D.O.A.

D.O.A.: Avengers from the North Celebrate 30 Years of Hardcore
Some words with punk legend Joey Shithead
interview by Jason Walsh

The late 70s was an era when popular culture was immersed in the phenomenon created by "Saturday Night Fever" and the decadence of Studio 54. From the streets of Vancouver, a band emerged to challenge the ills of society and plights of the proletariat, and with their first 1978 EP, "Disco Sucks," they began this unrelenting, frontal assault that would amazingly last three decades.

With the release of their second LP, "Hardcore '81," Joey Shithead and the guys from D.O.A. brought a new term into the vernacular of the thriving underground music scene. "Hardcore" was now synonymous with the faster, more aggressive incarnation of punk rock and the newly appointed moniker spread throughout North America and the world. Their mantra of "talk minus action equals zero" coupled with blazing guitar riffs, reactionary lyrics, and deviant stage antics brought Dead on Arrival to the forefront of the hardcore scene and pioneers of the genre.

Fast-forward to 2009. Joey Shithead has continued to fly the flag for the underground movement, never wavering from the cause. D.O.A. just released their newest offering, "Northern Avenger," and will be touring the world in support. I had a chance to catch up with Joey following a brutal snowfall in the Northwest that blanketed British Columbia. We had a chance to talk about recording the new album with notable Metallica producer Bob Rock, his independent label," Sudden Death Records," the upcoming D.O.A. tour, and what drives him, thirty years later, to continue taking the stage.

JW: So what happened yesterday? You guys had a big blizzard up there?

JOEY: Yeah, we had like a foot of snow, which is like, hey we live in Canada but this is the one part of Canada where it's not very snowy. We usually get one or two big snowfalls a year; some years we don't get any snow.

JW: Do you still live in Vancouver?

JOEY: Yeah, in Vancouver, right. Like Vancouver, Victoria. The only two towns that really are not covered with snow like the rest of Canada for three or four months a year, right? So, yeah, this blizzard sucks and completely screwed up everything especially with Christmas and all that kind of stuff. What town are you in?

JW: I'm in Virginia but I spent the last week up in Michigan and we had snow every day, chilling with my kids and sledding every day, so for us it was perfect.

JOEY: Yeah, yeah (laughing)

JW: So you had a 30th anniversary mark. What's that like for you, having done this for three decades now?

JOEY: Well, that's a pretty general question. It's good, it's fine. We've just done a few special shows and stuff like that, and there's more coming up in the New Year, like this whole stretch out to the end of '09, 'cause there's a new album out and such, right. At some point in the future, you know it might be the 30th-and-a-half or burning up 31 (laughs) or that kind of thing, right. It doesn't really feel any different. I mean, obviously change is a gradual thing as it goes along as opposed to a sudden thing. I didn't just sit there and think, "god, we've been playing fucking punk rock for thirty years, right?" (laughs...) Although somebody else might have said that, "oh my god, they've been...hahaha."

JW: I mean, to you it's really just a number. It doesn't really change what you're doing?

JOEY: Put it this way. Sure, yeah, it's got special significance that we've been going thirty years, pretty well continuously. The only time we weren't playing was for about twenty months, between '90 and '91, in that period, right? So, I would suppose in a continuous sense, we'd be pretty close to being the longest running punk rock band in the world, now that the Ramones aren't around anymore. The only other ones I could think of that would be kind of close would maybe be the Dickies, but I don't think they stuck together the whole time, but they've been pretty active for most the time if you ask me, right? There might be somebody else but most of them, there was a ten or fifteen year hiatus where they didn't do anything, right, so. To me, D.O.A.'s kept going and keeps drawing people. You know, actually we're getting the younger crowds all the time, too, and I think that's because people see D.O.A. as being a progressive band as opposed to being a nostalgia act, right?

JW: Right.

JOEY: Because we come up with new ideas and new albums, and it's the same sound granted, because, hey, that's our style. Why change it? If you want to go for a different style, become a different band I always say, right? Don't change your style so drastically that you're unrecognizable, y'know. 'Cause that's always been the kiss of death when people go, "OK, this is just pure nostalgia." Then you're verging into that corny, vaudeville review, right, in a modern sense.

