Profile

Email this article

Henry Rollins talks about his new show, independent film, and punk rock

By John Esther

April 3, 2006

San Diego--Following the success of last year’s “Henry’s Film Corner,” IFC has asked the iconoclastic punk rocker Henry Rollins to return for “The Henry Rollins Show.”

Showing Saturday nights at 10 p.m. beginning April 1, “The Henry Rollins Show” will use the standard TV talk show format incorporating musical acts, interviews with celebrity guests and talk show host rants. However, the “Henry Rollins Show” will be different from other shows of its ilk because its host has no time for intellectual fodder. Also, if you are looking for celebrity gossip, keep channel surfing.

He was recently in the papers when he attracted the attention of the Australian government for reading the “wrong book” on an airplane. When questioned, Rollins essentially told them where they could put the book.

Recently back in his hometown of Los Angeles, we caught up with Rollins at his Hollywood place before he took off for Europe.

What are the memories of your time in San Diego?

Beautiful. I love the nights. There’s a quality in the air that’s great. The shows I have done there always go down really well. It’s a good audience for spoken word shows. I do 4th and B every tour. I like parts of San Diego, though parts of it seem like a pretty rough town. The tough guys of San Diego seem pretty tough. You see those biker types and I bet you could have a pretty bad Saturday night if things went south on you pretty fast.

Besides a paycheck, what are you getting out this show?

I really like it. It allows me to do what I want. IFC has never told me to cool it. What you saw on the show last year is what we wanted to do.

So you have control over the film’s content and programming?

Yeah.

What about advertising?

That I have no control of, nor do I want to or really care. I don’t pay attention to ads anyway.

Do you find it ironic that you are having your own “TV Party” these days?

I find it amazing they gave me a second season. I find it ironic I’m still working in the entertainment business after 25 years while my greatly more talented peers have somehow fell off, stopped, died or something. I’m more grateful and an awe of the whole thing than anything else.

I see you will have celebrity guests? How will your show differ from other talk shows?

It won’t. We’re not doing anything unique.

But doesn’t that make it another talk show where well to do people discuss issues with other well off people? What kind of range does that allow Joe Six Pack?

Umm, Chuck D is one of my guests. I think Chuck D is someone people should hear. I don’t know how well to do he is. I don’t know how well to do I am. But Chuck D is an interesting guest and I like to hear what he has to say. He’s a longtime buddy of mine.

I think you can have content that is interesting and compelling from people you recognize. Last year I interviewed my mailman, my electrician, a doctor, an accountant, and a lawyer. I brought them on the show and said, “We both saw the same film. What’s your take on it?” They’re not critics, not celebrities. They’re just intelligent, interesting people who had a point of view. It was cool.

This year’s show is shorter. It’s a 20-minute show. A band plays. A guest does seven minutes. And there will be a “Jay Leno” segment where I rant and rave about stuff and the show is over. The bands are interesting and I think the guests are interesting. But is there a point to bring on Joe Public as an interviewee? It doesn’t really interest me unless that guy lost his job to somewhere in Thailand or Calcutta. It would interest me if he were a wounded vet or a republican conservative who came back disenchanted. A guy who is a plumber? Okay, I have nothing against plumbing. How he votes is interesting to me if he’s informed as to why he votes. If he just votes because “the President and I both hate fags,” that’s not interesting to me.

I pick people who interest me. Usually they are people who are famous or noteworthy because I’ve read their interviews before or enjoyed their work. Does it achieve anything? I don’t know. But I think it’s a little bit better than stock entertainment where David Letterman talks to J-Lo about her new dog. I am never going to ask a guest who he or she is dating or their dog because I don’t really give a fuck. (continued)

1 | 2