Greg Dulli is an asshole.

Before I get banned from contributing to FasterLouder, I best clarify this. First of all the asshole statement is mostly out of jealousy. Whilst I sit here writing this feature up, to my left is a pile of text books, articles and photocopies from periodicals, waiting for me to digest them all and write them up into essays. Greg Dulli is probably in a hotel room, waiting for his tour with Mark Lanegan (ex- Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age growler and occasional Isobel Campbell collaborator) to begin.

Whilst I was saving my pocket money up for cheap guitars, drums and Casio keyboards, he was probably touring the world with the Afghan Whigs. Whilst I was nervously and drunkenly fumbling around life, trying to shed my teenage self, he was almost definitely penning his 312th sleazy ode to dark sex. And getting paid for it.

You’ve been making albums 22 years and through your career you have some recurring themes. Do you find it frustrating, dealing with similar issues and never quite resolving them?
What are you, my psychologist?

(Nervous laughter) No, unfortunately you’re not paying me.
Okay, then I don’t wanna answer your question either.

However, the most frustrating aspect of Greg Dulli’s work is that it’s actually good. Whereas many of the early ‘90s American bands that enjoyed some mainstream success are now pitiful and faded images of their pasts (that’s you Billy Corgan ), Dulli has kept a high standard of work throughout his musical career. He’s constantly evolving his sound, and always working on numerous projects at a time.

Dulli’s current collaborative album with Mark Lanegan, recorded under the name The Gutter Twins, began in 2003, as they had both “threatened to make a record together forever”. The resulting album, Saturnalia, is as moody, whisky-drenched and as sex-smoked as one would expect from the pair – who have been recording music separately from one another for over twenty years.

How did this collaboration with Mark Lanegan come about? Does it differ much, making albums with The Gutter Twins and your various other projects?
I’ve been making records since I was a teenager. It’s the same thing; you’re just trying to make the best record that you can. Twilight Singers is my band, and he was a guest in my band. Conversely, I also played in his band and we did his songs, so we decided to have a separate vehicle for both of our songs. We announced the project three years ago. We just had other things going on and had trouble getting into the studio to make shit. I’m going to say it was probably made in about 40 days over the course of three years.

Were there ever any concerns over the material being produced, whether or not it would be accessible?
I think Mark is like me, and we make records for ourselves first and foremost – things that we want to hear. We’re relatively confident that people will like what we like.

Mainstream success has always seemed to elude you, despite a good critical response to your albums. Do you find that in anyway exasperating, or is it a liberating thing?
Ah no, I’m a pretty well adjusted, easy going fella, so I do not want what I haven’t got…to quote…someone, probably Sinéad O’Connor.

Do you think that your albums would be different if you did achieve that level of mainstream recognition and success as some other bands?
It’s hard to say. I mean, that would require a time machine and a reversible fortune.

You’ve been in the record industry for over 20 years now, have you noticed big changes in the record industry?
Yeah. The majors are getting what they deserve.

Does this affect you as a recording artist?
It doesn’t affect me. Lots of people steal your album, but there’s always a way to make music, and to make it so that you’re not giving it away. I see it as: it doesn’t matter how I feel, because people are going to do what they want anyway.

How about the approach of bands like Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead, with the ‘pay as you like’ system? Do you see that as a feasible method of selling an album?
Well, I think that those groups have such a large and loyal following. Like, really if you think about it, U2 could do it I guess, Coldplay I suppose, you know, anybody with a massive following. I think for other groups it could probably turn into financial suicide. Well, I could be wrong. Bands like Arctic Monkeys and Kate Nash, people like that break on the internet. I suppose there’s all ways to do things.

Have you ever been tempted to reform The Afghan Whigs to cash-in, ala Pixies?
No. I did it already. It would be like re marrying your ex-wife.

The Gutter Twins’ Saturnalia is out now through Sub-Pop Records.