In some ways it would be difficult to really pull it off, because you have to remember people are used to a certain level of television. I don't know if the lay person will take a backseat to what they're used to. And to see a live show, a live broadcast of music, you need at least a three-camera shoot. But for a gallery show or an art piece or like a one act play, something that you didn't necessarily need to have a lot of real time editing, I think it might even be more powerful. Because music coming across speakers and being recorded a certain way is a two-fold issue. But it's a very exciting time.

   You've got the government on one side, you've got companies on the other side, and then you have consumers and users of e.business. Everybody is rushing to figure out what’s the best way, and when to drop it. There's a lot of forces at work that we're not even privy of.

   There’s a kid on the West Coast that with the help of his parents, has an online interview thing were he goes to all these Hollywood events and he talks to all these stars. He gets right up to them and they talk to him because he's a little kid, ya know. Sixteen or whatever. And I saw an interview with him, and his whole intention is to have like a Carson or Leno type scenario. And you know, why shouldn't he? But I bet you all those other interviewers are really worried about him, because he's only 16 and he could have a Napster style success on his hands. But play within the boundaries and stars and actors and actresses might be really interested to talk to somebody who's not mixed up with the scene. He's an honest fan and they probably get a kick out of it as much as he would."

   So celebrities could possibly talk to someone with more of an honest viewpoint because of him?

   "Well yeah, for now. Wait 'till he gets his ass kicked. By the time he's twenty he'll be like Krusty the Clown. ::laughter, then in hoarse voice::: 'What are my returns? Christ I'm twenty I feel ninety.' That'll do it to ya, ya know."

   What’s your take on Napster, being a self-run recording artist?

   "I think that artists should get paid for their work, because it's a bitch to get paid. But the paradigm is really split into two different levels. If you're an established artist, who relies on catalogue sales and you no longer put current music into culture. You should go directly to Napster with your attorneys and your management and you should strike a deal with them. If you're whatever... Cat Stevens, or any of these people that no longer put out records every year, you should get paid on your catalogue, because that's how you survive. You shouldn't go to your record companies, you should go right to Napster and strike a deal because it's probably not even in your contract. They didn't have any idea this was going to happen.

If you're a current artist and you're on Napster, which you probably are, and you are putting out records and you're backed by a major corporation, and your getting tour support and you know you're going to sell X many records right out of the box. Well, you should tell your record label to stop pressing your promotional materials. Or cut way back. And send out e.mails, and if they want the new single they should just go to Napster and get it. Why are we gonna take $50,000 - $60,000, to $100,000 right off the top to press out singles and send them out. Everybody is on the internet. Now lets cut our promotional material and promo CD’s in half or more maybe, everybody will have different numbers. And take some money off the top.

If you are a new artist such as myself, and you are not backed by a major corporation and you find yourself on Napster. I suggest you get your ass on Napster and tell people who the hell you are somehow and utilize it. And go to Napster and see if there's something you can utilize in conjunction with them as a promotional incentive for people to download your stuff.

I heard of a band that got a deal on an independent label and made a deal with Napster. They gave them a song outright and in the first 48 hours they had like 40,000 downloads. So that 40,000 people from around the world now who have a promotional single. That’s great! Then people go to their website and they have music at retail. So it can really work.

As far as these big rock-and-roll guys coming down on Napster, I dunno, in some ways I think it's pretty weak. You know, because I know if they were struggling and they wanted people to get into their shit they would utilize it. They'd be right there, just like back in the day they were probably dubbing cassettes... and giving them out at shows. They would be doing the same thing. So there's a little bit of a hypocritical viewpoint with some of the artists. But I don't know, I'm not in their shoes. I don't know what position they're in with their record labels or their finances. But still, a lot of these artists who are against Napster, their catalogues are going to be selling for the rest of time, because their catalogue is still current. They have money for merchandise.

So you know, it's like when Pearl Jam took on Ticketmaster I just knew it was a bad idea. Because Ticketmaster is the Mafia. So you're basically taking on a wing of the Mafia, which is a wing of the government. You have to really decide if it's worth the fight."

   It definitely seems that Ticketmaster and other aspects of the music industry are unstoppable at this point. So perhaps it's really just a matter of finding new ways for every artist to benefit from it?

