Saints 'N' Sinners
Sun, June 22, 2008
LondonFreePress

It's 25 years and counting, and Motley Crue are still the bad boys of sleaze-rock. Nikki Sixx and Mick Mars talk summer tour and new CD
By DARRYL STERDAN

HOLLYWOOD -- Every saint has a past. And every sinner has a future.

Oscar Wilde wrote that more than a century ago. But it still rings true today. Especially when you're talking about the wild men of Motley Crue.

It has been more than 25 years since the band of unrepentant sinners -- singer Vince Neil, bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee and guitarist Mick Mars -- clawed their way out of the Hollywood hair-metal gutter. Armed with an arsenal of glam-slam strip-club anthems such as Shout at the Devil, Girls Girls Girls, Wild Side and Dr. Feelgood, they quickly became the undisputed kings of L.A. sleaze-rock.

But their reign was anything but peaceful. In public, they were the ringmasters of their own neverending circus of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll excess. Offstage, the four lived in a neverending tumult of tragedy and destruction. Death and drugs, suicide and scandal, breakups and breakdowns, prison and even Pam Anderson; they've endured them all and come out the other side.

They may be miscreants, but they've got some pretty powerful guardian angels.

No wonder they decided to call their new album Saints of Los Angeles. It's the original band's first new studio recording in more than a decade. And it's very much about their past. Inspired by tales from their frank 2001 memoir The Dirt, the album reportedly traces the band from its Sunset Strip beginnings to their current status as rock 'n' roll survivors.

But make no mistake: For a bunch of saints, these guys still know how to throw a hell of a party. In April, to hype the album and their accompanying Crue Fest tour -- a multi-band bill making its way across the country this summer -- the band flew hundreds of contest winners and reporters to their home turf. In the historic Avalon ballroom just steps away from Hollywood and Vine, the Crue held court for several hours, staging a press conference, playing the title cut from the new album, and sitting for literally dozens of interviews with every single journalist and fan in the house.

In the midst of the mayhem, we managed to squeeze into a red-leather booth with a pizza-gobbling Sixx and the soft-spoken Mars to talk about their past, present and future -- and Tommy Lee's giant bass drum.

By this point, even you guys must be getting tired of talking about yourselves.

NIKKI: Yeah. Can we talk about someone else?

Who would you like?

NIKKI: Let's talk about Oingo Boingo.

OK. So why would Oingo Boingo go out on a package tour called Boingo Fest with a bunch of bands when they proved with their last tour that they're still popular enough to fill arenas on their own?

NIKKI: Because it's something we've always wanted to do. We've always wanted to do our own festival. We wanted to be involved in handpicking the bands. These bands are about hits, these bands are about rock 'n' roll showmanship, these bands are about excess. We love these bands and we wanna take them out and make this the summer of rock 'n' roll excess. Sure, we can go out and play by ourselves. We just did it for two years. We went everywhere. But sometimes you gotta go after things you dream about. You gotta try learning something or creating something new.

You mention rock 'n' roll excess. But isn't that lifestyle the thing that almost killed you?

NIKKI: Yeah.

So aren't you kind of ...

NIKKI: Insane? Yeah, I would say so. But what do you want? We're Motley Crue. We can't reform now.

Speaking of that, what state is everybody in these days? Are you all clean and sober?

NIKKI: Um ... let's say some are and some aren't. But this isn't about being sober.

What's it about?

NIKKI: It's about living it to the fullest. It's about being willing to take it all the way.

But given that over the years, the guys who are sober and the guys who aren't don't always seem to get along, is that gonna cause problems? Do you have to separate certain people?

NIKKI: Nah, we just fight.

MICK: We like to fight. Just like any band, we have our fights from time to time.

Mick, how is your health these days? (Mars suffers from the degenerative bone condition ankylosing spondylitis and had a hip replacement in 2004.) Is your condition going to have any impact on the tour and your ability to play?

MICK: My health is great. The inconvenience that I suffer from -- that's what I like to call it, because people call it a disease. But ankylosing spondylitis is more of an inconvenience. I feel great. I'm not gonna be carried up on a stretcher. There's a lot of rumours flying that I'm dead. But that isn't going to stop me. I'm all good, really.

NIKKI: His girlfriend's 23. My girlfriend's 26. Do you think he's doing okay?

Point taken. Let's talk about Saints of Los Angeles. It seems like you're getting nostalgic, looking backward, singing about your old days and the Sunset Strip.

NIKKI: Well, we're telling a story. And no one can tell the story better than us. But it's not just nostalgia. You've got to hear the whole album to get it. And then you'll be, like, "Oh, f---ing awesome!"

But if you're looking back on the album, is that part of the reason why you want to go out on the road with younger bands -- to balance that with music that's looking forward?

NIKKI: Well, the album does look forward, too. It's the whole story. It's not just a retrospect thing. You'll get the feel for it when you hear it.

The album is going to be on Eleven Seven records. Now that you're the president of the label, does that mean you're going to have to screw yourself out of royalties?

MICK: Ha! That's funny. That is funny!

NIKKI: How would that even work?

MICK: I think it would be like taking it from your left pocket and putting it in your right pocket.

NIKKI: So, are you implying that record companies are thieves?

There's been some creative accounting practices over the years.

NIKKI: Here's the deal: I'm the president of a record company that is about new artists, new bands and my job is not unlike Jay-Z's; to bring in new artists and help develop those new artists. I don't sit at the conference table, I don't go over marketing plans. I'm working with the artists, one on one. Motley Crue doesn't need that.

As a label president then, how would you combat illegal downloading?

NIKKI: Well, you know, that's a bigger issue and a whole big conversation that we could have for hours. But ultimately, I'm an artist. I'm always going to take the artist's side. So in spite of being a label president, I'm the artist's president. I'm not the record company president who wants to screw the artist. I'm the record company president who wants to make sure the artist is taken care of.

Mick, everyone but you has had extracurricular projects. Are you ever going to do a solo album?

MICK: Maybe.

Why so coy?

MICK: I'm a coy fish. Actually, this may sound weird to you or strange, but I'm very very focused on this band. It's kind of like a wife. And I've never cheated on any of my wives that I've gotten divorced from. They cheated on me, I never cheated on them. But anyway, I'm just really tied into the band.

Last question: What is with Tommy's big-ass bass drum?

NIKKI: I love it. I think it looks cool. I look at it and I laugh. We're like cartoon characters. And what could be more perfect for us?

cabledogg2 wrote on Jun 22^nd, 2008 at 7:30am:


Yeah he does. I remember seeing something about it on a documentary. I think it's some type of bone disease. I remember he had to get a hip replacement before the last tour. I saw them when they were opening for Aerosmith and they were absolutely dreadful.

I also saw them open for Aerosmith.  'Shitty' is too kind a description.

cabledogg2 wrote on Jun 22^nd, 2008 at 7:30am:


He really comes to life when he hits the stage though.

jdlaw wrote on Jun 22^nd, 2008 at 6:24pm:

Agree totally! The only 2 bands that are more boring than the Rutles!

Most awesomeness Crue-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVhK1mGJMFA