Black Market #2, June 1985
--------------------------

SAMHAIN
This interview was conducted at my house.  (Where's that?  Who cares!)  It
was before the show May 2nd, 1985.  Also present was Lee (Testicle Head
Comics).  Thanks for getting them over Chuck R.  Samhain is Glenn
Danzig--vocals, Eerie Von--bass, Steve Zing--drums.

BM:  You're the only original member from the Misfits, right?

Glenn:  Yeah, Eerie used to be our photographer.  If you look on the Misfits
"Walk Among Us" album on the inside sleeve, he took most of those pictures, he
also went to school with Doyle.

BM:  What does Samhain mean?

Glenn:  Samhain means "The Season Of The Dead".  Basically it's the original
Halloween before the Christians took it over.  It kinda signifies the death
of the Misfits which was on Halloween.  So the next day is Samhain, see
Halloween is really Samhain.  It signifies when the Earth dies and
everything is dead and gets ready for the new.

BM:  I don't want to make this a Misfits interview but--

Glenn:  You get one Misfits question, go ahead.

BM:  When did the Misfits end and Samhain begin, cause a lot of bands will
change members but keep the same name, why didn't you?

Glenn:  Because I wanted it to be its own thing.  We could've called this the
Misfits.  I wrote all the songs, I did all the bullshit for the band.  I
could've called this the Misfits.  Do you know what I'm saying?  It's not
like with Black Flag and even the Circle Jerks.  I mean a lot of people think
they are, but they're not. The new Black Flag especially, that's not Black
Flag, you know Chuck's not in the band.

Eerie:  Chuck was a big deal.

Glenn:  And I think Jerry was kinda important in the Misfits, whether he
wrote songs or not.  Doyle and Robo were interchangable, but as long as it
was me and Jerry it was kinda the Misfits.

BM:  How did you hook up with Steve and Eerie?

Glenn:  Basically the last Misfits show I said I'd do was at the Civic.
That's the night I quit the band.  That show with Black Flag, you know.
Eerie talked about how he didn't like his band either and stuff and so we
kinda got Samhain together.

BM:  Who were you playing with before Samhain?

Eerie:  I was just in a New Jersey band called Rosemary's Babies.  We put out
a seven inch.  We were together about a year and a half.  We didn't do much.

Glenn:  They have like this cult following.

Eerie:  Yeah, it's really strange man.

Glenn:  It's really weird.  We snagged Steve, he used to be in Mourning Noise.

Eerie:  A horror band out of New Jersey.

Glenn:  And you know Lyle from Minor Threat was on guitar.  That didn't work
out well,  we did show.  We really wanted someone more aggressive, you know
what I mean.

BM:  Do you find a lot of people expecting and asking you to do Misfits songs?

Glenn:  Someplaces yes, and someplaces no.  After the first tour, not much
anymore.  Some of the stuff that we do that were Misfits songs or basically
songs I wrote and songs that fit in with what we're doing right now.  If we
do Misfits song, it's done our ways, it's not Misfits.

BM:  Do any of you besides Glenn write or want to write for the band?

Eerie:  I think Glenn's stuff is really good.  I can't reach his level, you
know?  Lyrically, maybe I can someday.

Glenn:  Basically this is the standard operating rule.  It's the same as I
had with the Misfits.  It's if you can come up with something that's as good
or better than I write.  We'll do it.  I have no objections.

BM:  Do you do the lyrics first or the music first?

Glenn:  The lyrics come last usually, but sometimes I do lyrics first and
when it comes to doing the music, I can't teach them they lyrics so I just
basically teach them the song.  We work it out if Steve wants to do a drum
cut in or something, we just bounce stuff off each other.  Some of the songs
that I write can be played a little slower and our guitar player can play the
stuff that I can play.  Doyle couldn't play that stuff cause his hands are
very big.  Like one of his fingers was two of mine and ya know he's try and
do a lot of that stuff and it's just well he's real good and real fast but a
lot of this stuff he just couldn't do.  I think what happened with the
Misfits also is kinda a growing process, see I was growing and these guys
weren't, they were getting worse at their instruments, they were actually so
high by the time we got on stage, they just didn't know what was going on.

BM:  Eerie, how old are you?

Eerie:  20.

BM:  How long have you been playing?

Eerie:  About five years, I started playing drums when I was about 8, and
about 3 months into my lessons, my teacher broke my sticks and said I had to
pay for new ones, so I left.  Then I played with friends.  Now I play bass, I
also play keyboards.

Eerie:  How do you guys like playing in San Diego?

Glenn:  We always had a good time when we came down here.  What's pretty
funny, the second Lion's club show that we did we were gonna eat up Tim Maze
cause we thought he cheated us at the door, he didn't, but anyway, I pulled
out my arm guard and I go, 'I'm gonna kill you' and he goes "Glenn, I swear
this is all the money I got'.  It was pretty funny.

