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Hrvoje Bubić | Interview with Henry Rollins
Hrvoje Bubić
Foto: Matsgus
Henry Rollins, frontman nekadašnjeg kultnog punk sastava Black Flag, glumac u brojnim filmovima i serijama,pisac i spoken word izvođač, za SolinLive govori o svom djelovanju u Black Flagu,solo karijeri, novim projektima, boravku u Sjevernoj Koreji te mogučem dolasku u Split
For start, tell us about your beginngs as musician, what was your motivation, you said once that since you been social outcast as teenager, music & book were always by your side. Since you are coming from D.C., coul you tell us something about local music scene back in late 70’s/early 80s’, bands like Bad Brains and Minor Threat.
My motivation as a musician was to get what was inside of me, out of me. It wasn’t about sounding good. It was about clarity, impact and intensity. The music scene in Washington, DC that I left in 1981 was changing and growing very quickly. The Bad Brains had left the area and were now a New York band as far as we were concerned. To me, they still are. Minor Threat shows drew a lot of people and because of that, the scene grew. With that expansion, there were some bad elements. Skin head types, people who just showed up to make trouble, etc. I think that was happening in scenes all over America. More people, more issues. The level of great bands in DC has always been high. I’m glad I got to see what I did. Seeing the Bad Brains play house parties was really cool.
Indie label SST Records, owning by Black Flag’s mainman & guitar player Greg Ginn, is know for releasing lots of albums of Black Flag, Meat Puppets, Husker Du, Saint Vitus, Minuteman & other artists. In your book about your time in Black Flag Get In The Van, you described SST had many issues during the 80’s with LAPD and some individuals, financing the tour and recording albums. You mention a lot that today’s bands won’t be able survive difficulties like Black Flag did. Could you explain what was secret of Black Flag’s strength, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth said that Black Flag is among the first bands who started do-it-yourself rock scene in U.S.
One of the things that Black Flag had going for it was that we were in full understanding that we had nothing else going on but the band. We were single minded. We weren’t thinking about anything else. No one in the band ever thought there were be any money, an apartment of your own, anything. The motivation was only to write the songs and play. When you’re going at it this way, the only thing that gets in your way is death. I think that bands these days are almost crippled by cellphones and social media and to a certain degree, so are their fans. It’s not anyone’s fault. Those were different times. For myself, I wouldn’t want to live now as I did then.
After breakup of Black Flag, you became solo artist, but before the breakup with Black Flag, you release two solo albums: Hot Animal Action, Drive by Shooting and latter you formed well know Rollins Band with Chris Hasket as guitar player, bass player Andrew Weiss and drummer Sim Cain who collaborated with Greg Ginn’s project Gone, continuing the rawness of Black Flag with influence of rock bands like Black Sabbath, King Crimson, Pink Fairies. Rollins Band is well know for songs like Liar, Low Self Opinion which are considered classics. Album Get Some Go Again was featuring with special guest guitar player Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy, last album Nice was released in 2001. and contribution on Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three. Please tell us more about your solo music carrier, Rollins Band, your opinion on Memphis Three , will there be a new Rollins Band album and I heard that you even collaborated with actor William Shatner.
After Black Flag broke up in 1986, I figured I better get onto the next thing as fast as I could. 10 months later, I had a solo album out and a new band on the road. I went at it using a lot of what I learned from being in Black Flag. Work hard, tour all over, all the time and never stop. That was basically it. I lived in the write-record-tour model for many years. It was never easy. I didn’t like being in a band all that much. Music hurt to make, hurt to play. I had to do it. Music was something I served. Many years ago, I had no more lyrics, so I stopped.
Among the music career, you are also writer, spoken word performer, journalist, actor in well know movies and TV shows (Sons Of Anarchy, Heat, Johnny Mnemonic ), owner of 2.13.61, Inc. publisher and record company, your own TV show and you got Grammy for audiobook Get In A Van. You said that anger is your fuel and you need little bit of insanity to do great things. Could you explain us more about that and your other projects?
