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CJ SLEEZ |
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First, let’s get business out of the way. Is the band currently on hiatus? I know you’ve had some members leave.
No, I’m not on hiatus. I only took a few months off of performing live to
regroup, literally. At the start of the year I decided that it was time
for me to get serious about my musical career and so I needed some serious
musicians who could completely commit themselves to me and my ideas. I
wanted guys that would drop anything and everything to play rock n’ roll
and I was sick of pulling teeth to get the required work done. I think my
last band became too comfortable with the level of success we had already
achieved while I always did, and always do, want more. They just didn’t
have my drive. Anyway, we’re all still great friends and I know I’ll
always love them like brothers. After all, changing line-ups has never
been that much of an obstacle for me. I’ve done it several times in the
past. It keeps things fresh and exciting. |
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What’s it going to take for someone new to crack the CJ Sleez line-up? Is there any sort of hazing ritual you put them through?
Nothing fraternity-like if that’s what you’re asking. I don’t believe in
being pretentious or degrading my friends for fun. I want them to feel as
equal and as involved as possible. I do, however, tend to scrutinize at
auditions. Not that I’m bitchy to them or anything (I always give everyone
a fair shot), but I can be unintentionally intimidating at times, or so
I’ve been told. Then again, these days I’ve earned the ability to be
picky. The latest auditions went on for months before I found the right
guys for the job. Choosing my band is one of the most important career
decisions that I have to make, although it seems almost routinely at this
point. It’s like having to find a new family. One that’s perfect. |
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Now, I haven’t had the pleasure of reading your memoirs yet, so can you give me a brief rundown of what it’s all about? If it’s about drugs, blow jobs, and fighting cops, please give me a very slow and detailed rundown. Sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll, baby! What else? Although the book deals with a lot of controversial and taboo topics, it’s written with a dark sense of humor. So far the reviews have rocked, despite the occasional typos. I’ll have to read it then. Speaking of reading, you were recently featured in an issue of Hustler Magazine, but didn’t take your clothes off. Didn’t they offer you enough money? What would it take for you to take it all off? |
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I’d pose nude for a magazine like Playboy or Hustler if they made it worth my while, but it would have to be at least a five figure offer for me to consider it. I guess in the end it all boils down to how much you think you’re worth, and baby, I’m worth plenty. Your father was once known as “Suzie Creamcheese” and he’d run around in a wedding dress and flash everyone. For most people I’d think that’d lead to heavy therapy, but it seems to have inspired you. I think what my father did was deadly. I grew up in a family of creative musicians. Both my parents play (not to mention two out of three of my sisters), and they have always been supportive. I think it makes them proud to see me following their footsteps as well as my own dreams. What kind of a teenage girl was CJ Sleez? I can’t imagine you ever waiting tables or hanging out at the mall. I was a real wild child, a rebel without a cause…you know, the untypical misguided youth. I’d drastically change my hair style and color every two weeks. I sported everything – from bleach blonde dreadlocks (don’t laugh too hard, it was the peak of the grunge era) to mohawks to a Chelsea – until I had nowhere to go but completely bald, which I thought was cool anyway. I started wearing nothing but black at age 12 and haven’t swayed since. And no, I didn’t hang out at the mall or wait tables like the other girls my age. Thanks for the laugh though. I was too much of a tomboy for that. I painted, watched a lot of horror movies, and, of course, spent a lot of time listening to music and watching bands play. I started my first basement band, Clitoris Gitch, when I was 14, although we never actually played live. By the time I was 16 I was bringing in out-of-town bands and promoting my own shows. I made enough cash to get by and I helped to maintain a cool rock scene in Hamilton. But, pretty soon I got sick of just watching and had to get on stage and out into the world. Yeah, you’ve had some pretty great, yet alarming, band names in the past. Aside from Clitoris Glitch there was also High School Hookers and CJ Sleez and the STDs. That’s one way to raise eyebrows I guess. How were people reacting to you when you first hit the stage?
I’ve always had a great reaction from the crowd, even from the beginning.
I think the trick is not to take yourself too seriously and just focus on
showing them a good time. That’s what it’s all about. If the crowd doesn’t
have a spectacular show, neither do I. And in this industry you’re only as
good as your last set. |
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So I take it you’ve gotta have some pretty intense groupies. Do they make you laugh, turn you on, or creep you out? Sometimes all three. I’m kidding. No, actually, I really appreciate my groupies. After all, they’re buying my records and merchandise, right? I try to treat my fans like friends because without them I’d be singing to an empty room. Plus, if they already listen to me, they must be cool. Well, I know I’m cool and I listen to you, so it makes sense. Tell me, who’s the first dude you ever slept with? Did you break his heart? Sorry babe, but for that you’ll have to read my recently released autobiography, Poor Little Bitch Girl. A girl can’t spill it all at once. The smartest women always leave you wanting more. Ooh, sassy. Ok, then what’s the most havoc you’ve ever wreaked in one night? If it’s about drugs, blow jobs, and fighting cops, please give me a very slow and detailed rundown. Wow, that’s like asking Hunter S. Thompson what his favorite word is. There’s just too many to choose. Every night is a new adventure. I’m a rock star, sweetie. I’ve got the coolest job in the world! Yes you do. Ok, lightning round time… |
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Give me three reasons why girl rock stars rule. For all the same reasons male rock stars rule. Touché. Ok, so you and I already know, but tell everyone else why Canadian girls rule. Canadian girls are hot, they have a great sense of humor, and they're tough. Who would you rather fuck, Mik Ireland or Robin Black? Again, thanks for the laugh. I needed that. No problem. So, are you really a backdoor tease? I actually wrote that song about one of my ex band mates. All I’ll say is that he wore a cowboy hat. We had an affair while he was practically married to some other woman – not something that I’m particularly proud of, but still, no regrets. I ended it, he left the band. Will 2006 be the year of the Axl? It’s the year of SLEEZ, baby! If rock n’ roll doesn’t work out will you go back to stripping? It’s already working out. There is no ‘If it doesn’t’. We choose our own reality. Finally…live fast, rock hard, die young, and leave a pretty corpse. Right? Sure, sweetie, why not. We’re all going to die anyway, right? I think we might as well make the most of it while we still can. So, what are you living for? I live to talk to people like you CJ. Thanks for the chat! Further: www.cjsleez.com -FIN-__________________________________________________________________________________ -Jeff Warren
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CJ
Sleez’s every move might be considered tabloid fodder if she was living
somewhere like LA or NYC, but as it is this Canadian sleaze rock starlet
can instigate and titillate without the scrutiny usually bestowed upon
such heroin chic hussies as Courtney Love and Brody Daille. Of course,
she’s really more like Gen or Wendy O. with a Taime Downe voice, which is
probably the reason she was hand picked by the Stones to appear in their
“Streets of Love” video and was asked by Sylvain Sylvain to sing on one of
his albums. But really, who needs people to gloss over every detail of
your gutter antics when you can just tell them yourself, right?
Introducing CJ Sleez, who might just wear more hats than she does clothes
on any given show night, a stripper turned rock goddess who, shortly after
the release of her new album, Back from the Brink, has just
published her unapologetic memoirs, Poor Little Bitch Girl, which
chronicles every juicy detail of her sordid past. Just how sordid? Well,
get the book and find out. Or read this interview.