[IMG:L]No matter how much he tries to deny it, Henry Rollins is considered by legions as the voice of his generation. He first garnered fame as the lead singer for the seminal, California-based, punk band Black Flag.
Along his journey Rollins honed his unique voice in an alternate way, delving into writing multiple books. After a few years of being contracted to work for other people, the savvy businessman Rollins was able to graduate into founding his own music label and publishing company, so that he could finally own his product. Established in the mid-‘80s, his edgy, self-starter group, the Rollins Band had hits through the ‘90s.
Over the past 15 years, Rollins has appeared in films such as Heat, Lost Highway, and more recently with horror films like Feast, and the upcoming Wrong Turn 2: Dead End. In addition, Rollins has a weekly radio show, and the new season of his uncensored TV series, The Henry Rollins Show, on the IFC; on it, he’s interviewed such luminaries as Oliver Stone, Frank Black, Bill Maher, Jeff Bridges and many more.
While Rollins probes some of his favorite personalities and filmmakers, the show becomes even more personal when showcases his choice music makers like Deadboy & the Elephantmen, Thom Yorke [Radiohead’s lead singer] and Slayer. Last week, Rollins’ new season kicked-off in high gear with sit down guest Marilyn Manson, and Peaches as musical performer. Later in April, insightful auteur and sleaze connoisseur John Waters stops by, after Rollins mulls over the link between the U.S. Army developing video games for kids and a likely, future draft. This Friday, April 20th at 11 p.m. EDT, the uninhibited Rollins spends time with versatile funnyman Ben Stiller; then Ryan Adams and The Cardinals rock the studio with a sneak from their latest album, Easy Tiger.
Hollywood.com: The 2005 season of your show was radically different from your earlier program series, entitled Henry’s Film Corner. Will we see that much of a change again?
Henry Rollins: No, just because the first season was a film review show [format]. The new season of the show that we’re shooting right now is not radically different from the season that just finished last year. We have musical guests, sit down guests and me editorializing down the barrel of the lens. We’ve settled into the thing that we like.
HW: I read that seeing the punk band Bad Brains is what made you originally want to do music.
HR: Yes, in 1851.
HW: [Laughs] You premiered some new Bad Brains songs on your radio, and they’ll be appearing as a musical guest on the upcoming season…
HR: You are the second person who has said that, but no one has told me that. The Bad Brains’ record label called me and said, “We’d love to have Bad Brains on the show,” and I said, “That’s potentially interesting.” But we don’t mess around here…we’re not going to wait around all day for someone to figure out if they will perform. I told them that they can [perform only] if they can guarantee they’ll pay for the studio, if they don’t show up. I love the band but not everyone in that band is 100 percent ready to be on time, and hit it over and over again. I needed some insurance on that… So no one [at the label] has told me yet, if they’re going to comp our costs if they don’t show up.
HW: Last year, you interviewed David Johanssen [of The New York Dolls] for the first time. What is it like being able to give back to guys like him, and Bad Brains, who were such influences?
HR: It’s gratifying because there are so many bands who I would like to say thank you to, like The Ramones, or to Devo, or whoever. Rarely are you able to do that in any substantial way, other than dropping their name in a magazine interview. It’s not like I can do Iggy Pop any favors at all, but it was really great to have him on the show to help launch his new album. In a way it is a chance for me to say that I am a fan. David Johannsen and Sylvain Sylvain [also of The New York Dolls] are two people I’ve wanted to meet for over 20 years and it was great.
HW: I know that you personally would never say that you’re the voice of any generation.
HR: Never.
[IMG:R]HW: But people obviously place that mantel on you. You speak and connect with a lot of people, linking them to one another.
HR: People say stuff like “You’re a bright light in a blah blah blah.” I go “Yeah, talk to Ian MacKaye [of Minor Threat and Fugazi] about that.” To me, Ian is that bright light, he’s that voice. If you had a nickel for every band that said that Ian MacKaye was an influence or inspiration, you’d own the building I’m sitting in right now.
HW: Do you ever get nervous interviewing someone you really admire?
HR: Yeah, absolutely. I was nervous when Werner Herzog came in the studio because he’s one of my favorite directors. I think he’s a film icon. He’s one of the real deal guys and a true pioneer of cinema. When he walked into our little box, I was like, “No way am I looking at Werner Herzog right now.” When I’m nervous I’m just polite; so when in doubt, just stick out your hand and go, “How do you do Mr. Herzog?” He said, “Oh call me Werner.” He was a really nice guy but it’s just amazing to sit in a room with someone who did all those films with Klaus Kinski.