I’m impatient and often angry. This leads to curiosity and getting things done. Life is short, I figure I should do a lot of things. I just finished about 6 months of running from one thing to another. A pilot for a television show in Vancouver, a film Luxembourg, a documentary in Australia, shows in America and Europe. Now I’m in Los Angeles, working on a book, trying to get it into the copy edit stage before the end of the month. This is usually how my year goes, from one thing to the next, looking for something else to do. Basically, I’m restless and want things to go faster.
Joe Cole, your long time friend and roommate that you meet during your time in Black Flag, he was shot dead by robbers at front of your house, and crime is not solved to this day. Me and my readers would love to know more about Joe Cole, what Joe was like, I read somewhere he was inspiration to lots of artists ?
He was a good guy. He didn’t deserve what happened to him. Joe Cole had a lot of friends. A lot of people liked him. The way he died was very hard for a lot of people to deal with and still is. That’s about all I can tell you.
What is your opinion about modern music, since you are on scene almost forty years and known as the person who ponders with his head, what is actually basis of rebellion. Do you think would next generations would wear a flame of r’n’r rebellion like before?
I think music is great right now. I think rebellion comes when enough people have had enough. I can’t find any part of history where there was a rebellion that was started by music. People like Elvis and the Beatles perhaps changed the landscape, but only after the record companies figured out how to make money off of it. Rebellion in a Western country, like on the European continent, America, would be very difficult. These people, who, for the last few generations, have been for the most part, well fed and living in peace. To get them into a rebellion posture, that would take a lot. I talked to a lot of people in Kiev about what they went though and it was insane. That’s what you would have to be willing to endure. I can say as an American, that wouldn’t happen here. I have never held with the idea that music gets anything with rebellion started. Music hasn’t ended a war, not that I’m aware of. I think the best rebellions are personal. Music can definitely be a part of that.
For end, what are your future plans new book or album, movie? I know that you produced Charles Manson album, played in a rock movie Gutterdämmerung along with deceased Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead, Slash from Guns’n’Roses, Jesse Björn from Eagles Of Death Metal and of course Iggy Pop. There is news that new species of worm is named in your honor, how was in North Korea and Antarctica, and will you ever stop by in Split, Croatia?
I also wrote the screenplay for Gutterdämmerung. Right now, I’m working on a book 7 days a week, trying to get it done before I have to leave on tour. North Korea was for the most part sad. A lot of hungry, scared people. They deserve better. Antarctica was beautiful and sad. It’s going away. When there, you witness the very real destruction of the planet. I’ve been to Zagreb a couple of times. I don’t know when I would be getting back there.
HRVATSKI PRIJEVOD
Za početak, recite nam nešto o vašim glazbenim počecima, vašim motivacijama? Jednom ste rekli da su knjiga i glazba bili uvijek uz vas, budući da ste bili društveno neprihvaćeni kao tinejdžer. Budući da dolazite iz D.C.-a, možete li nam reći nešto o lokalnoj glazbenoj sceni u kasnim 70-ima/ranim 80-ima, o bendovima kao što su Bad Brains i Minor Threat?
Moja motivacija kao glazbeniku je bila da sve što je u meni izbacim iz sebe. Nije se radilo o tome da lijepo zvuči. Radilo se o jasnoći, utjecaju i intenzitetu. Glazbena scena u Washington, D.C.-u koju sam ja napustio 1981. se jako brzo mijenjala i rasla. Bad Brainsi su napustili područje i bazirali se u New Yorku, bar koliko smo mi bili svjesni. Za mene još uvijek i jesu. Nastupi Minor Threata su privlačili mnogo ljudi i zbog toga je scena rasla. Zajedno sa tom ekspanzijom su došli i neki loši elementi. Skin headsi, ljudi koji su došli samo raditi nerede itd. Mislim da se to dešavalo na scenama diljem Amerike. Više ljudi, više problema. Količina sjajnih bendova u D.C.-u je oduvijek bila velika. Drago mi je što sam vidio ono što jesam. Vidjeti Bad Brainse kako sviraju na kućnim zabavama je bilo zaista cool.
