3rd April 2000
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I'd like to know if you're friends with the guys
from Dogs D'Amour, especially Bam.
Arthur
Yeah, I'm still friends with those guys. Tyla supported Clam Abuse on our British tour, and I see Jo and Bam all the time when I'm out in LA. I'm actually godfather to Bam's son, Max. The Dogs are, and always were, really cool guys.
Great to hear that you're gonna be a dad. Enjoy it,
it's the best feeling in the world. Just one question: are you going to be
there at the birth? (Personally I recommend it.)
Mark
Golden
The only thing that could stop me from being there is if the earth splits in two right between me and my girlfriend and we drift away from each other until she's out of sight. And even then I'll hear it.
Do you want a boy or a girl?
Chotto
Shio
I don't care if it's a boy or a girl... as long as it's got a big dick.
What's your stance on religion?
Darren
Swain
Whatever gets you through, but it starts to piss me off when people shove it down the throats of others like they've just gotten the copyright on happiness.
I've just been listening to the S$666 stuff, and
I'd like to officially join the long list of 'fan complainants' (blah blah,
'you've changed', blah blah, 'your hair's kinda red', blah blah... whatever).
This 'new' material right? Too short, we want more. There you go. Some abuse
that was.
Claudia Preda
The Super$hit stuff wasn't meant to come out, so if it's too short then that's too bad. Sometimes small ones are more juicy. I think in this instance this maxim is perfectly suited. Just play it again.
Ginger, I'm a great fan of yours and have always
believed that some of the words you utter are, quite frankly, poetic. However,
I have noticed that you talk about the greatness of love and respect for your
fellow man an awful lot. Could you explain to me your actions, then, regarding
the Clam Abuse gig in Glasgow last year when at the end of the show, you threw
a guitar at a paying audience member, only to hit someone completely
different?
Al
As the latest rumours concerning the incident confirm, the person hit was indeed the person that I meant to hit. The guy was pissing off a lot of fans, as well as me personally. Anyone coming to a show expecting the right to act like a dick and spoil the fun for everyone else should be dealt with in the manner of his actions. In trying to be a good person, the decision about whether or not to let this sort of stuff continue is left to my discretion. It's not a task I relish, but it's one I am prepared to accept. Love for one's fellow man should not include every idiot that has no concept of another person's right to enjoy his or herself without getting hurt. I'll never be a hippy, Al.
Why do quite a few of your songs (such as Nita
Nitro and Getting It) end with a thunk or a 'shut up'? Do you have trouble
ending your own songs?
Chris the Fox
The 'abrupt ending' is probably inspired by Monty Python. When they couldn't think of a good ending for a sketch they 'd just have someone walk on and say "this is all very silly, stop this now", and on to the next sketch they would merrily go. I really can't say why I do a lot of what I do on record, I guess it's just the product of a short attention span. Or something.
What zodiac sign are you?
David
Ambrose
Sagittarius. Half man, half horse. Licence to shit in the street.
Was the distorted sound of the S$666 stuff
influenced by the effects on Endless, Nameless? And do you have any plans to
release more stuff with Dregen and Nicke, as it was the best slice of music
since Backyard Babies' Total 13 album?
Andy Hill
Nah, that's all Tomas Skogsberg, the noisiest motherfucker in the history of Swedish sonic warfare. Da man. I'd love to record with those guys again... who knows?
Out of everyone who ever played in The Wildhearts
(and a few who didn't), whose post-WH stuff do you personally prefer? And, more
importantly, who'd win in a fight? You're probably out of the running since I
reckon a few of them would get together and take you out first. :)
Vinny
I prefer The Yo-Yo's as a band. They've got the best tunes. The rest of your question sounds quite stupid and not the sort of thing that self-respecting folk would not indulge in. Sort yourself out.
Henry Rollins can be a bit of a moaning bastard,
but you've got to admire that work ethic. I reckon your inability to sit still
can also be a great influence on the watching public. Thank fuck you and Henry
are out there being alive, because there are so many saggy-arsed no-lifers
succeeding in this world that for a while it was bloody fashionable. When your
new record goes stratospheric I look forward to everyone realising that
sitting, stoned, in baggy pants, in front of EastEnders is actually a pig's
chuff of an existence. You, my man, are the man. And so am I. (How fucking
stupid does that sound?)
Jorj
I think Henry has the greatest work ethic in music today. He's an inspiration to me and many others who can get off their arse and do something with their world. I hope you can be an inspiration to some people too. There aren't enough 'doers' out there to keep this business from falling into the hands of lazy corporate slouchers. Keep it up, young man, keep it up. You're a long time dead.
The Ramones started everything that is now good. Do
you agree or disagree?
Paul Tilby
The Ramones started everything that sounds like the Ramones. Everything else is other stuff.
I'm just curious as to what albums you like by The
Kinks, Cheap Trick (only Seventies stuff please), The Damned (only with Captain
Sensible please), Stiff Little Fingers (not All The Best please), and Blue
Oyster Cult (only Seventies stuff please).
