This interviewed appeared December 2, 1994 in the Columbia Daily Spectator.

Q: Do you feel the band is now on the road to widespread commercial success?
A: I don't know if that will ever happen.  There are some things that won't
be accepted by everyone, no matter what.  You're either in this band or
another kind of band, and we didn't want to be in that kind of band.  We may
sell more records, but I don't think we'll ever become a household name, unless
we go crazy and kill someone.  If we became a money making machine, the music
would suffer.  We just want to make music that makes other people think--that's
the important thing.

Q: How do you think Danzig4 compares to previous albums?
A: I thinks it's different.  There are only a few songs that are in the 
traditional Danzig form, as far as style.  The rest is all new.  Glenn was in
one of those moods that reflects Samhain and The Misfits--maybe it was his 
feelings at that time.  It still shows what we're really about; I would 
definately rather be scary than anything else.  Overall, I thinks it's familiar
but not the same.  You've got to leave the door open in order to walk on to
something else.

Q: What do you want people to know about Danzig?
A: It's kind of hard to put it all into one big statement...I guess the fact
that we're a real band.  We're a real band, we do this for the right reasons.
We have a lot of integrity, we always have lyrics that question.  Music is art,
something makes you want to do it, and you have the power to control it.  This
is what we want.  If people like it or don't, we'll still do it.  We care about
what we're doing, and the opinions of our fans.  It's not just entertainment.
We're not just in it to sell records, we could have done that a long time ago.
About "Mother", we kind of thought, well how come they didn't play it when it
first came out?  When the record company approached us about releasing it, we
thought it was stupid, but we liked the video, so we went along with it.

Q: What happened to Chuck?
A: Well, Chuck quit during the last tour, he wasn't happy.  We asked him to come
back and sign an agreement that said that he would stay for the rest of the
tour.  We even offered him money, but he refused.  This was an eight-year
relationship and it ended.  We're still friends with him, he just doesn't want
to play with us anymore.

Q: How's Joey? What does he add to the band?
A: Right now, we're making him play what's on the records.  After a little 
while, I'll be able to comment.  He's more disciplined.  Chuck ended up turning
the songs into different things.  Joey hits as hard as Chuck, and has a good 
personality, which is important on the road.  He's not as gloomy as the rest
of us.  We haven't let him go yet, we're still holding him back.  He is 
probably going to add to the band in other aspects besides just playing the
drums.

Q: How much input does everyone have in the songwriting process and the band's
sound?
A: With guitar sounds in concert, it's John and the sound man.  He's always
working on it, but we want to make sure that it works together as a band.  We
all have preferences, and we work with the sound man.  As far as songs go,
Glenn sometimes has an entire song in his head, or he has a chorus or a riff,
which is more like what happened with the last two albums.  Rubin also makes
suggestions.  Unless the whole things is already done, we all mess around with
it and see where it goes.  Usually, we give Glenn options to choose from.  If
it makes it to the record, that's the way it stays.  When we play live, the
songs changs a little bit.  We've gotten used to working with each other, so
things come out fast.  For instance, there are certain chords that we never
use.  After all this time, it's a big collaboration.

Q: Do you feel that the band's image, devil worship and such, has hindered
your chances of mainstream success?
A: That image isn't so prevalent anymore; that stuff happened in the first
couple of years.  I never interpret it as Satanic.  Knowing Glenn, it's a
religious thing, Glenn studies all kinds of religions.  As far as I know,
none of us practice any certain religion, but we do read about them.  For
instance, in Japan, I studied Buddhism.  It's cool to see how religions all
connect in a certain sense.  All the crosses and imagery we use, we just think
it's cool.  It has probably hurt us, religion and politics will never make you
popular.  Glenn is way into it, so he brings it up.  Who cares if it has hurt
a little bit, if we wanted to be safe, we wouldn't do it.  We have a lot more
to say than other bands.  If people are afraid, they will instantly reject it.
They'll look at the pictures and not read the lyrics.  If people just don't
get it, to hell with them.

Q: Who picks out your cover art?
A: Glenn has done all of the cover stuff, since the Misfits.  He's into it and
we like it, so we let him do it.  I trust his judgement.

Q: What do the characters on the new album say?
A: It's Celtic writing on the new cover, it says Danzig.  I think the cover
looks like a Rorschach.  I love it.  You let people read into it, and they come
up with their own ideas about what it is.  That's the way it should be--a 
different image every time you hear the song.  The sad thing is when you see
a video, that image stays in your mind every time you hear it.

Q: What is the name of the sixty-sixth track and what's it about?
A: It's called "Invocation", that's all I can say.

Q: Who came up with the idea for the "It's Coming Down" video?
A: It was part of mine and Glenn's personalities, part of what we used to see
when we lived in New York.  The director also had some good ideas, and we let
him do what he wanted.  We weren't even there for part of it.  I like stuff 
that people think is bizarre.  It was pretty heavy, but so what?  Sexually,
you're either open minded or your not.  I can't speak for John, but Chuck dug
that kind of stuff, too.  That doesn't mean that the band's into one particular
thing, though.  It's just a shock value thing, that stuff became normal to me
because I got used to it.

Q: Do you guys own any clothes that aren't black?
A: (long pause)...Umm...my socks, they never were.  I have t-shirts that are
white but I never wear them.  I buy some stuff because it's cool, but if
anybody saw me wear it they would probably flip.  James Hetfield copies my
style, too.  But if they look like me, I don't give a fuck.  John occasionaly
wears blue jeans, and I think he owns a purple shirt.  Glenn also has a
purple Samhain sweatshirt that I've seen him wear once in a while.

Q: A lot of what is written portrays John as the angry, disenfranchised
member of the group.  How true is this?
A: Well, we do it for fun.  It's not like that all the time.  The tension
between Glenn and John happens when we're writing.  Each wants it to sound a
different way, and what we get out of that is Danzig.  A lot of really good
bands didn't get along, like the Stones.  Richards and Jagger hated each other,
you could see it and hear it, but they got over it, and it usually ends up
helping the band.  We don't hate each other, but musically there's tension.
I try to push my philosophy on John.  When he was first in the band, we used
to talk about punk, and he was always a heavy metal guy.  He used to say:
"Me and my friends used to beat guys like you up."  There aren't any serious
problems like with the Eagles, I mean those guys hated each other.  If we
broke up, I would still call John, but I'm not so sure that Chuck would.

Q: Where were you guys on the Sabbath tribute album?
A: Well, we should have been on there.  We were going to do N.I.B. or Fairies
Wear Boots, but we practiced them like twice.  I mean, no one pressured us,
and we really didn't give a shit.  Why bother?  If playing someone else's songs
is not doing anything for you musically, then who cares?

lizard@salsa.furnald.reshall.columbia.edu