ROLLINS

Rip It Up, Issue 154, 1 May 1990, Page 20

ROLLINS

Henry Rollins is in town. He used to be in legendary hard core band Black Flag. Now he does solo tours as a spoken-word performer and with the Rollins Band who are fast becoming a legend in their own right. Rollins hates doing interviews. Which is OK because I don't much like doing them myself. So lets stick to one sentence answers.

What 7 s some motivation, Henry? The usual stuff. Weakness, fear, revenge. What about violence. Does it have a place in society? Of course. Man is a warring animal. Does the term 'purgatory' apply? Absolutely. I'm notan artist. I don't create, it's all there. I just get it out. Why a spoken word approach? It was a form of direct communication and it's difficult to do

so it was a challenge. What do you think of the decadence in today's music? . It's totally for assholes. Why force these decadent values on young people? I don'tfind this aspiration to alcohol and unconsciousness cool. I find it depressing. Rollins is a very serious man. He's also very intelligent and quite witty. I

saw him later and he's very enthused by music and a nice guy. I told him stories about Screamin' Jay Hawkins and he told me stories about everyone from John Lee Hooker and N ick Cave. H is spoken word show was humourous but intense. He's back soon with his band. Definitely worth checking out.

KIRKGEE