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 Apart from a few minutes after his Spoken Word show in Hammersmith, I am unable to have any substantial time with Mr Rollins, as he is only in town for a couple of days and is very busy, so this interview is taking place in cyberspace to my disappointment and relief...
If I had been told that Henry had a few hours to while away and we could roam the streets of London and go to the pub, I am sure that you would have shared my concerns!
Versatile, multitalented Henry has managed to combine his music knowledge, his writing skills and his stints as a weekly radio host to write what some would readily consider a music bible called Fanatic!.
I find that geeky, male orientated need to know everything there is to know about a record quite interesting.
Of course we must also briefly mention 30 years of Punk Rock, a pinch of politic, a touch of that hobby called record collecting....
Anyway, Henry Rollins doesn’t need any introduction, so let’s go...
Florence: Congratulations on one of your latest books, Fanatic!.
It’s all about music and I guess written for guys out there.
How much of the decision to start writing this ‘forest clearing tome’ was based on you wanting to treat music fans to an important tool and how much did you really want to satisfy your own thirst for musical knowledge?
Henry: It is the expanded notes from my weekly radio show ‘Harmony in my head’’ on Indie 103.1 FM and for the benefit of the listeners who have turned out to be very curious.
I annotated the songs I play and posted them on my web site for the show, www.harmonyinmyhead.com.
People asked me to make a book out of the files as they found them very useful.
In the second draft, I expanded upon the notes and tried to make it as cool a read as possible.
 Florence: So pleasing fans and a little self-indulging then?
Henry: Both! I really liked writing out all that stuff and from the hundreds of letters I got about it, people seemed to find the book interesting.
Florence: Everyone’s happy which probably means that a second volume is not far behind.
Henry: I am in the middle of it now!
Florence: You are an avid record collector and well known for scouring record shops wherever in the world you find yourself.
Men are either into football or vinyl collecting or God forbids, both!
I really must ask....at what age does a guy become fascinated with vinyl and why?
Henry: I have been going to record stores since I was a child, with my mother. We always had a lot of music in the house.
I don’t know if I am mesmerised by vinyl but I do like the artwork and the sound is much better than that of CDs.
Florence: Is it a fetish?
Henry: Well, personally I tend to keep my clothes on when I listen to records.
Florence: 2006 and we’re celebrating 30 years of Punk, a subject you know a lot about.
Do you believe that Punk was born in 1976 with the Sex Pistols, or can it be dated much earlier and in the States, with, let’s say, Iggy and/or the Ramones or other bands?
Henry: I think that every generation has musicians that reinvent the form. BeBop completely blew away the big bands.
People like Miles Davis and Charlie Parker made the Cab Calloways and the Duke Ellingtons of the world have to scramble.
I think that Punk rock did that to the dinosaur rock bands.
Certainly The Sex Pistols got a lot of inspiration from Iggy and The Ramones.
The Pistols used to cover ‘No Fun’ by The Stooges and The Damned also covered a Stooges’ song on their first album.
I don’t think that it’s really important to determine who came first.
I think that it’s safe to say that music had to change and it did, all over the place.
Florence: Iggy and The Stooges really had that Punk attitude....
Henry: In my opinion The Stooges were much less contrived than The Pistols who had the hair and clothes and all the attitude going.
The Stooges were a lot more animalistic and base.
Florence: To my delight you are a huge Damned fan.
In the UK, it’s often said that The Pistols were hard core and the real thing while The Damned were rather gimmicky and not to be taken seriously, yet the truth is the Damned have one of the best back catalogue of any Punk band.
Comments please!
Henry: I never took one band more seriously than the other, but I certainly played the first Damned Lp more than The Pistols’, as good as it is.
I think that some people may have found the Pistols more shocking, offensive and confrontational than the Damned and that made for more headlines.
The first four Damned albums have been on heavy rotation on my record player for almost 30 years now!
Florence: On a totally different subject but one that is dear to you...
you spend a lot of time visiting injured soldiers back from Iraq and you commit yourself to various USO tours.
Is the reason you do what you do to fulfil your duty as an American citizen or is there more to it?
Henry: That’s not my reason. I do it to protest against President Bush
and clean up after him.
Florence: Even as a stout anti-Bush campaigner is it possible to harbour feelings of guilt towards these young guys and gals, who have become victims to Bush’s madness?
Henry: I don’t feel guilty at all.
I didn’t start the war and didn’t make these people go anywhere.
I do the visits to try and make things better in my small capacity.
Florence: What I find most shocking is the close link between being religious and going killing someone you don’t know, preferably from a third world country.
Why would more than 50% of Americans support a man who waves both torches equally?
Isn’t hypocrisy a nasty, repulsive personality trait anymore?
Henry: It is certainly in America but it’s not exclusive to my country.
Hypocrisy is anywhere there is people.
With this president, Americans got sold a bill of goods and just went for it.
I don’t think everyone knew what they were getting themselves into.
Bush said he was for one thing and then turned out to be quite different once he became elected.
I don’t believe that they are a lot of Americans who wilfully wanted to send in a bunch of young people into Iraq.
Florence: Corey Lee Granet (The Warlocks) told me that Americans wouldn’t vote for a man who was not ready to kill.
What happened to Peace and Love?
Has America suffered some kind of moral breakdown?
Henry: No, but American people got lied into a war though.
Florence: You and me have shared many a travel destination, (unfortunately not together), from Taba to Russia and quite a few in between.
When did your need to travel and learn about other countries and cultures develop?
Anything to do with Black Flag and the obvious necessity for travelling?
Henry: I travelled a lot with my mother when I was young.
I was fascinated by other places long before I was in Black Flag.
The more I saw, the more I wanted to know.
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