I'll never play in Scotland again, I played there once and I thought that the people there were the biggest bunch of pigs I ever ran into.
"I think that most Rock `n' Roll is hype bullshit, and I think that the most important thing in life is the information, then you can go from there as to how you feel about it. But until then, anything that is just not information is either art, poetry or bullshit, and I'm not an artist, I'm not a poet and I'm not full of shit so I might as well kick you the straight facts."
So here it is . . .
"I was born in Washington D.C., Feb 13, 1961 (2.13.61). My parents were divorced when I was very young. I grew up with my mother, we lived in apartments all over the city. She played a lot of records and went to plays and musicals. There was music in the house all the time. Monk, Coltrane, Miles, Sly and the Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix, Roberta Flack etc. I used to take her records into my room and play them until they were all scratched up. My first favorite records were Hot Buttered Soul and Shaft by Isaac Hayes and Pata Pata by Miriam Makeba. After that my musical taste was black radio stations in DC. Marvin Gaye, Al Greene, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Bar Kays, Ohio Players, Earth Wind and Fire etc. Later on in high school I discovered Ted Nugent, Led Zap, Trower, Aerosmith, Steve Miller, Van Halen. Nugent was my hero in high school. In my senior year book write-up I wrote "Symptoms: Terminal Gozolitis; Future plans: Nationwide Terrorization." I think I stuck to my guns on that one.
I don't like making comments about bands. It lends itself to talking shit and I do enough of that already.
I don't like playing in England very much, England is very depressing for me, bad food, bad PA's just England is such a crappy place. I think the music is unbelievably horrible and the arrogance, like some DJ will take some basic sequencer track and put some Miles Davis over it and say that he invented Acid Jazz House `We're taking over, wake up America you're dead' - Come over here and wake me up mother fucker, I'll wipe that smile right off your face. I don't like England very much, I have met some nice kids over there, the people at the shows are cool but hopefully I'll never play there again. The first thing I wrote in my journal this year was I'm never going to England again then as a favour I did that festival with Killing Joke, the Mission. We had a good time playing, but having to watch Killing Joke, those guys are pathetic and like the Mission, someone should just shoot these guys in the head, the Happy Mondays - Gimme a break, The Wonderstuff - Come on! I don't hate england, but the world is a big place and I would like to go somewhere else.
"In the summer of 1979 I saw the Bad Brains open for the Damned at the Bayou Club in DC. They were amazing. A week later I saw the Bad Brains again in the living room of a house. HR the singer was 3 feet away from me, singing. It was scary and incredible. I remember thinking to myself: I hope this guy doesn't jump on me. A few seconds later, I was on my back. HR had me pinned to the floor and was screaming in my face. It was one of the biggest moments in my life. Later on we became friends. He would sometimes tell me that I was going to be a singer in a band. I told him that that would never happen. As far as influences go, he would have to be the biggest one for me. "
The last talking show I did I talked about a couple of friends of mine who just died, one guy got shot four times in LA, and another friend of mine OD'd and died. Another life about when you have a friend whose on smack or some really bad drug habit, and you go hey look at yourself, you're killing yourself and then he or she says `Fuck off, you don't know what you are talking about, I know what I'm doing and I can quit any time I want and then your friend just goes and dies and you can't talk to them any more. They are dead forever, and that shit never used to bother me. Then friends of mine started dying and it's not as if friends are dying every other minute, it doesn't take much, one in a lifetime is bad enough, to die like that, to die any way it's such a waste because it is always these really creative people, you know, Whoops you're dead. And that song, is . . If I could make a wish come true, I would wish another life, I would want to give you another life, another chance because once you're dead, that's it.
My job is just to serve the truth, I serve the truth and death. All the inspiration I need is Truth and Death, just keep it simple.