   "Well of all the industries that are being rocked by the internet, I have to say that the music industry is being rocked the hardest.

   I think from now until evermore. Because I don't see any other industry in which it can have the impact. I mean the film industry is going to happen. But it's gonna have to really come up to speed. Not everyone can watch a film on the internet. You have to have broadband or cable or DSL. Not so with streaming audio and mp3's. So there's a lot of ways to experience music.

   And there are something like 29 million subscribers to Napster worldwide, and they average I think 18 million a month. These are some pretty serious music fans, that's a lot of people. And that’s everything, that's not even one artist or genre specific. That’s just across the board. That’s pretty frightening. And I betcha there's no one out there with a website allowing you to download movies with those kind of numbers. If they were, Blockbuster would be out of business."

   Or they would be all over it like the music labels are on Napster. So you produce all of your music on your own label?

   "Yeah, yeah. It was just inevitable. You get tired of telling people that you're worth investing in. You get sick and tired of, you know... I was in bands for years where the whole game was not only write the best shit and be the best band live but also to go get a record deal. And after a while that's just pathetic."

Just not worth the time...

   "Nah, well especially, why should I have to impress some people who work 9-5, live in the suburbs, don't really give a shit about rock-and-roll culture when I can take all that energy and transfer it into making music for the people who would really want to listen to it?

   So I came out of the box in '96 on the internet, and I just didn't really look back. I'll entertain any offer, and I'll talk to people as long as they’re serious about whatever it is they want to talk about. You know, I've ran companies and I've worked for companies and I've worked for myself before. At the end of the day what's really important is that you're doing the best work you can do as a creative person. And making sure that the people that are out there and are interested, are hearing about it.

   I know so many people who have had record deals and only three of those people, and I mean I've known hundreds, only three have really made it happen. I mean really really took it, and they're household names, and they have careers. Everyone else... it's a nightmare... nightmare. There are friends of mine who had jobs, and they were made corporate when they got their record deal. They were told "you have to change now, you can't have that hair, you gotta wear this...you can't do that, you can't do this." That doesn't even make sense to me.

   So you were more free to express yourself when you had a day job that you were afraid to lose? Now you go to work for Sony, or RCA or whoever the hell it is, and now somebody you've known three months, they don't know nothing about you...nothing. They just know that for some reason they think that you're hot property. It's frightening. The glory days of the music business are over.

   And see, people have tried to say some shit like that to me and I just tell them to go fuck themselves. I had this woman, I think it was around '98, the second Glampire record was out and buzz was starting to grow in NYC and here and there. So she entertained the idea of managing me and one night she says, 'well I'm not sure if I bring these people down if they'll get it, the hair and the makeup and the collar'. And I just said 'What? I said look, let me tell you something'...and it's like 15 minutes to 9 and I want to watch Millenium, this is how much time I don't have to listen to this fucking bullshit. And I was playing in Squeezbox and I had to be there, and I just wanna chill out. So to this chick who wants to manage me, who's worked for a couple of labels I said ' Look, first of all its 1998, okay, we're on the brink of the 21st century. If you have to fucking explain it to them and you don't know how that’s your problem. I dunno, go to fucking Rolling Stone.com and look up the history of rock. Lets agree on some cultural bookends and you can tell them I fall between these to fucking people. What, am I supposed to explain to them about the flamboyant presentation in rock? I mean, they shouldn't even be working at a fucking record company then. ::laughter::

   So I told her, I said ' look, it sounds like you don't know how to sell. And you don't know how to do what it is you need to do for me. Because I know if you bring this people to the room, whether I'm singing to tracks, to a band, solo, acoustic... whatever the fuck I'm doing I know my shit will hold up. End of the day they'll walk out and they'll be like 'wow, that motherfucker can write, and he can sing, and he can play. Wow." I know that for a fact and I don't care if they're 45 or they're 15, they're not gonna be saying 'why did I waste my time, this was a bunch of shit' Nah. Because all I have left at the end of the day is what I do, you know what I mean? So I just get tired of those sorts of scenarios and I will only deal with people who actually want to make something happen. And you can tell relatively quickly. And you get so good at, by the end of just one beer, you're like 'nah, that’s okay kid. I'll call you... maybe.' It's just too much time and energy to waste."

