DATE: May 1997

BY: Stephen Gorny for University Reporter

Glenn Danzig began his musical career over 20 years ago as singer and founding member of the legendary horror-punk band The Misfits. In 1983, he parted company with the band, which disbanded soon afterwards (although they have recently re-formed with a new singer). However, Glenn did not leave his Misfits days completely behind him as most of the Misfits albums which have been released since then (such as "Legacy of Brutality", "Misfits" and "Collection II") have been done under his control (and he, himself, re-recorded much of the music and vocals on these releases). Following his departure from the Misfits, he formed and fronted Samhain, which achieved some cult status, and followed that up with his self-titled project, Danzig, which, after 4 albums and an EP, achieved some mainstream success a few years ago with the radio and MTV hits "Mother" and "Cantspeak". His latest album, "Danzig 5 - blackacidevil", finds him taking a radical departure into the industrial realm. His Jim Morrison-esque vocals have been drowned in a layer of distortion and the music is surrounded by electric drum beats and a wall of feedback. Indeed, his new material sounds more like Ministry or Nine Inch Nails, and is very unlike the heavy metal stylings presented on the previous Danzig albums. I sat down to talk with him during his recent Capital Ballroom appearance to discuss the new album, his new record label, Hollywood Records, his role in the upcomong movie, "Prophecy II" and his comic book company Verotik. I also discovered that, contrary to what I have heard about him over the years, Glenn Danzig is actually a rather well-mannered, unimposing and rather polite individual.

Your music has constantly been evolving over the years, but I think the direction you took on "blackacidevil" really surprised a lot of people.

It was both an evolution as well as a conscious decision [to head off in this direction] which people got a taste for with "Cantspeak" and the song on the X-Files record "Deep". It's a hard record. But you can't stay stagnant for too long, otherwise you become Pearl Jam.

On the new album you do a cover of Black Sabbath's "Hand of Doom". Was there a particular reason that you chose to do this song?

Just cuz I could give it a new dimension and make it my own. I don't like doing covers and my attitude is...if you're gonna do it, you've got to change it around and bring some new element to it. If you do an exact copy...what's the point?

Some reviewers have said that your foray into industrial music is an attempt to ride the coattails of acts like Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. How do you respond to that?

I don't think this record sounds anything like Nine Inch Nails. This record experiments a lot with techno and things like that. It still sounds like Danzig to me; I still write songs the same way. I mean, you could say the same thing about Nine Inch Nails, that they're ripping off Eno or Skinny Puppy. I think it might just be that some people don't know how to take [the new record].

Is there a reason that you left American Records?

Millions of them. The main one is not getting paid. And there were lots of creative problems there too. It was a nightmare being on that label for the last couple of years.

Your new label, Hollywood Records, is owned by Disney, a company which really tries to portray a "family" image. Did you have any creative problems with them over the content of your music?

No. In fact Michael Eisner [the president of the Disney corp.] had to sign off on my deal and he knew very well who I was. And its a different company...its Hollywood Records, not Disney Records.

A lot of your critics often attempt to link you and your music with Satanism.

I'm everybody's bad guy, what can I tell you?

The first single and video, "Sacrifice" has been out for a while now. Is there a new video on the way?

We're flying out to L.A. soon to do one for "Serpentia".

Will you be directing this one yourself, like you have done on a number of your previous videos?

No. The director will be Elias Marhiges, the guy who did that black and white "Begotten" movie.

Speaking of videos, its been a while since we've seen a home video release from you. Can your fans expect to see one soon?

That was one of the reasons we left American. In the contrat they were supposed to put out a video with every album and it didn't happen. We did a whole live shoot in Europe and at Irvine Meadows. That never came out. Then there's all the videos from Danzig3, Thrall and Danzig4.

Will that stuff ever come out?

I don't know. American is in big state of disarray right now. It might even fold. One of the things I'm trying to do is get the rights to all of my albums back from American.

What about the Samhain box set that's been talked about for a while? Are there any plans for that to come out anytime soon?

It's all ready to go. I'm just waiting for the right deal.

You have always been moving forward, musically. Does it bug you that you have fans who seem more caught up in your work with the Misfits than what you're doing in 1997?

No. I'll talk about the Misfits with them and I'll sign any old Misfits stuff as long as it's not a bootleg. And I won't sign the box set, cuz I got screwed on that. (note: He declined to comment further, but, from what I understand, as part of the legal settlement that he reached with Caroline Records and the Misfits in 1995, Glenn turned over all of the Misfits recordings he owned to Caroline Records, who was responsible for releasing the box set)

Other than your music, you also own a comic book company, Verotik, which has boasted some really big name artists like Simon Bisley and Frank Frazetta. Who else will be illustrating some of the books in the future?

Alvetti from Italy... a lot of Japanese anime artists, like from Manga. A new extension [of the company] is Verotika East, which is like Verotika - erotic horror stories - which are all done by Japanese artists. Its all stories done exclusively for the American market, which means it won't come out in Japan. That's a first for an American comic company. We're also doing a "Satanika" animation pilot over [in Japan]. We're also trying to get our books not just in the comic stores, but in record stores and bookstores and get it taken seriously.

That could be hard because a lot of people don't take comic books seriously in general.

Not after they see a Verotik comic...and they realize that they not reading a little kid comic.

You also have a role in the upcoming movie Prophecy II with Christopher Walken. Can you tell us a bit about your role in that?

You can see me fighting...chasing Russell Wong around, and then a big ol' fight. I play Samiel, one of Christopher Walken's rebel angels.

Did you enjoy acting?

Yeah. It's a lot of fun and it was a lot of work.

Will you be doing other acting projects in the future?

I've been getting scripts, but I'm really been picky. I'm not really an actor by trade...so its got to be something I'm really interested in doing and that I know I can do a good job at. One that I am looking at now is a script for Wes Craven's new movie, "Bad Moon Rising" which is about werewolf bikers or something like that.

You're an extremely busy guy. Do you feel that you always have to seek out new things to do?

Yeah, I have to stay challenged, otherwise it gets boring. I do so much, but it keeps me mentally fit as well as physically fit.

You've been in the business for a lot of years. After you finally call it a day, how do you want Glenn Danzig to be remembered?

As an uncompromising artist. As someone who lived by his own rules.

THE END