It was the summer of 1976 in Los Angeles and The Ramones were playing second bill to the Flamin’ Groovies at The Roxy. Across the pond, The Sex Pistols were still months away from achieving everlasting infamy by calling their host a “fucking rotter” while live on British TV. Meanwhile, in a Kentucky Fried Chicken parking lot off Third Street in LA’s Fairfax District, an 11-year-old Marc Canter caught his fellow classmate, Saul Hudson (a.k.a. a just about teenage Slash of Guns N’ Roses), suspiciously eyeballing Canter’s mini-bike parked outside. In those days there was a lot of bike stealing. “I was one of the thieves, I know, ” Slash laughs. ”It’s quite possible I was thinking about taking off with it because I used to be like that back then. Anyhow, that’s how [Marc and I] met and weve been friends ever since.”
“Back then there was this golden age of journalism.”
-Neil Strauss
Neil Strauss has a talent for honing in on the very essence of who a person is. It’s an attribute that has served him well as an interviewer for publications such as The New York Times and Rolling Stone, as a writer penning biographical books with the likes of Mötley Crüe (The Dirt) and Jenna Jameson (How To Make Love Like A Porn Star), and in his other life, as Style, the seduction guru and author of the pick-up bible, The Game.
When Shepard Fairey last spoke with SuicideGirls, he talked about the rebellious allure of both punk rock and street art, and in his latest gallery show, REVOLUTIONS, he directly combines the two. The exhibition, which opens this Saturday (March 12) at Robert Berman’s C2 Gallery at Bergamot Station in Los Angeles, will feature 80 pieces based on the 12 inch record cover form.
REVOLUTIONS, which Fairey calls “a celebration of all the great music and accompanying art that has inspired me over the years,” reflects the LA graffiti artist’s love of punk, and of the hip-hop scene he is associated with. However, there’s also a somewhat unexpected influence, as seen in a series of pieces which pay homage to the rich visual vocabulary of heavy metal.
This Sunday (Mar 13th) our very special in-studio guest will be rock journalist and author Neil Strauss. He’ll be talking about his latest offering, Everyone Loves You When You’re Dead, an interview anthology-cum-self-help book, featuring wise (and not so wise) words from the likes of Trent Reznor, Lady Gaga, Chuck Berry, Madonna, Marilyn Manson, Johnny Cash, and many, many more.
Our story begins with a poker game gone bad… a lifeless body on the floor, hand still clutching its cards… whacked on the head with a bass guitar. In the background, Mike Patton’s haunting film score crescendos over the radio waves as the other two poker players argue over what to do with the body. Incinerator? Garbage disposal? They haven’t a clue.
I first became aware of Dave Navarro’s penchant for cute things bearing the likeness of Sanrio’s Hello Kitty character while doing the SuicideGirls Radio show. We broadcast each Sunday out of Indie1031.com’s studios, which at the time also served as home for the wild living and hard rockin’ Jane’s Addiction and Camp Freddy guitarist’s Wednesday night Dark Matter show (which has since moved to Moheak.com’s Silverlake base). In the Indie studio, there was a shrine of sorts, where people left various Hello Kitty offerings to Dave.
It could be said that every day is Mardi Gras on SuicideGirls – and there’s no beads needed to see our beautiful breasts. However, if you’re looking to get in the carnival mood, you could do no better than to check out the steamy sights and sounds of LA’s own incredible 19-piece New Orleans-style orchestra and cabaret, Vaud and the Villains. Having been blown away by recent performances in the SuicideGirls Radio studio and at The Mint, we checked in with bandleader Vaud Overstreet to find out how he came to channel the sexy and sordid essence of the Big Easy.
