WHERE THE DOWN BOYS GO
Jeanne's Interview With Jani Lane

Jeanne: How are you?
Jani: I'm fine!  Doing very good.

JS: I was just looking at pictures from your New Year's Eve show in Las Vegas.
JL: Oh cool! Vegas!  Viva Las Vegas!

JS: How did it go?
JL: It was great!  I had a great time.  Unfortunately, my wife couldn't be there because she was watching our daughter... our brand new, spanking new baby!  But, yeah, I had fun!

JS: What bands have you been listening to lately?
JL: I listen to everything.  I'm not a very particular listener.  But probably a little less hard rock and a little more pop, right now.  Stuff like Third Eye Blind and the Wallflowers, for new bands.  And of course, my steadfast and true friends like Sting and Tom Petty, and that kind of stuff.  But, you know, I like pop... I know it's a dirty word but I like pop music.  Heavy all the time is just too much for me!

JS: Any thoughts or reflections about the summer tour with Alice Cooper, Dokken, and Slaughter?
JL: It was a blast!  We really, really had a good time.  It was fun to get back into arenas.  I wish we would have had a little more time to play on-stage but who am I to complain?  I was just happy to get back into arenas and play in front of large numbers of people again.  It was just fun to see people come out and know inside that... we kind of got over the hump, I think, on that tour-- proved it to me that it's not so fashionable to hate 80's bands.  That's a good thing 'cause unlike some other bands that we were dealing with back in the late 80s, early 90s, we didn't crawl under a rock and hide.  We stayed out there and we toured, and we pretty much took the brunt of it for quite a few bands.  It got disheartening at times but to actually see people come out and dig the shows and not be prejudiced against what year a band released a record in... it was fun!

JS: Do you have a favorite memory or a favorite show from the tour?
JL: Hhmm... well, I really liked the Los Angeles show just because it was the first time we had gotten to play a big place in our hometown in a long time.  So that was exciting. And my most unfavorite memory of the tour was the fact that I had my entire family out in Cleveland and the show got canceled (shortened) due to lightening.  But I threw a party at The Odeon and everybody came and jammed and we had fun.  Well, Alice didn't come but some of the guys in his band-- my friends who were formerly in Winger and stuff like that.  Ryan Roxie and those guys and a couple of the guys from Dokken came and jammed and we had a really good time. So, it turned out to not be a total wash!

JS: How'd the shows go that you just played over the holidays?
JL: Great!  They went absolutely great!  We did eight shows before Christmas in the midwest and Phoenix and Vegas were kind of our New Year's Eve thingies... and then we just played last night, night before last at The Country Club.

JS: Okay, so what's the deal with the reunion?  Is it definite or is it still in talking stages?
JL: The talking's over with as far as everybody's concerned, except for Steven.  We have not heard back from Steven on this and several of us have called him several times.  So either he's not interested or he just hasn't had an opportunity to get back to us.  I'm not sure... if he's not, then we'll actually use the original drummer for Warrant, whose name was Max.  Erik seems to like the idea, Joey seems to like the idea, I like the idea, Jerry likes the idea-- so we'll take it from there.  Just because we like the idea doesn't mean that there's someone willing to go let us make a record but, you know, we'll try and work that out once we get everybody on the same page.

JS: Will it be one record or will it be the band from now on?
JL: I don't know.  I don't know.

JS: So, is the band really planning to "go glam" again like you've mentioned?
JL: I think we already have!  Depending on what your definition of glam is...

JS: That was my next question.  What does it mean to you to be "glam"?
JL: What does glam mean to me?  Glam's an attitude.  Glam has nothing to do with what you wear-- whether you wear makeup or high heels or whatever.  Glam is an attitude.  Glam is glamorous.  We always thought that when you hit the stage... I don't care if it's how you look or how you act, or how you talk, or how you breathe-- it should be special.  The whole grunge thing is the exact opposite of glam.  And that's how it got so popular, obviously, because glam wore its welcome out.  But it'll be back, trust me.  The same way disco came back.  But glam is walking on-stage and looking and feeling and acting like you belong on-stage.  I am here for a reason, I am here to entertain.  I'll be damned if I'm gonna sit here with my head down, with unwashed hair and blue jeans on and just strum my guitar and be pissed off that people showed up so that I had to go and do this.  That's not what glam is about!  Glam is about, I can't fucking wait to get on-stage and destroy this place, man, and people are gone fucking die when they see what I have in store for them tonight.  It's an attitude.

JS: That's always been the band's attitude!
JL: Absolutely!  That's what we were always about.  It's making it special; entertaining people, making sure when they there, they don't forget you.

JS: The clothing has changed a lot lately!
JL: It always changes!  Whatever we find that's neat-- find it in a store and say, ahh-- we'll wear it on-stage, cool.

JS: Do you really think that 80s music is going to come back?
JL: Do I think a new band with a new 80s sounding record will break?  That'll be very difficult, I don't know if that'll happen or not.  Do I think that old 80s songs are going to come back in fashion in a big way?  Absolutely!

JS: Do you think that'll happen soon?
JL: I don't know!  There's no predicting.  I know it's on its way.

JS: A lot of radio stations have been putting in 80s weekends.
JL: Same people who dissed it will be the same people who are playing it and say they loved it the whole time.

