10 Questions with Henry Rollins – Interview
Henry Rollins is one of the hardest working men in entertainment, period. If you’ve ever heard Henry talk about his typical (read: insane) schedule, work ethic and DIY attitude toward pretty much everything, then you know he’s always working on something. Always.
When we spoke with Henry in Detroit at the end of November 2008, we asked if we could get a quick interview with him. He said, “Sure, if you don’t mind waiting. Send me your questions.” Naturally, we said, “Sure! No problem.” and we waited. Then we waited. Then we waited a bit more.
After an historical election, the holidays, the new year, lots of travel, a few speaking gigs, the passing of one radio show and the birth of a new one, a couple new books in the works and some acting gigs, Mr. Rollins had a scant 8 seconds to catch his breath and answer our questions. Well, some of our questions. We sent him 38 questions in all; he had time for 10. These are the ones that were selected. Enjoy.
STI: What can you tell us about A Preferred Blur, A Mad Dash and the one you recently alluded to that will be out years from now?
HR: APB and AMD are travel/journal books from 2007 and 2008 respectively. The other book is photos and essays and is in early stages of production. APB will be out in April 2009 and AMD will be out in November of 2009 if all goes to plan.
STI: If you had your way, what books would you make mandatory in high school or college curricula?
HR: George Orwell’s 1984, The Stranger by Albert Camus, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Dostoyevsky’s Crime And Punishment. Those would be good for high school. For college, hell, I don’t know what to do with college students. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein and Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic by Chalmers Johnson maybe.
STI: The music industry blames file sharing and/or piracy for declining sales. Do you see that as a major contributor, or is the current music business model simply not adapting to the times and technology fast enough? What other factors do you see contributing to its decline?
HR: I think the major factor in the couldn’t-come-soon-enough decline of the major label industry is greed. Greed and underestimating the intelligence of their patrons.File sharing has had an effect, certainly. Why do people share files? Maybe because you put out a CD for $19.99 and two songs on it are good and the rest is so-so because you told the band to hurry up already. When you make art into an industry, everyone will suffer. I am sorry about all the people who lost their jobs but this thing had to end.
STI: Vinyl has risen from the dead in a major way over the past few years. In 2008, sales of LPs were up by 89%, from 990,000 in ’07 to 1.88 million this past year. What do you think has sparked this resurrection? What albums do you think sound better on vinyl than CD or other digital media?
HR: I think a lot of people enjoy the hands-on aspect of an LP. The artwork is more visible as well, always cool. That could be a part of it. What albums sound better on vinyl? ALL OF THEM.
STI: Are you still working with Paul Rieckhoff and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America? On a related note, have you recently been on any USO tours and are you scheduled for any upcoming visits this year?
HR: I am waiting for IAVA to finalize a video they are doing as I will be supplying voice over for it. USO has asked if I will do a tour later in the year. I will check [my] schedule and see if I can accommodate.
STI: If there was only one thing you could make the American people understand about what you’ve seen on your many tours to visit the troops, what would it be?
HR: That these are fantastic men and women and that Iraq and Afghanistan are a fool’s mission.
STI: When visiting other countries, what’s the most common thing people express to you now that Barack Obama is in office and the reign of the Bush Regime is over?
HR: An incredible amount of happiness and relief. I was just in Mali and people were very excited about [our new] president. This is the only country I have been to since Obama won the election though. I will be doing some travel this year and will find out more when I get on the road. I was out and about in the world quite a bit leading up to the election though and people were very hopeful about Obama winning.
STI: Some say President Obama’s biggest challenge over the coming years will be the economy, others say universal health care, some claim our foreign policy. What do you think his biggest challenge over the next four years will be?
HR: The economy. Its state will dictate what happens in all other areas.
STI: If nothing else, what do you think he should absolutely accomplish during his first term?
HR: Out of Iraq, out of Afghanistan, close Gitmo, close black site prisons, stop all torture of “detainees.” Talks with Iran, China, North Korea, Cuba.
STI: You cover America’s dependency on foreign oil and relying on countries that “hate our guts” quite a bit as well as getting off our collective asses and doing something about it, ie. solar panels, electric cars, wind energy, etc. Is it fair to ask what Henry Rollins is doing for his part? For example, do you and Heidi [May] kick it in a solar-powered office or does the Bon JoviMobile run on second-hand fryer grease like Willie Nelson’s tour bus?
HR: Of course it’s fair. I mostly do all the normal things, I light the room I am in, rarely use heat, never use AC, drive as little as possible. I shower with the water off except for soaping up and rinsing off. I am in process of moving and have not considered putting solar panels on a place I am hoping to leave. If I can get somewhere else to live, I will pursue that. I have never pursued an alt. energy tour bus. I pay my carbon offset, although I don’t know for sure what good it does, I am hopeful.
Henry Rollins: http://21361.com
Thanks to Tresa Redburn at DEPT 56.
Jeremy Wheeler – The Bang!, comics, movies and life in the Midwest.
