Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Hi, how are you doing?
Good, thanks.
How’s Europe Treating you?
I’m actually in Los Angles now, it ain’t bad. We’re getting ready to leave for our tour tomorrow.
Are you doing anything to prepare for the long tour ahead of you?
No. I’m putting four pairs of pants, a shirt and four pairs of socks in a bag.
With howl, we were warning peole from day one that we like a lot of different styles of music and we write in a lot of dfferent ways. For us it’s just another type of music we play. A lot of our songs start with acoustic guitar, it makes a lot of sense to us anyways. If you take a song like Complicated Situation and play it on electric guitar it just doesn’t work. This record [Baby 81] is just a blending of all the three records, that’s what we’re trying to do.
Are there as many politically charged songs on Baby 81 as there were on Howl?
Yeah, I guess so. It’s I don’t know, we’re not all that into hoppin’ on the political bandwagon. Republican or democrat, I don’t know if you could call it capitalism politics, but i think that’s what’s running politics as far as the government goes. From day one, it’s been about questioning the world around us, that’s half the fun of it really. It’s more complicated than just politcs.
How do you feel about being compared to band like Iggy Pop and The Stooges, The Ramones and The Doors?
I have no problem with that. I really don’t. I don’t hold ourselves to their status as far as the effect they had on thier generation or peers as far as their music goes. I don’t know if we have it, we’re trying to add extensively — we’re just trying to find our place within in the wall of music, as far as I picture it. Everybody has their little stamp on it and I’d like to do it in a respectful way because it’s the music of the past and the music of today really. I’m not sure how people mean it as far as people comparing us to different bands. Who gives a shit? It’s like ok, so you’re a writer, you’re not making up any new words, you’re useless. You haven’t come up with any new colors. What exactly are you getting at? what’s your point? It all depends on how far you take it.
What’s the craziest show you’ve played?
There’s a couple. One that stands out in my mind in Leigh we played at the town hall and we were four songs into the show when everybody started jumping up and down and cracked the floor, so we had to stop playing. It was pretty cool to break a town hall though. I’m glad nobody was hurt, but it’s nice to know when you get enough people together they can do something like that.
Are there any undiscovered or underground contemporaries that your fans should be aware of?
The Cobbs, Paik and Main Line — from Ireland — and Dead Combo.
What do you guys like to listen to when you’re on the road or to pump yourselves up?
My tradition is having someone punch me at the time. I just ask the closest person to me to punch me a couple times in the arm, it helps relieve some of the stress. When we were touring in a van, we’d have music keeping us up until 5:00 a.m. It was usually Primal Scream’s Exterminator.
Should your fans expect any surprises during your tour?
We’re just planning the best we can. There are no new colors, no new words. Hopefully people get the impression that it’s a community, that’s all we’re looking for.
By John Siwicki
