PUBLICITY WHORE:  Having cut your teeth in Black Flag, you achieved success completely on your own terms. When you then sign with someone like DreamWorks, is it a doomed relationship from the start - because you suddenly have a bunch of tone-deaf twits with runny noses telling you how to be Henry Rollins?

HENRY ROLLINS:  I had a good time with the DeamWorks set up.  They never told me what to do and I did what I wanted and they met all their promises. I did my two record deal with them and moved on.  So, it wasn't all that bad.

PW: What do you think of Napster?  And doesn't it at least make you smile a little bit that it threatens the livelihood of many of those same tone-deaf twits with runny noses?

HR:  I don't use Napster and don't think it really stops anyone from selling records, it probably helps record sales. It's not really the tone deaf folks you keep mentioning who suffer really, it's more the
people on my end of the scale.

PW:  Do you think the frighteningly litigious Courtney Love is a brave freedom fighter protecting artists from the big bad machine, or simply an opportunistic slut milking the Cobain cow to support her shallow Hollywood lifestyle?

HR:  Do I get a third choice? I can't say I know the woman. Met her a couple of times briefly. I don't know exactly what she's shaking the tree about with all that stuff she's doing. It's really not a world I exist in. I own all my records and am under contract to no one and I don't sign anything that my lawyer doesn't draft so I am not in anyone's evil clutches. But, I don't know what CL is up to. Never really was all that much interested in her.

PW:  You've survived every musical trend from New Wave to Glam Rock to Grunge to Rap/Metal and still managed to put out 'Nice' - easily one of the best albums of the year.  You obviously have an internal need to fight the good fight.  Does it piss you off when you see people like Billy Corgan throw in the towel on the Smashing Pumpkins, citing the perils of having to 'compete with the Britney's of the world' as his primary reason?

HR:  I can't believe that would be Billy's primary reason for shutting down the Pumpkins. I know that the man can be irritable at times, so he may have said that.  I think we won't be hearing the last of Billy for quite some time.  He's got music in him for sure. And like I said before, I exist in my own little world of music and art. None of these people or trends have anything to do with what I do. You must take into account how small of a fish I am in that particular sea. If I stopped making records now, no one would notice.

PW:  2001 was the year that Michael Jordan returned to basketball and no one gave a shit.  Suddenly there were more important things on people's minds than stock options and whether the new Mercedes will come in cobalt blue.  Do you think we have changed forever as a people, or will we quickly return to being the most
popular girl in school?

HR:  Never underestimate the need for a population to return to its normal day-to-day. After Sept. 11, people are very shook. Myself included. I think that little by little as time goes on, we'll get back to that vain and in denial populace that enrages other nations all over
the world. We just have to kill some people in the mountains of Afghanistan first.

PW:  In 1995 you hosted a 'Year In Review' special on the radio.  When you got to the 'People Who Died This Year' portion, you went on and on about how much you respected Jerry Garcia.  One of the rocket scientists I was with at the time started freaking out - 'How could Henry Rollins, Mr. Black Flag, give props to that hippy
piece of shit?'  This is a big problem - music is meant to bring people together, but more often than not it closes people off in safe little clicks.  The punks hate the Deadheads cause they take acid and smell bad, and the Deadheads hate the punks because they DON'T take acid and smell bad.  For our 2 or 3 open-minded readers out there, who are a few unknown bands out there that we should ALL know about?

HR:  John Coltrane's classic Quartet. 1964-65 recordings are as good as anything ever recorded I reckon. Fats Waller, Duke Ellington. There's a ton more but those are a few that to me are overlooked by people who might really like the music if given a chance to check it out.

PW:  You're a very prolific writer - of both music and books.  Do you have a set routine where you sit down and write x hours a day, or do you pick up the pen when inspiration strikes?

HR:  I don't consider myself a real writer.  This puts me under a lot less pressure to work.  It's not like I have a deadline, or I'm under contract and have to produce.  If I never did another book, would anyone notice besides the staff at the book company?  So I just do what I do, and when it's done I sometimes publish it.

PW:  Does being on the road help or hinder your creative output?

HR:  I’ve spent most of the last 21 years on the road, so that's normal for me.  I usually do all my work out there, and then edit off the road.

PW:  If you were to recommend the best Henry Rollins book for the un-initiated to start with, which would it be?

HR:  I think two books of mine that are pretty cool are the last two: ‘Smile, You're Traveling’ and ‘Solipsist’.

PW:  I want to commend you on choosing the Metro as the venue for your live album / concert video shows March 1st and 2nd.  Having grown up in Chicago, that stage is pretty much sacred ground for me.  Was it on a list of potential venues to do it at, or was the Metro the spot you wanted - period?

HR:  I wanted the Metro. I have been playing there on and off since the early 80's and I like the place and the town a lot.

PW:  I started Publicity Whore more or less because I have no interest in having a real job.  Instead of being greeted with respect and admiration for my bold move, people around me try to piss on my parade with all the 'real world' shit, intended to make me start
second guessing myself:  'What's your business plan? 'How do you plan to make money?'  'Where do you see this heading?'  'Are you gonna be a loser the rest of your life?'  Truth be told, I didn't even know what a business plan WAS until everybody started asking to
see mine.  Do you have any advice for a kid from Chicago who's naive enough to think he can have fun interviewing you, and somehow pay the bills too?

HR:  Well, I don't know if you're going to pay the bills with this magazine, as good as I am sure it's going to be. You might want to consider a second line of defense in the fight against missed meals,
Late rent payments and the like. It's no easy trick to make money with this kind of thing.

PW:  Ok - quick fill in the blanks:  What book are you currently reading?

HR:  Imperium by Ryszard Kapuscinski.

PW:  What's the last album you listened to?

HR:  Slide guitar gospel songs 40's-60's various artists.

PW:  Name a city everyone should visit?

HR:  Sydney Australia

PW:  Who's a bigger asswipe, Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit) or Scott Stapp (Creed)?

HR:  I don't know either guy and have never heard a complete song of either band. Maybe I am the biggest asswipe.

PW:  And finally, have you ever slept with Winona Ryder?  And if so - were you aware of her shoplifting tendencies at the time?

HR:  Nope.

PW:  Sorry - I had to ask

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Publicity Whore Magazine was voted #1 Entertainment Publication in Los Angeles - 2001. Proud recipient of the Imbecilious Award for Excellence in Entertainment Journalism.