BM:  It's tough to put on shows here, it's tough for Tim to get his hands on
any halls.

Glenn:  It's good that Tim's still doing it.  It shows he's kinda into it, a
lot of people just say fuck it.

(We introduced Lee (Testicle Head) Ellingston to Glenn and Glenn compliments
Lee on his Violent World comic which was based on their song Violent World.
So they talk and bullshit for a while)

BM:  Steve do you get any kind of pressure from being in this band?

Eerie:  He thinks he's god, he walks around going "Hi, I'm Steve Samhain.  I
have an album."  Ha ha!

Steve:  No, not at all.

BM:  Is the band able to live off the music or do you guys work too?

Eerie:  That's when we get home we make most of our money on the road.  But
the royalties from the record are very good.  Sometimes we do temporary work
if it's necessary.  Like if we have a long time in between tours or like we
sell our t-shirts and people are all gimmy gimmy, we put out a lot of money
for this stuff, and it's also promotion we have to sell it.  Our equipment
isn't--well we don't have tons of it, we're not like the Misfits, we don't
have a lot of money.  But people go "Oh can't you just give it away!"  We
can't do this like most hardcore bands do, cause they do it as a hobby.

Glenn:  They do it on the side.

Eerie:  Yeah, then they go home and go back to school.

Steve:  It's a shame that a lot of the so called hardcore people they think
just cause we're not a thrash band or something they don't want an open mind
to anything, they just want to do one thing.

Glenn:  Maybe some of the hardcore kids, but I think basically we've been
accepted pretty well.

BM:  I think you guys are one of the most well liked bands.  Some bands can
fill a hall and sell records, but they're hated.

Glenn:  We try to be nice, but we're still us.  If someone says something
that's not really cool to us, we will do him in.  But you know no one ever
does us in.  I think they realize that I think it's kinda this code we have
like your respect and I'll respect you.  No matter who you are, with me if
you step over the line, then you obviously don't respect me, so I can kick
the living hell out of you.

Eerie:  We just hangout, and have a good time, we joke around a lot, it's not
like we look for any of this shit, so we usually don't get it.

Glenn:  One of the things we're trying to do with us is like try and bring
back the original kinda fun of doing what you're doing and that money isn't
the soul factor.  It should be you want to have fun and people out there
should have fun, and that's basically it.  Sometimes you don't make money on
tour cause some shows are really good and some you just make gas money.  So
if the fun isn't there you're gonna get tired of it fast.  So you should say
to yourself "Gee, I could have a job at home making $250 a week." You know?
I don't have to be doing this away from home, tha van broke down.  So if
you're not really into it, forget it.  See all of us have a good enough
education to get a real good job.

Eerie:  Yeah, we can all do something.

Steve:  I have an associate degree, it doesn't mean nothing in some cases.

BM:  An associates degree in what?

Steve:  In, ah, stage tech.

Eerie:  Well our guitar player...

Glenn:  Oh yeah, I think he may be the only one who might not be able to
handle it.

Eerie:  Yeah, he can get a job as a lifeguard, ha ha ha.  And I do a lot of
graphic arts.  Glenn's got tons of skills, he can do stuff except he's
unreasonable and can't work for anyone.

Glenn:  I can't work for anyone.

Eerie:  He's gotten fired from a billiard job.

Glenn:  Yeah, I've beaten up bosses.  I just can't take orders from people.
I never have and never will.

BM:  How's eating on the road?

Glenn:  We went to Rod's steak house.

Eerie:  Yeah, you want to see the business card?  See it was somewhere in New
Mexico.  It was so cool.  They went "Wow, we don't get many rock bands."  We
were like you don't get anybody in this town.  It was like population 25.
When we go to Texas and stuff you get the rednecks.  It was like we went
into this cafe to get something to eat after soundcheck in Kentucky, and
there were like 6 cowboys.  They don't even wear cowboy hates anymore they
were all truck drivers, with like GMC hats on, so we get down there and we're
dressed like we usually are and we're always nice to people.  The ladies wont
even talk, she says "How ya all doin?"  So we go up to the jukebox to put on
Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis and these guys turn around and go, you guys are all
right.  So we're playing this good rock n roll stuff and there all "you're
ok"  I guess we can talk to you guys now so we don't get any shit.

     Well by this time everyone was talking at the same time and I couldn't
make out one word of it on my recorder.  Some boy talked about naked girls
seems Glenn likes bikinis. (He grabbed the recorder when nobody was looking
and said some really wonderful things about girls)  There was some tattoo
talk, who has the best one.  What tattoo artist to go to.  Eerie also does a
great Henry imitation.  "List to Lydia, she's god"  Damien (guitar) wasn't
there.  I would like to thank Steve, Eerie, and Glenn for coming over and
giving me the opportunity to interview them.        Juni  *85*  Thanks, Juni