by Jay Hathaway
“Sometimes being onstage is better than sex.”
– Brian Molko
Brian Molko, the always-engaging frontman of Placebo, has been around the world twice since SuicideGirls last checked in with him. Although Placebo has had a successful decade-long career in the UK and Europe, they’ve never managed a full-on conquest of America. This summer’s Projekt Revolution tour, headlined by Linkin Park, might be the Trojan Horse that finally gets them through the gate. Did Placebo take their new audience by surprise, or was it the other way around? I got a chance to talk to Brian as he was getting ready for one of the last shows of a year and a half of touring.
Read our exclusive interview with Brian Molko on SuicideGirls.com.
by Keith Daniels
“If you’re creating something you want to see it through to the end.”
– Glenn Mercer
New Jersey’s The Feelies formed in the late ‘70s around the core of guitarists Glenn Mercer and Bill Million. Between their seminal first record, 1980’s Crazy Rhythms, and 1991’s Time for a Witness, their post-punk, Velvet Underground and Jonathan Richman-inspired sound evolved from their twitchy, polyrhythmic debut to more atmospheric, complex guitar pop, leading critic Robert Christgau to say of the final record of their original run, “the minimalism of Crazy Rhythms was always misleading.”
Post-Feelies, Mercer worked on several other projects, including the band Wake Ooloo and a solo record. Million left music entirely and for nearly twenty years, reportedly, didn’t touch his guitar, leading previous attempts to reunite the band to stall without his involvement. Now, Million is back, and for the first time since 1991, The Feelies have a new record called Here Before. Despite its self-referential lyrical winks to their past, the new record would sound right in their discography next to The Good Earth or Only Life.
I spoke with Glenn Mercer recently about the new record, his relationship with Bill, and how one band becomes R.E.M. while another unfairly disappears into semi-obscurity.
Read our exclusive interview with Glenn Mercer on SuicideGirls.com.
by Erin Broadley
“Everything in life is fear based” –
– Nikki Sixx
Its December 25th 1986, and Nikki Sixx is alone in his mansion, crouched naked under his Christmas tree with a needle in his arm, scribbling in his diary about watching his holiday spirit coagulate in a spoon. He writes, ”Merry Christmas
its just you and me, diary. Welcome to my life.”
This is just one scene from a particularly harrowing chapter in Motley Crue bassist and founder Nikki Sixx’s new memoir The Heroin Diaries – a collection of riveting entries from his personal journals spanning one year from 1986 to 1987, a year he considers the height of his downward spiral into drug addiction. It’s a story about drugs, depression, and the train-wreck of self-destruction – but ultimately it’s one man’s story about survival told with unflinching and unapologetic honesty.
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by Gerry Duggan
“My first reaction was that Ron Moore must have gone crazy.”
– Bear McCreary
Composer Bear McCreary is the composer of the best show on TV: Battlestar Galactica. In addition to his superb work on that program he somehow has found the time to compose excellent music for Eureka, the forthcoming Sarah Connor Chronicles, and the feature soundtrack to Wrong Turn 2.
Bear made some time in his hectic schedule to discuss his upcoming projects. All of Bear’s soundtracks are available (usually signed) from La La Land Records. One word of caution: care has been taken not to spoil anythig huge about BSG, however those not wanting to know anything about events through season 3 should stop reading right now.
Read our exclusive interview with Bear McCreary on SuicideGirls.com.
by Erin Broadley
“Christian groups are holding candlelight vigils outside the network headquarters”
– Tom Kapinos
Hank Moody eases his convertible sports car onto the long and twisting road that snakes through Hollywood Forever Cemetary, making his way past the ponds, tombs and exotic birds that roam the grounds. A cigarette dangles from his lips and it looks like he might have had one too many drinks the night before and perhaps, just moments ago, kicked some strange woman-child out of his bed. He pulls up to a church and promptly douses his cigarette in holy water.
Hank is having what he calls a crisis of faith and thinks perhaps God can help ease his writers block. No such luck. Instead of uttering the usual Our Fathers or Hail Marys, Hank gets a blowjob from a nun. Sweet baby Jesus, he says. Hank is going to Hell. Welcome to Hanks world. Welcome to Californication, Showtime’s hit series.
[..]
by Keith Daniels
“Rasputina is like a living photograph with sound.”
– Melora Creager
The first (and best) cello-based rock band, Rasputina, formed over twenty years ago in Brooklyn, New York. Based around founding auteur Melora Creager, the band has seen many members come and go over the years and had more drummers than Spın̈al Tap, but has maintained a consistent vision throughout. Their songs focus on Creager’s obsessions: historical oddities, fantastical theories, and the strength of women. The whole is tied together with her handmade aesthetic into an artistically unified production: from their album art to their stage performances (called ‘recitals’) to their music. Rasputina’s most recent album is Great American Gingerbread, a collection of demos and other rarities. Melora and I spoke recently about her songwriting method, her proudest moment, and how she keeps Rasputina fresh after two decades in the music business.
Read our exclusive interview with Melora Creager on SuicideGirls.com.
by Missy
“I am a slave to no thing except love.”
– Josh Homme
Queens of the Stone Age frontman and the most rockin’ man in showbiz, Josh Homme, had an early morning call with me after a late night of partying to talk about life on the road, midgets, and his new naughty video for the single “3’s and 7’s” that premiered on SuicideGirls.
Read our exclusive interview with Josh Homme on SuicideGirls.com.
