DANZIG - "MTV Interview" 1995
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00:00Seguimos en Headbangers y ahora si el turno, ahora si lo que estaba prometido, la persona que esta a mi lado habla por si sola y tambien, bueno, parte del grupo Danzig, Glen, Joey, thank you very much for your time.
00:12This is Headbangers for all the Latin American audience. This is kind of a brand new audience for you. You speak some Spanish?
00:19No, un poquito.
00:21Ah, es un poquito. Ok, so let's go into the music because, I mean, although it's a Latin American audience because MTV and Headbangers are very like in touch with your music and everything that's been happening lately with Danzig.
00:35First of all, Danzig 4 now, 4 records and a live mini album. What has been the changes in the band, like evolving as a band? How do you feel it from the very beginning of Danzig?
00:49That's one thing.
00:54I think the lyrics are getting more intense and dealing with a lot of different issues that people, maybe in South America, but I know in America, don't deal with.
01:11The hypocrisies of religion, politics and those two things merging to try and control people's lives is a very big topic in America nowadays.
01:24Joey, how did you feel about like getting now, you played in Sugar Tooth, right?
01:29Right, yeah.
01:30And some reference from L.A. that's very good, very good drumming. How do you feel now playing in Danzig?
01:38I love it. I've had a great time, great bunch of guys, really good band. It's definitely the best thing I've done.
01:48There's some things that you're planning ahead, like writing new songs in which you feel like part of the band. It's different because you're like now a live drummer, but then you will be a drummer.
01:59I mean, you'll be in front of the band, taping with the band, because Chuck recorded the drums in the album.
02:06Yeah, but we've got some B-sides on European singles. They're live from the last tour, the first part of this tour, back in October.
02:16And he's on Danzig records. And when we get done with this tour, we'll be working on a record together.
02:25Yeah.
02:26And Joey, so far so good? It's been like the first leg of the U.S. tour and now going to Europe, then Latin America.
02:33Yeah, I can't wait to do it.
02:34So far so good?
02:35Yeah, absolutely. It was tough in the beginning, learning all the songs and getting used to playing with everybody, a whole different group of guys, but it's coming along. I love it.
02:51Glenn, how did you feel about this whole thing about mother and being five years after the original? Six years? Six years and being such a huge, let's say, hit. What's kind of a surprise for you?
03:08Typical.
03:09Typical.
03:10You know, I'm years and years behind. So, you know, radio is very scared of us in America anyway.
03:20Right, but now it's different. I mean, you have a voice.
03:22No, they're still scared of us.
03:24Okay. So, which version of the mother do you prefer? The live one? Because we have the two videos. The original one and the live one.
03:36Well, which one do you want to play?
03:38For me, yeah.
03:39I love the live.
03:41Okay. The live album, because it's more intense. It's real Danzig now.
03:47Headbangers with the presence of Glenn Danzig, Joey Castillo, is that the last name?
03:52Castillo.
03:53Castillo, like castle.
03:54That's it.
03:55Did you know the translation in English?
03:57No.
03:58Okay, that's great. Let's talk about the tour, the second leg of the U.S. tour. You have some very good special guests that's been programming heavily also in Headbangers, Korn and Marlene Manson. Did you have something to do with picking this kind of bands?
04:12Yeah, I pick all the bands that come on tour.
04:15That's always some type of negative too.
04:17Genitorture, Soundgarden, Godflesh.
04:25That's great. How do you exchange some ideas with the people, like getting new influences in terms of making new bands and new sounds?
04:35Well, I don't know about ideas, but definitely the music is always important. It comes off in some kind of an influence, but everybody is kind of established in their own way.
04:51I think if you pick a band that you like and you think people are going to like too, maybe don't get a lot of exposure in America, but deserve it, that's good. Usually you get along with those bands too, so it's a good time to work on stuff.
05:16Let's talk about the playlist, your show every night. How do you do to pick up the ideal playlist? Because you have like four records, so many songs, it's a matter of choosing which song every night. Do you have more songs that you needed to change?
