Glenn Danzig isn’t so terrifying to talk to

By: Robert Morast
Argus Leader

Published: Aug 19, 2004

The Web reports of Glenn Danzig’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Internet-surfing music hounds probably have seen the now-classic video footage of Danzig getting knocked out by North Side Kings member Danny Marianinho following a dispute at a show in Tuba City, Ariz., in early July.

When the punk and metal icon, who is commonly perceived as the most evil man in music, fell to the floor, his image was assassinated.

Suddenly, the muscle-bound founding member of The Misfits seemed as threatening as the chubby twin in Good Charlotte. Which is surprising, considering Danzig is one of the few musicians who seems like he actually might worship Satan.

But don’t fool yourself; he’s still is as intimidating as a frothing wolverine.

During a recent phone conversation, Danzig responded to my opening question of,“Where are you?” with a threatening and demonic sounding, “Where are you?”

I was silent. Then he laughed and said, “Los Angeles.” All was cool.

See, despite repeated warnings from his publicist, Danzig isn’t a black-hearted arrogant jerk. The Lodi, N.J., native is just a typical East Coaster with no time for meaningless small talk.

Yet, he managed to endure 25 minutes of my near-fanboy questions about his upcoming eighth album, “Circle of Snakes” (out Aug. 31), his fall pseudoreunion tour with former Misfits guitarist Doyle, how his forthcoming venture into film directing will affect his touring and if the animated cameo as a bloodthirsty homeowner in “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” was an accurate representation of himself.

Here’s a sample of what Danzig had to say:

Question: OK, I’m just going to get this out of the way. What happened in Tuba City when you got knocked out?

Answer: I don’t want to give those guys press. That was just a setup for me to punch him and them to sue me for a bunch of money. If I wanted to kill that guy, he’d be dead in two seconds.

Q: Even though the sampler I got only has, like, 30-second cuts of each song, I think your upcoming album “Circle of Snakes” might be your best record since “Danzig 4.” Did you try to dig up some of the old flavor?

A: The first seven (albums) were part of a cycle I had planned from the beginning with “Danzig 1.” When I’m picking songs for the records, they have to fit a concept. With this album, I just put the best songs on the album.

Q: “Black Angel, White Angel” seems to be a standout.

A: If I was doing one of those theme things, it probably wouldn’t make it on the record.

Q: Why?

A: It’s too upbeat.

Q: Doyle’s joining your next tour for a partial Misfits reunion. How did this develop?

A: I’ve always been on good relations with Doyle. He’s a really nice guy. We’ve just been talking, and it’s come up a couple times, and this time we decided to do it. We haven’t played on stage together in 20 years. If it goes well, I might produce his solo record. He just sent me his demo, and it sounds pretty good. It’s heavy.

Q: So, are you looking forward to playing the old Misfits tunes?

A: I’m sure it’s going to be fun. I’m not ashamed about that stuff. I’ve never said that. There are a lot of misconceptions about that. The reason I don’t talk about that stuff is that it’s not fair for the guys on the Danzig albums. If you want to do a history interview, let’s schedule a history interview.

Q: Interesting, I guess I bought into the misconception about you hating The Misfits.

A: A lot of people talk ... . A lot of them have never talked to me.

Q: Are you doing this Misfits set with Doyle because you want to or just to appease old fans?

A: I’m not doing it to appease anything. We just thought it would be a cool thing to do at this time. I’ve never thought about doing it before.

Q: Word is you’ll be directing your first film next year. What can you tell me about that?

A: The film that I’m going to be directing is ‘The Gerouge’; it’s from the comics I put out. I’ll adapt it and add a couple things, take a couple things out. It’s going to be really cool vibey dark early New Orleans voodoo. A lot of zombies getting hacked up.

Q: Is your film going to be better than Rob Zombie’s “House of 1,000 Corpses?”

A: Just different. I like Rob.

Q: Yeah, but some horror movie freaks I know hated ‘Corpses.’ They’re thinking you’ll add more credibility than Zombie.

A: You’ll have to just watch it. I know what Rob likes, and he likes what he did.

Q: So, how long of a break will you take from music to do the film?

A: Not from music. From touring. I don’t know when I’ll ever tour again, maybe not ever again. I just have tons of stuff, and I get busy touring, and I don’t get the time to do it. “Black Aria 2” is ready to go, but I don’t have the time to do it.

There’s this old blues album I want to do. Very dark. I might even do it with Jerry Cantrell. I might even incorporate it into the voodoo movie. And everyone’s always bugging me about putting out all this old, unreleased stuff. I just don’t have the time to do it.

Q: I read a lot of punk history books, and I’m continually miffed by the fact that The Misfits are never mentioned in any of them. Why are The Misfits not given their due as punk trailblazers?

A: I think we are, it’s just that the people writing the books you’re talking about are haters. A lot of people are jealous that The Misfits were able to do it their way and rise above the rest while influencing punk and metal bands.

And we were very anti-political. We were more sociological. We had seen it was bull ... from the beginning. There was some other bands who were the same like Minor Threat or Black Flag. And I think those are the bands people are still listening to.

Q: Your appearance on “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” was one of the cooler animated guest appearances in years. How did that happen?

A: They got in touch with us, and they said they wanted to have me on the show. I was like, “I don’t know,” because I asked a bunch of people beforehand; they were like, “The show’s OK.”

I started talking with them, and they showed me the ideas. I said, “Am I allowed to change a few things and work with the dialogue?” They said, “OK.” It turned out to be really funny.

Q: Totally. Would you really want a house with a mainline to Elfen blood?

A: It would be fine with me. I don’t care.

Q: Along those lines, why do you think people so easily believe that you’re a satanist and the most evil man in music?

A: It’s just a common misconception. A standard question, not so much anymore, but it used to be was, “Why are all your records about Satan?” They’re not all about Satan. If I sing about Satan, it’s in a certain context. It’s just people scared of (stuff) they’ve been brainwashed about their whole lives.

Robert Morast doesn’t think he’s brainwashed. He can be reached at 331-2313 or rmorast@argusleader.com.