JW: What has kept you continuing to do this for all this time? Like you said, there hasn't been a big, long hiatus. You've been the centerline of this band. What keeps you motivated to keep doing this?

JOEY: Y'know when I started out, there was kind of three basic motivations when we got together. One, to have a lot of fun, cause a lot of trouble, and to go out and try and change the world. Those kind of motivations haven't changed. I mean, obviously I'm not twenty years old anymore, right? I'm over 50, I'm 52, right? To me, D.O.A. has always been a perfect soapbox for me, to say what I think about the world through actions and song and whatnot. That's, to me, what's really kept me going. You know, it feels good to get people excited, it's fun to play, and you get to say what you think. That's what keeps it going. That, and an awful lot of gaff tape. (and we both laugh...) The key ingredient besides beer. Beer and gaff tape: two things that are never very far away from D.O.A., right?

JW: That should be the next album?

JOEY: Hahaha, Beer and Gaff Tape. Yeah, it gets it pretty close, right?

JW: So, is it still fun for you?

JOEY: Oh yeah, no, I actually really enjoy it. We played a couple of big shows in the fall (2008) in Chicago at the Riotfest and the Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, also in the fall. Those things were like a total riot. We're going to China, leaving in about two weeks, we're going there for a week. So to me, that will be a total eye-opener. If you can go and do things that are different or at least a little bit momentous or doing something for a cause, like a benefit type show that's got some meaning to it, then that's fun. I love doing that. To go now, on the other hand, and go on a trip where it would be six months of playing every single town between here there and everywhere, and passing by every strip mall, or club in a strip mall kind of thing, I wouldn't think that would be that fun. That's what bands should do when they're young and that's what D.O.A. did. We've done over 3000 shows accumulated over the thirty years, right? You know, we had road trips when we were young where the trip would be eight months long and you'd be home for four days out of the eight months. You know, we'd think nothing of going somewhere for three months, right, so that's how you do it, that's how you build up a reputation. That's a good thing to do for a band, right?

JW: This tour that you're heading over to China to do, is this supporting the new album or is this just something you want to do?

JOEY: No, I think when D.O.A. goes somewhere, yeah of course we like to promote the new album, I think it's a good album and stuff like that, but D.O.A. is really based on reputation, right? And that's why you get kids coming out that have never seen the band and that's why we can go to a place that we've never been to and draw a crowd, right, because it's the reputation of the band for like wild, unbridled mayhem coupled with blatant sloganeering and also coupled with obnoxious guitar riffs.

JW: Now talking about going and doing shows, you got people coming out who saw you back in the day and now they're bringing out their kids and maybe even in some cases, bringing out their grandkids to see you guys.

JOEY: Well I haven't seen the grandkids thing. The one thing I have noticed sometimes, we have a really well-known truck called "Reek Fleming" that we take on some of the trips. It's about twenty years old, people recognize it, and amazingly it still runs. Sometimes there will be a knock on the door and they'll go like, "hey, yeah I went to see you guys at the Smiling Buddha thirty years ago and I'm just dropping my kids off at the show." (laughs...) You know, that kind of thing. We used to get people saying, "yeah, I heard about you guys from my older brother and sister." Definitely, you're getting a bit of the kid thing from the parents, right? It's interesting, you know 'cause everybody, as they go through life, they have to change and usually people become somewhat responsible or in a lot of times they have families, whether they're responsible or not, right? I goes along, they don't go to shows like they used to. But sometimes they'll show up, and yeah, sometimes we'll get people that will come up and stay at the show, them and their kids. Usually the kid won't think it's too cool if the parents hang around. I mean that kind of fucks it up for them. They'd be smart enough to say, "OK, you go experience D.O.A. I'll pick you up in four hours.Try not to get arrested in the meantime."

JW: "I got knocked out by my Dad in the pit." That's just not something you want to talk about at the dinner table.

JOEY: Hahaha, yeah that would suck. That would be just a little too odd.

JW: Let's talk about the new record a little bit. First of all, produced by Bob Rock, and when I think of that, that's like the fifth member of Metallica. What was it like working with him?

