Max:
Ever since your last album, there has been a lot of change in the direction the music industry has been heading. How do you feel about the music thats coming out today within what was/is your genre?
Henry:
I don’t know what my genre is and I have not made a record for about ten years. One thing I notice with some hard rock music is that some of it sounds processed and compressed so when you turn it up, it doesn’t really get louder but more confused in the mid-range. There are a lot of stoner and doom bands that I pay a lot of attention to and some really great labels. TeePee, Southern Lord, Meteor City all put out sold records. The new Boris albums coming out later this month are excellent. I think music is just fine, you have to know where to look.
Max:
You've had a lot of influence on what has made spoken word performances popular in many people's eyes. What was the spark that ignited the flame on what has become a very successful avenue for you and those who have followed suite?
Henry:
I started doing talking shows in 1983. There were poetry readings in Los Angeles happening in local clubs and I got asked to be in one and I went from there. I liked being onstage on my own as I have a few stories to tell. My first national tour was in 1985 and it drew from 15 to 50 people and then went up over the years. At this point, it’s the best way for me to get across the information to my audience. I don’t think in lyrical terms any more, I think more journalistically at this point.
Max:
You were a big part of the punk rock scene in it's early stages, stateside. You've even been called the father of punk rock music in America. Can you explain how it all started and when you knew you really had something that people were eager to follow and why they were so eager to follow it?
Henry:
I was in bands that were a small part of a large picture. There can’t be any one band or person who started anything and I can think of other people and bands who were far more influential than I could have possibly been. Ian MacKaye and his bands Minor Threat and Fugazi and his label Dischord, those a very influential entities. I think there will always be a desire for music and other expressions that push back, there’s nothing new about any of this, only the delivery systems have gotten more efficient. When I was young, there was no internet. It was all phone calls and waiting on the mail. Now things are moving much faster. I think when you assign too much credit to one person or to one band, you miss out on the bigger picture. The picture is always bigger than you think.
Max:
As an avid reader and being an author, what writers influenced you in becoming an author and what authors currently pull you in intellectually?
Henry:
It was reading Henry Miller that mistakenly made me think I could write. I was on the road and seeing many things for the first time, so I started writing it all down. It was Miller who made me think it was possible. Miller makes it appear easy because he was so good but writing isn’t easy. It’s very hard. I enjoy reading Chris Hedges. I thought his new book Death Of The Liberal class was very interesting. At the moment, I am reading a book of articles written by Robert Fisk. He has covered almost every major conflict in the last few decades. I think he’s very sharp. I read a lot of history, biography, political and social studies books at this point. There are a lot of great writers out there.
Max:
While you've put aside music to work on many of your other projects, is music still amazing to you? If so, why?
Henry:
I like to listen to music. I don’t want to make any at this point. I don’t know what else I could do with it besides live in the past. I have not the time for that luxury.
Max:
You've done a lot of work with The Partnership For A Drug Free America and I understand that you are also affiliated with an orphanage. What was it that spurred these interests and do you any other work in a similar vein?
Henry:
I work with Drop In The Bucket, West Memphis Three, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Holly Grove Children Services Center. I started doing this as soon as I started making enough money to pay my bills and get some stability. I think it’s a good thing to help others but you have to get yourself into a stable environment first.
Max:
In America's search for transparency, new organizations have been formed, such as Wikileaks. America is torn on that specific issue. Some view it as treason. Others view it as patriotism. What is your take on the subject?
Henry:
If WikiLeaks is treason, then so was the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame [VP Dick Cheney called her and her husband "Fair Game" after they proved and announced to the media that Bush was lying about Saddam Hussein's WMD's] and let's get everyone into court and get it going. If America has so many things that we are not supposed to know about, perhaps it's time to change the way we do things. The way America conducts itself at this point only seems to lead to new conflicts. If America didn't go to Iraq, there would be no deficit. Since the American media has been bought and paid for, some people need alternate sources to get their information.
I don't go to CNN for news like I don't go to Burger King for a meal.
Max:
In a time when many American's are wanting more transparency in government and to get their voices heard, what do you see as the most honorable and expedient way to get the government to listen to the will of the people?
Henry:
Campaign finance reform would help. Thanks to the Citizens United case, politicians can be wholly own by corporations and really don't have to listen to the people. If the government really listened to the people, do you think we would be in Iraq now? Do you think we would have the healthcare system we do? I think for at least the last three decades, politicians have been distancing themselves from the citizens they serve. I don't know if that will change in our life time. I think both the left and right are part of the problem.
Toth:
Aside from Campaign finance reform, how can the US public get our government to realize the importance of transparency?
Henry:
I don't think it can. I think that big business, multi-national corps. have had every administration's ear from at least post-FDR to now. At the end of the day, your vote is somewhat meaningless, rioting is useless, destruction is pointless. When the SCOTUS gave corporations First Amendment rights, the writing that has been on the wall for years was set in neon. I think what needs to happen is more things like wikileaks. The curtain that protects the wizard has to be assaulted. You might not like what you get but in the end, I think we will all be the better for it.
Toth:
In your opinion, what is the best means of networking for like-minded people who want change?
Henry:
Internet, twitter, things like that. They are cheap, hard to stop and easy to start.
Toth:
Do you boycott certain businesses, if so which ones?
Henry:
I don't eat at fast food places. I don't base any opinion I have on things I learned on any network news outlets, even if it turns out to be true. I have to cross reference the information. Past that, I rely on myself to make the right decision at the time. I don't have kind of list though.
Toth:
For all the rumors about "secret societies" do you believe that most of the major decisions are made by "shadow governments" and if so, how do the People out them?
Henry:
I think business runs the world. Always follow the money. From all that hearts and minds crap in any country the America is "spreading Democracy" in to anywhere else. Dig down into the ground. If there's oil there, chances are, that country needs some Democracy and we're the country to drone strike them into freedom.
Toth:
Do you think WikiLeaks as a whistle blower outlet and activist for "free press" is a good idea? Why?
Henry:
Ultimately, yes. The America has to change its policy. It won't unless it's outed. Why should it? Corps in the America loved Mubarak, he bought their shit with your tax dollars. Great deal. Transparency means transparency. Ripples in the water upset those who are used to navigating in placidity. That is to say, there will be some lawyers involved.
Max:
Do you ever miss the beginning of your career? When things were fresh and new experiences or has the ride become better as it's progressed?
Henry:
I don’t miss anything really. I think about the past now and then but when I really drill down into it, I remember the parts that were not all that great. Since I have not stayed in any one thing and keep my line of work diversified, things feel new all the time. I am in the middle of shooting three documentaries for National Geographic. I am out of here for Vietnam and India in a few days. Boredom is proofreading. Everything else is quite interesting at present.
Max:
What is next for Henry Rollins? You've been a success with music, being an author, an actor, and hosting your own show on IFC. What can we expect to see from you in the future?
Henry:
I have a lot of tour dates for next year. My first photo book is out in a few months and I am working on a few new books.
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