HW: Did any other interview unnerve you?
HR: I was nervous when I met Jerry Lee Lewis the first time because he’s an intense dude. They flew me to Mississippi to interview him for his video press kit. I said, “Hey Mr. Lewis, I’m Henry…I’m basically going to be filming you in your own home,” and he said, “Alright, killer.” If he likes you, he calls you killer. He liked the interview I did with him, so he asked me to interview him when he came up to NYC to be on MTV. He said, “I want that boy, Henry Rollins who interviewed me at my house.” They called me and said, “Jerry is requesting you to interview him on MTV. I said, “I’m so there.” We walked into MTV together and he doesn’t even know it at all. He said, “Hey killer, MTV is what all the kids are watching.” I said, “I know, Mr. Lewis.” I never called him Jerry, it was Mr. Lewis.
HW: So you become sincerely formal?
HR: Same thing when I met James Brown, it was, “Mr. Brown, how do you do?” But on our show, I realized that one of my responsibilities is to make our guest feel at ease so I must sidestep any nervousness or any apprehension I have.
HW: There’s always a back and forth with interviewing.
HR: Now I understand how someone might be pretty nervous to meet me. I’ve walked into places to be interviewed and seen people be a little uptight. The interviewer will be, “So if there’s anything you don’t want to answer…” and I’m like, “Pal, it’s really ok.” Now I see why they might be a little nervous because I see it in myself. I don’t want people being nervous around me because that’s a waste of time. I’ve had people go, “I’m really nervous right now talking to you” and I like, “Ok, let’s take a minute” so I make sure I un-nervous them and then we proceed.
HW: Your spoken word show, “Uncut from Israel,” is it a bunch of different clips from all over the area?
HR: Yes and no. We shot the spoken word over two nights, but we probably didn’t use any of the first night except for some cutaways… But for the second night they brought in the big lights and the crane. So the show you see is primarily made up of night two, and we cut in interstitial stuff of me walking around Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. We shot a full day from like 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., me walking around the Wailing Wall and the Temple Mount–and all of that with a fellow named Ziv Koren.
HW: Is Ziv Koren pretty well-known in Israel?
HR: Ziv is a photojournalist and even though you might not know it, you’ve seen his photos. His work has been on the cover of everything. When it blows up, they send in Ziv–and his photos are insane. The bus that blows up with arms and legs everywhere, that’s Ziv’s photo. Anywhere coated with blood and soldier parts, that’s Ziv. So his version of Israel is pretty intense. He’s a dad, so all of this stuff weighs heavily upon him.
HW: Clearly you connected with him…
HR: A lot of the footage is of the two of us walking around, and talking about things. He would say, “Where you’re standing right now, four years ago…” and he’d show a photo of a dead man right where I was standing. Tel Aviv is a fascinating and beautiful country, but any time, anywhere, it blows up. The way people deal with that is fascinating because they’re a very warm group of people.
[IMG:L]HW: Any new music coming up?
HR: I got no band right now. I’m writing songs in my head, but I got no one to play with at the moment. I’m in one of those positions where if I made a record or didn’t make a record, no one would really notice either way. Like Lou Reed used to say, “I can do whatever I want, just no one cares,” so I’m there unfortunately. But I still might do something, I might not…I’d rather break it up a little, that’s why I like the radio show, the TV show, the traveling I do–the USO work. I’m trying to keep it more of a potpourri.
HW: Besides Wrong Turn 2, it doesn’t look like you have a lot of movies coming out.
HR: Well, I don’t get asked to do many movies, and quite honestly I’m not trying to do many. I think I would probably get more work if I said, “Ok, I’m a movie guy. I’m now going on three auditions a day,” I don’t really do movie thing all that often. It’s basically a ‘between tour’ snack.
HW: How do you set it up with that schedule?
HR: If I know I’m going off the road for ten weeks, we’ll alert the agent a month before. So like eight scripts show up, and I go on all the auditions and meet the casting people. They try to choke their laughter as they go, “Thank you for coming, it was great.” And then, of course, I don’t get the job. Every once in a while I do, and that’s why you’ll see me in zero to three films a year… But I’ve been busy working on three books, two of which will come out this year.