JOEY: Bob's an old friend of mine, so it was pretty easy, like we didn't have to get to know him. He's a funny guy and pretty easy-going, which I guess you would have to be to work with something like Metallica, not to say Metallica are bad guys, but you know what I mean, it sounds like it was pretty intense at times. With us in the studio, it was a laugh. We'd do a track and from the studio over the talkback, I'd say to him, "so, how was that?" and then he'd quip back, "wow not bad, but when are you going to start trying?" Then I'd shoot back, "as soon as you start producing." Stuff like that. It was actually pretty much a howl, right? You know, funny guy and yeah, some people go, "wow, that's really cool you got Bob Rock" and other people get totally kind of weirded out by it almost, right? But I think, if a good producer is capable of getting like a great sound, which obviously Bob is. Like what a good producer would do in any case, he'll try to see what the strengths of the band is and work on those strengths, you know what I mean? That's what he did with D.O.A. on this album so that's why we came up with what I think is a real good album, right?

JW: And the album is called "Northern Avenger." I really dug it and I read on there what Bob was calling your guitar, or was that the name you had for it?

JOEY: No, actually that just sort of fell in at the same time. I came up with the album title last fall before we started recording. I had the title and I said "hey, by the way guys the title of the album is 'Northern Avenger,' right" and that totally suited D.O.A. because D.O.A.'s always been about trying to, uh, not avenge the score as in like, "I'm going to get ya next friday night, fucker!" Not that kind of thing, right? There's things that are wrong in this world, so you try and set them right, and we're from the North obviously, so hence "Northern Avenger." But I said, "OK. Hey guys," and I said that to Bob and Jamey (Koch) the co-producer, the name of the album is "Northern Avenger" and Bob looked at my guitar which he'd known and seen thirty years previously on one of our first singles which he helped on, "The Prisoner" single, our second single. Anyways, he went, "No, no, no. Your guitar is Northern Avenger, right?" It ended up that that's the nickname he gave my old guitar that I've had since 1976 or '74. Something like that.

JW: And that's what, an old Gibson SG?

JOEY: An old SG that the body's like half gone and it's been rebuilt and it's got a metal plate on the front. It's got gouge marks bigger than the ones on Willie Nelson's guitar. (laughs) It's pretty...it's pretty classic. It's easy to play, it sounds great, and yeah, it's been stolen three times and I've gotten it back every time, right?

JW: How'd you get it back every time?

JOEY: Well, the first time a guy stole it at a show and everybody ran around the hall and they guy had stashed it out in these bushes. They finally get the guitar and I got the guitar and these girls that were hanging out with the band, they went and beat the guy up, right, and chased him off. The second time, Zippy Pinhead, who's an old buddy of ours, caught a guy stealing it in an elevator at a show in Portland. The third time, our roadie was just packing up the van, we were in like in the north of Spain. This was the worst time easily. He turned around and someone had seen him packing the stuff and got it and ran off with it and so the guy had it for like six or eight months. Eventually, I got a letter in Spanish and I could read just enough of it to realize he was talking about my guitar and he wanted to give it back and he did. You know, it cost about $400 to get it back. The funniest thing was about five years later, we went back and played in the same area in Spain and the promoter came up and said he had the guy who stole the guitar but he couldn't speak English, so he had to translate his saying he was sorry to me and he had to translate my English back to the guy who stole the guitar. So, I had two choices, I could hop across the table and beat the living fuck out of him (laughs) or I could, uh, it was almost like a priest at a confessional, so I chose the priest at the confessional routine. I got the guitar back and I wished the guy good health and all that, right, so what the hell. So I guess at the time, he said, "wow, I've got a hell of a souvenir, look what I scored," but I'm sure his friends called him an asshole, right, because that's the way it goes.

JW: Right. So what do you got going on in the New Year? After you guys are over there in Asia, are you coming back and doing the States and Canada? What's the plan?

JOEY: Yeah, we got China in January, there's California, and the Northwest like in late January then California in February. You know, California, Arizona, Nevada type thing. Then, we're off to Europe in April for the whole month of April and after that we'll do some more American shows. Probably some in the summertime but more in the fall of '09, that we'd get out your way, the East Coast and the Midwest and all that kind of thing.