05:33We change up the encores and sometimes we just pick a song out and put it in the room if we feel like it, but usually the encores we'll throw in different songs all the time.
05:45And all the bands have like, you have your special favorites, about like dancing and studio?
05:49Oh yeah.
05:51Which one are your favorites?
05:54The most I love is definitely the opening song, Brand New God. I like playing that, you know. It's heavy, it's fast, to the point, you know. And Bring Her Death, the last song, that too.
06:08Let's talk about the Dancing 4 album. This was produced by you, Glenn, and also Rick Rubin. You always work with him, and it's kind of an important team in terms of recording albums. Why did you choose him?
06:25It goes album by album, and I listen to his stuff, and if I feel he's the right guy to do it, then I just call him up, you know. The third album I produced on my own, but everything else was, you know, us together.
06:42And about the writing of the songs. You do, I mean, all the songs and kind of music and lyrics are your responsibility. You take part, even the guitar parts, you take charge of them?
06:52Yeah.
06:53Yeah. You play some keyboards too, when you do something?
06:57I play keyboards, I play guitar, I play pretty much any instrument you put in front of me. I'm not going to be a symphonic, you know. You hand me something, but I will play it how I need to play it.
07:11That's great.
07:12Joey, you're part also of the latest video from the Downsick Four, so now you feel pretty much in the band, because of Can't Speak and also I Don't Mind The Pain. What's your opinion about the single? The video, do you like it?
07:27Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it was cool. We did it at a really, really cool place. It was pretty wild. It was out in Fontana, yeah. It was like this demolished city or even world, you know. It was very cool.
07:43Ok, let's go with Glenn and Joey to I Don't Mind The Pain.
08:14It tells you a lot about our band.
08:16I mean, more than that. It's like, it's a different format. That was easy. I mean, it's so, in a way, weird. Like, people give an explanation about what happened with so many copies of the last day of the Downsick album. Never mind.
08:35As long as I get paid. We didn't get paid anyway.
08:43Ok, we heard, Glenn, that you were also involved in some comics project.
08:48I started my own comics company.
08:51Ok, what do you want to show there? Like, your work and also...
08:57No, what I wanted to do is, in Europe and in Japan, comics are treated like an art form. And the people that create them, the writers and the artists, are treated like true artists.
09:09And here in America, because we're in America, I don't even know if this is going out. In America, comics are treated like a little kid business. And that's what comics are done, like X-Men and Superman and Batman for little kids.
09:25So I wanted to do adult comics for people who like comic books, but they don't like Superman and Batman.
09:37And so it's out there. We have mostly all of our writers write novels, horror novels.
09:50We heard about the cover of the album of Downsick 3. We have some kind of a legal problem with it. We even showed the album cover because of Geiger.
10:04What happened with that finally?
10:06I don't know. Nothing.
10:09Ok.
10:10A bunch of publicity coverage for him, you know, at our expense.
10:17Ok, got it. And now we're going to make a break, but we'll be back with a Can't Speak video. It was also a very good video. What can you tell us, Joey, about the video? Because it's very strong, very light.
10:31Wow.
10:32It was just wild.
10:33Yeah.
10:34You were seeing stuff.
10:35Everything, yeah.
10:37What is it like to demand such things? How do you feel about it?
10:41You know, just like Glenn said, it's just, you know, like in America today, you say something and get in trouble for it. It's just like being gagged. You can't say too much without somebody saying something.
10:54Whether it be government or, like you said, religion or whatever. I always think that you're out of place or something.
11:02So, that was it.
11:05Are you proud of this video in terms of, like, also the technical aspect? Which was, who was the director?
11:11Can't Speak?
11:12Can't Speak.
11:14I'm very proud of it.
11:16Again, like Joey was saying, in America today, it's like you can't say anything.
11:21You know, come and just, you know, break into your house and arrest you, you know.
11:26And take away your money, take away your car, take away everything.
