Henry Rollins

Early life

Henry Garfield was born in Washington, D.C. on February 13, 1961, and grew up in the Glover Park neighborhood of the city. An only child, his parents divorced when he was a toddler; he suffered from low self-esteem and a poor attention span as a child.[1] He was raised primarily by his mother, Iris, who taught him to read before he entered public school;[2] however, because of "bad grades, bad attitude, poor conduct," he was soon sent to The Bullis School, a preparatory school in Potomac, Maryland.

According to Rollins, the Bullis School helped him to develop a sense of discipline and a strong work ethic.[1] It was at Bullis that he began writing; his early literary efforts were mainly short stories about "blowing up my school and murdering all the teachers."[2] Despite the relative affluence of Glover Park, for Rollins "it was a very rough upbringing in a lot of other ways. I accumulated a lot of rage by the time I was seventeen or eighteen."
[edit] Music career
[edit] State of Alert
Main article: State of Alert

After high school, Rollins attempted college, but after being discouraged by the behavior of his fellow students, who were into "beer and bongs," he left and began working in minimum-wage jobs, including a job as a courier for liver samples at the National Institutes of Health.[3] Rollins became involved in the punk rock scene after he and Ian MacKaye bought a Ramones record; he later described it as a "revelation." By 1979, Rollins was working as a roadie for local bands, including MacKaye's Teen Idles. When the band's singer Nathan Strejcek failed to appear for practice sessions, Rollins convinced the Teen Idles to let him sing. Word of Rollins's ability spread around Washington's underground music scene; Bad Brains singer H.R. would sometimes coax Rollins on stage to sing with him.[4]

In 1980, the Washington punk band The Extorts lost their frontman Lyle Preslar to Minor Threat. Rollins joined the rest of the band to form State of Alert, and became its frontman and vocalist. He put words to the band's five songs and wrote several more. S.O.A. recorded their sole EP, No Policy, and released it in 1981 on MacKaye's Dischord Records.[5] S.O.A. disbanded after a total of a dozen concerts and one EP. Rollins had enjoyed being the band's frontman, and had earned a reputation for fighting in shows. He later said: "I was like nineteen and a young man all full of steam [...] Loved to get in the dust-ups." By this time, Rollins had become the manager of the Georgetown Häagen-Dazs ice cream store; his steady employment had helped to finance the S.O.A. EP.[6]
[edit] Black Flag
Main article: Black Flag (band)

In 1980, a friend gave Rollins and MacKaye a copy of Black Flag's Nervous Breakdown EP. Rollins soon became a fan of the band, exchanging letters with bassist Chuck Dukowski and later inviting the band to stay in his parents' home when Black Flag toured the East Coast in December 1980.[7] When Black Flag returned to the East Coast in 1981, Rollins attended as many of their concerts as he could. At an impromptu show in a New York bar, Black Flag's vocalist Dez Cadena allowed Rollins to sing "Clocked In," as Rollins had a five hour drive back to Washington DC to return to work after the performance.[8]

Unbeknownst to Rollins, Cadena wanted to switch to guitar, and the band was looking for a new vocalist.[8] The band was impressed with Rollins's singing and stage demeanor, and the next day, after a semi-formal audition, they asked him to become their permanent vocalist. Despite some doubts, he accepted, in part because of MacKaye's encouragement. His high level of energy and intense personality suited the band's style, but Rollins's diverse tastes in music were a key factor in his being selected as singer; Black Flag's founder Greg Ginn was growing restless creatively and wanted a singer who was willing to move beyond simple, three-chord punk.[9]

After joining Black Flag in 1981, Rollins quit his job at Häagen-Dazs, sold his car, and moved to Los Angeles, California. Upon arriving in Los Angeles, Rollins got the Black Flag logo tattooed on his left biceps[3] and changed his surname to Rollins, a surname he and MacKaye had used as teenagers.[9] Rollins was in a different environment in Los Angeles; the police soon realized he was a member of Black Flag and he was hassled as a result. Rollins later said "That really scared me. It freaked me out that an adult would do that. [...] My little eyes were opened big time."[10]

