Supersuckers' Eddie Spaghetti on Life After His Cancer Diagnosis

Originally, Supersuckers' lead singer and bassist Eddie Spaghetti said, he got into rock ’n’ roll to get drunk and meet chicks. But when he was diagnosed with cancer last June, he had to reevaluate his motives. "During my treatment, I wrote a lot of dark songs, but I'm not sure it will ever see the light of day. They're all depressing, and I like fun songs, so I'm waiting for the good times to come before I make more music," he told New Times.

The good times started when, as a boy in Tucson, Arizona, the song "My Sharona" by the Knack hooked him into rock. He formed the Supersuckers with a group of friends in the late '80s. "I was more interested in forming a band with guys I liked to hang out with than looking for guitar virtuosos, so I found a ragtag group of drunks." That motley crew relocated to Seattle right when the grunge movement exploded to national attention. "That was supercool," Spaghetti says. "Moving to Seattle was like that moment in The Wizard of Oz when everything goes from black and white to color. There was Nirvana, Mudhoney, and Soundgarden all playing. It was amazing."

They signed to Sub Pop (the same record label Nirvana was on) but weren't easy to typecast into the superserious, woe-is-me scene America came to associate with Seattle. The Supersuckers had a lighter tone and embraced the ridiculous, right down to Spaghetti's trademark cowboy hat. The band would eventually find its voice and build a two-decade-long career touring around the country. But then last April, he felt a lump on his neck. The doctors diagnosed Eddie Spaghetti with stage three oropharynx cancer in his throat.

"It was scary and devastating to get that news," he says. "My main concern was how was I going to work during the treatment. Then the doctors told me I wouldn't be able to work. I've had surgeries and radiation treatment since June. The whole time, I've had tunnel vision of getting back to playing."
Finally, February 6, at the Magic City Casino's Shore Leave Showdown (a show that helps benefit cancer research), the Supersuckers will take the stage for the first time in more than a year. "It's a more laid-back country set. But it's still the Supersuckers, so it will be a raucous affair." Many of the songs will be from the band's latest album, Holdin' the Bag, which it recorded right before Spaghetti's diagnosis.

The last time the band came to South Florida, in 2014, opening for the Toadies at Culture Room, the Supersuckers played an insanely high-energy set. At one point in the interview, Spaghetti admitted he wasn't sure he'd have the stamina to match the band's trademark energy, but by the end of the conversation, his bravado was back. The frontman of the band who named one of its albums How the Supersuckers Became the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World was confident. "Tell everyone coming to wear their clean underwear, ’cause the Supersuckers are going to rock your pants off."

The Supersuckers with the Mavericks, Texas Tornados, Delbert McClinton, and more. 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. Saturday, February 6, at the Magic City Casino, 450 NW 37th Ave., Miami; 305-649-3000; magiccitycasino.com. Tickets for the entire day cost $125 to $1,000 plus fees via shoreleaveshowdown.jigsy.com.