   So how many albums have you put out?

  "Let's see. This one will be the fifth. I put out a record every year, hopefully. "

   Do you always work with the same people, on a music level?

   "I do everything on the records myself. All of it. I mean I've had a couple of people here and there play a few things. But I mean by and large, when I made the commitment to being a solo artist and built a recording studio, and utilized the internet... I couldn't put together a band. Bands are a flawed concept. And if you think I'm just being a control freak, that's not the way it is. I'm very giving when I'm playing with musicians otherwise they shouldn't be there. And at times maybe I'm too giving, maybe it's a fault of mine to let people do what they want too much.

   For example I watched this special with Paul McCartney. They’re sitting in a room and they're talking about business and this and that. You know, it's the end of the Beatles and they said 'We just got sick of it'. So I mean if the Beatles got sick of it, okay, if they got sick of it then being in a band is a flawed concept. It really is.

   And it's usually two guys. Jagger and Richards, Page and Plant. And all of those bands had contributing members that made them what they are. But again, it's a math equation. You factor in the time and the energy and the emotion, and by the time I find people that can actually play let alone get along with... you get tired of hearing things like 'well I can't rehearse 'cause my brother's, cousin's, mom's, sister is having a party and I told them I would be there three months ago.' Okay, see ya, bye! Why do I even care? Because I would actually let bands and people... I would sacrifice my career for people and bands. And sure maybe it was six months, but you do that four times and there's two years! And the next thing you know you're like 'I'm not writing songs, I'm putting together bands'.

   Because if you're going to play music, play music. Write songs. Record them. If you're lucky enough to find people who have the same drive and dedication and they don't get swept up in life. I mean shit happens. People get pregnant, people die, people O.D., they go to college, they move away, they melt out, they can't fucking handle doing a gig in Albany 'cause it's too cold in the van and they can't do it. You're like 'Excuse me?'

   So after a while you say 'what's my top priority. And every time I do that, and I follow my heart and my gut feeling, my career just keeps moving and good things happen and the music gets out. I do good work, I have the energy to make good business decisions, I have the energy to learn about technology. I don't want to be one of those people who are stuck. And now I only put together a band if it makes sense. Financially, emotionally, and musically.

   Otherwise I'll show up at the party with my backing tracks and sing live and play live guitar. Throw a couple of acoustic songs in. It's about bringing the music to the people and if there's people who want to see me in a city and the promoters don't want to pay me to bring six people. You know, people are like 'What do you mean you want this much money'. Well have you looked at airline tickets lately? You want me to play your party half way across the world, you should think about how I'm going to get there, 'cause I'm not taking a boat. And until you can beam me up and dematerialize all of my shit. I mean, that’s the real world scenario. And I'll talk to my management, and the people I work with, make sure they are aware that there are costs involved. That’s one of the reasons I don't tour incessantly. I'm not living on my mom's couch. I have to pay rent, you know. All I do is run my label, and sell Glampire records and T-shirts and stuff. But still, it boils down to math. More times than you'd like to admit. It's a math problem. It's time and energy.

   So to do what it is that I do, and to still bring that element to it. I'm like this far away from being a hardcore punk band. You know what I mean? I know what I'm doing and how I'm presenting it and so forth, and the aura around what I do. But that’s because that’s my aesthetic. Every band I was ever in, everything that I've ever wanted to do had a certain point that I wanted to have that... well, that Glampire aesthetic. So I took the necessary steps for me to do it. You get tired of saying, 'honey, you can't wear those fucking shoes, what are you doing? Your not wearing that Bart Simpson shirt on stage tonight!' At least put on something presentable, you're going to work here. We're here to do a job, to entertain people.
So you know, I know I look good. ::laughter:: Now if I play with musicians I'm like, 'everybody, head to toe black. You show up with a fucking pink shirt I'm gonna kill you. You want to see me ignore you for three hours? Wear a stupid shirt to the gig'. You know, and people might take that the wrong way, but the guy with the stupid shirt I usually wouldn't tell him what guitar solo to take. I'm usually very giving in that respect. Because, at the bottom of my soul I'm a jazz guy. You know what I mean? I love music. I like sound, rhythms, and melodies. I just happen to write pop songs. But when you play with other musicians if you don't let them express and find a place they can fall into the song and the music you've written, then you're a bad bandleader. If you make somebody stand in a white square, that’s fucked up."