JW: You taking anybody with you of note on the road?

JOEY: We were just talking about that the other day. We haven't figured it out yet and it's a ways away, so no, not yet, but yes, we will.

JW: Talk about Sudden Death Records. What made you decide to do that and now it's kind of like a full-time thing for you?

JOEY: It was really just a way to get D.O.A. records out in the first place. Like we did about four or five singles back in the last 70s, early 80s. We kind of sat down one day and says," well, everybody hates us, nobody will ever sign us, and we'll never get a record out." So, we just took the DIY route and put out the Disco Sucks 7-inch EP and that kind of started Sudden Death. But I really didn't take it seriously and we got offered another record deal, Alternative Tentacles amongst others, did that and about ten years ago I started up Sudden death, in earnest. We have about 82 different releases now. Something like that, between EPs, singles, albums, imports that we get from Europe and stuff like that that we distribute. It's been going well. The main idea was, here's my philosophy, be your own boss, think for yourself, and try to affect some sort of causes and change in this world. I thought the record label was the perfect way to put my money where my mouth is and it's been pretty good. I mean things aren't great for little labels right now, but we're hanging in there and doing OK. You can't go crazy spending on records because they're hard to sell these days.

JW: The record industry is definitely one that is suffering these days.

JOEY: Yeah, it's gone for a complete shit, right? But you know what, there has to be always some sort of conveyance to get this different type of music out. Now, whatever form it's going to be, whether it's in a CD or we're still making LPs or whether you're going to get it on the internet, you're going to download it. For sure they'll be some other applications or forms it will take as it goes on. You just have to be able to adapt, and if you don't then it's like anything else you'll just become extinct, right?

DEMAND IN DC

DEMAND IN DC
by Jason K. Walsh

January 20th will be one of the most historic days in the annals of American History, as the first African-American president will be sworn in as Commander in Chief. Following a campaign that found people around the nation glued to their televisions and record numbers turning out to the polls on Election Day, Barack Obama will take the oath of office on Inauguration Day as the 44th President of the United States. More than a million are expected to turnout in Washington DC ensuring the nation's capitol will be alive with activity. One such event celebrating the new regime in the United States Executive Branch is the "Demand in DC Art Show," in which live music, art, and film will join forces at the Black Cat to ring in the new leader.

"Demand in DC is a call to the people of this country to take back their government and their country," said Justin Sane of Anti-Flag. "If you don't take control of your government, someone will. Barack Obama is a step in the right direction for the U.S. but he is not progressive on all issues and he needs to feel the heat from those of us who have a vision we want to see America achieve."

Sane cites universal health care, gay marriage, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, campaign finance reform, green energy policies, and the closing of Guantanemo Bay as some of the new issues this new president needs to address, but puts the burden of "change" on the American people.

"It is as much a celebration of the end of the Bush role, as it is a call to all concerned citizens of this nation to do their part to steer or country in a new and brighter direction," he said. "This is a time of great opportunity for us in the United States. With the Bush White House there was never a chance at having progressive policy. Barack Obama may deliver on all or none of the above, but at least there is a possibility of these things taking shape. But for these things to take shape, each and every person who believes in these ideas must make their voice audible to President-Elect Obama and hold him accountable."

Anti-Flag is just one of the bands on the bill at the celebration, which will also feature works from local artists as well as independent film screenings. An auction will also be held dubbed "Quilts for a Cure," in which four quilts made up of over 200 band t-shirts will be awarded. The auction is in connection with DC sponsor, Shirts for a Cure, a local organization who raises money to help underprivileged women fighting breast cancer who cannot afford chemotherapy nor medication costs.

Chris Barker, also known as Chris #2, is Anti-Flag's bassist and co-lead vocalist. According to him, the election's outcome had no bearing on the commencement of the festival.

"We planned this to happen on Inauguration Day regardless of winner," Barker said. "However we are excited about the steps forward that America has made with this last election. But, 48 million people voted for the other guy. That's a lot of people who need beat over the head with good ideas."

