Shudder to Think was one of only two bands to ever make the jump from local indie stalwart Dischord Records to a major label. In the mid-1990s they signed with Epic, and released Pony Express Record, still one of the finest pieces of art-damaged post-punk ever produced by a band in this town. It was an odd record for a major label, deeply complex, with shifting time signatures and singer Craig Wedren's distinctive falsetto taking center stage. While the band's previous output hadn't necessarily been conventional, one imagines the folks at Epic were scratching their heads over what to do with a record that was so relentlessly original and like little else in the post-Nirvana soundscape. The record became a cult hit though, and the video for "X-French T-Shirt" could actually be seen pretty frequently on MTV in the summer of '95, while the "Hit Liquor" video even managed to attain that most auspicious of '90s honors, being skewered by metal-head delinquents Beavis and Butthead.

The next couple of years found the band working on two soundtrack records—their eclectic, guest-laden soundtrack to First Love, Last Rites is well worth looking for, though sadly out of print—and their last official album, 50,000 B.C. which was not received with quite the enthusiasm of Pony Express or their excellent Dischord work. The band played their last D.C. show in 1998, a bittersweet farewell to an enthusiastic sold-out crowd who welcomed the band, which had long ago left for NYC, back like conquering heroes. And that was it for nearly ten years, until the reunion mentioned as a possibility by Craig Wedren when he talked to DCist a year ago became a reality earlier this year with one-off festival performances. That's now turned into a full fledged tour, and tomorrow night Shudder to Think will take the 9:30 Club stage for their first D.C. show in a decade. It's sure to be a rocking nostalgia trip, particularly for those who remember when "Red House" was an instantly recognizable song to just about anyone who hung out regularly at the old 9:30. Tickets are still available. Guitarist Nathan Larson answered a few questions for DCist on the band's homecoming.

Tell me about how the band decided to get back together.

We were offered a series of shows, and had been discussing doing this casually for a while. The opportunity presented itself in a pressure-less context and it seemed a good time to do it.

What are the biggest differences you've seen in playing together this time around as opposed to 10 years ago?

We're "older and wiser" in the sense that we recognize our bullshit and our negative impulses, and in this sense can try (not always successfully, but the intention is there) to avoid them. Plus our priorities are scattered, we have other lives, so it's no longer a do-or-die type of thing. Thus a decrease in pressure, this crushing press to succeed at all costs.

Have you been writing new material, or still concentrating on spending time playing together before you move on to doing that?

We have been concentrating very hard on reanimating this very, very difficult, complex music that somehow we managed to write in our 20s, so no new music. Plus both Craig and I are working hard on film music, I have a band with my wife Nina Persson (of The Cardigans) called A Camp...and both Craig and Kevin March have small children, so we're maxing out our time just to make the shows good.

How would you describe what we're likely to see on this tour?

Much the same as it was back in the day, only perhaps a little gentler. Our iPhones cause our amplifiers to make loud RF sounds. There's a few different people on stage too. Craig and I have some new clothing. None of us, for the most part, will be extremely drunk or high.

What are your setlists like for this tour? Spanning the entire career of the band, concentrating on certain eras?

Trying to span the whole, with a focus on Pony Express and Get Your Goat....but all periods are represented. Except the soundtrack period, less of that and more of the rock. We do a few from Ten Spot and Funeral At The Movies, too.

I was at the last show that you guys played at the Black Cat before you broke up; I can remember you starting into "Red House" and the crowd exploded. Are you looking forward to a warm hometown reception?

Well that's always a lovely feeling, sure it would be nice to be welcomed in that way, but I don't have any expectations, and will just be psyched if people show up and enjoy themselves.

What do you most look forward to in shows here in D.C.?

The obvious stuff like seeing old friends, enemies, girlfriends. The crazy memories. There's so much deep, deep personal stuff for us in that town that I still can't look at head on, mostly life-stuff on my end. Just like any town you grow up in and leave the moment you come of age. Not like I don't dig D.C., but my eyes were always on New York and it's been my home since 1988.

Another highlight of that last show was hearing "I Want Someone Badly" with your vocal read (which, much as I love Jeff Buckley, I always preferred to his version)...are you playing that, or any of the other songs that were originally sung by others from that soundtrack?

Thank you very much! No I have chosen not to sing at all....I always felt like my role in Shudder To Think was very much the guitar player, and the period when I began to step forward and do vocals on things was more of a transitional time that doesn't really reflect the band most accurately. Also it's SO much easier just to focus on rocking the guitar.

What does the future hold for STT after this tour? Or are you just taking it as it comes right now?

Taking it as it comes. It's mellow.

I interviewed Craig about a year ago. When I asked him about the possibility of a reunion, he told me that the primary question for him in determining if it was worthwhile was, "What do we have to add? What are we NOT hearing out there?" Presumably, with this tour being a reality, some answers to those questions have come up within the band. What do you think the band has to add and what are we not hearing?

I don't know, honestly. What I'm noticing is that we have something to offer us. I think we were pretty hard on each other and ourselves back when, very overly critical and harsh, nothing was ever good enough, and here's a chance to show ourselves we did some work of value. We were a very unique band, which would be the case regardless if we were playing out at the moment or not. So I can't say what an audience would gain except for a great rock show with no trickery or laptops.

In my view there are currently a huge number of artists taking great risks, from the most indie grassroots levels all the way up to Lil Wayne. It's a tremendous time for music, in a way that the '90s was not, although it was a period of flowering for so called "alt" music, remains very homogeneous in my memory. Though we had a ball.

I'm proud to have been part of a band that in the midst of the '90s goldrush made a super duper headfuck of a record on a major label, and put it out on the same corporate level with the Pearl Jams and the Smashing Pumpkins, opened for said bands, and generally followed our artistic hearts, at the expense of any remote chance at any pop stardom. Even though at the time we were conflicted, 'cause of course rock stardom would have appeared attractive to a group of 20-somethings, but somehow we just couldn't tone down the music. It lived and breathed on its own and I'm pleased to have served it.

Band photo courtesy Shudder to Think. Photo of Craig Wedren and Nathan Larson onstage at this summer's Virgin Fest from Flickr user folichewer, used via a Creative Commons license.