Before concerts, as the rest of band tuned up, Rollins would stride about the stage dressed only in a pair of black shorts, grinding his teeth; to focus before the show he would squeeze a pool ball.[11] His stage persona impressed several critics; after a 1982 show in Anacortes, Washington, Sub Pop critic Calvin Johnson wrote: "Henry was incredible. Pacing back and forth, lunging, lurching, growling; it was all real, the most intense emotional experiences I have ever seen."[12]

By 1983, Rollins's stage persona was increasingly alienating him from the rest of Black Flag. During a show in England, Rollins assaulted a member of the audience; Ginn later scolded Rollins, calling him a "macho asshole."[13] A legal dispute with Unicorn Records held up further Black Flag releases until 1984, and Ginn was slowing the band's tempo down so that they would remain innovative. In August 1983 guitarist Dez Cadena had left the group; a stalemate lingered between Dukowski and Ginn, who wanted Dukowski to leave, before Rollins fired Dukowski outright.[14] 1984's heavy metal music-influenced My War featured Rollins screaming and wailing throughout many of the songs; the band's members also grew their hair to confuse the band's hardcore punk audience.[15]

Black Flag's change in musical style and appearance alienated many of their original fans, who focused their displeasure on Rollins by punching him in the mouth, stabbing him with pens or scratching him with their nails, among other methods. He often fought back, dragging audience members on stage and assaulting them. Rollins became increasingly alienated from the audience; in his tour diary, Rollins wrote "When they spit at me, when they grab at me, they aren't hurting me. When I push out and mangle the flesh of another, it's falling so short of what I really want to do to them."[16] During the Unicorn legal dispute, Rollins had started a weight-lifting program, and by their 1984 tours, he had become visibly well-built; journalist Michael Azerrad later commented that "his powerful physique was a metaphor for the impregnable emotional shield he was developing around himself."[15] Rollins has since replied that "no, the training was just basically a way to push myself."[17]
[edit] Rollins Band and solo releases
Main article: Rollins Band
Rollins performing with the Rollins Band in 1993

Before Black Flag broke up in August 1986, Rollins had already toured as a solo spoken word artist.[18] He released two solo records in 1987, Hot Animal Machine, a collaboration with guitarist Chris Haskett, and Drive by Shooting, recorded as "Henrietta Collins and the Wifebeating Childhaters";[19] Rollins also released his second spoken word album, Big Ugly Mouth in the same year. Along with Haskett, Rollins soon added Andrew Weiss and Sim Cain, both former members of Ginn's side-project Gone, and called the new group Rollins Band. The band toured relentlessly,[20] and their 1987 debut album, Life Time, was quickly followed by the outtakes and live collection Do It. The band continued to tour throughout 1988; 1989 marked the release of another Rollins Band album, Hard Volume.[21] Another live album, Turned On, and another spoken word release, Live at McCabe's, followed in 1990.

Rollins and Weiss released Fast Food For Thought, an EP by their one-off side project Wartime in 1990. It was sonically in many ways more reminiscent of Weiss's work with Ween than the Rollins Band. The music, while heavy and driving, had a distinctly psychedelic bent, culimnating in the final track, a cover of "Franklin's Tower" by The Grateful Dead. Early pressings were simply credited to "Wartime" while later releases added the phrase "featuring Henry Rollins" to the cover.

1991 saw the Rollins Band sign a distribution deal with Imago Records and appear at the Lollapalooza festival; both improved the band's presence. However, in December 1991, Rollins and his best friend Joe Cole were accosted by gunmen belonging to the Venice, CA gang, the Venice Shoreline Crips, outside Rollins's home. Cole was murdered by a gunshot to the head, but Rollins escaped without injury.[22] Although traumatized by Cole's death, as chronicled in his book Now Watch Him Die, Rollins continued to release new material; the spoken-word album Human Butt appeared in 1992 on his own record label, 2.13.61. The Rollins Band released The End of Silence, Rollins's first charting album.[21]

