We Met With Glenn Danzig While He Was In L.A. Finishing Up The Video For "Mother." Since Then Danzig Has Played 3 Sold-Out Shows In Los Angeles, Appeared On MTV And Generally Won Over The Mainstream Rock Audience. At The Time Of It's Realease, The Rick Rubin Produced Danzig Album Was The Most Talked About Record And Danzig Promo CD's Where Much Sought After Items. We Talked Before Watching A Bad Horror Flick.


ALC: What's the deal with the new band?
GD: Well you've got E.V., Eerie Von on bass. On drums you've got drum god Chuck Biscuits. On guitar, John Christ from Batilmore. He's like this guitar virtuoso. We did auditions for 6 months for a guitar player. He came in and we had 10 minutes left. He was waiting all night so we said you got 10 minutes. He came on like blazes. He beat out all the competition so he got it. Rick really liked him. I liked his leads bettar than anyone elses. We wanted to be able to put them in where we need them.
ALC: Where any of the songs on Danzig from the Samhain days?
GD: None that we did live. They were from the aborted Samhain album. We re-worked some of them. "Twist of Cain," "Possession," "Am I Demon".....
ALC: Why didn't Samhain come out to California for a November-Coming-Fire tour?
GD: They dicked us for the money. So I said, "fuck you!" We were gonna fly out and do a whole west coast thing. Then we started talking to Rick and a few other labels. We decided to get rid of our guitar player, then later our drummer. So we said fuck touring. We were thinking about just coming out and doing a show, but we changed the name to Danzig and were working with Rick and the rest is gonna be history....
ALC: Are you happy with the way the album came out?
GD: Yeah. After an album you always say this could have been done and this could have been done. This album I really like. I always like the records we do whether people like it or not. It doesn't matter to me. I do it because of what I like. If other people like it that's cool.
ALC: Having always produced yourself, how did you like working with Rick Rubin?
GD: The thing with Rick was that we needed to see if we could work together before we decided if he was gonna produce us. We said this needs this and he added stuff. When I was first approached by him I didn't really know who he was. Then I heard of what he had done. I knew the band he was working with at the time, The Beastie Boys. They used to play shows with The Misfits. I went down and talked to him. He played me some stuff. It was a street level operation then. It was great. He likes bands for the reasons that I like bands. Music that's aggresive and violent. Not that he looks for violence. It's usually accompanied by aggresiveness.
ALC: How is that you and Eerie have been able to work together for so long?
GD: We've never really had a big blow up. He's easy to work with and Eerie's a great personality onstage. When kids pay to get in they wanna see a band that puts out and sweats. I think we do that.
ALC: What about Biscuits?
GD: When we decided to dump our other drummer, Rick asked me who where my two favorite drummers. I said Philthy Phil and Chuck Biscuits. Philthy we decided, might be kind of old and set in his ways. He might not listen if you said play that this way. I'm real picky and so is Rick. And Chuck Biscuits was available. We tried him out and he worked out good. The chemistry was right.
ALC: Who are you favorite wrestlers?
GD: Freddie Blassie is my all time favorite.
ALC: Did you ever see him?
GD: When I was a little kid. He was Pacific Coast Heavyweight Champ, which was affiliated with the WWF. At that time, Vince McMahon Jr. let the NWA and AWA crossover into each other's leagues. Even up until McMahon Sr. died, McMahon Jr. let George "The Animal" Steele wrestle down south on WTBS's NWA show. I like Randy "Macho Man" Savage, also Rick Flair.
ALC: Did you see wrestling when you where over in Japan?
GD: Yeah, I got to see Tiger Mask live. He's one of my all time favorites. You can't get front row seats there because of Yakuza.
ALC: What about your toy collection?
GD: I don't get anything anymore because I've got everything I want. Except I still look for Astro Boy and Batman stuff. They're hard to find. I like Munsters and Addam's Family stuff.
ALC: What's the coolest japanese thing you have?
GD: A Devilman soft doll. The soft doll is made out of soft vinyl. It's a character figure. Devilman is cool. I'm a big Go Nagai fan.
ALC: What about porno actresses?
GD: I'm a big Seka fan. She was probably the first really nice looking porno star. Her and Marilyn Chambers. Ginger Lynn and Amber Lynn. I like Rachel Ryan a lot.
ALC: The new one's aren't as colorful as the older ones. There's no real star material.
GD: Exactly. A lot of the new ones I don't like that much. I haven't seen any star material.
ALC: What are some of the cool horror flicks?
GD: Brain Damage was great. Other than that nothing really. I didn't see Monkey Shines. I used to be a Romero fan until Day Of The Dead.

The End

04/89 - Hollywood Book & Poster
"FANGS" to those Creeps!