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Jeremy Wheeler over a few cold ones and talk about his life in Ann Arbor, MI and all the things he’s currently involved in. Jeremy has the kind of easy nature and laid back disposition that instantly puts you at ease. The first thing you notice is his trademark goggle-style glasses, then the “ah, fuck it” hair style followed by the sighting of a collectible or two on his person (is that a Batman belt buckle?) Then you notice that the man almost never stops smiling, except when he’s looking off at the ceiling searching for the precise way to answer the latest question.
We traced some of his current projects back to his days in high school and followed their progression (and his) on to his days at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, the lack of a decent scene in Grand Rapids, his fortuitous move to Ann Arbor and everything that’s happened there since. He isn’t shy about the downs as well as the ups, and never fails to give credit where credit is due, acknowledging (and often heaping praise upon) those around him who have not only made an impact, but continue to help make him who and what he is today; an artist, a DJ, a movie critic, an entrepreneur, a visionary and a risk-taker. He’s neither short on opinions nor breath, so grab a cold one and settle in for a round with Jeremy Wheeler.
STI: This is Derek Batting with Street Team Interviews and I’m here with Jeremy Wheeler.
JW: Hello!
STI: We’re talking about The Bang! and I’m sure a lot of these people have no idea what The Bang! is. What is The Bang!?
JW: The Bang! is an audio visual dance explosion. We strive to make the best time possible. It is a place where all are welcome. Many people dress up according to the different themes we pick and stuff like that and we do it — it’s a monthly event. We do it mostly at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor and we have been doing it there since 2002 but we actually create The Bang! in 2001 in the basement of a dorm at a place called The Halfass, or the Halfway Inn.
STI: The Halfass.
JW: [laughs] The Halfass, but –
STI: As it’s commonly known around here.
JW: Yes, exactly, as it’s known here in A2. Yeah, so…
STI: So it’s what, seven years old now?
JW: We just celebrated our 7 year anniversary in November.
STI: Excellent. I’ve heard it described as everything from simply, “sexy” to “Deadly dance party madness” to, my personal favorite, “A dance dance superfest that will never rest!” What say you?
JW: [laughs] Uh… just [pauses] outrageous. If you wanna have one word, I would explain The Bang! as outrageous. It’s a dance night like no other. I don’t know if anyone out there is doing a dance night like this. It’s not your typical DJ environment. We decorate, we build sets, we have a rabid fan base who are fantastic and every time, they surprise us with what they come up with, the outfits that they do — that they put together and wear or just their fine, foxy selves. I’m consistently entertained and impressed by the people that come out.
STI: Over the past seven years, how has The Bang! evolved?
JW: Well… One thing how it hasn’t evolved is we’ve always used mix tapes. It’s always been a mix tape driven dance party. In the beginning — and we’ve always tried to decorate a little bit, but in the beginning there were mostly blown up posters of designs I had made or something and one great thing that we’ve always had is we’ve always had the logo which stems from one of the most overused typefaces around, Impact, but for whatever reason, it stayed with us and has been great, so whether it was at the Halfass or whether it’s at, you know, the Blind Pig to this day, the logo was always in your face and it was always there. As we’ve added a light show, we’ve added –
STI: Huge backdrops!
JW: Huge backdrops. Thirteen foot backdrops, large sets whether it be a shark’s mouth or a pirate ship or many various spinning things.
STI: I believe I was there once for a Back To School Bang! with a huge yellow school bus.
JW: Yeah, yellow school bus with either spinning wheels or non-spinning wheels depending on if our motors are working the night of. So yeah, we’ve added plenty of light shows and more and more decorations. I’m more and more impressed with the things that our crew comes up with and the crew has evolved. It was my partner in crime, Jason Gibner, and I, we started it. We both come up with the music, we both come up with the visuals for the video that plays everywhere and we still use VHS.
STI: The notorious videos.
JW: Yeah, the notorious videos. We still use VHS. I record half of it and he compiles the other half. But then we’ve added various, like, crew members over the years and they’re usually, you know, friends of ours. At the beginning, we definitely had friends helping us and stuff like that, but now we’re really kind of, like, bona fide and we do have these people that come with us every time and their just as invested as we are.
STI: Speaking of everyone who makes The Bang! happen every month, do you want to give a shout- out to, say, Gibner and the whole crew that makes it work?
JW: Absolutely. Jason Gibner and I would not be where we were, where we are, without the people who help us. We have a crew of carpenters, we have a crew of lighting technicians, we have an engineer on our team, and we have decorators. We’ve had people come in and out of our Bang! crew that are connected to many different scenes whether it be the electronic scene with Lauren Hill or other fellow DJs like Ayron Michael Nelson or our resident rock & roll guitarist Chris “Box” Taylor. It is kind of like a family thing. We’re very happy to have them on board and not only that, but we’re happy to help give them a means to survive. I mean, this has become a business, and because of that, we’re really happy that the people who are working with us, we love them and we care for them and they bring only their best to every time. So, I’m happy to give them props.
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