   So what are your main influences then?

  "My main influence is just the organization of sound to be honest. Because we wouldn't even have the time, we'd be camping out here if we talked about influence. I could listen to Billy Holiday when I get home then in twenty minutes I could put on Bauhaus."

   What got you interested in music in the first place?

  "I don't know, it's been ever since I can remember. I was about five years old when it really took hold and I just ran with it."

   When did the Glampire persona surface?

   "That came about I think, in the summer of '95-'96. I needed a name. I had most of the first Glampire record done and I needed to call it something. I wanted a name that wouldn't pigeonhole me. A lot of people think it would pigeonhole me but it doesn't. That's the great Jedi mind trick of it. Because you see, I'm allowed to do light happy pop music, Glam... and I'm allowed to do really dramatic dark music. If we sit here and talk about the great, lasting, influential people in pop music, they got to do all that. So why shouldn't I afford myself the same opportunity?

    The last thing we need in the world is another band that A. sounds like another band or B. isn't pushing some boundaries. And I knew everybody would be able to remember that name, and that’s the other thing. There have been people who have hated it, loved it, and laughed at it. At the end of the day it allows me as a pop songwriter to do whatever the fuck I want, whenever the fuck I want. And you can't do that in a band, and you can't do that if you have a name or you've put yourself into a style or a genre that won't allow you to do it. You know, in the Glam-Goth world... and it's interesting because when I started doing this people weren't putting Glam and Goth in the same sentence... it wasn't until ‘The Heraldic Universe’ started to get a lot of press that people would say 'oh well in the Glam-Goth world'. So I take a little bit of credit for sewing those two together, because they really are bastard cousins. I mean Bauhaus covered Glam stuff, they did Ziggy Stardust... you know at the end of the day that’s just shit so that the people in the bin dividers can find what they need to find."

   So the person trying to sell you can put you between two bookends...

   "Sure, sure. And I'm the first one to give people cultural references, 'cause you should be able to do that. We're at a very interesting period in pop culture, let alone culture. What I do, and how I do it, has been going on since the beginning of time. Getting painted up and dressing up, celebrating and just experience emotion. I've got news for you, what I'm doing goes a lot deeper and a lot farther into the universe than four guys with T-shirts and jeans with tattoos baby. It really is. Because I can show up, and I ain't got a tattoo on my body, and if I show up to a party all made up I guarantee that the people with the tattoos will get the attention but people with me will be like 'Who’s that'? Not disrespecting anybody with skin art. I love skin art, I just love to be naked, and you're not completely if you have tattoos.

There's a long history and people should be able to know where it is they are going with their work. And if they don't they should take a step back. I've been working on a thesis called 'The New Responsibility for Artists in the Twenty First Century' and there are many chapters in the thesis. One of them is you should really be able to look at what you have and look past and say 'okay, it's part of this' because it's part of everything. And not just in your particular style.

   I mean Washington painted his face, the Africans painted their face, and the Egyptians painted their face. I play music because it's that or crime. I'm serious, I'm not just being flippant so you'll have something cool to say in the article. It's really I don't want to work a fucking nine-to-five job. And any job I've had has always been one of those left of center jobs, I don't do good with nametags. I'm doing it because I want to celebrate the power of music, because I want to celebrate the power of inner expression.

  A lot of people just cry in their beer, you know. And they don't give props to the music itself."

Yeah, I think a lot of the history of painting oneself or changing one's hair drastically or massive body modification has always been, as far back as you can see, a transformation of the self. And sometimes that means in a religious aspect of actually trying to channel a certain spirit, and I think music itself is a channel.

  "Definitely, I don't take credit for any of the music I make other than the way I sing, because I wasn't born to sing and everybody told me I'd never sing and whatever. I just walked away; I couldn't deal with that. And the way that I produce the records, that’s what I take credit for, the actual music I'm just channeling it. I'm just open enough that day to capture it. Because it's just like static poetry flying around and if you can just align yourself long enough and just wrestle it in sometimes it comes like that and sometimes it doesn't. You know, I don't worry about it anymore. The tap is open, my spigot is busted. It just flows. For real you know, I don't have any blockage. I have to go into moratoriums actually, because it's the easiest thing for me to do.