Nezavisna izdavačka kuća SST Records, u vlasništvu gitariste i glavne njuške Black Flaga, Grega Ginna, je poznata po tome što izdaje mnoge albume Black Flaga, Meat Puppetsa, Husker Düa, Saint Vitusa, Minutemana i drugih umjetnika. U vašoj knjizi o vašem boravku u Black Flagu, „Get in The Van“ (Upadaj u kombi,op.prev.), opisali ste mnoge tegobe koje je SST imao 80-ih sa LAPD-om(policija Los Angelesa,op.prev) i drugim pojedincima te oko financiranja turneje i snimanja albuma. Često govorite kako mnogi današnji bendovi ne bi uspjeli preživjeti iste poteškoće kao i Black Flag. Možete li nam otkriti tajnu snage Black Flaga? Thurston Moore iz Sonic Youtha je rekao da je Black Flag među prvim bendovima koji su zapopočeli Do-it-yourself(Uradi-sam) mentalitet u S.A.D.-u.
Jedna od stvari koja je išla Black Flagu u prilog je to što smo u potpunosti shvaćali da nismo ništa drugo imali osim benda. Bili smo jednakog mišljenja. Nismo mislili na ništa drugo. Nitko u bendu nije ikad pomislio da će imati novaca, vlastiti stan, ništa. Jedina motivacija je bila da napišemo pjesme i sviramo. Kada ovako shvatiš stvari, jedina stvar koja ti može prepriječiti put je smrt. Smatram da su današnji bendovi skoro pa osakaćeni mobitelima i društvenim mrežama, pa i, do određene mjere, njihovi obožavatelji. Nije to ničija krivica. Bila su to drugačija vremena. Što se tiče mene, ne bih želio danas živjeti kao što sam tada živio.
Nakon raspada Black Flaga, postali ste solo umjetnik. No i prije raspada Black Flaga izdali ste dva solo albuma: „Hot Animal Action“ i „Drive By Shoting“. Kasnije ste okupili dobro poznati Rollins Band s Chrisom Hasketom kao gitaristom, basistom Andrewom Weissom i bubnjarem Simom Cainom koji je surađivao sa projektom Gone Grega Ginna, nastavljajući surovost Black Flaga sa utjecajem rock bendova kao što su Black Sabbath, Kind Crimson, Pink Fairies. Rollins Band je poznat po pjesmama kao što su „Liar“ i „Low Self Opinion“ koje se smatraju klasicima. Album „Get Some Again“ je uključivao posebnoga gosta na gitari, Scotta Gorhama iz Thin Lizzyja. Zadnji album, „Nice“, je izdan 2001. Radili ste na Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit The West Memphis Three. Molim vas recite nam nešto više o svojoj solo karijeri, Rollins Bandu, vašem mišljenju o Memphis Threeu. Hoće li biti novog albuma Rollins Banda? Čuo sam da ste čak surađivali s glumcem Williamom Shatnerom.
Nakon što se Black Flag raspao 1986., shvatio sam da je bolje da se prihvatim druge stvari šta brže mogu. Deset mjeseci kasnije sam imao izdani solo album i novi bend na turneji. Primjenio sam puno toga što sam naučio tijekom svog vremena u Black Flagu. Marljivo radi, radi turneje svuda, cijelo vrijeme i nikada nemoj stati. To je u biti bilo to. Živio sam po principu piši-snimi-idi na turneje dugi niz godina. Nije nikada bilo lako. Nisam toliko volio biti u bendu. Rađenje glazbe je boljelo, isto kao i njeno sviranje. Morao sam to raditi. Glazba je bila nešto čemu sam služio. Prije mnogo godina mi je ponestalo teksta za glazbu pa sam prestao s njom.
Osim što imate glazbenu karijeru, također ste i pisac, spoken word performer, novinar, glumac u dobro poznatim filmovima i televizijskim serijama („Sinovi anarhije“, „Vrućina“, „Johnny Mnemonic“), vlasnik izdavačke i diskografske kuće 2.13.61, Inc., imate vlastitu televizijsku emisiju i dobili ste Grammyja za audioknjigu „Get In A Van“. Rekli ste da je bijes vaše gorivo i da vam je potrebna mala količina ludila da biste postigli sjajne stvari. Možete li nam reći nešto više o tome i o ostalim projektima?