The following year, Rollins released a spoken-word double album, The Boxed Life.[23] The Rollins Band embarked upon the End of Silence tour; bassist Weiss was fired towards its end and replaced by funk and jazz bassist Melvin Gibbs. According to critic Steve Huey, 1994 was Rollins's "breakout year".[21] The Rollins Band appeared at Woodstock 94 and released Weight, which ranked on the Billboard Top 40. Rollins released Get in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag, a double-disc set of him reading from his Black Flag tour diary of the same name; he won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Recording as a result. Rollins was named 1994's "Man of the Year" by the American men's magazine Details and became a contributing columnist to the magazine. With the increased exposure, Rollins made several appearances on American music channels MTV and VH1 around this time, and made his Hollywood film debut in 1994 in The Chase playing a police officer.[24]

In 1995, the Rollins Band's record label, Imago Records, declared itself bankrupt. Rollins began focusing on his spoken word career. He released Everything, a recording of a chapter of his book Eye Scream with free jazz backing, in 1996. He continued to appear in various films, including Heat, Johnny Mnemonic and Lost Highway. The Rollins Band signed to Dreamworks Records in 1997 and soon released Come in and Burn, but it did not receive as much critical acclaim as their previous material. Rollins continued to release spoken-word book readings, releasing Black Coffee Blues in the same year. 1998 saw Rollins released Think Tank, his first set of non-book-related spoken material in five years.

By 1998, Rollins felt that the relationship with his backing band had run its course, and the line-up disbanded. He had produced a Los Angeles hard rock band called Mother Superior, and invited them to form a new incarnation of the Rollins Band. Their first album Get Some Go Again, was released two years later. The Rollins Band released several more albums, including 2001's Nice and 2003's Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three. After 2003, the band became inactive as Rollins focused on radio and television work. During a 2006 appearance on Tom Green Live!, Rollins stated that he "may never do music again".[25]
[edit] Musical style
[edit] Vocals

As a vocalist, Rollins has adopted a number of styles through the years. Rollins was initially noted in the Washington, D.C. hardcore scene for what journalist Michael Azerrad described as a "compelling, raspy howl".[4] With State of Alert, Rollins "spat out the lyrics like a bellicose auctioneer".[6] He adopted a similar style after joining Black Flag in 1981. By their album Damaged however, Black Flag began to incorporate a swing beat into their style; Rollins then abandoned his S.O.A. "bark" and adopted the band's swing.[26] Rollins later explained: "What I was doing kind of matched the vibe of the music. The music was intense and, well, I was as intense as you needed."[27]

In both incarnations of the Rollins Band, Rollins combined spoken word with his traditional vocal style in songs such as "Liar" (the song begins with a one minute spoken diatribe by Rollins), as well as barking his way through songs (such as "Tearing" and "Starve") and employing the loud-quiet dynamic. Rolling Stone's Anthony DeCurtis names Rollins a "screeching hate machine" and his "hallmark" as "the sheets-of-sound assault".[28]

Rollins appeared on the 1996 studio album Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel Present Highball with the Devil, narrating "Delicate Tendrils". Rollins also appeared in the 1993 Tool album, Undertow. He and Tool front man, Maynard James Keenan, performed the vocals in the song "Bottom". He also appears on Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi solo record Iommi.
[edit] Songwriting

Rollins wrote several songs with Black Flag, but was not the group's main songwriter. With the Rollins Band, his lyrics focused "almost exclusively on issues relating to personal integrity," according to critic Geoffrey Welchman.[29]
[edit] Music producer

Rollins is credited as mixer and producer on the 1995 album by Australian band Mark of Cain titled "Ill at Ease".[citation needed]
[edit] Appearances in other media
[edit] Television

As Rollins rose to prominence with the Rollins Band, he began to present and appear on cable television programs. These included Alternative Nation and MTV Sports in 1993 and 1994 respectively. 1995 saw Rollins appear on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries that explored the murder of his best friend Joe Cole[30] and present State of the Union Undressed on Comedy Central. Rollins began to present and narrate VH1 Legends in 1996.[31] Rollins, busy with the Rollins Band, did not present more programs until 2001, but made appearances on a number of other television shows, including voicing Mad Stan in Batman Beyond in 1999 and 2000.[32][33] He also did the voice in Apple's 1999 G4 Cube Ad with Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" playing as the theme song.

