“I’ll give you one minute, have a sip of coffee and then we’re going to talk about Iraq. ”

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By Brittney Barrett  |  Send to Friend

 

When met with the task of describing Henry Rollins, there’s a distinct moment of wishing there were some hyperbolic version of the word opinionated. Rollins, best known for his five year stint growling out politically tinged anthems for Black Flag, could, it would seem, pontificate for weeks without so much as pausing for breath. What is surprising though is that you wouldn’t want to miss a line. Rollins, despite his dated reputation as something of a misanthrope, has the charisma of a cult leader sans all the hot air. His views are founded in facts, the byproduct of world travels ranging from post-Katrina New Orleans to the poverty stricken shores of South East Asia. There’s an authenticity to his discourses, soon to be heard by the masses during his upcoming spoken word tour that makes him magnetic; a trait responsible for his role as the front runner in the post-punk movement back in the eighties. Tours with the band led to tours of the world, upon which Rollins bases the sometimes tragic, but always inspiring stories of tribulations he’ll bring on stage with him across America. Here, he briefs us on Rollins world and the world at large.

two.one.five: Last election you admitted to voting for Kerry not because you thought he was the man for the job but because he wasn’t Bush. Are you more enthusiastic about the candidates of ’08?

HR: Well, I can’t be enthusiastic at all about John McCain. Also I think he will be the winner. I’m hopeful for Obama because of his energy. I just don’t know what he’s got when the rubber meets the road. He’s untested quantity. I cringe at the thought of McCain. It doesn’t really matter who the next President in a way because all that matters is that there’s a lot of mending to do.

two.one.five: In that case, what are you hopes for the next administration whoever it may be?

HR: That they try and reconnect America to the world. We need to reconnect to NATO to the UN, to the EU, to South East Asia, to the world. Because these last eight years have been ‘we don’t talk to you, we don’t sit down with you, we’re not going to look at you. And what we don’t talk to anybody? The next President is going to have to sit down with people that he might not agree with. That’s what negotiations all about. I’d like to see a dialogue between America and Iran and with Hugo Chavez. I think we’ve got to start talking to these people and not have this thuggish school-boy bully thing happening. Because it doesn’t do well for you, it blows up in your face. Because if you’re the school yard bully, eventually someone kicks your ass. And that was 9/11. I just hope the next President is going to be different than what we’ve had. If it’s McCain it will be enough of the same to where I think we’ll go into Iran and I don’t know what ground forces we’d be able to bring. All of our guys are worn out, our vehicles are worn out. So what do we do now? We carpet bomb? So what, we’re killing kids now? I was in Qumran, I had a great time. Nice people. And I was interviewing people, and I said ‘What do you think of America’ and they said, ‘We like America, we like you…we’re just terrified of Bush. And I said, ‘So you want to fight America? And they’re like, 'no.'. Are you kidding? Our friends are dead from fighting Sadaam Hussein. We don’t wanna fight anybody. We just wanna raise our kids. So I’m just hoping for a cessation of all this violence.I don’t wanna enjoy myself too much because there’s a bunch of people in 130 degree heat getting shot at not having a good time. So, it’s kind of ruining my good time. Meanwhile, my life is just marching on, closer to the grave everyday.

two.one.five: There’s a lot of opportunity for you to vocalize your opinions on the state of affairs in this country, but what is your advice to people who want to make a change but lack the platform to do so?

HR: Work locally. Chances are there are Iraq vets who need anything…any kind of help in your town and you can easily contact them. Even if it’s just tickets to a baseball game you can improve the lives of others. There are lots of things that you can always do in your own neighborhood because no one’s town is squeaky clean and operating at a hundred percent. And, any town can use someone’s civic awareness and civic devotion, even if it’s just picking up garbage. Don’t feel that you can’t affect change. Don’t get inactive. The problem is when people do nothing, they think they have no personal power or they their vote doesn’t count and it’s an easy feeling for people to have when you give into that. But you have to fight that. This administration is good at demoralizing you. When you go to Walter Reed Bethesda medical and visit these people and see what trapanol does and what a bullet does to a body, well, more people should go. It’s an eye opener.


two.one.five: With all the problems this country is riddled with it’s hard to know where to start making changes. If it were you in that oval office come January, what would be the first issues you would tackle and why?

HR: We have to get back on the global scene and I would like to hear from the next President, what are you going to do about Iraq. I’ll give you one minute, have a sip of coffee and then we’re going to talk about Iraq. The next eighteen months. And after that we’re gonna have lunch and talk about health care. And then we’re going to talk about our trade deficit and a place called China. Because the next four can’t be like the last eight. We just don’t have the money. Don’t have the vehicles man power money or goodwill. I don’t want to be a nation alone in the world. Where the rest of the world goes ‘what a pariah’.


two.one.five: Would you say getting the word out on that is the goal on your spoken word tour?

HR: I go on stage and I tell stories. I tell you where I went, what I saw. From that there’s maybe some inspiration to be derived. I’m not going to go on stage and tell you ‘here’s what to do.’ If I paid $30 to sit in a seat to have some guy tell me what to do it would be ‘Oh yeah, I’m gonna kick your ass, man.’ I think I can get and have I can get a lot across just by recounting the stories and flexing some opinion. Some live op eds. I think when you issue directives to people they kinda tune out. I think I’ll probably be telling a lot of stories from people I’ve met while making those documentaries. And this trip I just did to Burma was fascinating. Right the time Bhutan was killed in Pakistan, I was there. I was in Laos and Cambodia and Vietnam earlier this year and that trip was very informative. I’m spoiled for choice (of topics) at the moment.

two.one.five: Will those stories be the focus of your documentary as well?

HR: I did three documentaries this year for the independent film channel. South Africa was one. Northern Ireland was another and this thing in the ninth ward was the most recent one. They air later this year. Look at this administration, like how they handle a crisis like Katrina. They basically told the people have a nice drowning. You’re poor, your black you don’t vote… I was just in the ninth ward a few weeks ago shooting the documentary down there. It’s been three years and it’s untouched by progress. And you meet these people and their stories are unbelievable…like the wall of water hits my street and I’m in my fishing boat and all of the sudden my fishing boat is over my house. And this is America, how far away was help?