   A lot of people get hung up on that because there is such a long history. There's just so much that has been done. That’s good though because you can look at things and go 'hmm, well there's a lot of things I can work with', and that means that there's probably an audience. I know there is. Everything has an audience now. That’s one of the bad aspects of the internet, and one of the bad aspects of culture is that there is no underground. There really isn't now, everything is above ground...everything. Watch TV for twenty minutes and you see everything, you see everything from gays to people with tattoos, piercing, skateboarders, old people, dogs, cats, fish... you name it... burgers, vegetarians, action movies, sappy movies, everything has an audience. It's just whether or not your audience is motivated enough, because there is so much that has already been done.
  
   So how do motivate your audience? Exposure is one, good work is another. Consistency, stick-to-it-ive-ness. Those things aren't necessarily a part of art anymore; people abandon shit like that. ::snaps fingers:: We live in a disposable culture. Changing within the structure. You know, you have a structure and you change within it to present a new perspective. In pop music and especially in rock-and-roll people don't think like that. Give us ten songs, and if they work give us ten more."

   So the only challenge really there now is putting the twist on it in order to make it 'new'.

   "Sure, I tell people all the time that e.mail me for advice. I say, well if your singer doesn't sound different from anything you've heard, and good mind you, but even if its not good... get rid of whoever it is... because if they sound just like another singer why bother? "

The ones that stick are the ones that are so unique that no one can really mimic their voice.

   "Or everybody wants to mimic, so you watch everyone try. Which is always interesting. ::laughter::"

   What's always interested me with the Cure, is nobody can imitate Robert Smith's voice really.

   "I can. Yeah sure, I can sound like that. We just have two different voices."

   And really no reason to mimic anyone.

  "Exactly. It's a lot easier to just tip my hat to him with a song like "Halloween in July" which is very Curesque. And it's great that you bring him up because there are so many people who don't really... they know the Cure but he doesn't get a lot of the credit he really deserves, he really doesn't. He's like the biggest cult hero in the world. It's 'cause he never really had that big mainstream American appeal. But he can sell out giant stadiums... ya know, how do explain that. I mean he can sell out giant stadiums. I think a lot of that is stick-to-it-ive-ness. He wasn't selling out giant stadiums five years into his career. At all. Because I saw the Cure on the Head on the Door tour."

 There's also that progression and change in their sound that his music matured. And you can tell it's maturity.

  "Well, he had a kid and he got divorced, that'll mature you right there. You gotta grow up sometime. I recently read an interview with him where he basically said he thought it was a big waste of time to write pop songs and that he should have stopped years ago, but I disagree with that. I think some of his best stuff he wrote later on.

   Pop music is a really fucked up little thing because of certain success stories the bar always gets raised. And in pop music it's not like theatre where if you're an off Broadway actor and you make a great career off Broadway and you never make movies and you never become a movie star or a Broadway star, as long as you maintain your artistic credibility you can get through and not get hammered on too much. But with pop music it's not like that. You're either Led Zeppelin or you're shit. You're either David Bowie or you're nothing."

   I've always thought that it was interesting with Bowie, because he did his pop stuff and that's where he gained his recognition, but then after becoming pop he went back. He just said 'fuck all, I’m just going to do what I'm going to do regardless of whether it's accessible'. And to me some of that is his best music.

   "Well a lot of people don't know because history is great at rewriting itself, but Space Oddity (David Bowie of coarse!) was released three different times before it caught on and it still didn't really do very well. You know, a lot of times the reason why these artists made it is because the labels paid for them to get there. They bought the Garden out. They would buy out the venues. They would pay for the tour. They would make sure it was a success. The industry was different then. People were still hungry to create history and now I think there’s a large portion of the music industry that's very apathetic. And they really don't care and they really don't want to make those sacrifices."

   I think that’s why Napster is really important. I'm glad that it's there to shake it up a bit and make people really take a look at the system that is in place. With artists being able to promote themselves one way or another it's going to make the major labels take another look at what they're doing.