In 2001, Rollins appeared as the uncredited host of "Night Visions", a short-lived horror anthology series. Rollins was a host of film review programme Henry's Film Corner on the Independent Film Channel, before presenting the weekly The Henry Rollins Show on the channel. The Henry Rollins Show is now being shown weekly on [34]Film24 along with Henry Rollins Uncut. 2002 saw Rollins guest star on an episode of the sitcom The Drew Carey Show as a man whom Lewis would find on eBay and pay to come to his house and kick his ass. He co-hosted the British television show Full Metal Challenge from 2002-2003 on TLC. It was about teams that would build machines that they would drive and fight with them, trying to disable the other teams machine. He has made a number of cameo appearances in television series such as MTV's Jackass and an episode of Californication, where he played himself hosting a radio show.[35] In 2006, Rollins appeared in a documentary series by VH1 and The Sundance Channel called The Drug Years.[36] Also featured in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.

Rollins appears in FX's Sons of Anarchy's second season, that premiered fall 2009 in the United States. Rollins plays A.J. Weston, a white-supremacist gang leader and new antagonist in the show's fictional town of Charming, California, who poses a deadly threat to the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club. His character was shot and killed at the end of the second season.[37]

It was recently announced that Rollins would appear in a future season two episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voicing Robotman (Cliff Steele)[38]

Rollins was a guest judge on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race, which aired on Logo on March 8, 2010.
[edit] Radio

On May 19, 2004, Rollins began hosting a weekly radio show, Harmony in My Head on Los Angeles' Indie 103.1 radio. The show aired every Monday evening, with Rollins playing a variety of music ranging from early rock and jump blues to hard rock, blues rock, folk rock, punk rock, metal and rockabilly, but also touching on rap, jazz, world music, reggae, classical music and more. Harmony In My Head often emphasizes B-sides, live bootlegs and other rarities, and nearly every episode has featured a song either by the Beastie Boys or British group The Fall.

Rollins put the show on a short hiatus to undertake a spoken-word tour in early 2005. Rollins posted playlists and commentary on-line; these lists were expanded with more information and published in book form as Fanatic! through 2.13.61 in November 2005. In late 2005, Rollins announced the show's return and began the first episode by playing the show's namesake Buzzcocks song. As of 2008, the show continues each week despite Rollins's constant touring with new pre-recorded shows between live broadcasts. In 2009 Indie 103.1 went off the air, although it continues to broadcast over the internet.

On February 18, 2009, KCRW announced that Rollins would be hosting a live show on Saturday nights starting March 7, 2009.[39]

In 2007 Rollins published "Fanatic! Vol. 2" through 2.13.61. "Fanatic! Vol. 3" was released in the fall of 2008.
[edit] Film

Rollins began his film career appearing in several independent films featuring Black Flag. His film debut was in 1982's The Slog Movie, about the West Coast punk scene.[40] An appearance in 1985's Black Flag Live followed. Rollins first film appearance without Black Flag was the short film The Right Side of My Brain with Lydia Lunch in 1985.[41] Following the band's breakup, Rollins did not appear in any films until 1994's The Chase. Rollins appeared in the 2007 direct-to-DVD sequel to Wrong Turn (2003), Wrong Turn 2: Dead End as a retired Marine Corps officer who hosts his own show which tests the contestants' will to survive. Rollins has also appeared in Punk: Attitude, a documentary on the punk scene, and in American Hardcore (2006).

