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AJ : Well , Iggy thinks so , too . You ’ ve got to remember that the band I was in opened for Iggy in the Metro ’ s first year , back in 1979 . So I ’ ve actually known Iggy since we opened for him then . And he ’ s a good guy , with great stories . And we ’ ve all changed , right ? Like me back in 1979 and him back in 1979 , [ we ] are much different people than we are today — today , he ’ s a really great guy , and today , I would consider myself a good soul . But back then , Ithinkwewereprobablyjustacouple of assholes , trying to find our way around , ya know ? But the point is that , yes , I ’ ve kept in touch with him over the years , and of course , he ’ s the first person that I sent that to after we were done doing it . And he said something like , “ This is awesome ! How did you make that into this ?” But I ’ ve had practice with that before because I did this cover album a few years ago where I did a cover of The Eurythmics ’ “ Sweet Dreams ” that , to this day , still haunts me in my dreams . It ’ s some sick shit — it ’ s like Laibach on psilocybin .
IE : What was the toughest cover you attempted ? Where you just couldn ’ t find your way into it ? AJ : I ’ ve done two cover albums — one where I picked the songs , and another one that I did for Cleopatra Records where they picked the songs . So obviously , those were harder . But you know what was funny ? It ’ s that the really simple songs were the hardest . Like the cover I did of AC / DC ' s “ Thunderstruck ” was difficult because I was out of my element , and so was my cover of “ Sharp Dressed Man ” by Z Z Top , even though I know Billy ( Gibbons , band guitarist ) pretty well , and we ’ ve worked together . But with stuff like that , there ’ s kind of this cloud hanging over you while you ’ re doing it , like , “ Don ’ t stray too far .” You know what I ’ m saying ? So that ’ s what ’ s difficult about it . But the thing with Iggy is , the last time I worked with him was over 30 years ago — I worked with him on a song called “ Fire Engine ” with Ric Ocasek producing , so I ’ ve known him for ages , and I got past the cloud and just said , “ Okay — let ’ s just make this fun .”
And there ’ s another whole story behind why that song ’ s on the record . It wasn ’ t like I sought to do an Iggy cover . There ’ s this benefit for Above Ground , which was sponsored by Dave Navarro and concerning teen suicide prevention . And they had all these stars lined up , celebrities to do various covers that the house band had done , and they picked me to sing two Iggy songs because they knew that I had worked with him before , and this and that . So I go to soundcheck , and I nail these two songs — I mean , they sounded awesome . And then we get to the show , and Billy Idol
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had his own backstage dressing room because he was singing some Bowie stuff , so we all couldn ’ t have individual rooms , and we all crowded into one room , and people were passing around joints and things like that . And I generally don ’ t partake of strange joints — it ’ s just not my thing . I know my vape , and Iknowmybrand , andasamatteroffact , my brand is coming out soon … I ’ m not allowed to
say more , but my brand is coming out , and I ’ m not Snoop Dogg , but I do know what I like . I like more of the slow-motion stuff ; I don ’ t like the hyper , work-during-the-dayon-it stuff . At any rate , I took a joint from somebody and went onstage and did these songs that I nailed at soundcheck , and by the time we got to “ Search and Destroy ,” for some reason , everything I was doing was in halftime to the band . To the crowd . To the world . I was basically underwater — I was nailing , but I was nailing it in half time . So they ’ d be playing the regular song , and then I ’ d come in and do the vocals really slow , and then they ’ d have to catch up to me . But fortunately , the band that was there — Dave Navarro and Billy Morrison and Dan Cleary — they were all like , “ Okay , we see what ’ s happening .” And so they adjusted along with me . And I thought it was just a disaster . I came off that stage literally in tears , going , “ Oh , my God — I just fucked up everything !” And then the next day , I get a call from Dan Cleary and Dave Navarro , going , “ Dude — that was amazing ! We should record it in the way that you sang it .” And so we went into my studio and did it , and that ’ s what came out of that . And then I immediately sent it to Iggy to get the pope ’ s approval , and there you go . And now there ’ s a video coming out that we just did for it . So it ’ s cool , and it ’ s just funny how things work out . So that version is my redemption for how I freaked everyone out with my version that night — Dan Cleary and my girlfriend have actually been calling it The Redemption Mix , so there it is !
IE : In interviews over the years , Iggy would always have one totally surreal story wherein his faith in humanity was redeemed . My motto is , Everybody has an agenda , and it rarely includes you — get used to it . So I ’ m not so sure about humanity anymore . How about you ? AJ : This may sound a little bit self-centered , but recently , looking at the “ Good Trouble ” video with me and Arabian Prince , that just came out to me ? That was redemption , because when I had Arabian Prince do some scratching on “ AmeriKKKant ,” it was like … basically , I told him , “ I don ’ t know who in the fuck you are ,” and he told me , “ I don ’ t know who the fuck YOU are .”
IE : And hilarity ensued ? AJ : Yeah ! And hilarity ensued ! There we go ! But it was really poignant to me the other day when I saw that it had come out on YouTube , and he read that ( John Lewis speech ) powerfully , man . He read it like , “ Whoa !” powerfully . And it makes you wonder if that kind of power and that kind of introspection is in every black person for the abuse that they ’ ve had to suffer for the last 200 to 300 years . Because , inside , they know they have to play this part and that part to feed their family and put a roof over their head , but inside there must be some seething rage . You know what I ’ m saying ? I know that I would have that . I mean , the Israelis and the Palestinians . The Croats and the Serbs . You can go on and on with people in conflict for millennia and have an inner conflict of , “ Do I really need to do this ? Do I really need to act this way ? Can ’ t I just be myself ?” And his reading of those words I just thought were so powerful , representative of the inner anger that ’ s always held in check . Always held in check . So that was just a powerful moment for me , and I hate to be self-centered and talk about blah , blah , blah , my own shit . But I just saw this recently , the final product , so I ’ m just blown away by his performance in it . That ’ s all I ’ m trying to say .
IE : Another cool thing about growing up in the Midwest — we didn ’ t understand , when punk rock came along in 1976 , ’ 77 , why you had to give up on the heavy metal you loved the day before . AC / DC was just as cool as The Stranglers , as was ABBA , Laurie Anderson , Lynyrd Skynyrd , or even Donna Summer . Why restrict yourself to just one genre ? AJ : Yeah ! And remember ? Demolition Night resulted from that ! Disco Demolition Night ( at Comiskey Park in 1979 ). It was the same kind of Trumpian shit that we ’ ve got going now . Cancel culture . But here ' s the funny thing that cracks me up about the right-wing — they call us the snowflakes . Uh , excuse me ? You call us everything in the book , and we take it and just keep chugging along for progress . But we call you ONE little thing or hint that anything ’ s wrong with you , and it ’ s like , “ Waaah ! Mommy didn ’ t give me my cookie !” Fuck ! I am so over the right-wing , with its anti-fact , anti-cancel-culture when all they wanna do is cancel people ! I mean , Tipper Gore had them put stickers on my records in the ‘ 90s ! I know she was supposedly a Democrat , but she straddled the line , and I ’ m sure the Republicans were pleased . They are the Kings of Cancel Culture , and now that they ’ re getting called ‘ Bullshit ’ on , they ’ re the first ones squealing like a pig , “ Wee , wee , wee ,” all the way home . And it ’ s a simple projection . That ’ s all they do . Whatever they ’ re accusing You of doing ? You pretty much know that ’ s exactly what they ’ re doing . And Roy Cohn — that ’ s where it all starts . The most duplicitous motherfucker in the history of mankind .
IE : During the pandemic , I always had NPR on , even in the background , for a steady
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