11:32Even if they just suspect you might be saying something anti-government or anti-religion, it's very oppressive.
11:44What's my song about?
11:48Total, total down thing anyway.
11:51Vamos a hacer una pausa y luego vamos a volver entre otras cosas con Can't Speak y otros videos más de down thing.
11:56Es una pausa, no se muevan estos headbangers.
12:01Ok, estos headbangers y aquà seguimos con videos mostrando más material de down thing y también importante.
12:06Luego van a estar en Latinoamérica.
12:08Glenn, what do you know about Latinoamérica?
12:11Which section?
12:13Like any, like Mexico.
12:15Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, where?
12:19Argentina, for instance.
12:21I have an uncle in Argentina.
12:23Really? Yeah.
12:26Ok.
12:28And the very important thing is that you're playing soon, like now in June you're playing Argentina for the first time.
12:34Brazil will be for the first time too.
12:36And what do you feel about that?
12:38Have you heard some comments about some people being down there?
12:42Comments?
12:43Like, about the audience, about...
12:45I know we have a lot of fans down there and finally we've worked it out so that we can come down and do some shows.
12:55Recently I've been studying a lot about South American folklore and history and things like that because we have a comic book coming out.
13:03And I'm writing this called Jaguar God.
13:06And it's basically, I don't know about down in South America, but it's the first South American warrior hero in America.
13:16I think in literature it's a lot of different mythology in all different areas that kind of piece it all together and make it interesting and crazy.
13:27You can get, I mean, like take more advantage of it, like going there and feel like it's such a different culture.
13:35I think it's something that a lot of people in America don't know a lot about.
13:44And that's history south of our border.
13:48You know, history and mythology.
13:50And I think they know so much about, you know, European and even African history.
13:58And also a little about a country that's landlocked right here in America.
14:02And maybe it's time somebody kind of opened that up.
14:06How much time do we have?
14:08I'm afraid to think we may be too early.
14:10I want to stop early, but...
14:12Never mind.
14:13Joey, what do you think about, what could you promise about like a dancing show now that would be the first time?
14:19Imagine, for Latin American audiences, the very first time.
14:22Never saw dancing again.
14:24In terms of the show, what about the show?
14:26How would you describe it?
14:30Definitely wild.
14:34Like just violent, fast, loud.
14:39Good show.
14:40It's definitely a good show.
14:42In terms of the song, you're mixing like a balanced mix of all material.
14:47Absolutely.
14:48You know, for the record.
14:50Yeah.
14:51So that's great.
14:52Yeah.
14:53I guess that you're kind of excited to go to it.
14:55Yeah.
14:56Definitely.
14:57It's going to be good.
14:58You definitely get your money's worth winning.
15:00Okay.
15:01That's great.
15:02So, so far, confirmed.
15:04Three dates in Brazil.
15:06Two Buenos Aires.
15:08Right.
15:09That's great.
15:11Vamos a ir ahora a un video muy especial.
15:13What happened?
15:14What was the whole deal about the video?
15:16Because we played like in a row, like a month or a month and a half in a row, the video, Until You Come Out of the Dark.
15:21But we didn't know back then there was some kind of problem in other places with Until You Come Out of the Dark.
15:27No, there's only a problem in America.
15:30Okay.
15:31The only place that our videos have a problem is in America.
15:34Okay.
15:35And that's on MTV.
15:37They wouldn't play it.
15:39We have a thing in America called the Video Music Box.
15:42You can call up and pay for a dollar and play your video, whatever you want to see.
15:46So they had no problem with it.
15:48But MTV America just didn't play it.
15:51First they said it was too satanic.
15:54Then they said, okay, it's not satanic, but you have muscle women in the video, and women shouldn't have muscles.
16:01Or it was offensive to women that they had muscles.
16:08So I think they just didn't want to play the video.
16:10I'm going to put a new excuse every week to get rid of it.
16:13Right.
16:14Scared as usual.
16:16I'm still very scared.
