janesaddiction.org

(PFP)
Hey--
 
Just got some new info on some on-sale dates
for the PORNO FOR PYROS U.S. Tour:
 
Oct. 21--Columbus OH--ON SALE TODAY (Sept. 25)
Oct. 22--Cincinnati OH--On sale Fri., Sept. 27
Oct. 25--Davenport IA--On sale Fri., Sept. 27
Oct. 16--Detroit MI--On sale Sat., Sept. 28
Oct. 19--Pittsburgh PA--On sale Sat., Sept. 28
Oct. 25--Minneapolis MN--On sale Sat., Sept. 28
 
Oct. 30, 31--Los Angeles--On Sale Sat. Sept. 28
 
Once again, here's the US Tour as of now:
Mon. Sept. 30--Asbury Park NJ--Stone Pony
Tues. Oct. 1--New Haven CT--Toad's Place
Fri. Oct. 4--Portchester NY--The Capitol
Sat. Oct. 5--New Brunswick NJ--Rutgers University
Sun. Oct. 6 --Northampton MA--Pearl Street (SOLD OUT)
Tues. Oct. 8 --Providence RI--The Strand
Wed. Oct. 9 --Rochester NY--Harro East Theater
Fri. Oct. 11 --Burlington VT--Burlington Auditorium
Sun. Oct. 13 --Toronto CN--Varsity Arena
Mon. Oct. 14 --Buffalo NY--Ogden St.
Wed. Oct. 16 --Detroit MI--Sanctum
Thurs. Oct. 17 --Cleveland OH--Agora Ballroom
Sat. Oct. 19 --Pittsburgh PA--Metropol
Mon. Oct. 21 --Columbus OH--Newport Music Hall
Tues. Oct. 22 --Cincinnati OH--Bogarts
Thurs. Oct. 24 --St. Louis MO--Mississippi Nights
Fri. Oct. 25 --Davenport IA--River Center
Sun. Oct. 27 --Minneapolis MN--First Avenue
Wed. Oct. 30 --Los Angeles CA--The Mayan
Thur. Oct. 31 --Los Angeles CA--The Mayan
 
All other dates are ON SALE NOW!!!
 
Other upcoming dates for new shows will be
forthcoming.
 
Paul

Pornographic Urges
Porno for Pyros keep the creative juices flowing
By David Hyland

"The friendship wasn't thriving, we weren't hanging out, we weren't having fun," Porno for Pyros drummer Stephen Perkins explains of his former band, Jane's Addiction. "Man, we were pretty unhappy -- looking back, there was a lot of bummed out days." Still, he adds: "Now we're in a band that people can have fun together and have a laugh."

Since its inception, Porno for Pyros has been inundated with comparisons to the textured sonic thunderclap and worldwide acclaim of Jane's Addiction. The band has also had to deal with the lingering perception that Porno for Pyros is simply vocalist Perry Farrell plus sidemen.

Plagued by infighting, Jane's disintegrated at the conclusion of the first Lollapalooza tour in 1991. Perkins and then-Jane's vocalist Farrell subsequently decided to continue in a new incarnation. Guitarist Peter DiStefano, a longtime surfing buddy of Farrell's, was brought on board, as well as former Thelonious Monster bassist Martyn LeNoble.

The band's self-titled debut, a low-fi, stripped-down excursion through the underbelly of Los Angeles, focuses on the members as a musical unit. Fans jumped on the playfully slinky tune "Pets," but critics panned the group as a shadow of its former self. After touring extensively, appearing at Lollapalooza '92 and Woodstock '94, the group abruptly disappeared to begin work on a follow-up.

"I think it's a masterpiece," Perkins states of the new, mellower album, Good God's Urge . "We wanted a marriage between the computer and organic sound. We wrote the songs on the beach with an acoustic guitar and bongos and went into the studio and explored all sorts of worlds. The trick was keeping our feet on the ground but still reaching for the stars."

The recording of Porno's second record, which took a grueling 18 months, threatened to grindto a halt with the abrupt departure of LeNoble. "For me and Perry," Perkins says, "we were really so proud of what the songs were turning into, from the evolution of Jane's to what we have now, and (Martyn) wasn't as interested as we were."

