John Doe Marks the Spot
X's punk icon goes beyond and back
Published by Rhino.com
9/18/01
Punk rock never dies. It just has kids. That goes for the music and the people
who make it. OK, maybe they're not all running around procreating, but you can
be sure that the best of them aren't sitting on the front porch waiting for
sweet death to afford them a bull session with Sid Vicious. Movement and challenge
are threads running through the denim of John Doe's life. He left Baltimore
for Los Angeles in 1976 to be a songwriter. After seven X albums, a handful
of solo and side projects, and numerous film roles, Doe moved to the outskirts
of town, where he now lives with his wife and three daughters. He continues
to act and make music, appearing in the TV show Roswell and holding down
at least a couple of bands. Here's what he said about Rhino's recent X reissues
and random other stuff. What's been your involvement in these reissues? Why do you think LA punk took on a more rootsy sound? What did the New York and London punk scenes mean to you guys? Did signing to a major label influence the way X recorded? You moved out of LA, saying that you no longer found it inspiring. How has fatherhood changed you? On those early albums you dealt a lot with marriage and relationships. How
would those songs be different if you wrote them today? What's gonna be the next underground music? Is punk dead? Speaking of dumb questions, what's the coolest thing about being in a rock
band? What are some of the social issues you care about?
I helped research names and places. I organized the bonus tracks and helped
find a bunch of them. I oversaw the mastering, and Exene, DJ, and I looked at
hundreds of pictures to choose what should go in each package.
That would be later. LA punk was very much like New York in that it was
very eclectic when it first started: The Screamers, Weirdos, Germs, X, Plugz,
Go-Go's. It wasn't until The Blasters and the rockabilly wave came in 1981 that
it turned to a more roots style. I think Billy Zoom brought rockabilly guitar
to punk rock.
It was all just inspiration. Everybody was there when bands from New York
or England came. The Ramones, Blondie, The Damned, and DEVO had the biggest
impact.
Not at all. It influenced some people's opinion of us.
LA changes every five to ten years. And once all the restaurants and little
places you used to go are gone, you decide whether you want to reacquaint yourself
with the city or move.
It's a great source of emotional security and constant change. You're confronted
with a whole new set of circumstances every day, and you have to figure out
how to make that work.
Not a whole lot different. That's one of the constants of this world: Life and
relationships are a struggle.
It's gonna be rock bands. Three bands that seem to be getting a lot of attention
-- and are different -- are The Pattern, The Strokes, and The White Stripes.
They all remind me of punk rock.
Is rock dead? As Chuck Berry once said, 'Rock 'n' roll will never die.' People
have been asking that since 1981, and now punk rock is subculture. It's a rite
of passage for many people. So it's kind of a dumb question.
The challenge. The worst thing, as you get older, is the lack of security.
I did a commercial for CARE. I'm also involved in an organization to free the
West Memphis Three -- three teenagers convicted of murder in Arkansas. It was
a total miscarriage of justice.