"I was employed by the Los Angeles based rock band Black Flag as their vocalist for 5 years. My employment lasted from July 1981 until July 1986 when the band broke up after completing a 7 month tour of North America"
The way it ended up I felt very much like an employee and Black Flag was very much an institution before I got there and the way I termed that was out of respect, because I don't know what these people are doing with these bands, I don't know what their philosophy is but when you were in Black Flag, you served Black Flag, it was a force greater than your body, stronger than your tendons and your sinew and your bone, it was a mighty force and you can only serve it and hope it didn't destroy you. Much different from the Rollins Band. No one in the Rollins band is as insane apart from me as the people in Black flag. The people in Black Flag were willing to die for their music, I am willing to die for my music but no one else in my band is like that. That's cool, that's not a requirement. But Black Flag was a bunch of crazy people, they didn't care about life, they just cared about the music, about kicking some major ass, with no thought of what it would do to their bodies, their minds their lives and that's why it was so good. In the end me and the guitar player ceased to agree on things and get along, it's kinda like a marriage. I'm sorry about it too. It had to happen when the band were at that point, we had to break up or else it would be like Spinal Tap. I am always sorry that Black Flag broke up, in a lot of ways I like the Rollins band better because it is more like five guys just doing things together, whereas Black Flag was often like, the guitar player would write the song, the lyric and the tune and that's the way it was. But there are things in that band that I really miss, just the ferocity, the fierceness that was shared by all the members and the violence and the fury which is sadly lacking in the guys I'm with now. It's just not crazy.
" About the Rollins Band - - There has been only one line-up: Andrew Weiss on bass, Chris Haskett on guitar, Sim Cain on drums and percussion, and Theo Van Rock on Sound. The band has a fierce work ethic on the road and off. The band writes all songs together. Dedication and excellence has always been our reputation"
I am really proud of that actually, because Black Flag was like, it's Wednesday, wheel in the new drummer y'know. This is the kind of band that I want. We can respect each other, create music together and have some fun and perhaps some music which is meaningful to us and hopefully meaningful to other people, and that is all you can really hope for.
On Iggy Pop and publishing . .
Well, me and Iggy have had some talks and we're looking to do two books for Iggy, it's not confirmed, not signed... Iggy and I got together in NY and hung out and he wants someone to put out a couple of books, a picture book and a lyric book, and actually the lyric book was my idea I said hey, we could do this and we'll see. Great guy, his manager apparently he has got the Nick Cave lyric book I put out in America he went well, if Iggy can do a book I wanna do a book. I f they found a bigger and better publisher, I wouldn't be surprised so when you see the book in the shop then you know it happened. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed because I would give an eye to work with that guy because I love his work so much and I know I can do him right and not blow it.
I have been doing this since 1984, I have a company, I have the staff to run it and I have an office, a fax machine and a few choice people to yell at and spend money whenever we get any, and we struggle and we work and right now I am in the process of starting a record label as well.
On Al Jourgenson. . .
He's just a scum bag, I tried to get him to fight me in the parking lot in Chicago but he's smart enough to know that I would probably hurt him.
On Ice-T . . .
He is a very smart man, and I think what he has to say is really right on, I like Ice a lot, we hang out pretty often, I have learned a few things from Ice. He's a good man, a very intense and funny dude.
If you can't kick your shit live, then I am not into it. The FYC came to this country and said that if you tour you are a moron, touring makes you a moron, you know `we are such awesome musicians that we are above touring', that's fine, but you're not above James Brown and he invented it. No one is above James Brown, he's the fucking King of the road, their not above Bob Dylan.
I don't think like that, I just play, I don't even think about what city I'm in, I just play, don't care what time it is, don't care who is in front of us, how many people, if they like us, don't like us, I just play, it doesn't matter to me.
Any day is a good day to die, any day is a good day to play
nuff said.
If you are interested in reading more of his exploits, his publishing company 2.13.61 are distributed in Europe through AK distribution.
2.13.61 publications -
Books currently available
"High Adventure in the Great Outdoors" by Rollins ([[sterling]]8.95)
"Bang" by Rollins ([[sterling]]8.95)
"One from None" by Rollins ([[sterling]]8.95)
"King Ink" by Nick Cave ([[sterling]]8.95)
"Boy in the Air" by Don Bajema ([[sterling]]6.95)
The Rollins books are his written (spoken) word. Extracts of letters, tour diaries, fragments of thought, poetry etc. One from None includes a massive interview for half the book.
King Ink is lyrics, thoughts and other writings of Nick Cave.
Boy in the Air is the first selection of short stories from Don Bajema, who has toured extensively with Henry Rollins, Lydia Lunch and Hubert Selby, doing spoken word, and has acted in various films and videos with the former, and many others.
The above books are available mailorder (please make cheques payable to `AK Retail') from AK Distribution, and wholesale to book and record shops. Please do write for more details, complete catalogues etc.