Strpljiv sam i često ljut. Ovo vodi ka znatiželji i obavljanju stvari. Život je kratak pa sam zaključio da trebam učiniti puno stvari. Upravo sam završio šest mjeseci skakanja sa jedne stvari na drugu. Pilot epizoda za televizijsku emisiju u Vancouveru, film u Luxembourghu, dokumentarac u Australiji, nastupi u Americi i Europi. Sada sam u Los Angelesu, gdje radim na knjizi i pokušavam doći u fazu editiranja kopije prije završetka mjeseca. Ovako moje godine obično prolaze, od jedne stvari do druge, pokušavajući naći nešto novo za raditi. U principu sam nemiran i želim da stvari brže idu.
Joe Cole, vaš dugogodišnji prijatelj i cimer, kojeg ste upoznali tijekom vašeg vremena provedenog u Black Flagu, je bio upucan ispred vaše kuće. Slučaj do danas nije riješen. Ja i moji čitatelji bi htjeli znati više o Joeu Coleu. Kakav je bio? Pročitao sa negdje da je bio uzor mnogim umjetnicima.
Bio je dobar tip. Nije zaslužio ono što mu se dogodilo. Joe Cole je imao mnogo prijatelja. Mnogo ljudi ga je voljelo. Način na koji je umro je bio teško podnošljiv, a mnogim ljudima još uvijek i je. To je otprilike sve što vam mogu reći.
Koje je vaše mišljenje o današnjoj glazbi? Pošto ste već skoro četrdeset godina na glazbenoj sceni te poznati kao osoba koja razmišlja svojom glavom – što je zapravo temelj pobune? Mislite li da će idući naraštaji nositi plamen r’n’r pobune kao što su i oni prije?
Smatram da je današnja glazba sjajna. Mislim da do pobune dolazi kada dovoljnom broju ljudi prekipi. Ne mogu se sjetiti niti jednog trenutka u povijesti gdje je pobuna pokrenuta glazbom. Ljudi kao što su Elvis i Beatlesi su možda promijenili krajobraz, ali tek nakon što su diskografske kuće shvatile kako da zarade od toga. Pobuna u jednoj zapadnjačkoj zemlji, primjerice na europskom kontinentu ili u Americi, bi bila veoma teška. Ovi ljudi su, u zadnjih nekoliko generacija, uglavnom dobro hranjeni i živjeli su u miru. Trebalo bi stvarno puno toga da ih se natjera na pobunu. Pričao sam sa puno ljudi u Kijevu o tome kroz što prolaze i bilo je suludo. Takvo što bi trebao moći dobrovoljno pretrpjeti. Kao Amerikanac mogu reći da se to ne bi desilo ovdje. Nikada nisam podržavao ideju da glazba započinje išta vezano uz pobunu. Koliko sam ja svjestan, glazba nije okončala iti jedan rat. Mislim da su najbolje pobune osobne. Glazba definitivno može biti dio toga.
Za kraj, koji su vam budući planovi – nova knjiga ili album, možda film? Znam da ste producirali album Charlesa Mansona, glumili u rock filmu „Gutterdämmerung“ zajedno sa pokojnim Lemmyjem Killmisterom iz Mötorheada, Slashom iz Guns’n’Rosesa, Jessejom Björnom iz Eagles Of Death Metal i, naravno, Iggyjem Popom. Postoje vijesti da je nova vrsta crva nazvana po vama u vašu čast. Kako je bilo u Sjevernoj Koreji i na Antarktici i hoćete li ikada svratiti u Split u Hrvatskoj?
Također sam i napisao scenarij za „Gutterdämmerung“. Radim na knjizi sedam dana tjedno, pokušavajući ju dovršiti prije nego što se trebam uputiti na turneju. Sjeverna Koreja je najvećim dijelom bila tužna. Mnoštvo gladnih, uplašenih ljudi. Kada si tamo, svjedočiš stvarnom uništenju planeta. Bio sam u Zagrebu nekoliko puta. Ne znam kada ću se vratiti tamo.
