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Komodo Rock Talks With Jizzy Peal |
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Thursday, 22 November 2007 |
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 Following the bands recent reformation, Love/Hate will be heading to the UK in December to perform with the bands original lineup, and to play the Entirety of the bands classic album 'Black Out In The Red Room' on the London stop, just as they did for their reformation show at Club Vodka in LA, earlier this year.
Komodo Rock's Mike Elliott spoke with frontman Jizzy Pearl to find out more.
Mike Elliott: You are coming over to the UK in December with the original line-up of the band. How did that all come together?
Jizzy Pearl: Yeah December. I hadn’t spoken to
the guys in a long, long time and they hadn’t been playing so I was
sort of carrying the torch. Year after year I had been coming to the UK
with friends playing the Love/Hate music and stuff like that. Anyway I
quit Ratt last year and didn’t have any gigs on the horizon and I
thought what the hell, see if these guys want to get together for maybe
one show. So we played one or two shows and I brought up the idea of
coming back to the UK and so far I’ve managed to work it out.
ME: So this is one you are putting together yourself then?
JP: Yeah
ME: Excellent. You were saying about the reformation. That was when you
played the entirety of Blackout in the Red Room at Club Vodka back in
February?
JP: Yeah. It was kind of a special occasion
thing. We hadn’t spoken or seen each other for years but like old war
buddies we got back together and after a couple of rehearsals it was
like we had never stopped playing.
ME: So it all just came together just like that?
JP: Well you know. No one has the eighties hair
anymore. Nobody has the long hair anymore but for being a bunch of old
guys we are doing ok.
ME: Yeah there aren’t many that have the old eighties hair left anymore.
JP: Oh there are a couple still in Hollywood you know.
ME: Yeah there are a few in London as well but not so many these days.
So when you come to the UK in December you are going to play Blackout
in London in it’s entirety as well. What is the idea of doing that but
only in London?
JP: It’s just for a special occasion you know.
We’ve had a lot of good times playing the UK and thought it would be a
nice thing to do and we’ll just be doing it at The Underworld Show in
Camden. The rest of the shows will just be like us playing from the
catalogue.
ME: So is playing London a special thing for you and you want to do something special while you are there?
JP: That’s right.
ME: So with being back together now and touring here in the UK is there
a possibility that you guys might put together a new album at some
point?
JP: Well you know. There is always talk about things like that. It’s a
harder proposition in these modern times. What with downloading at
whatnot. You used to be able to make a record and you could put your
heart and soul into it as well as your money. And then you were able to
make your money back and enjoy it but now, like my last two solo
records were basically out on the internet for free. Even though they
have been re-released by Shrapnel Records, which is a good thing but,
it’s just totally different to back when people made records. I’m still
in the sort of I will work for food mode.
ME: Yeah it’s a job rather than just a hobby?
JP: Yeah I still do it for a living and stuff
like that so it’s a little bit harder for me to watch all my work get
downloaded for nothing.
ME: Yeah. That’s quite interesting though because on the Love/Hate
website you have all of your older stuff available for download. Is
that because it is stuff that isn’t easily available now?
JP: Well Skid owns the website and that was his
decision to do. I don’t know if I agree or disagree with it it’s just
something he did and until he gets shut down I guess people will still
be able to get that music.
 ME: So that’s not something that is officially done through you then?
JP: No I don’t run that website.
ME: Oh. Ok, my apologies then. I thought it was sort of an official site that was run though you.
JP: Skid has been running that website for years.
It’s his way, even though he’s hasn’t been out there playing. It’s his
way of sort of keeping his legacy alive.
ME: Is it something that has maybe made touring a bit easier because the music has been available to people?
JP: I don’t know. You have to understand that touring in the States
isn’t the same as it was ten years ago. The clubs have closed and it’s
a lot harder for bands to pick up and go. Let’s face it, most guys that
have wives and kids can’t really pick up and go anyway. Doing the UK
thing is a different thing because it is basically like a week.
ME: And it’s a special occasion. Almost like a holiday if you like?
JP: Well for Joe it’s basically his holiday from his job. So yeah he’s taking his Christmas vacation. He’s doing double duty.
ME: So it’s definitely going to be an odd collaboration with you out
there doing it for a living and some of the other guys out there doing
it for fun.
JP: Well it’s still fun for me.
