.
The next year, TAD issued an EP called Salt Lick (1990 Sub Pop). They went on tour in Europe opening for Nirvana, who was supporting another Endino-produced debut, Bleach (1989 Sub Pop). For their second full-length, TAD used a slightly more melodic approach and teamed up with producer Butch Vig, who would help to radically change the underground music scene forever with his work on Nirvana’s Nevermind (1991 Geffen). TAD called their new album 8-Way Santa (1991 Sub Pop) and released it in 1991. It was their musical peak, featuring songs that were nearly catchy and a dig at trucker songs called “Jack Pepsi.” Legal trouble began to plague the band as PepsiCo, Incorporated caught wind of the subsequently released “Jack Pepsi” single, the cover of which featured the Pepsi logo with the word TAD replacing the company’s name. The cover of 8-Way Santa gave the band legal trouble as well, as it featured a found photograph (reportedly picked up at a garage sale) of a woman having her breast fondled by a long-haired, shirtless man. When the female party recognized herself on their album, she sued.
Despite the setbacks, TAD's cult status was blossoming and Doyle was one of many purveyors of the Seattle Sound to appear as an actor in Cameron Crowe’s 1992 romantic comedy Singles. TAD finally attracted the attention of a major label after Doyle’s silver screen debut and the group was one of the last major Seattle bands to be offered a major label deal. Although, once the deal had been offered, Wied left the band. Giant Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., signed the band and put out their third album, Inhaler (1993 Giant Records/Warner Bros.), in 1993. TAD replaced Wied with ex-Accused drummer Josh Sinder for the recording and J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. was brought in to produce the album. Some great songwriting from Doyle, who was on top of his game, jelled wonderfully with Mascis' approach and made for one of TAD's best listens. Although Inhaler hit number 38 on the Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, it was not the hot seller that the band and their new label had anticipated. Further frustrations for Giant occurred when it came to their attention that the band's promo poster depicted Bill Clinton smoking a joint with the caption “This is heavy shit.”
Following their tour with Soundgarden, TAD was quickly dropped from Giant Records. Thorstensen resigned his post in 1994 and TAD remained a trio. They recorded Live Alien Broadcasts (1995 Futurist), a retrospective of sorts that was recorded live in the studio. The band's shot at mainstream glory had come and gone, but, oddly enough, a second opportunity presented itself. EastWest, an affiliate of Elektra, signed the band in 1995, and put out their fourth album, Infrared Riding Hood (1995 EastWest/Elektra). Following another round of weak sales, however, TAD was once again released from their label. After two years of gigging, Sinder quit the band and his shoes were filled by Mike Mongrain, formerly of Foil.
TAD released a final single, Oppenheimer's Pretty Nightmare (1998 Up Records) before quitting completely in 1998. Danielson went on to join Valis, a side project by members of Screaming Trees and Mudhoney. Doyle formed a new band called Hog Molly and their debut album, Kung-Fu Cocktail Grip (2000 Kool Arrow), came out in 2000. Doyle then formed Hoof, and later Brothers of the Sonic Cloth. Early 2008 saw the release of Busted Circuits and Ringing Ears, a documentary film directed by Adam Pease and Ryan Short that attempted to shed some light on the peculiar Seattle phenomenon known as TAD.