   "Well, what it's going to do, I honestly believe, to the major labels... all they're gonna do is clear house. They're gonna fire all of the people that don't really do anything, they're gonna get rid of all of the bands that aren't selling x number of pieces of product, and they're only gonna keep the big people. And at that clearing point whoever they consider to be people worth keeping on, there will be a first tier, and a second tier, of coarse...but that's all it's gonna do. Because they're not gonna take chances on anyone who doesn't have a proven sales record.
The only way you can sell records is to have the money to make people aware. And by selling records, that’s how one can sustain ones self as a human being. Like we were talking about earlier with the real world pragmatic costs of touring, it's the same thing with putting out records. And there's such a monopoly on the distribution of records. You can't just get your record in a store, you can't, it's really hard. They don't care how good you are. You could have the greatest ten songs in the world on your record. They don't care. They want to know how many people are gonna buy them.

   Just like if I'm gonna come play a party, how many people are coming through the door? They don't care about anything else. All the other shit is just gossamer. They get right to the nitty-gritty. What’s the nut baby?"\ And that’s what they wanna know.

   And I'm a businessman and I want to know what the bottom line is too. However, I also happen to be an artist and I can empathize, and I can work towards non-monetary goals. Either on my own, or with other artists. When you’re dealing with a business paradigm, there's no room for art or creativity, at that point its 'show me the money'. It really is, and you have to be able to show them some amount of interest in a monetary way in order for them to take you, and break you into other areas. And that will never change. Even with the internet.

   You know, if there's people on the internet they'll distribute, or they'll broadcast you music or whatever, but do you think there's going to be a point in time when there's no record stores? I don't know. I don't know if the internet is going to put Tower and all of those people out of business. Is it possible? It's possible. But I think that’s way off. I see it wiping out record labels before anything. But then a lot of little labels will pop up."

On the labels in the '70's to current:

   "If it was punk or new wave, labels were signing it and giving it a chance. But nobody wanted to give Culture Club a record deal. At all. Nobody wanted to give the Police a record deal. Nobody. They made them do singles. Do a 12" single we'll let you know. That’s it. So not much has changed except we know how it works, everybody from consumer to artist, everybody's in on the fucking scam. If you sign a record deal and you're a brand new signing and you have no history, even if you have a modest history, at the end of the game you get 12 cents a record man… 12 cents a record! Do you know how many CD’s you have to sell to make $200 dollars at 12 cents? I think it’s like 400 records.
  
   In my world I only have to sell 40 to make like $200. That’s like selling lemonade. You don’t have to go to college to figure that out, you know. People know these things now. Prince found out about it and he was pissed. He wanted to know where his money was. They were like, you got your money, you just didn’t get as much as you thought you would.

   A buddy of mine had a record deal on Island for two years, and for two years he had no job, he hung out, he did his thing. But he didn’t learn anything. And for those two years I was learning about distribution, marketing, promotion, and publicity. I was doing all these things; I was involved in all of these aspects of my career. Bookings… I had a hand in everything and whomever I worked with I knew what was going on. He was in the dark. They were like ‘ just play your drums’, then he got dropped. And now he’s right back where he was. So… my little boy dreams got crushed years ago." :::laughter:::

   Are you touring for this new album?

   "Yeah, again, whatever makes sense. I’m playing what makes sense; I got a gig in Virginia, and D.C. later this month (June). I know Florida looks good just because there is a strong music scene there. I gotta tell you, Florida is like one of the biggest places for me. It really is. A lot of good fans down there, a lot of kids. A lot of e.mail. I’d really like to get over to Europe and let my presence be known over there. I’ve been there like twice, but again, it’s gotta make sense. At the end of the day it’s always business. "

   Do you ever get sick of it?

   " Do I get sick of it? I don’t really have a choice. You know, it’s like if you’re an athlete you have to exercise. I’m a singer I have to take care of my voice. I have to program that fucking bass drum pattern because if I don’t, no one will. And I get sick of doing everything at some point. But you know, you take deep breath, you eat some food and you’re like… all right. Because no one else will.

   I don’t want to be one of those people who bail because it’s too hard. I don’t want to be one of those people who in ten years from now I say, ‘ well yeah, I did it but I only did it to here.’ I want to take it as far and as wide and as big and as bad as I can take it. I definitely want to create a sound and put some good pop songs back into rock and roll culture. Because I don’t hear people writing good songs, I hear people writing really bad songs."

