Writer, radio host and former singer of Rollins Band and Black Flag, Henry Rollins returns to Aotearoa for a series of spoken word shows. He talks to Elliott Childs about his plans and how he’s changed over the years.
Henry Rollins Photo: Ross Halfin
Henry Rollins does not mess around. Or sit still for very long.
The former front man of the seminal punk band Black Flag, as well as his own Rollins Band, has built himself a storied second career as a spoken word performer, writer, radio host, podcaster and actor. He is currently on tour with his new spoken word show and arrives in Aotearoa on 5 July.
But when I speak to him he’s in Australia, a country he’s visited more than 40 times since 1989.
For someone who spends so much time on the road, it would not be surprising if the confines brought on by the world-wide pandemic had caused some sort of existential crisis, but Rollins is philosophical about it.
“It was depressing but I quickly saw that some things were bigger than I was.”
Not one for sitting around, he threw himself into writing, research and reclaiming what he could of the money he’d spent on cancelled trips.
“Luckily I had enough things I could do without leaving my house.”
“But I’m loathe to complain, ‘cause there’s no way you got through Covid unscathed. I think humanity took a loss.”
“My main frustration with all of that is how some leaders of some countries handled all of that and my chief criticism is the United States.”
Given his thoughts on America’s political divide and his progressive politics, his recent move from, as he puts it, “hippie-dippie-doo” Los Angeles to Nashville, Tennessee, seems an odd choice.
“It’s been really interesting” he says, laughing.
“I’m not interacting with a tonne of people and when I do, I’m exceedingly polite. Because A. That’s how I want to be and B. I’m not looking to catch multiple 9mm slugs in my upper centre mass.”
Why then make the move? The answer is shrouded in secrecy.
“I have a large project that I’ve been working on that I didn’t want to realise in Los Angeles because once this thing is completed, it’s going to involve me a lot.”
“I’ve invested quite a lot of financial resources of mine, which aren’t a tonne, but I’ve put ‘em in and well ... it’s out of my hands now” he says with a resigned chuckle.
There is no word on what that project may be, but Rollins describes it as “the biggest chunk of meat that I’ve torn off the bone yet”.
Whatever it is, it seems that this project is going to be all-consuming for a while. But Rollins is firm that it will not mean an end to his famously intense touring schedule.
“I still feel good out there on stage and I still feel like I have something to say that’s maybe worth hearing.
“I really like being with an audience. And the older I get, the more I have true affection for these people.”
The Henry Rollins that I’m talking to is clearly impassioned and opinionated, but he is far more calm and considerate than the 20-something man who fronted Black Flag and wrote the tortured, angry diary entries that made up his much-lauded book Get In The Van.
So, what changed? He cites global travel and his experiences with different people around the world as a major factor, as well as the accumulated years of day-to-day interactions with people.
“At this point, I think I approach human interaction with far more patience. I realise everyone’s got a lot going on.
“I don’t know if that’s mellowing, but maybe becoming more aware and in that getting more patience and more consideration.
“I work on myself constantly because I want to be better ... and so that could be the change. Or maybe this is what 60 is like, you know?”
Another side of that ageing process is the inevitable loss of friends. Teresa Taylor, a former drummer for the Butthole Surfers, who Rollins had known since 1981, died recently.
So too has Spot, the record producer and engineer who made dozens of albums with Black Flag, Hüsker Dü and many other bands on the SST Records label, who passed away in March of this year.
According to Rollins, Spot had reached out to him for help in the months before he passed, something which took him by surprise.
“Spot asking me for advice? ... That guy would never ask me for the time of day.”
But Rollins honoured the request and soon he and group of friends and former associates, including Ian MacKaye and former members of Black Flag, were getting together to help Spot and make plans for his financial well-being, including selling limited edition prints of some of his photos from the heyday of SST Records in the early 1980s.
When asked if it felt good to get some of the old band back together, Rollins says it was simply “the right thing to do”.
“Some of the good eggs in Black Flag and SST were all, like ‘Back together again’ and who knows who you have to do that for next time. Maybe they’ll have to be doing it for me.”
Henry Rollins’ NZ Tour dates are:
Wednesday 5 July - The Vic Theatre, Devonport
Thursday 6 July - SkyCity Theatre, Auckland
Friday 7 July - James Hay Theatre, Christchurch
Saturday 8 July - Old St Pauls, Wellington
