|
THE
KID IS DEAD (LONG LIVE THE KID) So, What happened was…
__________________________________________________________________________________________ Zodiac : First of all, sir, you have the best track record in all of rock n' roll. Three truly, truly amazing bands. And for that I salute you. You should try and join AC/DC now, or perhaps get Axl on the phone. Haggis:? Sparklord: That’s just the intro, man. Zodiac: Oh. The
Love Reaction Wants Your World Zodiac:Do you agree with Zodiac’s assessment of you back then, that you were a “Mercenary bastard”? And do you have any regrets about leaving the Love Reaction? Haggis: Yes. No. Zodiac: Is that your answer, then? Haggis: Well yes, I am a mercenary bastard, and no, I have no regrets. Zodiac: Fair enough. Do you remember ever duct taping 13 year olds to the floor back then?* Haggis: Wasn’t that Smithy**? And she was 12, I think. I don’t remember anything about that. Zodiac: Well, say something funny, at least. Haggis: Two Muslim guys are in a shop, and one of them is trying on backpacks, and he says to the other one, “Does my bomb look big in this?” That’s funny, right? I didn’t have nothing to do with duct-taping 13 year old girls. Zodiac: I remember there used to be a couple little fuzzboxes that used to hang around. Haggis: Yeah, but that was Cobalt. Zodiac: Was it? But you had a couple little Welsh girls. Haggis: Yeah, but I’m still friends with them. I remember Cobalt and the fuzzboxes because, you remember when that one girl was sucking his dick, and she threw up in his trousers in the back of the van, you remember that? And his fly was filled with vomit. (room laughs)
Zodiac: Well,
you’ve answered that one. |
|
|
Zodiac: Was the Cult comfortable with their new rock god status on the Electric tour? Did you find any of the spiritual, Shamanistic qualities of the Ian Astbury persona in the actual guy, or was it all a ruse? Were they into sex drugs and rock n’ roll, or like, candles and French poetry and shit? Haggis: (phone rings) That’s Ian calling in. (room laughs) The band weren’t into drugs, we just drank. That was it, really, we drank an inordinate amount of alcohol, and had sex, a lot. I really didn’t get involved in the Cult’s image at all. I had nothing to do with that, I was the same scruffy git I was in the Love Reaction. And then I left. When they started to try and get me to wear tight trousers, I decided that was it. |
|
|
Zodiac: What about the candles and French poetry? Haggis: I didn’t have much to do with that. I remember Ian inviting me to his room for a poetry reading one night (room laughs), and I definitely knew I had to leave the band then. _________________________________________________________________________________________
The Book of Rock N’
Roll, Motherfucker, I wrote it.
|
|
|
|
Zodiac: Prior to joining the Four Horsemen, Frank Starr was in a bunch of glam bands***. Did he get all that shit out of his system before he joined? Was he already a bad ass motherfucker? What was it like having a singer in jail? Haggis: Well, Frank was crazy, it didn’t matter whether he was in a glam band or not. You can’t make somebody crazy just by the type of band that they’re in.
(Zodiac realizes Haggis is saying “was”)
|
|
Haggis: Yeah. Frank was a nice guy. And making a record with him? Frank was more interested in racing cars and playing pool than he was being in a band. Zodiac: An all-American boy, then. Haggis: He was an all-American Bad Ass. I watched that guy beat people unconscious with golf clubs, pull guns on people, throw people through windows. He was the real thing. (room laughs) Something we all aspire to, but he was already there. Zodiac: Beating people with golf clubs?! Haggis: We were outside of a restaurant once, and a guy attacked him with a golf club. He took it away from the guy and beat him senseless with it. Zodiac: And he pulled guns on people? Haggis: Yeh. Zodiac (incredulous): Why?! Haggis: Because he was Frank. Zodiac: Did someone criticize his glam rock haircut or something? Haggis: No, he was digging a swimming pool in his backyard, and his neighbor didn’t like it, so went ‘round the guy’s house with a gun to shoot him, because he was annoying him. Frank had a very shot temper. He’d been in jail frequently, so…he was basically a career criminal who happened to sing in a band. Zodiac: So, how’d he die, then? Haggis: Motorcycle accident. Zodiac: A bad ass motorcycle accident. Haggis: No, actually he was going 25 miles an hour and an old lady hit him and knocked him off. Zodiac: There was talk of a Horseman reunion, any word on that? How about the proposed DVD? Is that ever coming out? Haggis: The DVD is out, it’s called “Left for Dead”, and you can get it at www.thefourshorsemen.com. As far as all the other stuff goes, that’s it, there’s no reunion, no nothing, just the DVD, which contains every video we ever made. If you want to know anything about the Four Horsemen, than buy the DVD. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Chaos Endurus So what of the future? |
|
|
Zodiac: Did you know that there’s a punk band in Texas called Kid Chaos, and that they released an album that made us all go, “Why is Kid Chaos in a fuckin’ punk band? Haggis (showing zero interest): ….No. Zodiac: Would you be interested in hearing them at all? Haggis: No. Zodiac: You wouldn’t go to see them, then? |
 |
|
Haggis: No. Kid Chaos is dead. Zodiac: Are you working on a solo album? What’s happening, man? Haggis: I did do a solo album, it came out two years ago. You can go to www.aquariannation.com and buy it. It’s under my real name, Stephen Harris. Zodiac: That’s a ‘sensitive’ record, isn’t it? Haggis: It is. In fact, it’s so sensitive that most people didn’t understand it. It was more sensitive than Frank’s hair when he was in a glam band. -FIN- Thanks to Mark “Sparklord” Campbell for setting up and recording the interview, and to Zodiac Mindwarp for asking my questions, even when he did it in his mock American accent. And thanks to Haggis for answering them. And thanks to me for having the brilliant idea to conduct the interview in the first place. And thank you for reading this far. Now please, if you don’t already have it, buy that Four Horsemen DVD and see what real, authentic, bloody-knuckled rock n’ roll looks and sounds like! -Sleazegrinder __________________________________________________________________________________ *As Z claimed the band was fond of doing in his ‘tell-all’ Love Reaction book, “Fucked By Rock” **Love Reaction roadie.
***
Alien, Sin |
|
My
friend Mark “The Sparklord” Campbell lives in
London, where he owns and operates a radio station. He is also a good friend and
business partner with Zodiac Mindwarp; together, they sell Z’s art at