ME: Oh yeah, of course.
JP: For these guys it is more of a special
occasion. They haven’t been to the UK since 1996 so I think they are
really looking forward to it.
ME: You mentioned leaving Ratt earlier. How did that come about? Was that your decision?
JP: It was definitely my decision to walk away.
It was just Stephen Pearcy, he was always trying to come back for years
and years, and at a certain point I sort of stepped aside to allow him
to come back without any sort of friction. I got tired of being treated
like an employee.
ME: Yeah that must be quite hard.
JP: No for quite a while I had a lot of fun in
the band. Like anything else. It wasn’t the same as it was so I just
decided to leave. No hard feelings.
ME: Things change so people move on sort of thing? You mentioned
briefly about your last solo album Vegas Must Die. Presumably from what
you said about that you have no plans to do another one any time soon?
JP: I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it. I’m
working on a screenplay right now and I’m concentrating on that. I’ll
always be doing music but right now I’m doing this.
ME: What's the screenplay for?
JP: It’s just something that I’m writing. I’m working with a company and trying to get it made.
ME: I haven’t heard anything at all about that so I’m completely in the dark with regard to it.
JP: Well everyone is.
ME: Ah there you go then. I don’t feel too bad about it then!
JP: The film business is different from the music business in some ways
but it’s also the same. It took Love/Hate years and years to get a
record deal. We starved and struggled for years before we got a record
deal and it may never have happened. There was a lot of luck involved
as well as talent. Everybody will tell you that there is a lot of luck
involved in this business and as far as writing and stuff like that it
doesn’t really make sense for me to brag about writing a screenplay
that hasn’t actually done anything yet. That would be kinda weird.
ME: Yeah I hear what you are saying. So is it music related?
JP: It’s sort of semi biographical based in Hollywood in the eighties. If you know what I mean about semi biographical?
 ME: Yeah.
JP: It’s sort of based in that time which obviously I know a lot about. I was there in spandex and wig! (Laughing)
ME: Well there’s nothing wrong with spandex.
JP: No spandex is… Well it went the way of the dodo.
ME: Other than Ratt you have played with loads of bands over the years.
LA Guns was another relatively big band that you did an album with. Is
that something that you look back on with fond memories?
JP: Yeah I would say that LA Guns was a very fun
band to be in and I did get to make a record with those guys, which was
pretty cool. So yeah it was definitely a fun experience for me. It was
good to get back on the tour bus again. It was a real fun time.
ME: I loved your last solo album as well. It was very good and very,
very underrated. It was a shame that no one was really talking about it
when it came out.
JP: They are actually re-releasing my second solo record. The Just a
Boy record. I think it was last week. Didn’t you hear about that on the
news? CNN had a full hour special on it!
ME: No. That’s shocking that I didn’t watch it then! They couldn’t have shown it in the UK. That has to be my excuse!
JP: It must be.
ME: So, is there anything special planned for the UK tour other than the Blackout in London?
JP: Well I think that we had a very loyal fan base in England. We were
very privileged to have that. I think that as because I have been doing
this myself for years and I’ve seen fans come to the shows still
wearing those shirts and they haven’t turned to rags. They are still
waving the flag. It’s just really cool so I think that for people that
dug the music will definitely get to see something that they haven’t
seen for such a long time. We haven’t really lost any of our old fire.
So I think that people remember our live show and how crazy it was will
definitely not be disappointed and it will be a good time.
ME: Yeah, certainly for a lot of people out there that have never seen you live before with the original members.
JP: Yeah and the music has not really suffered from the cock rock
stigma that a lot of those bands from that time have where the songs
seem silly now.
ME: Yeah it’s almost contemporary now. It’s still getting played everywhere.
JP: Well the music still stands up and that is a very rare thing, so it
will be cool. Plus people will get to see the guys cos they haven’t
seen them in a long time and it will be fun.
A big thank you to Jizzy for taking the time to talk with us.
Catch Love/Hate on the bands upcoming UK Tour. The full schedule shapes up as follows:
Monday 17th London Camden
Underworld
Tuesday 18th Bristol The KLA Social.
Wednesday 19th
Dudley JB'S
Thursday 20th Nuneaton The Queens Hall.
Friday 21st
Leeds Rio's
Saturday 22nd Nottingham Rock City / Rescue
Rooms
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