Musician John Doe, most famous for his band X that redefined West Coast punk rock in the '80s, recently played a solo show at Milwaukee's Shank Hall in support of his new record, "Dim Stars, Bright Sky."
His new style is mellower, with country and rock influences most apparent, but after rapping with Doe for almost an hour, it's clear that his wise-arse punk-rock self is still very much alive and well. Phew.
OMC: You moved from Baltimore to LA in 1976. Why?
JD: The only two famous people in Baltimore were John Waters and Spirow Agnew and I didn't want to be either of them, and I wanted to do more than put on aluminum siding, so I left.
OMC: Why didn't you go to New York instead?
JD: I went to New York a couple of times and saw Television and Talking Heads and I thought, "Wow, this scene is all the way there. I think I'll go somewhere else."
OMC:What kind of music inspired you when you were a kid living in Baltimore?
JD: Nothing but speed metal and the Backstreet Boys.
OMC: Suuuuure. Let me guess: The Beatles?
JD: Sure, the whole British invasion. And James Brown, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Elvis because they were on the radio in Baltimore then. Baltimore was so behind the times. And somewhere along the lines I got into country music stations as well.
OMC: So, what were you like as a young adult?
JD: I played sports until I discovered drugs and rock 'n roll.
OMC: Since you already told me what kind of music you were into as a teenager, what kinds of drugs were you into?
JD: I smoked hash all the time. But it all worked out. I always knew that if you drive too fast, you could get killed. You know, they show you those examples where everyone at the party gets killed and you look at them and think "Ew, that's no fun."
As a parent, I realized my kids are going to have stuff figured out by the time they're a teenager or not. They are going to be a daredevil or not. They're going to be at risk or not. They're going to know when to turn away or not.
OMC: When and where did you meet Exene? (Exene Cervenka is also in X, and she and John were married for five years in the late '70s and early '80s.)
JD: At a writing workshop in California.
OMC: Are you still friends today?
JD: Yes. X played in LA less than a week ago, and has been playing for about five years, about a dozen shows a year.
OMC: Is it strange playing in a band with your ex-wife?
JD: Strange? Nah. We made four X records after we separated. It was something we had decided to come to terms with and to be adults. Not to say that we always were ... Her only son and my only daughter were born on the same day, same year and in the same hospital, January 28, 1988. It was really surprising. We decided that night they couldn't ever be in a band together.
OMC: Do you make music with your current wife?
JD: I can't answer this. (Laughing)
OMC: I said "music" not "sweet, beautiful love"...
JD: I still can't answer this. OK, no. I think this interview is over ...
OMC: Not so fast. I have hundreds of more questions to ask you, like: What television spots and movies have you appeared in lately?
JD: I've been in a few movies that aren't released yet. "Torque" with Ice Cube. It's like "The Fast and the Furious" on motorcycles. Sort of an intellectual character study with lots of explosions. I play a sheriff. I was in another film, "Pledge of Allegiance," and again played a sheriff. I'm in the law enforcement stage of my acting career.
During the filming, I was in my sheriff outfit, and all this movie s--t is going on around me. We're shooting in Carson City, Nevada and a 12 or 13-year-old kid on a skateboard rides down the street and I said, "Hey!" He just about s--t his pants right there and then and I thought, "I get what this is all about. Ultimate power." Weird.
OMC: What lead to from punk rock to the making of "Dim Stars?"
JD: I don't know. You just try to do what you feel. I experimented a lot on the last solo record. I kind of said what I needed to say with the rock band up until now. You gotta do different stuff so that people want to listen to your records.
OMC: You have a lot of great people on your CD -- Jakob Dylan, Aimee Mann, Juliana Hatfield. Are these all friends of yours or people you admired and asked to be on the record?
JD: They are all people I would like to sleep with. Admit it: Man or woman, if Jakob Dylan said sleep with me, you'd be there. (But seriously ... ) They're friends and people that I've worked with. The character in all of their voices is pretty clear even if singing backup or harmony vocal you can hear who they are. I tried to stay away from cheesy duets or use them to sell records.
OMC: As one of the grandpappys of punk, do you consider bands like the Strokes and the White Stripes punk rock?
JD: I don't know them well enough. I consider them rock music and damn good rock music.
OMC: Are you enjoying touring?
JD: Yeah. Touring is pretty cool as long as you take care of yourself and put on a good show.
OMC: Do your kids ever tour with you?
JD: I wish I could take them but they insist on having a life. Some day, maybe.
OMC: You moved out of LA a few years ago. Where do you live now?
JD: We live 80 miles north of LA, between LA and Bakersfield.
OMC: What's it like there?
JD: Like northern Arizona. Lot of pine trees and sagebrush, 60,000 feet up. I really like it and I can keep my hand in manufacturing amphetamines.
OMC: Interesting. So why did you leave LA?
It wasn't inspiring anymore. And I worked for 10 years in music and two movies and we were still renting a house.
OMC: So what's next for John Doe?
JD: World domination, like always. Touring though the summer and a couple of movies. I did a bunch of auditioning for two television shows. I got one part, but the whole thing got cancelled. I tried for a part in a spin-off of "The Gilmore Girls," but they wanted someone younger. Oh, what a surprise.
{INSERT_RELATED}OMC: SO how old are you?
JD: Old enough to know to vote but not old enough to listen to Garth Brooks or Toby Whatever.
OMC: Speaking of country stars, "Dim Stars" has a country feel to it. Have any country musicians inspired you?
JD: The real guys and girls: Johnny Cash and Tammy Wynette, a wonderful woman named Genie Seelie, Merle Haggard and all those guys. I have a song on a Waylon Jenning's tribute album that's coming out.
OMC: Anything else you'd like to say to Milwaukee?
JD: I want to encourage people not to be complacent about political situations. I think going to war is going to make people really, really sorry.
For more information about John Doe, go to www.thejohndoe.com
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
