When Henry Rollins strangled the microphone as frontman for the seminal hardcore band Black Flag the audience staged dived to get away from the muscle-bound tattooed screamer. In a group known for their intimidating theatrics, he was the King of Scary.
But since then Rollins has, well not mellowed, but diversified. Like a popular brand his imprint is on everything from music to movies to books printed by his own publishing empire 2.13.61, named for the date of his birth.
And the hits just keep coming. In November Shock and Awe, a DVD shot in Seattle's Moore Theater recording one of his hilariously intense spoken-word performances, will be released on Rollins' label.
He has also just launched a weekly radio show called "Harmony In My Head" on LA's 103.1, which broadcasts Monday nights 7-9 pm or online at www.indie103.fm. Plus, he's about to go on another USO tour to entertain the troops, stopping in Honduras after appearing in Afghanistan, Qatar and Kyrgyzstan in late 2003 and Iraq and Kuwait in May 2004.
Henry Rollins is a busy man, but never too busy to spew a few words at Mr. Skin. He rants and raves about titty bars and porno, Nastassja Kinski and why few groupies rallied 'round the Black Flag. And, yes, he's still scary.
Are you familiar with Mr. Skin?
I thought that was me in the shower.
You say you're uninterested in nudity unless you're in involved, but there must have been a first time when you saw a mainstream sex scene that perversely affected you?
I like looking at pictures of naked women as much as I like looking at a plate of food when I am hungry. That is to say, I dig it but find it a waste of time to want what I can't have. I don't think any mainstream sex image perversely affected me as I don't see nudity and sex as perverse. War is perverse to me.
Maybe, but you've made some sexy movies with Richard Kern, who's cast Lydia Lunch masturbating with a loaded revolver. You worked with her in The Right Side of My Brain. How'd you get involved in that scene?
I had a few days off between tours and was on the East Coast and Lydia asked me to be in this Kern film with her. We were friends then and so I said sure. Richard's cool. There's no really good stories. We drove for some time out of Manhattan, shot in some woods and a house for awhile, spent the night with a friend of Lydia's and then went back to the city. I've seen Kern a couple of times since. That was 20 years ago.
As a kid, did you have any Charlie's Angels posters on your wall?
No. There again, I can't have it, I don't want to be reminded over and over.
When was the first time you discovered Playboy or some stroke-book?
I remember seeing a copy of Playboy my mother was giving my grandmother's husband. It was interesting years later remembering that I really liked the pictures but couldn't understand why.
What actresses turned you on then and whom do you find hot now?
I always thought Nastassja Kinski (Picture: ) was hot. Who do I think is hot now? Tons. There are beautiful women everywhere you look. To pick one by name? I'm not lining myself up for that one.
You've worked with some nude-worthy actresses: Patricia Arquette (Picture: - - ), Lisa Boyle (Picture: ) and Natasha Gregson Wagner (Picture: ) in Lost Highway (1997), Shannon Elizabeth (Picture: ) in Jack Frost (1997) and Jessica Karr (Picture: ) and Gabrielle Union (Picture: - ) in Bad Boys 2 (2003). Do things get spicy on set?
They might very well get spicy if you are a tall handsome rich leading man but in my case my answer is a flat not to my knowledge.
We're huge big Black Flag fans and love your book Get in the Van for its regale of life on the road with the hardcore heroes. Things got pretty tight in that van, especially for a touring band with no financial support. Did you guys at least have the fringe benefit of groupies?
You would meet the occasional obliging female, but it's nothing like if you were in a big band. That kind of thing didn't really happen a great deal in that scene.
How about as a spoken-word artist, do you get more female attention?
Not really. Women will tell you that they like your work and that they really want to talk to you for a long time or have you read their work. Also keep in mind, you might get more of that kind of thing if you put out that kind of vibe and I don't.
How's the radio show going to be different than your books and solo performances?
I play songs I like and mouth off. I guess it's like a talk show broken up by a great deal of music. It's been fun so far.
What are you working on next?
I am in the middle of a movie right now and have a trip for the USO coming up soon after and a TV show happening after that. Meanwhile we are getting a book and a DVD ready for release in the fall along with some music projects. I have some writing work I am struggling with as always.
I've read you don't like porn, but what's your feeling on cult-erotic movies?
No, no, no, I don't dislike porn, long may it wave. I just don't want to watch. I want to fuck. I don't want to watch people fucking. It's like that food thing. I don't want to watch someone eat a pizza. I want to eat the pizza. What the fuck do I want to watch for?
Did you once say that guys who go to strip clubs hate and/or don't understand women? Please elaborate and do you still feel that way. Does that apply to the whole sex industry?
You're gonna go into a room and have a woman put her tits in your face. Then you're going to go home. You're not going to fuck her. You're not the guy in the Chili Peppers, he's going to fuck her, not you. Clear? Good. Now why the fuck do you want to spend a whole night looking at shit you can't have. You'll never get anything done, son.
I have fucked more women than you ever will and watching some female onstage while I have to listen to some weak shit like Nine Inch Nails doesn't sound like something I'm wasting my time on. "Want some get some" is something I live by. You want to go to a strip club? Knock yourself out, if it gets you off then go on.
It's like all those Maxim-type mags, that's all fear of pussy to me. I was in England a couple of summers ago and had to do an interview with one of those pieces of shit magazines, what was it, For Him Magazine? Yes. I asked this soft manchild if he drove any of the cars or fucked any of the women in the magazine. He said no. What a bitch.
OK, I get the point. What's next?
I've been doing sets of push ups on my fists for days now, it hurts like a motherfucker. I think I will do some more.
