Love/Hate’s Jizzy Pearl talks books, L.A. Guns and the golden age of Love/Hate with LRI

 

 

Q: The last time we saw you was on the Shrinking Violet L.A. Guns tour. Suffice it to say, that has been a while, you’ve put out albums, books, joined RATT for quite a few years and then joined and left L.A. Guns again. What are you currently pushing/promoting? 

A: I currently push drugs, meth specifically. Other than the meth I have re-issued my three books on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com—with applicable apps for all the phones and Un-known’s— check out my facebook page or http://www.Jizzypearl.com for all the answers.

Q: You are a west coast guy for sure….but also one of the best touring cats for many, many years. The first time I saw you was Love/Hate opening for AC/DC at the Rockford Metrocentre.  People sitting nearby were honestly shocked and offended by your Love/Hate show, always a good sign. Do you have any recollections or memories of the area or is it one fuzzy haze of shitty gas stations and motels?

A: –Definitely. I’m originally from Chicago and when Love/Hate first got signed I tried to get my relatives to come see all the area shows. But the parental advisory sticker on my record kept their Christian souls away and I sort of resented that.

Q: We of course are partial to Cheap Trick around these parts and stoked to know that at least Tracii is a fan. Have you had any run ins with the beloved?

A: I did meet Nielsen on the 1st show of the 1999 Poison tour which was in Rockford. I met Robin Zander at some European festival when I was with Steven Adler. He was just laying there on the couch…smiling.  God they sounded good that day, ‘Voices’ sounded just like the record.

Q: I have a bad habit of running my mouth too much about people I consider “geniuses”. I tell most people that will put up with me that the first Love/Hate is classic and  on top of that you start writing really good books. How did that come about and how many musician authored books do you really think were actually written by the artist not ghost written? 

A: I’ve always written stuff on paper, mostly when I was stoned to amuse my friends. Then the Internet came along and I could philosophize to the masses. I think most of these so-called rockstar ‘biographies’ are just some guy speaking into another guys hand-held recorder, spewing out reminiscences and stories. Then some friend types it up on Word.  Most of them are in dire need of Spell-check and a few English courses. But Motley’s “The Dirt” was very good.

Q: Love Hate did make some really good songs for the sophmore album, Wasted in America. What the hell went wrong after the release?

A: Love/Hate was a great band but like all bands with a little fame and $$ we let it go to our heads.

They (the Label) picked the wrong single and we never recovered.

Q: Who thought up the beer can cross, the “buxom blonde thirteen” lyrics, the Hollywood Sign stunt and everything Love/Hate did to quietly become one of the most sleazy and parent pleasing bands to rise to a major label? Are you settling for a sofa sleeper in hell?

A: Ahhh, Skid our bass player was the originator of most of that stuff. I was elected to hang on the Hollywood sign because he had outstanding traffic warrants.

Q: With the industry in such a collective funk as far as selling music do you have to pretty much suck it up and make most of your loot touring/merch wise?

A: Bands sell merch because there’s no money for record deals anymore. Some people think we’re all rich and live in mansions and some people think we all flip burgers at McDonalds…the truth is somewhere in the middle.

People steal music, that’s the Internet and that’s just the way it is. I don’t complain about it–

Q: There is a little bit more to you than a few of the meatheads you sometimes get lumped in with. Do you think you’ve been pretty lucky to have quite a few fans that are willing to grow along with your career and do you think some of your fellow strip compadres have at times underestimated their fans intelligence?

A:I think I’m lucky that anybody gives a shit about me at all…

Q: Time to shamelessly rip off  Metal Sludge

We know you don’t wanna be Simon Cowell but rate the following singers AND writers on a scale of 1 being someone who you totally don’t get and 10 being someone you’d let take your place if you had blown out vocal cords and couldn’t sing.

 

Jim Morrisson–10

 

Charles Bukowski–11

 

Taime Downe—he deserves a 10 because he’s a friend

 

William Peter Blatty (the Exorcist author)—freaky, 10

 

Hunter S. Thompson–10

 

Bobby Blotzer: (the author, not the drummer)- as an author, a 5. Sorry Bob, but Helen Reddy is spelled Reddy, not Ready!!!  Spellcheck!

 

Paul Stanley—I don’t like Kiss, sorry

 

Stephen King—I used to like him a lot, but don’t read him anymore. That also goes for Anne Rice

 

Robin Zander– a 10

 

Axl Rose—10…… Axl is amazing I don’t care what anyone says

 

Q: timeline time word association

 

1977: stoned

 

1985: stoned, broke, living in a building in Downtown L.A.

 

 

1987: still stoned and broke but a better musician

 

1990: Blackout in the Red Room, 10-month tour–Dio, AC/DC arenas, tour buses, girls, thought this was the beginning of a long rich career. I was half-right

 

1992: Last gasp of Love/Hate on Sony. Dropped, drunk, disillusioned.

 

1999: L.A. Guns, Poison tour, more girls & glory

 

2001: Joining RATT, having fun being Stephen’s stand-in for some years.

 

2005: 3rd book out, almost had a movie deal, Life goes on

 

2007: wrote a screenplay that sucked—Mom got cancer

 

2010: Not poor, doing music Again, waiting for the Asteroid !!!

 

 

Q: Thanks again, Jizzy, torture session over. I’m gonna either go listen to one of your acoustic shows or a really good Ratt House of Blues Bootleg….anything you wanna say to your fans or anything left to plug?

 

A: Buy my books you will dig them. Good reading for short attention spans.

Tags: jizzy pearl, l.a. guns, love/hate, ratt

Category: Interviews