16:19Okay, here we go with Glen and Joey.
16:21Watch this.
16:22Until You Call Out of the Dark.
16:31Glen, I understand that you are in charge of the design of this.
16:35Yeah, for the workshop.
16:38And what's the meaning of, first of all, this?
16:41This is an old room.
16:43This was my workshop.
16:45Okay.
16:46And I think what this is doing is to...
16:51This is just, I took our stall and made it into two workshops.
16:59And people tell you what it is, and then you make a psychological profile of them after they tell you what it is.
17:05Oh, I remember. I did that. I remember.
17:08This way, if one of our fans comes up and tells me what it means, I go, I don't know.
17:13I did that when I was a kid.
17:15Somebody did that.
17:16And this is very interesting.
17:18Because it was an explanation.
17:20What happened was, once, the one on the radio station said something about Bill Clinton.
17:26I don't like Bill Clinton.
17:28Not so.
17:29So anyway, he sent...
17:34They wanted me to come, or whatever it was from.
17:36But I think this was pretty funny.
17:38Yeah.
17:39Somebody killed you, guys.
17:41You're wonderful.
17:42Yeah.
17:43I'm happy you got in the picture.
17:45I'm happy.
17:48I mean, going now, deeper, like, this...
17:51You always take care about, like, the lyrics in your album.
17:54That's very good.
17:55In Lucifuge, I remember, in this album.
17:58What are the meanings?
18:00You told me there was kind of a deeper, now, meaning.
18:03Always, like, going, like...
18:06Like what song?
18:07Like...
18:08I don't know, even...
18:10It's just heavier.
18:11It's not supposed to be deeper.
18:12Although you can, you know, get out of it what you want,
18:15and make one out of the lyrics.
18:16It's very simple.
18:17But people can make it a little more personal for themselves.
18:21But, I mean, they're very, very heavy.
18:26In terms of the lyrics?
18:27That's their song.
18:28Run me a guide.
18:29Run me a guide.
18:30It's basically, anybody can start their own religion,
18:33and then tell you what the rules of their religion is.
18:36And I'd be, okay, each week, I need a new person.
18:38I need a new person to slaughter on this altar,
18:40and you do it.
18:41Or each week, you gotta pay me X amount of dollars,
18:43and then, okay, let's go.
18:45There it is.
18:48It's great to know.
18:49And ya lo saben, todos los fanáticos de Lucifugo,
18:52o como le decimos.
18:53How do you pronounce it?
18:54En Latinoamerica es Lucifugo.
18:56Lucifuge.
18:57Lucifuge.
18:58It's kind of a different meaning, but it's the same.
19:00I mean, it's a different pronunciation, but it's the same.
19:02The same idea.
19:03Joey.
19:04Yes.
19:05Future plans.
19:06Now.
19:07The end of the second American tour,
19:11and then going to Europe, I think.
19:16Well, aside from Janzig,
19:19I got, it looks like I'm gonna record the second Sugar Tooth album.
19:23Wow.
19:24Yeah.
19:25And then, possibly, scheduling works out.
19:28Be doing, hopefully, something with Giza Butler from Black Sabbath.
19:31He's doing the solo stuff, and I got a call from him to play.
19:35And then Glenn's stuff.
19:38And after a couple months, he'll start his stuff.
19:42Me and him.
19:44We're working on it.
19:45As soon as you're off tour, you're gonna, like,
19:47concentrate on writing new songs?
19:49I've been writing.
19:50Okay.
19:51Yeah, I write whenever I get the urge or the feeling.
19:56So, like you said, we'll do a few side things.
20:01And then I got my comics, and then we'll sit down,
20:04and we'll start working on stuff.
20:09So you've been keeping pretty busy.
20:12Yeah.
20:13I'm glad to know that.
20:14So, this is MTV, once again.
20:16Thank you very much for your time.
20:18Great.
20:19Thanks a lot.
20:20Great.
20:21Okay.
20:22And we say goodbye for now.
20:23This is Twist Can.