Wednesday, August 02, 2006
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Wednesday, August 02, 2006 |
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Punk rock Mr. HydeMost of the time, Henry Rollins is punk's tattooed professor. But with his band, he's all animal
There are two ways to look at Henry Rollins: as a punk intellectual, spouting everything from poetry to feedback-induced philosophy about pop culture and all its trappings, or as a silverback gorilla with a microphone. There's very little in between. For 23 hours a day, he's a fringe Socrates in a blank T-shirt and tattoo sleeves -- articulate, funny and damn-near sage-like, the kind of guy both hipsters and outcasts would love to buddy up with if his neck weren't so darn thick and intimidating. But get him on stage, and Rollins is Cro-Magnon with angst. Example: A show several years ago in Brazil. The band goes out on stage, launches into the first few bars of one of its typically crushing tracks. Rollins himself starts head-banging -- severe head-banging. So intense, in fact, he slams his knee into his forehead and knocks himself out. He comes to a few seconds later, his face covered in blood, wondering what the hell happened, everyone staring at him, stunned. He realizes it. Gets up. Gets his bearings. Goes primal. Flings blood on the band. Flings blood on the crowd. Finishes the show. "Iggy Pop would have never walked off stage, and I wasn't about to either," he says, now safely tucked in his California office. "I'm not going all the way down to Brazil and then walking off stage because I've got a cut. That's not going to happen." The cut resulted in several stitches. Yet those kind of stories are the reason why people love Henry Rollins. Yeah, the guy is funny. His spoken word gigs are like accidental stand-up. And his TV show, IFC's The Henry Rollins Show, is a respectful geek fiefdom that highlights both Hank's broad taste in pop culture and his blunt sensibilities. And it's always great to see him turn up in movies, "acting" like Henry Rollins in a Hollywood flick. Ultimately, though, the reason the guy has outwitted and outlasted all the other punkers of his generation is he's always been willing to put the music first, even before his own body. The man has his own myth: How he supposedly jumped onstage at a Black Flag concert, grabbed the mic and never let go. (In reality, he was invited by the band.) He also scored a hit record (1994's Weight) and started his own designer record label (and book imprint), 2.13.61, putting out albums by the people he loves. He never has to walk on stage with his band again if he doesn't want to, but he does. And it's like watching dynamite explode. "Music is the best of all of it," he says. "The music never leaves you. It's part of the electricity that runs through your body. Music makes all that other stuff worth it if it helps me get to the stage. My only regret is that I'm not better at music, and the world loved me more so that I could be able to do it." And the only reason that's the case is because Rollins staunchly refuses to look back. He went wildly experimental after 1994's hit single "Liar," coming back three years later with the jazz funk metal fusion of Come In and Burn. After that, he fired his band and went straight aggro rawk. He's never done, and never will do, a best-of Black Flag show. "If the Rollins Band went out and just played Black Flag songs, there would be so many happy people except the ones onstage," he says. And he's never compromised his taste or views to get mainstream exposure. Even during his MTV salad days, it wasn't because he'd compromised for TV -- TV had finally accepted him. "I just can't go on autopilot," he says. "There are certain bands that do that. Ozzy Osbourne has to play 'Paranoid' every night. And the Rolling Stones always have to do 10 of their hits. Can you image going to a Stones show and not seeing Mick Jagger doing 'Brown Sugar'? And that's been suggested to me as a career path, but I'm not going to do that. It doesn't excite me to do that, to play the same songs, to make the same record over and over again. It won't happen. "This is to see if we play well and see if we want to push ahead and record an album this winter," Rollins adds. And if not: "There's always plenty to keep me busy. Other people have families. I don't do much more than work." Rollins Band (with X and the Riverboat Gamblers) Wed., Aug. 2, 6 p.m. House of Blues 632-7600 $25-$30 (all ages)
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