Some feature length movies Henry Rollins has appeared in include:

* Kiss Napoleon Goodbye (1990), with Lydia Lunch and Don Bajema.
* The Chase (1994), with Charlie Sheen.
* Johnny Mnemonic (1995), with Keanu Reeves, Ice T and Dolph Lundgren.
* Heat (1995), with Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer.
* Lost Highway (1997), with Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette. Directed by David Lynch.
* Jack Frost (1998), with Michael Keaton.
* Morgan's Ferry (1999), with Billy Zane and Kelly McGillis.
* Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001 documentary)
* The New Guy (2002), with Tommy Lee and DJ Qualls.
* Jackass The Movie (2002) with Johnny Knoxville and Bam Margera
* Jackass Number Two (2006) with Preston Lacy, Steve-O, and Chris Pontius.
* Bad Boys 2 (2003), with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
* Feast (2005), with Balthazar Getty and Navi Rawat.
* The Alibi (2006)
* Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007)
* The Devil's Tomb (2009)
* H for Hunger (2009 documentary)
* William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet (2009 documentary)

[edit] Video games

Rollins has made several voice acting performances in video games including the main character Mace Griffin in Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter and as himself in Def Jam: Fight for NY.
[edit] Books

Rollins has written a series of books based on his travel journals referred to as the Black Coffee Blues trilogy. They include the namesake book, Black Coffee Blues, Do I Come Here Often?, The First Five and Smile, You're Traveling. Others include See a Grown Man Cry, Now Watch Him Die, Get in the Van, Eye Scream, Broken Summers, Roomanitarian, and Solipsist.
[edit] Audiobooks

For the audiobook version of the 2006 novel World War Z Rollins voiced the character of T. Sean Collins, a mercenary hired to protect celebrities during a mass panic caused by an onslaught of the undead. Rollins's other audiobook recordings include 3:10 to Yuma and his own autobiographical book Get In The Van: On The Road With Black Flag, for which he won a Grammy Award.
[edit] Blogging

In September 2008 Rollins began contributing to the "Politics & Power" blog at the online version of Vanity Fair magazine[42]. Since March 2009 his posts have appeared under their own sub-title, Straight Talk Espresso[43]. His posts consistently direct harsh criticism at conservative politicians and pundits, although he does occasionally target the left wing as well.
[edit] Campaigning and activism
Rollins signing an autograph while on a United Service Organizations tour in Iraq in 2006.

Rollins has become an outspoken human rights activist, most vocally for gay rights, while deriding any suggestion that he himself is gay. On his 1998 spoken word album Think Tank the straight ally declared: "If I was gay, there would be no closet. You would never see the closet I came out of. Why? Because I'd have burned it for kindling by the time I was twelve... If I was gay, at this stage of the game—age 37, aging alternative icon—I'd be taking out ads." Rollins frequently speaks out on social justice on his spoken word tours and promotes equality, regardless of sexuality.[44] He was the host of the WedRock benefit concert, which raised money for a pro-gay-marriage organization. Despite his support for gay marriage, he stated in a 1998 interview with NY Rock "I don't want a wife and I don't want kids. I'm 36 and if I met a woman of my own age and married her, I'd also be marrying her former life, her past."[45] However, in a recent Sunday Times [1] article admitted that he was seeing Liza Richardson of KCRW Radio, Los Angeles.

During the 2003 Iraq War, he started touring with the United Service Organizations to entertain troops overseas while remaining against the war, leading him to once cause a stir at a base in Kyrgyzstan when he told the crowd: "Your commander would never lie to you. That's the vice president's job."[46] Rollins believes it is important that he performs to the troops so that they have multiple points of contact with the rest of the world, stating that, "they can get really cut loose from planet earth".[47] He has also been active in the campaign to free the "West Memphis Three"—three young men that many believe were wrongly convicted of murder. Rollins appears with Public Enemy frontman Chuck D on the Black Flag song "Rise Above" on the benefit album Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three; the first time Rollins had performed Black Flag's material since 1986.[48]

Continuing his activism on behalf of troops and veterans, Rollins joined Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) in 2008 to launch a groundbreaking national public service advertisement campaign, CommunityofVeterans.org, which helps veterans coming home from war reintegrate into their communities. In April 2009, Rollins helped IAVA launch the second phase of the campaign which engages the friends and family of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at SupportYourVet.org.
[edit] Works
Main article: Works of Henry Rollins
[edit] Studio albums

* Hot Animal Machine (1987)
* Drive by Shooting (1987)