Also performing that evening is United Nations, The A.K.A.s, and Ruiner from Baltimore, Maryland. Frontman Rob Sullivan of Ruiner said the band never had a second thought about participating.

"I couldn't have turned down the opportunity," he said. "Aside from when I was younger I loved Anti-Flag, and this was such a great idea. Bands, artists, and performers of all sorts coming together to represent a 'change' in the power system of our country and the role the people played in that."

Sullivan agreed with the guys from Anti-Flag that this will be an important day for Americans, in the hopes of pointing the nation in a better direction.

"Bush is out of office and that is something to be celebrated," he said. "But at the same time, we are given another chance. As a people, we voted in record amounts to allow ourselves a new voice for the rest of the world; a world, which for the most part, finds us to be arrogant cowboys with no agendas but our own. We picked the winner and having this show in our nation's capitol is the only proper place."

The A.K.A.'s formed in New York City about five years ago, in an attempt to play a style of music they believed in while relaying political messages in a way they thought other bands in the current industry environment were lacking. Vocalist Mike Ski has participated in other politically driven events which fused the music from the underground with art. Last year, Ski organized a series of art shows with the A.K.A.'s called "Everybody Make Some Noise: 25 Artists Celebrate the Art of the Protest Sign."

"I was personally really inspired by the event and found it to be a cool alternative to the common format of normal concerts and shows, and the way it engaged the crowd in a different way," he said. "It was from the spirit and vigor of this event that we took the title of our latest album."

"Everbody Make Some Noise" is the band's second full-length which dropped in 2008 on Metropolis Records. When their friends from Anti-Flag started planning the Inauguration Day festival, combining an art show with a live-music concert, Ski was immediately on board.

"They brought us in to help coordinate the art end, help with ideas, and rock the stage," he said. "It's an important event to take part in for us as we enjoy doing new and memorable events that push the envelope, raise awareness, and challenge the things that people are used to. It's a great opportunity to send an important message and reminder that people demand change and are catalysts for it. We're proud to be involved."

"Demand in DC" is an opportunity for people in the District to come together and share thoughts and ideas and lend their opinions about the social and political conditions affecting everyone in the country. Now about to enter a new era of American leadership, the nation is struggling on several fronts and many are looking to this new administration for hope. According to Sullivan of Ruiner, the journey back to prosperity will not be easy.

"The path before our nation is going to be a long, hard one," he said. "In my opinion, border line impossible in some areas. Between the economy, a war, and the perception
of foreign nations, it's a massive rebuilding process. Our country needs to recognize that regardless of who won the election, we need to figure out how to come together. Republican, Democrat, Independent or whatever, we can't keep blaming each other based on our differences. This election marked hopefully the start of a very loud voice in our country that we want something different."

EERIE VON

EERIE VON
Musician, Artist, Photographer, and Fiend
interview by Jason Walsh

The birth of horror punk, with bands like The Misfits and Rosemary's Babies, emerged from one of the most unlikely places. No, not Hell, but Lodi, New Jersey. It was the late 70's when names like Glenn Danzig, Doyle, Steve Zing, and Jerry Only rose in the post-punk era to form a new brand of dark and ghoulish, aggressive music inspired by comic books, B-movies, and 50's rock 'n roll. Among those in this grim company was none other than Eerie Von.

Following his stint as a drummer in Rosemary's Babies, Eerie Von took to the bass and went on to form Samhain with Glenn Danzig, and later and more notably, Danzig. After a six-year stretch, drummer Chuck Biscuits left the band in 1994, and guitarist John Christ departed the following year. That same day Christ left, Eerie Von also stepped away from the group and Glenn has continued the Danzig project with all new members and an ever-changing lineup.

Eerie Von continued his passion for art and photography, which began at a very early age, while pursuing other musical projects as well. He has released five solo records and started Ghastly Records with former Rosemary's Babies bandmate Bob Montena: a label they began "for bands who have something new to offer to the world." I had the opportunity to discuss his craft, artistic endeavors, and what the future holds for one of the most recognizable icons from the fiendish underground movement.

