John Doe of X

by Greg Zaret

John Doe of X took a few minutes with Greg Zaret to talk about stuff. Now, the band X should need do introduction, being one of the finest bands of the past decade--not that they are out of their time either. This is part 1 of a possible 2-part interview. If you want to hear more from John Doe on what it was like in X during the 80's, CLICK HERE and Email us that you want to hear more. Now, to John....

the "Unclogged" album

RAD: So how did the new album (X- "Unclogged") come about?
John Doe: The short version is in '80. We did some acoustic stuff with Phranc at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go, the Circle Jerks, the Cruzados, and Jeffery Lee Pierce. We'd just go down and do a song or two. So that was the first time X did acoustic stuff. Then, Exene and I had a romance with country music and on the "Decline of Western Civilization" or maybe on the "Unheard Music" (the movie about X), we did a Hank Williams song. And then we did the Knitters in 1985. The same year we did "Ain't Love Grand." John Shalu from McCabe's Guitar Shop in L.A. suggested we play there and we didn't think we could do it electrically so we did a few rehearsals acoustically, and it seemed to work. A lot of the songs lent themselves to different versions and interpretations. What didn't, we abandoned; what did, we kept. We recorded it sort of as an afterthought, and the performances were good, but the mix was terrible. So we did it again in San Francisco at the North Valley Ministry, which is a Presbyterian church but it serves more as a community center, serving old people dinner, providing day care, flamenco lessons, tai chi--what a church should be.
RAD: Flamenco lessons?
John Doe: Serving the community, rather than telling them how they're going to hell and burn and things like that.
RAD: How was it performing some of the songs like "White Girl" acoustically? Did that seem strange to you?
John Doe: No, the only real difference with that song is that the chorus goes down instead of up. Quieter instead of louder. There's not much re-interpretation with that song. With "Because I Do" or "Unheard Music, The World's A Mess," we kind of developed those with one of us who had an original idea of how to slow it down or how to work on it. And the rest of it developed in rehearsal. So, like I said, what didn't work, we stopped messing with 'cause we have enough songs to keep looking. Basically, it refocuses the songs on musical interplay, vocal and lyrical melodies. I think it puts X and Exene and myself particularly, into a different life as songwriters. Because if a song isn't good, then I don't think they would hold up stripped down as much as they are.
RAD: I'd have to say I didn't know what to expect listening to those songs acoustically and when I finally did, it seemed to fit right in smoothly. Do you have plans to do more acoustic recordings or is this kind of a one-off deal?
John Doe: It's kind of hard to say. If a new song seems to work with acoustic elements, then I'm sure we'll include it. The best plan for recording music is to let the song tell you what to do with it and to try to be true to what it's asking for. Some songs crumble under the weight of a big production, and other songs thrive from a big production. You just try to let it find its correct level.
RAD: Is it kind of odd to have some of the 'oldies' included at this point?
John Doe: No. The songs still say something, and if they didn't, we wouldn't play them. We're not the kind of band that is fad oriented. And even if certain recording techniques reflect a period of time, that's because that's just what records are. A record of the time of when you do it. I think we're lucky that way, we purposely tried not to date songs.

Politics

John Doe: Like "The New World" or "I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts" are political songs, and I think that's one of the reasons that--it's a theory of mine--that one of the reasons why everyone in the United States is so angry is because subconsciously, deep down they realize they have been lied to. I think that's why the Soviet Union fell apart because the Soviet Union was built on the same kind of lies. And everyone is just pissed. They don't understand why they're really angry. That's one of the reasons that the Republicans came back in the Senate so big because things didn't change. And really, we're paying for all the sins Reagan and Bush put upon us with the S and L's and now all these government programs are being cut. It's only been a year, and they've already cut a third of the social service budget. What's going to be five or six years from now if this thing keeps going through. It's going to be a whole criminal class of children like in South America. I mean, it's frightening. Hopefully, there will be leaders to come forward and people, like Barbara Boxer in the Senate who pushes a lot of good things through, and so does Henry Waxman.
RAD: Do you see the central government as being important or would you like to see it returned to the different areas?
John Doe: In theory that's good, but there are so many states that owe so much to ranchers and miners, then you wouldn't have the government telling them they have to be careful with the environment. That's happened in Wyoming and Montana, places like that, and with the wild horses in Nevada.
RAD: So then you think it would allow more abuse?
John Doe: I think it would. People might tend to spend money more wisely on particular problems that a state or city might have, but there's got to be a federal guideline. I'm not that experienced really. I have certain views. I know certain things, but I wouldn't be in politics.
RAD: You don't like the whole thing?
John Doe: Well you have to be aware of it. If there was anything I could tell people about politics, it is just to be aware, and don't be sucked into the lies that they tell us. You don't have to devote your entire life to politics, but you should devote a piece of it so that you can respond intelligently to issues that are important. I think a lot of people get scared off of politics because they think they have to know everything about it and know exactly the right position to take and who to vote for and be able to espouse the reasons and where it came from, sources and everything like that. When really all you have to do is be aware. You just have to read the news, listen to the radio, and try to decipher what they're telling you. Make it a piece of your life. A lot of spokesmen threaten people with their vast knowledge and all the facts and figures. People get turned off by that. All you have to do is not believe everything that they tell you and realize that Republicans are for big business. It's incredible that they've positioned themselves as the party of the people. They're not. They never have been. They haven't done one thing for unions, not one thing for the labor force. I mean from the early 1900's until now. But they've positioned themselves as that. And now the Democrats have been so vilified for sticking up for people's rights and affirmative action and stuff like that. It's like, wait a minute! There's been a hundred and fifty years that this has been going on, and men are still shitting on women. That's common knowledge that women are paid less for the same amount of work, but yet they've led people to believe that 25 or 30 years can fix that. It's crazy. It's like everyone is in denial because somebody says that it isn't true. They suddenly think 'Oh, I don't have to worry about that, it's kind of a pain in the ass to worry about anyways'.
RAD: It's easier not to think about it.
John Doe: Right, or adopt the Republican point of view which is you're hired by your experience or value. But the tables are so tilted from the beginning that the benefits and drawbacks from being black or white are there to begin with. It has nothing to do with when you're thirty years old going to try to get a management position. At that point so much has been done already.