Since R.E.M. broke up in 2011, fans have continued to wonder if the generally beloved alternative rock band will ever reunite. Unfortunately, fans likely won’t be happy with how bassist Mike Mills responded when he was asked during a new Rolling Stone interview if there was any chance for a reunion.
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“There is not,” the 64-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer told the magazine. “We’ve all got our own things that we’re doing, and I think we’re all really happy with the way things are.”
[RELATED: R.E.M. Reissuing Up with an Expanded Edition]
Mills then explained how he’d seen U2 in concert a few years ago, and while he enjoyed the Irish rockers’ performance, it made him realize that he no longer had the drive to tour at that level anymore.
“I was sitting there thinking, ‘Man, I could be up there doing that. That would be so much fun,’” he explained. “I said, ‘They’ll be doing it tomorrow night, and the night after that, and the week after that, and the week after that, and the month after that.’ I said, ‘You know what? It’s actually OK [to not be touring like that].’”
R.E.M.’s various members have been involved in a variety of musical endeavors since the band broke up. Mills and guitarist Peter Buck have been recording and touring together for several years in the baseball-themed indie-rock group The Baseball Project, while frontman Michael Stipe reportedly is gearing up to release his debut solo album soon.
Asked if he was looking forward to hearing Stipe’s solo record, Mills said, “Oh, sure. I think it’s going to be astonishing. Michael’s a great musician, and he has a voice for the ages. I miss listening to it, so I’m very excited for whatever he’s got coming out.”
Meanwhile, Mills has never put out a solo album of his own, and Rolling Stone wondered whether that was something that might be on the horizon.
“I’ve been thinking about a solo record for 10 years,” Mills admitted, then revealed, “But having said that, I am going into the studio in January to cut some demos and see if there’s not a path forward on that.”
When the Rolling Stone interviewer commented that R.E.M. fans love Mills singing and suggested they’d be happy to hear new music from him, the bassist had a humble response.
“Well, they love my singing voice in small doses,” he maintained. “We will see whether or not that holds up over an entire record, but I do believe it is a project that is about to at least get some training wheels on it.”
He added about trying to do a solo album, “It’s daunting and a little terrifying, but I figure what the hell at this point.”
The main focus of the Rolling Stone interview was to promote the upcoming 25th anniversary reissues of R.E.M.’s 11th studio album, 1998’s Up, the first album that the band recorded following the departure of founding drummer Bill Berry.
The deluxe version of the collection, which will be released on Friday, November 10, is a two-CD/Blu-ray set that features a remastered version of Up, a previously unreleased 11-track recording of the band performing on the set of the TV show Party of Five in 1999, three remastered music videos, high-res and surround-sound mixes of the album, and more. You can pre-order the Up reissue now.
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