   Yeah, unfortunately as good as Florida is about some of the music scene; it’s also responsible for a lot of the teeny-bobby crap from Orlando flooding the market.

   "Florida’s responsible for a lot of shit. Florida’s gonna fall off the fucking U.S. man. There’s a lot of shit going on down there everything from the president to…::laughter:: no, let me tell you what’s going on with this bubblegum craze, the shit’s like Barney. These kids are gonna grow out of it and go ‘ oh shit, I’m supposed to be smoking pot and listening to Led Zeppelin’, or ‘ I’m supposed to be taking ecstasy, and listening to house music’. They all grow up and they’re gonna splinter off, so Brittany and all those motherfuckers better be saving their money. Because they could be gone like that.

   These are spoiled white kids whose mothers and fathers are running around with the Mafia. Come on, all that shit’s put together by the record companies and the Mafia. Because what happened was, these guys got together in a boardroom and said, ‘:::in gangsta voice::: Well look ya know, we’re losing all this fuckin’ money to all these Seattle bands. We don’t own any of those fuckers. We don’t own any of these kids, we need to get some fuckin’ kids we own. I remember back in the day and we had the Jacksons, we owned the Osmonds. We had all the fuckin’ kids’. ::: laughter :::

   So what happened is they just put together all of these kids. They just put em together, they throw it out. And they know it’s going to sell because the money’s there. They know they’re going to hit the weakest part of society… the weakest link. The weakest link is an eleven-year-old kid. Eleven, twelve, thirteen-year-old kid.

   And in these bands there are five people, that’s five solo careers waiting to happen. Which only one of them will go on to do movies or make records. And then you figure how long is that going to last? Because their going to run into Sean Penn one day and he’s gonna eat them for breakfast. You know, they just don’t build people with any tenacity, everybody’s so fucking bendable."

   Siddartha syndrome. Living in the castle your whole life then suddenly you’re sent out on the streets and you realize the city you live in actually is a ghetto.

   "Yeah, well I really think the entire world is in a state of opulent poverty as I like to call it. You’ve got money thrown at you with the lottery, TV, the internet, cars, clothes all this stuff. You have game shows all giving away millions of dollars. You have sports players out there… the guys making 6.2 mil and he can’t play ‘cause he’s tired.

   The most sickening example of it during the last elections or leading up to it they would have nightly newscasts about the Democratic and Republican conventions, and how much money they would be spending at these conventions. Then inevitably in the same newsreel they would show somewhere in the world that was completely impoverished and their government you know was making them that way. They could easily go in and say well these people in our country are starving, we have to help them, but they don’t.

   Same in America. They can spend millions of dollars on a convention, for Republican or Democrat party when there are people starving on the street outside. And when there are people out of work. Companies are closing and work isn’t being generated.

   We’re so close man. We’re so close. It’s like any day now it could be just all Kaput!"

   On the apathy of the American people regarding our elections:

   "You could have a coup in the White House, but christ, don’t cancel Friends. Really, that’s how it is. If they took away the World Series there would be riots in the streets. But there could be a coup in the White House, and it would be ‘ well the Pepsi’s still cold, right mom? The fridge didn’t bust did it?

   A friend of mine who’s from Venezuela said, if this happened in my country there would be riots in the street. He couldn’t believe there wasn’t more of a public outcry."

   On the Brooklyn Museum of Art censorship controversy over the last couple of years. Has it been a real struggle for artists in New York lately?

   "It’s ridiculous man, it’s just a bunch of right wing, Giuliani… its just old rich motherfuckers who give money to the museum pissed off about it. It’s just rich white people bitching and moaning. It’s like look, you have a museum you’re supposed to allow people to express themselves. Have a little sense of humor. Don’t take everything so seriously… lighten up a little. And its usually one real stick in the mud that gets everyone going.

   Yeah, it’s a shame, there’s a lot of things about New York that have changed."

   We’d like to thank Glampire once again for taking his time to converse with us. Keep your eye on him! Glampire has just released a new album entitled ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous’; there will be a CD release party at Halo, Saturday, September 8^th at the Imperial downtown.