HW What are the new books?
HR: One is about music, it’s notes from my radio show about 140,000 words, so we’re slogging through the first draft right now. Another book will be travel stories from this year and it’s going to be called A Preferred Blur. It’s basically sleepless journal entries from all these crazy places I’ve been. The book starts in Dubai, goes through Iran, to Israel, to Canada and ends in Washington D.C. Part of it will be about all my USO travel, and the other part is this travel book. I’m writing a whole thing about this time spent in NYC, doing all the shows with Janeane Garofalo and Marc Maron [at the Gramercy Theatre in Manhattan]. It will be just a journal of 2007.
HW: Have you written much fiction?
HR: Yes, mostly through my earlier books. Also a book I wrote last year called Roomanitarian is mostly fiction.
HW: On the topic of making fiction, how was it working with [director] Joe Lynch on Wrong Turn 2?
HR: He’s a wonderful guy. I am marrying Joe and his fiancée on April 21. I’m writing and performing the ceremony.
HW: Are you serious?
HR: Yeah, I’m serious as a heart attack.
HW: That’s hysterical.
HR: Joe asked me and I said, “Damn Joe, that’s a hell of a thing.” He and his wonderful fiancé Bri talked about it and said they couldn’t find anyone else to do it. I said, “Man I can’t say no to that, I wouldn’t dare.” So I’ve written this thing I really like and I wrote Joe the other day, saying, “Would you like me to send it to you, so you can make sure it’s ok?” and he wrote me back, “No, I want to be surprised, I trust you.”
HW: Do you feel that Joe Lynch is a really special director?
HR: As soon as I met Joe I was hoping it would work out for me to be in the film because after I met him I was like, “Man, I would do anything for this guy.” I really like him and doing the movie with him made me like him even more. It was a blast.
HW: Is it myth or true that you and Joe shared a maggot.
HR: There were some maggots on set; and in my eighth grade mind, I somehow feel that if there’s a girl there, I can make them go, “Ewwwww!” So I grabbed the maggot, and I’m eating it, and Joe comes up and goes, “Share?” I went, “Yeaaaahhhh,” and I gave him half the maggot, and we both ate it. So we bonded over a maggot. He’s that kind of guy.
HW: Since you meet a lot of soldiers doing USO tours, did you use a lot of that ‘stuff’ when you were playing the marine in Wrong Turn 2?
HR: Just wearing a pair of those army pants puts you in that space. I own a bunch of those pants anyway, and in some of the shots in the movie those were my boots. As far as the way I spoke, I went to a military prep school. I come from Washington D.C., so I was eyeball deep in the military. My father was ex-Army, my stepbrother was Navy–so I’ve had guys telling me to ‘sit down and shut up’ since I was like 12.
[IMG:R]HW: Do you have interest in producing a movie?
HR: No, I’ve been around enough directors to see that I don’t have near that level of talent or vision When you see or meet a director who can really do something, you realize what an extraordinary person that is. If you hang out with P.T. Anderson or [Syriana director] Stephen Gaghan and you listen to the way they describe things, you go, “Wow, I don’t have that.” I’ve noticed a similarly in directors, they have this way of looking at things that I understand when they say it, but I never could have generated that myself.
HW: So you’re in your mid-40s. It seems like eventually we’re going to come to a time where fictionalized movies are going to be done about the music era you came up in.
HR: I’m sure there will be a Germs movie, another Kurt Cobain movie; I’m sure someone will do something about a band like Black Flag. If you’re around long enough in some poignant part of history, eventually you’ll watch some younger, cuter person being you. It’s one the ironies of the age we live in.
HW: So you feel those early days of punk would make a good movie?
HR: It will probably be the most interesting because it was the most eventful and violent [period] which is probably good for a director.
HW: Who could play the younger Henry Rollins?
HR: Let’s see, the younger me? Claire Danes, I think. She’s easy to look at.
HW: [Laughs] They did just have Cate Blanchett play Bob Dylan in that new upcoming movie [I’m Not There].
HR: Nice, that’s adventurous.
HW: So maybe Claire Danes could step in for you?
HR: Yeah. Why not? But that’s never really in my thinking. Every once in a while I get an alert: “This writer wants to do a biography on you.” I’m like, “I’m still writing it myself. I haven’t done anything–let me die first, let me achieve something.” I’d like to think I’m just getting warmed up.
