Oh yeah, gothic, fetish, industrial, hardcore. There’s a radio program up here, I don’t know what it’s called but it’s 6 hours. The guy plays nothing but goth, industrial for 6 hours straight on this radio show. It’s from 6 to midnight on Sunday nights. He played Kommunity FK on there, and when we headlined up here it was incredible. I had kids walking up to me with cassettes of their version of Something Inside Me Has Died, they’re covering the song in their own bands and I’m starting to collect these now.
HIP: What made you move out of L.A.?
I just got sick of it. I don’t know man, it’s hard to explain. I love Los Angeles, especially Hollywood. I lived there for 23 years and I’ve seen and done everything I could possibly do in that city. The more that’s being regurgitated the more it just turns my stomach and I said “you know what I don’t need this”. I need to be alone and I need to focus. Before I left I recorded a solo album which I recorded in this mindset. Wait till you see what’s coming, there’s more stuff coming which I’m really happy about, I’m jazzed. I feel refreshed, that’s why I needed to leave. I needed to get out of there. I could’ve died there, I was doing way too much, getting way over the edge. I just had to fucking mellow out.
HIP: Before you left, did you notice what Mike Stewart and Bruce Perdew (Helter Skelter nightclub owners) were doing with the scene in this town? They haven’t had any bands in their clubs for the longest time! They used to be such great contributors but I don’t know what happened to them. Money happened I guess.
That’s too bad you know. That’s the other thing about L.A., there’s no focus. The bookers, it’s all about the bookers. I don’t buy that. We need bands man, that’s what it’s all about. It’s got to come back. I don’t think that’s a dinosaur ethic at all. I think everyone feels the same way just no one wants to speak up about it.
HIP: Yeah, they have to open up some creative outlet since they do own 99% of the scene here! Sorry, I’m just pissed. Anyway, next question. You're not only part of L.A. goth history but goth history period. Do you view yourself that way?
Do I? I do and I don’t. The don’t part, let’s cover that first. You were there, I remember you were there, when I started Kommunity FK. There wasn’t anything like it. We came out of the Joy Division, Killing Joke, Bowie mold, and that’s basically what we were trying to do. There was three pieces; bass guitar, keyboards that played itself, a killer drummer, and me on guitar and vocals. It was Death rock and that’s what’s so cool about it. Around the Close One Sad Eye days, the Batcave in London was a big deal, it was awesome! It influenced a lot of people, and I have to say it inspired us as well but there was no “Gothic” term and then all of a sudden the “Gothic” term came out because of the way we looked. I used to look that way, and I still do. So I guess I do, to a degree to where I want to keep it pure. The other part is I don’t want to have anything to do with the bullshit and the people that jump on the bandwagon, especially a couple of years ago when Goth was huge. You know, UPN13, everybody was on it. That’s when it hit the shitter. You had all sorts of people coming into L.A. going “I’m Goth”. I had nothing to do with it. So that’s the part I want don’t want nothing to do with but yeah, I’m proud of it. I’m glad that people think of me that way.
HIP: So if Goth history was a totem pole where would you be at?
I’d be on another planet! Totally, and I’m working towards that. I’m trying to keep everything down inside of me, an inner revolution. Things are changing inside of me for the better. It’s influencing my music and everything, so I’d like to say as far as Gothic totem pole goes, I’d be up there at the top. I’d be up there with the tops, there’s no doubt about it. I’m not trying to be a cunt or anything, I think other people will tell you the same thing.
HIP: You came out of the same scene of the likes of Rozz Williams of Christian Death. Where were you when you heard of Rozz passing away?
I was home. I got a call from somebody and they told me that Rozz died. I couldn’t believe it because I was just partying with him like a week and a half before. I’d seen him several times before that, before Erik (Christides) died. I still have the message on my tape machine, in sort of a memoriam thing for Rozz that I’ll probably keep forever, until I join him. It hit me really bad. That night we had that eulogy for him at Coven 13, really early in the evening before it opened, I was one of the speakers and I went up there and just lost it. Completely lost it. Gitane (Demone) was there, everybody was there just losing it. Seeing each other like that, we were all just stripped down to nakedness and total sorrow. It was heavy man. I’m glad to see that somebody’s writing a book about him, it should be out pretty soon. People should still pay tribute to him, he was a great artist.
HIP: Kommunity FK has been in existence about how many years now?
It’s going to be 20 years. I started it in 1979. The name came from Kommunity Fuck and we weren’t allowed to play anywhere. Our first gig was at Cathay deGrande, it was like early 1980. We were playing with Redd Kross and 45 Grave when Pat Smear was in the band, he had a mohawk. We’ve inspired a lot of bands to do what they’re doing. We had a band called Kuntz with Teeth and we played an AIDS benefit up here. That night, Tom Thorn was at the club we were playing at and he asked someone to bring me to him so he could meet me, and even he has told me that Kommunity FK has inspired him to do Electric Hellfire Club and Thrill Kill Kult. I thought “Wow”, that’s a heavy compliment. This band is going on 20 years man, I can’t wait to see what happens.
HIP: What happened to Sativa Luvbox?
Things just crumbled, and I said “You know what, fuck this”. After that I did KFK again, and that was the Permission Magazine interview line-up. We went to New York and did an East Coast tour. That was really amazing, I still have a cigarette burn on my arm after we played a killer show at The LimeLight. We all gave each other cigarette burns for playing a killer show.
HIP: Oh, cool!
Continued....