DANZIG PRESS RELEASE, 1990
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                                       DANZIG

                                  Glenn Danzig (vocals)
                                   John Christ (guitar)
                                     Eerie Von (bass)
                                 Chuck Biscuits (drums)

  THE HISTORY

          This is Danzig.
          "Are we dangerous?" Off-stage, bare-chested Glenn Danzig considers the
  question.  "Sure. lgds are looking for a little danger.  Not a lot ... just a little.  But
  you know who we really scare?  The evangelists.  We represent the fall of
  everything they've built up.  Scary?  We're very scary to the people who've built a.
  system where you're not encouraged to think for yourself.  They don't want the late
  Sbcties to happen again - with discontent with the way things are and people
  wanting to change.  You're just supposed to work and pay the bills and keep
  quiet."
          Danzig is not what you would call mquieto Whether with the virulent attacks
  on certain religious beliefs in its music or its erotically aggressive videos, Danzig
  has become one of the most controversial rock 'n roll bands of this generation.
          On its second album, Lucifuge (Def American Recordings), produced by
  Rick Rubin, Danzig once again demands that its listeners do what few other hard
  rock bands would even suggest - question their very beliefs.  Songwrfter and lead
  vocalist Danzig provides no easy answers to those questions - or any others.
          What's Lucifuge mean? "If people know what it means then they know.  If
  people don't know, then they have to do their homework."
          Apparently more know than some would hope - given how well the band's
  1988 debut self-titled album did, combined with the success of Danzig's 1990
  longform home video, which Glenn co-directed (included are the uncensored music
  videos for songs such as "I Am Demon," "Twist Of Cain," "She Rides" and "Mother.")
          "I'm not surprised," says Danzig candidly.  I knew there was an audience
  out there.  That's why I chose Def American.  They could help me gain access to
  that audiences (Surprisingly, Danzig's audience is about 40% women.) Most
  music today is very processed and hit-oriented, very pre-packaged - and not very
  dangerous.  And here we are: We're not your typical ugly heavy metal band that
  doesn't look like it has anything to say.  We're into taking body and mind as far as
  they can go."
          Danzig is very serious indeed about what his music says.
          "I always thought people come to a show to be entertained.  We offer more
  than rock 'n roll and killer songs.  We understand drama, powerful imagery and
  powerful words.  We're not saying stupid stuff."
          His musical integrity is substantial, including having written songs for Roy
  Orbison ("Life Fades Away" on the Less Than Zero soundtrack) and Metallica.  But
  though this native New Yorker has also led other underground cuft bands which
  enjoyed notoriety, his self-named Danzig is his first hand-picked group and the
  ultimate evolution of his ideas.
          "The others had my stamp on them but this one is more my personal
  vision," he explains.
          Wielding his favorite guitar called Bitch is the menacing, somber, brooding
  John Christ.  On bass is the appropriately-named Eerie Von, who admits 11 can be
  real nasty to people" but concedes that the band's doing so well he's happy at the
  moment, "If you can call my attitude happy." Danzig's drummer is Chuck Biscuits,
  one of the few skinbeaters who creates a personality behind the kit.  As for Glenn,
  calling him very intense is an understatement.  His usual reading material: books
  on werewolves, death, the anthropology of evil, comic books, and, of course,
  religion.
          "I'm just searching for answers.  I read a helluva lot and the more
  mysterious the subject the more intrigued I am."
          His scholarly interest in Satanism is the most intriguing. (As for his personal
  beliefs: that's nobody's business" he says.)
          "Some people mistake believing in Satan for being a Satanist," he says.
  "That's like thinking going to church on Sunday is believing in God.  The fact is
  that if you believe in God, then you have to believe in Satan.  But people don't
  understand the reason for Satan except that the Catholic Church invokes his name
  when it's on a membership drive.
          "Frankly, Satanism has gotten a bad rap.  Most of the sacrifices you hear
  about are really Santeria, a voodoo Catholic religion.  But the media won't admit
  that.  Santeria's practiced by almost everyone in Central and South America.
  Including the Cubans.  When we played Miami, there was a Santeria store right
  across the street. It even had a Jesus with bleeding hands."
          One appeal in writing and singing about such black subjects, says Danzig,
  is its sense of rebellion.
          "Why some people are into Satan is because he was the first rebel.  He was
  God's most beloved angel, but he said 'Well God, I'm not going to do it that way.'"
          The primal and pagan, he adds, have always been elements in rock 'n roll.
          Adults are scared of kids rebelling.  They should just relax.  Kids just want
  to discover life for themselves.  A little trouble isn't bad, it's part of growing up.  It's
  almost mandatory.  If you do rebel maybe you won't be repressed and have
  problems when you're older.  The kids who don't rebel - that's where our serial
  killers come from."
          It may seem peculiar but Danzig has yet to be strongly attacked by religious
  groups - at least so far.
          "That's because everything I say is from history books-.  I haven't come
  under fire because if I do, I'll bring the entire religious and political system under
  fire with me.  If they question my integrity then R also questions theirs."
          He smiles.

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  THE RECORD
          Glenn Danzig recently talked about the songs on Lucifuqe, Danzig's second
  album on Def American Recordings, produced by Rick Rubin, and released in June
  1990.
          "Long Way Back From Hell": "What happens when you're doing something
  you're not prepared to pay the consequences for. If it's too hot in hell, then don't
  sign up."
          "Snakes Of Christ: "The Catholics and the Baptists have perverted the
  teachings of Christ.  Worshiping their version of Christ could be considered by
  some to be as bad as worshiping Satan."
          "Killer Wolf": "My version of an old blues song about a guy who wolfs
  around the door of every girl in town.  An old braggin' blues."
          "Tired Of Bein' Alive": Self-explanatory."
          "I'm The One": "About a guy realizing his destiny.  Another blues song.  If
  you listen to them, all of my records have a bluesy feel to them.  They're crazy and
  wild but also bluesy.  Probably more on this record than ever before though."
          "Her Black Wings": "About woman to the 10th power."
          "Devil's Plaything": "Control over another person."
          "777": "Armageddon.  What exists after 666?  The end."
          "Blood & Tears":  "A girl's failed relationship and her subsequent torment."
          "Girl": "Sex to a new plateau."
          "Pain In The World": "The birth of Evil and its place in this existence."

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