Dave Jawor
The Kinks were a bit before my time, but they did invent that 'staccato' riff that everyone uses, so they get a big digit-up from me. Cheap Trick? It's impossible to pick a favourite album, but if I was forced I'd say One On One and run away. The Damned's Machine Gun Etiquette is the greatest album made around that time; it's up there with all the greats, whatever your idea of great is. BOC? Spectres has more good tunes on it than was legal back then, so I'll have that one please.
Having recently purchased the debut album by
SugarPlumFairies, your old mate (I think!) Mr Dowling's new outfit, I was most
disappointed to hear that it doesn't ROCK. It's not actually a bad album, but
it needs more ROCK, man. I just wondered what you thought of his new venture,
if you've heard it.
Andy France
SPF rock so intelligently that it doesn't even sound like rock. Now how much does that rock?
Paul Westerberg once said in an interview with some
guitar magazine that he doesn't even go into musical instrument stores any more
because of the "serious loser vibe" that emanates from the "failed musician
types" who work there. Of course, there are a few exceptions, but I'd have to
say that he's pretty much hit the nail on the head. What's your take?
Blake Johnston
Music shops are a place where your roadies get your strings and shit. Other than that, what good could they possibly have to offer?
Where did the idea for the moving cover of Fishing
For Luckies come from?
AcePETE
I wanted it to be 3D, but it was too expensive so we worked on the idea of those tacky religious postcards you see in dusty old shops that still sell stuff from the Seventies; stuff that's made in some foreign country where they still make that stuff. Er... and that.
You're probably sick of all these questions by now,
but I just want to know, if you were a Jelly Baby, which colour would you want
to be?
Sara
Black or red. The rest all taste of ass.
What are your views on Korn and the like? Are they
not the "rock stars" you ask for?
AcePETE
Korn aren't my idea of rock stars. The singer always moans about how fucked up he is, and the rest of the band all wear the same clothes. I'd like to see someone wearing something I can't buy in a sports shop.
Why do men get off on 'lesbotic' action? I've asked
most of my mates (my mates are mainly male) and I've yet to get a good answer.
Let's ask a musician then...
Claudia Preda
I guess guys don't like the sight of a male appendage any more than women do. Girls do look better in the raw than guys, and two look even better than one. Plus, on the whole, they tend to know what they're doing!
Don't you reckon that Robber Of Life on Backyard
Babies' Total 13 contains a good deal of Wildhearts riffs?
Mark
Leatham
Imitation, as they say, is the most sincere form of flattery... and those Scandinavians can be very sincere at times.
What do you reckon to Kevin Smith, the director etc
of Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Dogma? Cracks me up!
Gav
B
I'm not into those 'nothing much happens' movies. They tend to make real life much more interesting though, so maybe that's the point and I've just been missing it all along. Either way, gimme some gore and I'm a happy low budgeter.
Do you like power metal, like Gamma Ray, Helloween,
Blind Guardian, or Angra?
Tim Wilson
I can't see myself getting into bands with names like Blind Guardian or Angra. There's just something so 'not right' about metal band names, don't you think?
Being from the States, I never knew why CJ left The
Wildhearts and I never hear you mention him. Do you guys still get along?
Chuck Marwick
The Wildhearts should never have sacked CJ. I put it down to cocaine and egos - not a very healthy blend. He and I are very good friends and if we had been health freaks we'd still be in a band together.
I was reading through an old interview from
February 1998, and you mentioned a few times that you were working on a film.
Is this still in the pipeline? If so, what's it about? (Not some ropey porno is
it?)
Ryan
I had to put the movie on the back burner for a while until I get everything else working properly. It's gonna be cool, and no, I can't tell you what it's about!
You wrote some songs for Alice Cooper last year. Do
you know if he's going to use them?
Scott Chamberlain
I don't think Alice Cooper even got those songs I wrote for him. Ah well, all the more material for me. They were in an 'old Alice' style. God knows, he may be going down the Manson route for all I know.
Do you know when the stuff you wrote for Backyard
Babies will be released?
Bobby Mack
The BB's song (Brand New Hate) will be on their new album.
As a Canadian myself, what exactly do we smell
like?
Tim Wilson
I dunno, you guys seem to be very clean, so soap probably; that soap that you get in the toilets of cafes and restaurants that the dealers mix their crack with.
What was your involvement with the AntiProduct
record?
Scott Phillips
My involvement in the AntiProduct album was that I was / am fortunate to be a very close friend of the guy that did all the hard work. A claim that I am very proud to make.
Danny's gang came through Texas this week. Can we
expect to see you this summer?
Blake Johnston
Not this summer, but more than likely before next summer!
I was wondering... what's the meaning behind Now Is
The Colour? It sounds to me like there is a meaning but it's too deep to figure
out.
Paul Simpson
It refers to the then current climate of people bemoaning the state of the country whilst doing nothing but getting depressed about it. We were kinda in that circle ourselves. You bitch, you moan? You drink alone. Nowadays, with the advent of pre-pubescent gangs acting out televisual fantasies there's a new threat that has a much more sinister face. Oh for the days of the good old British complaint, eh?
Do you miss your rat, Felix?
Nat
I miss Felix a lot. He was a cool little guy.