The album features a stellar list of guest appearances, including bassist Flea and guitarist Dave Navarro of the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Navarro was also in Jane's Addiction), and former bassist for the Minutemen and fIREHOSE, Mike Watt.

Perhaps the most meaningful appearance is made by the spacey Love and Rockets, who appear on the album's opener, "Porpoisehead." Love and Rockets and its predecessor, Bauhaus, were important influences on Farrell and Perkins. "They spent three nights at the house, slept over," Perkins says. "It was really cute making tea with (Love and Rockets guitarist) Daniel Ash the next morning."

LeNoble's break with Porno proved to be a blessing in disguise when the band was able to coax bassist Watt to finish the album and tour with them. "Me and Perry met him from fIREHOSE days. The last few years he's been coming over to my house and having jam sessions. When Martyn quit the band, it was Mike Watt. He was right there. He is one of our heroes, who's a good friend of ours, who would love to give us the hand, so he stepped right in." As to Watt's future with the band, Perkins is hesitant. He cites Watt's desire to work on another solo record, but insists, "When we start recording again, I'm sure we're gonna call him."

Perkins believes there is no comparing the change in the rhythm section from LeNoble to Watt because "they're both different men." He says, "Martyn's a fantastic musician, great European sensibilities to music, he has such a different way of looking at music. ... [Watt is] totally dedicated, completely disciplined, very emotional, spiritual guy."

Perkins remains happy in a low-profile position behind the infamous Farrell. "Perry's got a voice, he moves people with his voice. Someone's got to be the point of the arrow, the top of the pyramid. But it doesn't make the point more important. The point doesn't stay there if the base ain't there. (It's) all very important to work together, not to get jealous, doesn't bother me." He considers his part just as integral, if not as glamorous: "I think I speak to people best with my drums."

The success that Farrell and Perkins had in constructing the Lollapalooza tour during the past five years seemed to have eluded them on this summer's inaugural outing of Farrell's latest creation, the ENIT Festival. Almost all the tour's shows were cancelled, save New York and Los Angeles. "We had some grandiose ideas," Perkins begins, "and it takes a lot of planning and organizing. ... You want to have 5-6,000 cars and places to park, then find toilets and then have loud music and plant trees, a lot of ideas that were unheard of at this time, free food. Things didn't quite calculate. The ideas were so powerful, but the execution needed to be a little stronger, so the ideas got a little lost and it really got hard to make it happen within the time limit."

Perkins wishes nothing but good luck to the other organizers of Lollapalooza, who continued on this year when Farrell walked away to formulate ENIT. Even so, he adds, "(Lollapalooza) is a huge machine and sometimes machines are not sensitive. I think they need to be a little more in touch with world music, not just hard-rock radio.

"I definitely like seeing the cities and playing my music for these kids," Perkins says of life on the road. "The show is the best part of it. Sometimes, you feel like you're repeating yourself, playing 'Meija' every night as opposed to writing a new song, or being in the studio. ... You've got to put your time into creating new stuff. If you are not creative at the same time, just (repeating), it can get treacherous, it can ruin things."

The band is also anxious to record their next album. Perkins states that, while on tour, the band has "got a lot of good ideas for the next record, the next sound."

He muses over the idea of maybe recording on the road. "I was really inspired to see people get back in the studio, on the tour." While on tour in Australia, the band was lured into the studio by trip-hop mastermind Tricky. "He went and rented studios everywhere he could, on days off, to do work. He called us in and we did a little session with him and that was a lot of fun."

Of course, with the appearance of Navarro on Good God's Urge , the rumor mill bursts with talk of an imminent Jane's reunion, but Perkins is tentative. "I don't know, it would be fun to play with those guys again, but you don't want to go backwards, you want to go forward, if there is something to go forward with. I definitely see a future with me and Dave one day.

"It's not a comparison, you can't compare apples and oranges," Perkins insists of Porno and Jane's. "I'm not sick of talking about the past but I am more interested in the future. If you have a girlfriend with you, your friend is like, 'Dude, where's your old girlfriend, what happened to your old girlfriend?' Fuck my old girlfriend, this is where I am now, this is the future. I think we moved a lot of people and I love talking about it cause I love those songs but it's not the juice that keeps me going, it's Porno."

Porno for Pyros plays at First Avenue this Sunday. Doors open at 5 p.m. Tickets cost $20. Call 338-8388.