JW: First, how are you doing? What are you looking towards coming into 2009? Any New Year's resolutions or revelations, or plans for the upcoming year?

EERIE VON: I don't usually do resolutions and I don't make plans. I have a new record coming out and I'd like to tour in support of it, do some more Horror/Comic cons, and continue to paint. Maybe do another movie, if I get the chance. I'm in with a huge cast of underground cult figures, in "It Came from Trafalgar," a 50's-style black-and-white Sci-Fi film, that should be out this year, I hope.

JW: I read that you were drawn to photography and painting at an early age. What led you to these two passions?

EERIE VON: Dad got a Nikon from Japan when I was eight and he showed me how to use it and taught me what he knew, just the basics, which I still rely on 'til this day. I didn't take it up full time until 13, when I had a friend who had a darkroom and learned how to process film and make prints there as well as in school. Then in High School, I shot everything for the yearbook from day one. I started drawing at probably five or six and painted all through high school. I don't know why I started doing it but I learned early that I could copy anything I wanted, but wasn't too great on my own. I was into sports and music, so I did portraits of baseball players, Elvis, and the Beatles. That's when I got good at it.

JW: Both photography and painting rely on composition and filling the space. Have you found that one tends to compliment the other and has your experience shooting helped to make you a better painter?

EERIE VON: You can't compose a photo as easily as a painting. You have to work with what you have most of the time, unless it's a studio set up or you have the money to put your subject in any situation you like, like Annie Leibowitz. I don't think my photographic eye has influenced my painting because I don't really have a set way of doing it. I kind of "wing it" every time.

JW: Asking the question with a seemingly obvious answer, why do you call your style Fiend Art?

EERIE VON: It's art for the Fiends out there. What I like and what they like. I usually figure if I would buy it, then it's cool. I would like to keep the best ones, sometimes I do, but I like it better when someone buys one and puts it on their wall.

JW: When did you start taking your art more seriously and concentrate on it more? You seem to have a pretty large body of work now.

EERIE VON: About ten years ago in Florida. At one point I was doing three to four a month. This year my output was only two-and-a-half a month. I don't take it too seriously. It's just something I do.

JW: Many of your works are available through your website and auctions. Tell me about that and also, have you done any art shows or events of that nature?

EERIE VON: I don't care for galleries and art shows. People put their stuff in galleries to sell it. I've sold almost every painting I've ever done. Hundreds. I have no need to make a big deal out of them or display them in such a way. I will do a gallery show if it means more people will get to see the paintings, but I'm not into the whole "artist" thing. It's too pretentious.

JW: Talk to me about the young kid from Lodi who discovered art and music at a young age.

EERIE VON: In the beginning, where I lived had nothing to do with discovering music. It was all my family's influence. Mom and Dad grew up in the 40's and 50's, so I heard their music. I grew up in the 60's and 70's, so I heard what was on the radio and on TV. My Aunts and Uncles and cousins influenced me as well. Not until 8th grade did I meet Doyle (Misfits) and then the whole Lodi thing, became an influence. There were a few punk rock guys in high school as well, so they turned me on to stuff. My sister played me a lot of punk stuff. She was a big influence.
Finding out from the Misfits that you could put out your own records was a big revelation. Once I found that out, I was determined to take that path.

JW: Initially you played drums and had a successful audition with the Misfits but declined. Why was that and why did you end up forming Rosemary's Babies after declining the spot with the Misfits?

EERIE VON: Rosemary's Babies was already a band, when the Misfits thing came up. I did start playing drums again, just in case they ever needed a new drummer. I was meant to be in that band, so it made sense. Personally it wasn't the right time for me to join, so I declined. I got the chance again later, but Glenn (Danzig) told me Doyle didn't like the way I was looking at his girlfriend, so it didn't work out again, and they got Robo.

JW: What was the Rosemary's Babies experience like?

EERIE VON: It was great learning how to write songs and perform in front of people, figuring out how to be part of a band and getting along with others. I also enjoyed getting to know others doing the same from around the country. Knowing there were kids who felt like I did was a big comfort during those unsteady high school years.

