Rollins

Web posted on:
Friday, August 13, 1999 6:02:30 PM EST

By Donna Freydkin
Reporting for CNN Interactive

(CNN) -- The only thing more arresting than Henry Rollins' myriad tattoos is his trove of opinions. The former, of course, cover much of his densely muscled body, the product of a relentless touring and workout regimen. The latter issue from his lips, somewhat stunning in their sheer candor.

But then again, this musician, spoken-word artist, narrator, sometime actor and other-time author has never been one to shy away from voicing his thoughts.

Ask him, for example, how it feels to be on the fringes of the music business for almost two decades, watching as younger here-today-gone-tomorrow bands barge up the Billboard charts and make millions.

"That does burn," he says, "when you come from a world where you played shows where the men's room didn't work -- and you see a lot of bands whose first tour is in a tour bus. When I didn't even sit inside until I sat in Jane's Addiction's tour bus in the '90s, after 10 years of touring.

"I've always done good music. And we've done live shows that are as good as anybody's. But what does burn a little is when you see smirking bands who don't know how to play their instruments and are giggling through their performance and thousands of people go nuts."

CLIPS FROM "THINK TANK"

"Baywatch" [220k WAV] "Marilyn Manson" [225k WAV] "Sit Down, Shut Up" [185k WAV] (Courtesy DreamWorks Records)

Leader of the band

The outspoken, bitingly funny Rollins is currently touring with his brand-new Rollins Band and testing out songs from the band's forthcoming (January) album "Get Some Go Again." The new version of the band includes guitarist Jim Wilson, bassist Marcus Blake and drummer Jason Mackenroth.

Former members of the Rollins Band have hooked up with other acts. Drummer Sim Cain is touring with the J. Geils Band, while guitarist Chris Haskett is working with David Bowie. Rollins says the breakup was amicable -- he wanted to follow new musical avenues and do his new album his way.

"No one in the previous lineup was fired, and there wasn't any acrimony," he says. "I wanted to do something different and rather than have a square peg in a round hole, I wanted to go with people who were on the same page of what I wanted to do."

Rollins describes his new band's album-to-come as a euphoric return to his rock roots. He wanted to create music that would get him off the couch and punch him in the face.

"This is way more simple in a lot of ways," he says. "It's what I wanted to do. I produced it because there was a sound in my head I wanted to hear -- and I didn't want a democracy. And I found like-minded people who wanted what I did."

The album includes a cover of the Thin Lizzy song "Are You Ready," which the Rollins Band covered as a gift to the late Lizzy singer Phil Lynott's mother. Rollins says she loved it.

And now, he says, he's starting to work on the video. That's a separate contentious issue in itself.

"Our record is all finished," says Rollins. "It's mastered, and now I have to come up with artwork and a kiss-ass video for MTV. They never play our stuff anyway, so it's just a gesture. We'll pantomime through some ridiculous situation on film and the record will come out at the end of the year. It's going to be a release that no one will hear."

But music alone doesn't cut it for Rollins.

He's written books, recorded accompanying audiobooks, embarked on spoken-word tours, appeared in some big-budget movies ("Lost Highway," 1997; "The Chase," 1994; "Heat," 1995), and he's produced other artists' albums. He also heads his own record label and publishing house, named 2.13.61 for his birthday.

Both as part of the ferocious punk band Black Flag and later as the frontman of his own Rollins Band, he's become one of the most recognized figures in alternative music.

Rollins joined Black Flag in the early 1980s, jumping up on stage at a New York City show and replacing the band's outgoing lead singer Chavo Pederast (who, in turn, had replaced Keith Morris). The band managed to release more than 10 albums before 1986, when founding member Greg Ginn broke up Black Flag and focused on running his SST Records, one of the nation's more influential independent record labels.

Rollins, in turn, formed the original Rollins Band. In that original incarnation, it played at the 1991 Lollapalooza festival and even landed a major label record deal with DreamWorks, which released the band's 1997 "Come In And Burn."

And if somewhat circuitously, Rollins has even invaded the mainstream. You know the voice behind Merrill Lynch and General Motors truck commercials on television? That's Henry. And if you've watched VH1's popular "Behind the Music" documentaries, you've probably heard Rollins as well -- he's the guy narrating The Doors' episode.

Rollins says he has no trouble reconciling his decidedly anti-mainstream views with his commercial work. He views it all pragmatically, with more than a touch of humor. After all, if your average car buyers had to purchase a vehicle from the intense, tattooed, close-cropped Rollins in person, they'd probably run for the hills.

"They're very commercial ventures, but it's not like I was coerced into it," he says. "I willingly went to the audition and with much jealousy I went after it. To me, the sell-out is when the record company tells you it wants you to put back-up chicks on a song. You don't want to, but you do it. That to me is selling out.

"Going after bigger game in the entertainment world -- if I want to do it -- is not selling out."