December 23, 2011
The bass wielding baron of rock n rolla is sitting opposite Sleaze Roxx writer Eric Mackinnon and looking incredibly youthful, energetic and literally half his age. An intricately and expertly crafted cake on the dressing room table, shaped like Sixx's camera with edible Polaroid style snapshots of his band's history, reveals it is the Motley main man's 53rd birthday in two days but Sixx is burning with the excitement and passion of a rock rookie and not one of the genre's legendary four stringers and a mouthpiece for an entire generation.
Motley Crue blew like a hurricane force, literally, into Glasgow on December 9th and left their indelible musical footprint on the eardrums of their ever-faithful Scottish fans. Sixx has plenty to say on the much anticipated movie adaption of must-read biopic 'The Dirt', their forthcoming Las Vegas residency, the pretenders to the Crue throne and even the end of the legendary band - which may not be as far off as people think.
"I don't think this band was meant to last and we've lasted way longer than anyone ever expected us to," smiled Sixx, leaning back in his dressing room. "For us it's about trying to find the right time to end it (the band) correctly. We've had that talk as a band and even in the last year or so we've spoken that at some time we're going to want to wrap this up. I feel really proud of the band but we are taking steps to finish the movie and when we do we'll look at that time. When the movie comes out it'll be time to finish on a high note, on a positive, and not like we're breaking up. I think that's a good thing and will probably put us about 35-years which is a long time for a rock band which is cool. We're not sad, we're happy."
It is ten years since 'The Dirt' hit stores as a blockbuster collective autobiography which immediately saw the Hollywood studios circle the wagons but the project is now picking up speed to hit the big screen says Sixx.
"Everything is moving forward really quickly," he insists cautiously. "The best thing I feel would be to find a young, hungry bunch of actors which want to go all the way out and they will own it. People always say how great it would be to have 'so and so' in the movie but I think the actors should be unknown names instead of seeing an actor who you recognise from playing several parts and then you could see them as one of us. It won't be easy to get everything from the book into the movie and that's where we're at right now. We've met with the director and the production company and we're very excited but it's nothing I can really talk about right now but when we get the green light to talk about it we'll talk about it all day long."
One of the underlying themes from 'The Dirt' is surviving, perilously at times, a decadent and destructive lifestyle, peppered with close calls with mortality, drug and alcohol abuse and more than a few run ins with the police. But fast forward to the modern rock scene and Sixx confesses the new media driven age and renewed awareness would make it difficult for modern bands to follow their trail of hell, fire and brimstone but he has hopes that one will separate from the herd and step up to the lofty benchmark set by the Crue.
"No, I don't think bands now could do what we did and I don't think society is geared towards that anymore," he mused. "I remember saying to my girlfriend one day, we were at a pool around noon somewhere, I think we were on the road, that nobody would be sober and someone would be in the bathroom doing blow and fucking fighting and throwing up. Nobody at this party would be sane and not just the bands as society was also completely off the rails. Then came the onset of HIV, political correctness, alcoholism, death, destruction and people began to think what could happen to them. Society started to change and campaigns like don't drive and drive started as the new generation came up and then being drunk wasn't seen as fun it was seen as being stupid and it kinda changed in a healthy way and I don't think we could have gone on much longer. We have the scars and the wounds from our time and we can't take back what we did as it makes us what we are. It was a rough one (laughs)."
"There has to be another band like us sometime again," Sixx continued. "When we came up in the 80s it was all boring fucking bands and boring fucking record companies, boring radio and boring press so we had nothing to lose and thought we'd crash and burn but that worked. We're in another place right now but a lot of bands are still really fucking boring. I'm trying so hard to find new bands and bands that can play and out of all this someone is going to come up, throwing up, fighting and its going to be good for the music industry. Now we have Lady Gaga, and God bless her, as at least she is fucking different and says fuck you. It'd be great to have a rock version of her and we will."
There is one band bubbling under the radar who could pick up the baton from Motley Crue but only if they can find their anthem.
"There are a few sparkling out there," insisted Sixx. "I think BlackVeil Brides are cool but I've told them they are missing one thing and they need to write 'Schools Out' or 'Shout At The Devil.' They've got to write that anthem to unify everyone as everyone wants to like them but they just haven't proven themselves yet. BVB have good songs but they don't have THE song yet but that takes time. Some people have it but some don't."
Motley Crue are heading for Sin City next year after making more history after penning a residency deal at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for a three-week series of four-night concerts a week at the off-Strip casino starting on February 3 and running through February 19. It is another milestone for a band who have conquered everything in the music world and Sixx admits to being excited to find out, and experiment, to see what they can do with a residency.
He continued, "We're going to do the Vegas residency next year which will be cool. We're building the show now and have so many ideas. Fans can come from all over the country and stay at the hotel and be interactive with the show. It's very exciting to see what we can do with a residency. I mean we barely got in here today (Glasgow) with the weather and distance. We have two big sets with Motley and Def Leppard so we finally make it but to be able to stay in one place we think 'well we don't have to tear down so what more can we do and bring in' which is where we're at just now which will be very fun."
Motley almost didn't make Glasgow after Scotland was battered by a hurricane, dubbed Hurricane Bawbag (ball bag) by the natives but it'll take more than that a blustery storm named after a hairy nut sack to deny the legendary rockers the chance to play in a country Sixx is keen to explore further - starting with the famous Necropolis graveyard in the city centre.
"We were in Nottingham last night (Thursday, December 8) and Mick (Mars) drove to Leeds and stayed there and drove to Glasgow. We were all on call if the plane wasn't going to be able to make it in so we were ready to drive up if required but we lucked out and the weather got good and we flew in. I just got here but I'm planning to go around the city a little in the morning. We're pushing back heading to Manchester tomorrow as much as possible to do that. I start with graveyards and I've been told to check out the Necropolis here which is one with so much history and I'm really looking forward to that. I want to stay here as long as I can. I have been to the UK a lot but I haven't spent a lot of time in Scotland as we're in and out all the time."
"As an artist 'Too Fast For Love' is so different to 'Shout At The Devil' and it's the same with my photography," concludes Sixx. "I've just done a fashion shoot with New York Post based on 70s British Glam Rock which was a different experience. Then taking bits of architecture too. Early in my photography I thought 'pfft, architecture' but now I find it really interesting. As an artist I like expressing myself in different ways and as a musician it's nice to have done different side projects. I was never going to do Twitter or Facebook or be as open on the radio but as I go I wanted to be as transparent as possible and let people see through me and start to realise that's what being an honest artist is really about to make people happy."
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