I was never trying to be the voice for anybody else. I was just trying to sing about what I was going through, and was singing about those things specifically because I knew there was an audience not being served.
Part of being in a band, being a painter, or starting a nonprofit is that you’re going to make horrible mistakes and look like a total idiot, but you’re never going to create that thing that really connects with people if you don’t fail over and over and over again.
I know what a good question would be for an actor. What’s your least favorite thing that you’ve ever heard an actor say about acting? Or about being in a movie?
In the ’90s, people wore scrunchies, but it was very uncool in the punk scene.
I never thought that someone would be teaching one of my fanzines. I never thought I’d be off to lecture at a college. It’s still shocking to me.
I get emails every day from people saying, “I never heard your music. I don’t know anything about you. I just happened to watch this on Netflix. I hope you’re feeling better. More power to you.” It just shows you, I don’t know, how generous and wonderful people can be.
There’s comedians who I consider extremely punk rock who I’ve seen do very political stand up in places where nobody wants to hear that. It’s uncomfortable and scary and you realize it’s the punkest performance you’ve ever witnessed.
It’s the idea that we as people can control our own destinies. The government and the corporations, more even than the government, can’t dictate what artwork we’re supposed to like or what comedy we’re supposed to laugh at.
Everybody wasn’t always wasted. Why is punk rock about getting wasted? Isn’t it punk rock to be sober and change the world? I thought it was about challenging capitalism? How are you going to challenge capitalism if you’re wasted?
Johnny Rotten isn’t punk. Maybe that’s punk to somebody, but these people are participating and challenging the corporations that are telling us what punk is and what good music is.
It’s so crazy because kids that wrote to me when they were 14 years old are still in my life. A lot have gone on to become musicians and artists in their own right who inspire me now.
I’m lucky enough to have been in the age before the internet and now during the internet. I’m grateful to be a witness to that. It’s horse and buggy versus car. To see how quickly things change has given me a renewed sense of optimism. Does that make sense?
I’ve always been like, “Look, you’re going to die and it’s not going to matter after you die that you got out onstage and bombed.”
I watch videos on YouTube of bands that I’ve heard of that I want to check out. And sometimes I don’t even finish the video. And that’s really sad, because maybe I’d like that song. I think that we don’t give stuff a chance to really sink in.
I don’t consider myself a divining rod whom God is speaking through or any kind of crap like that.
See who else is interested and join other people’s projects that have already started that you like. You don’t always have to reinvent the wheel and start your own thing.
It’s so important for people in political groups to learn the difference between productive criticism and not. When it’s about something you can change, it’s productive. But if it’s just like “You are an evil person”, you can’t change that. There’s no way around that.
I belive power can be used for good, I don’t think every form of power is absolute evil. I wish I would have stepped in, and I really regret it. And that’s why I really encourage young people who are organizing to speak up.
I know that’s really horrible, but that’s how I do it in my head. I’m going to die. It doesn’t matter. I don’t matter. I’m a grain of sand. As a grain of sand, I may as well go out and relate to people and enjoy my short time on this planet that I have. Who knows what’s coming next?
I’m living in a world where there are LGBTQ straight alliances at high schools. I feel pretty psyched on that.
From puberty on, I felt like me and my friends were always running. From abusive dads, men on the streets, abusive boyfriends, or even from mean things men would say to us that got stuck in our heads. But running meant we thought we were worth saving for the right one.