JW: When Glenn and you formed Samhain you began playing drums. What was the reason for their disbanding and why did you decide to start Samhain?

EERIE VON: Rosemary's Babies had run its course. We weren't going anywhere and Glenn was a serious musician. I wanted to play with the best people I could and Glenn was the best around so I decided to go with him. It's the only way you'll get better. I knew I could learn from him and I have.

JW: Early into the band's existence you switched from drums to bass, which would become your trademark in music for the next two decades. Why this switch? Had you had much experience playing bass and what about it kept you playing it?

EERIE VON: I had never played bass before. I wasn't a good drummer. I still suck. I have no ego when it comes to being in a band. If you can play it better, go ahead. So in order to make the band as good as possible, we agreed to have a real drummer come in. I'd just have to fake it on bass. I was also a terrible bass player, but I got a little better.

JW: After Samhain, you guys went on to a pretty successful run with Danzig. After Chuck dropped out in '94, you and John left the following year. Why? Had it seem to run its course for you?

EERIE VON: It was time to go. I would have preferred to stay with the original four guys and if we could have ironed out the problems within the band, I'm sure we'd still be together today. Once Chuck left, it was over for me. John hadn't been into it for years. It was no longer a vital, living, growing thing. It was dead.

JW: Do you still keep in touch with Chuck and John? What are they up to these days?

EERIE VON: Haven't heard from John in ten years. I'm still friends with Chuck and hear from him a few times a year.

JW: What about Glenn? Are you still in touch with him?

EERIE VON: No

JW: Following Danzig, you released some solo work and moved around a bit? Have you enjoyed experimenting with different types of music and living in different places? Have these experiences helped with your art and music?

EERIE VON: I've done five records since leaving Danzig. One in each place I lived. The environment and the circumstances surrounding my being there all contributed to the sound and feel of each record. When I did my second one, "The Blood and the Body," all I had was a microphone, an acoustic guitar, a fuzz box, and a Casio keyboard I bought at Toys 'R Us. That record sounds like it does because of the limitations I had to work under. I'm fine with that. That's what every record should be. Like a snapshot of who and where you were at that time.

JW: Eerie Von's Spider Cider "That's All There Is" was the last solo record you released in 2006. That was recorded while you were living in Indiana, right? What was that record about and what was your process with its inception?

EERIE VON: I was going through a divorce and was very depressed. It was like my mid-life crisis record. I cut my hair and suddenly, I felt 18 again, and with that feeling came the anger and youthful aggression I felt back then, so I just did what came naturally and that's why it's a punk rock record.

JW: You also did some work on a record you've dubbed "Kinda Country." Are you still working on that or have you finished it?

EERIE VON: My new record is kinda country, so that's why I called it that. Plain and simple. I've been writing songs for 25 years now and have gotten pretty good at it. I've paid attention and learned from all the greats who came before me and from contemporaries as well. So, if I wrote a Blues song, I'd put it away until I needed it. If I was doing a spooky record and a country song came out, I would file that away for a later date. I have lots of songs, in all different styles.
I just write them. Some I might do demos of, then I go on to the next one. When you have about twelve good ones and you decide they should be put together as a collection, you make a record.

JW: Talk to me about Ghastly Records label you started with your former Rosemary's Babies cohort. Has it been a rewarding experience running an independent label, which is a home for your solo work? You have also re-released some stuff from that first band as well.

EERIE VON: We had no label back in '83, so we had to start our own to put out our first record.
We revived the label to put out a 25th anniversary CD, but I have nothing to do with the day-to-day running of it really. Bob has put out my last two records because he had the means to. It's his thing.

JW: Lastly, a new year. Where does Eerie Von go from here, musically, artistically, and just as a person. What does the future hold for you?

EERIE VON: I have no idea. I'd like to go back on the road and stay there. Stopping long enough only to record. If I can figure out how to paint, on the run, I'll do that too. I've been waking up in the same bed for too long. I've gotta get out of here. Thanks to all the Fiends out there, for their loyal support and kind words of encouragement. I hope to see you all very soon.


www.eerievon.com

www.myspace.com/eerievonart

www.myspace.com/itcamefromtrafalgar