Mike: I recently saw a picture with you and Al Jourgensen in Los Angeles. Were you down there for NAMM?
Jello: No, I have never been there in my life. Al was down there,which kind of suprises me that they even let him set foot in the place after what he did a few years ago but ah..(laughs) mainly pulling out the old Sex Pistols trick and vomiting on important people.
Mike: I am sure you noticed fans responding to the photo with you and Al. A lot of them were asking if there is anything in the future with LARD?
Jello: It's certainly possible. Al has announced a new album several times over the years and he hasn't even started to record anything yet. Hopefully, one of these times when both our schedules open up at the same time because it seems Al is getting back into "Road Mode" with Ministry. In some ways now the roles have reversed. Now I have "The Guantanamo School Of Medicine" which chews up a lot of my time.
Mike: Was music a big part of your life growing up? I know there was a incident when your parents mistakenly turned on a rock station when you where a child, but was music prevelent growing up?
Jello: How could it not be? What did I decide to do with my life? It' not a profession, it's an obsession. It played a really big role in who I am, even before I heard rock and roll. Whether it was classical baroque music or my dads Japanese Kabuki records; then came rock and I found a home. I think it came along at the right time because I was encouraged to be the political news hound that I already was from a very early age. I felt very grateful that I was able to experience the uprisings and the magic of the 60's much more deeply than I guess most people my age did. You know both the music and the events.
Mike: What first drew you to want to be in a band?
Jello: Walter Mitty, Cinderella..I dont know. My parents controled the TV, it never occured to me for years, it never occured to me that I could propose to watch something else if I looked in the TV Guide. It never occured to me. But for some reason they put it on Hulabaloo, which was a prime time rock and pop music show. Kind of like a cooler version of American Bandstand, without Dick Clark. They had a guest host every week and you would get everybody from lesser known garage bands that had national hits, all the way up to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones playing on that show. You also had a lot of the Motown groups, Paul Revere and the Raiders where on a lot and the Animals, I really liked them and still do! So the die was kind of cast then with what I wanted to be when I grew up. Being a musician was always presented to me as being completely unrealistic. Hey, you're not gorgeous, you're not from L.A., you're not connected, you're just another nobody in school in Boulder Colorado, why even think these things? Then Punk happened! I mean, I did have a little detour, I guess my other childhood ambition was another of the world's greatest TV shows. It hit the scene and other kids were writing down that they wanted to be a baseball player or a fireman, or a cop or a nurse for the girls. My heros where the Penguin and the Riddler on Batman. Those were my role models and that was who I wanted to be! So that factored in too. There was always a soft part in my heart for Sabotage and Creative Crimes, I really dug people like Andy Hoffman.
JELLO BIAFRA
Its taken us quiet some time to create a introduction for Jello Biafra for the interview. What can you say about a "PUNK ICON" that has not already been said. We are releasing this interview in two parts as we spoke with Jello for close to two hours and Jello as always had alot to speak about. Apart from being one of the most well known punk artists to date, Jello also runs his record label Alternative Tentacles, is working with his new band Jello Biafra and the Guntanamo School Of Medicine, does a YouTube segment "What Would Jello Do" as well as does spoken word engagements. We hope you enjoy this interview with this truly amazing artist!