But since then Rollins has, well not mellowed, but diversified. Like a popular brand his imprint is on everything from music to movies to books printed by his own publishing empire 2.13.61, named for the date of his birth.
And the hits just keep coming. In November Shock and Awe, a DVD shot in Seattle's Moore Theater recording one of his hilariously intense spoken-word performances, will be released on Rollins' label.
He has also just launched a weekly radio show called "Harmony In My Head" on LA's 103.1, which broadcasts Monday nights 7-9 pm or online at www.indie103.fm. Plus, he's about to go on another USO tour to entertain the troops, stopping in Honduras after appearing in Afghanistan, Qatar and Kyrgyzstan in late 2003 and Iraq and Kuwait in May 2004.
Henry Rollins is a busy man, but never too busy to spew a few words at Mr. Skin. He rants and raves about titty bars and porno, Nastassja Kinski and why few groupies rallied 'round the Black Flag. And, yes, he's still scary.
Are you familiar with Mr. Skin?
I thought that was me in the shower.
You say you're uninterested in nudity unless you're in involved, but there must have been a first time when you saw a mainstream sex scene that perversely affected you?
I like looking at pictures of naked women as much as I like looking at a plate of food when I am hungry. That is to say, I dig it but find it a waste of time to want what I can't have. I don't think any mainstream sex image perversely affected me as I don't see nudity and sex as perverse. War is perverse to me.
Maybe, but you've made some sexy movies with Richard Kern, who's cast Lydia Lunch masturbating with a loaded revolver. You worked with her in The Right Side of My Brain. How'd you get involved in that scene?
I had a few days off between tours and was on the East Coast and Lydia asked me to be in this Kern film with her. We were friends then and so I said sure. Richard's cool. There's no really good stories. We drove for some time out of Manhattan, shot in some woods and a house for awhile, spent the night with a friend of Lydia's and then went back to the city. I've seen Kern a couple of times since. That was 20 years ago.
As a kid, did you have any Charlie's Angels posters on your wall?
No. There again, I can't have it, I don't want to be reminded over and over.
When was the first time you discovered Playboy or some stroke-book?
I remember seeing a copy of Playboy my mother was giving my grandmother's husband. It was interesting years later remembering that I really liked the pictures but couldn't understand why.
What actresses turned you on then and whom do you find hot now?
I always thought Nastassja Kinski (Picture: ) was hot. Who do I think is hot now? Tons. There are beautiful women everywhere you look. To pick one by name? I'm not lining myself up for that one.
You've worked with some nude-worthy actresses: Patricia Arquette (Picture: - - ), Lisa Boyle (Picture: ) and Natasha Gregson Wagner (Picture: ) in Lost Highway (1997), Shannon Elizabeth (Picture: ) in Jack Frost (1997) and Jessica Karr (Picture: ) and Gabrielle Union (Picture: - ) in Bad Boys 2 (2003). Do things get spicy on set?
They might very well get spicy if you are a tall handsome rich leading man but in my case my answer is a flat not to my knowledge.
We're huge big Black Flag fans and love your book Get in the Van for its regale of life on the road with the hardcore heroes. Things got pretty tight in that van, especially for a touring band with no financial support. Did you guys at least have the fringe benefit of groupies?
You would meet the occasional obliging female, but it's nothing like if you were in a big band. That kind of thing didn't really happen a great deal in that scene.
How about as a spoken-word artist, do you get more female attention?
Not really. Women will tell you that they like your work and that they really want to talk to you for a long time or have you read their work. Also keep in mind, you might get more of that kind of thing if you put out that kind of vibe and I don't.
How's the radio show going to be different than your books and solo performances?
I play songs I like and mouth off. I guess it's like a talk show broken up by a great deal of music. It's been fun so far.
What are you working on next?
I am in the middle of a movie right now and have a trip for the USO coming up soon after and a TV show happening after that. Meanwhile we are getting a book and a DVD ready for release in the fall along with some music projects. I have some writing work I am struggling with as always.
I've read you don't like porn, but what's your feeling on cult-erotic movies?
No, no, no, I don't dislike porn, long may it wave. I just don't want to watch. I want to fuck. I don't want to watch people fucking. It's like that food thing. I don't want to watch someone eat a pizza. I want to eat the pizza. What the fuck do I want to watch for?
Did you once say that guys who go to strip clubs hate and/or don't understand women? Please elaborate and do you still feel that way. Does that apply to the whole sex industry?
You're gonna go into a room and have a woman put her tits in your face. Then you're going to go home. You're not going to fuck her. You're not the guy in the Chili Peppers, he's going to fuck her, not you. Clear? Good. Now why the fuck do you want to spend a whole night looking at shit you can't have. You'll never get anything done, son.
I have fucked more women than you ever will and watching some female onstage while I have to listen to some weak shit like Nine Inch Nails doesn't sound like something I'm wasting my time on. "Want some get some" is something I live by. You want to go to a strip club? Knock yourself out, if it gets you off then go on.
It's like all those Maxim-type mags, that's all fear of pussy to me. I was in England a couple of summers ago and had to do an interview with one of those pieces of shit magazines, what was it, For Him Magazine? Yes. I asked this soft manchild if he drove any of the cars or fucked any of the women in the magazine. He said no. What a bitch.
OK, I get the point. What's next?
I've been doing sets of push ups on my fists for days now, it hurts like a motherfucker. I think I will do some more.
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Nastassja Kinski Patricia Arquette Lisa Boyle Natasha Gregson Wagner Shannon Elizabeth Jessica Karr Gabrielle Union |
Henry Rollins Official Site 2.13.61 Online Store Lost Highway Jack Frost Bad Boys 2 |