JS: It's already that way!
JL: Yeah, that's just the way it goes.

JS: How's your solo project coming along?
JL: It's called Jabberwocky.  I don't consider it a solo project, 'cause Rick and I have been working on it for a long time... and Bobby did some work with us on it.  And, like I said, a couple friends from New York.  It started out as just a side thing and a release but it's turned into something that I'm really excited about now.  It's good pop rock.  If you're a Beatles fan, or a Petty fan, or maybe even... Wallflowers, Third Eye Blind-- anything pop-y with a good melody.  Obviously, we're not inventing any new chords but I really dig it.

JS: So Jabberwocky will be the band name or the album name?
JL: That'll probably be the band name, I guess.  Probably both.  The first record and the band name, I would imagine.  'Jabberwocky' is a poem by Lewis Carroll from a book called "Alice Through The Looking Glass".  Not Alice In Wonderland.  Everybody thinks it's Alice In Wonderland.  And Lewis Carroll was born on the same day as me-- February 1st so... and I thought he was a very, very eclectic but brilliant writer.  So, I just thought I would call it Jabberwocky, which I guess means nonsense.

JS: How many songs do you have at this point?
JL: Seventeen

JS: So you're almost ready to do an album?
JL: Yeah!  We record this Thursday.  It'll be the final song we record before we go shop for the deal.  And we're all really excited about it!  It's been our baby for a while.  It's been under wraps, 'cause you just want to talk to everybody about it.  All of our friends... a lot of friends who come and see us on tour have copies of it and they go, "Oh man, give me the new copy of the stuff!"-- which is cool!  That makes me feel good!

JS: Well, good luck with it!
JL: Thank ya!

JS: Have you used anything that was intended for Warrant?
JL: Nothing except for, well, I've used stuff for Warrant that was intended for Jabberwocky.  Which was, "Stronger Now", if you're familiar with that song.

JS: Of course, I am!
JL: Yeah, that's a Jabberwocky song.  I never intended it to be a Warrant record and everybody liked it so much they wanted to put it on Ultraphobic.  I was very skeptical, you know, because... obviously you can listen to the song-- it doesn't fit with what we did with Ultraphobic.  But, you know, I said 'That's fine, we can put it on there'-- as long as you all understand that this is a Jabberwocky song.  So, if you like that kind of stuff... not saying that all of the Jabberwocky stuff is that sleepy.

JS: Okay, so it's you and Rick, and who else is playing on it?
JL: Well, there've been several people.  Bobby's played drums on it, James (Kottak) played drums on it, a new guy this week-- his name is Glen-- will be playing drums on it.  Danny's played on a few things, ummm, all kind os studio cats.  A couple different sax players, a couple different keyboardists, a couple different backing vocalists-- all kinds of people.  Our friend Bruce Robinson from Brooklyn (with the famous accent), he's done the bass-- he played all the bass on it.  Our friend James Sitterly, who's done all the strings for Warrant over the years, came down.  He works with Don Henley and he came down and did some strings on it.  And just a whole myriad of people!  We've had three different producers so far.  So, a cast of thousands, I guess you could say.

JS: Well, I'll look forward to hearing it!
JL: Very cool!

JS: Are you going to tour for it?
JL: I would love to tour for it!  First, we have to find the right label and make the record.  Then, I would love to.  It would fit opening for anyone, in my opinion, from Sheryl Crow to Tom Petty.  It could be new or old.  It fits with a lot of different bands just because, you know, it's pop.  But yeah, definitely want to tour on this.  It's the kind of project where I can wear my glasses on-stage and not be self-conscious.

JS: Let's look into your future... Jabberwocky breaks HUGE and you go straight to number one.  What will happen with Warrant?
JL: Warrant will always be there!  Warrant will always be there!  They can show up at the gigs and jam with me on the encore.  Nah, I'm joking.  I don't know.  I don't know what's going to happen with Warrant.  Everybody would like to be playing as long as The Stones.  But obviously, that doesn't happen with all bands and I think the only way you keep together, actually, for long periods of time is to allow yourself a break here and there.  Otherwise everybody just gets frustrated and somebody winds up quitting or somebody winds up mad at somebody and that's not healthy.  It's best to just say, "Hey man, let's take a breather for a second.  You know, when the opportunity comes around, let's jump back on the horse."

JS: As far as the possibility of an album of previously unreleased material...
JL: Yeah, we were talking about it but there are so many bootlegs of that stuff out there-- I don't see the point.  There are South American bootlegs, Japanese bootlegs, U.S. bootlegs, European bootlegs.... what's the point? Just grab a bootleg!  It's cheaper and it'll be more spontaneous than trying to go back and capture the vibe of something that written ten years ago.  Now, I'd rather spend my time working on something new.

JS: I know you've probably been asked everything under the sun but in all these years is there anything about you, the band, the music, the live show-- or anything that somebody hasn't managed to ask you that you've always wanted to be asked?
JL: No, I've pretty much been asked everything.  I just finished an interview for Details magazine right before I called you, so... most of the stuff that I haven't been asked is business related and the business side of music sucks so I try to steer away from that anyways.  I think it's better off if people... "Hey, we like the music. We like to come see the shows"-- they don't need to know about all the contractual bullshit jargon.  People try to screw people... it's not worth talking about.

JS: Do you have anything you'd like to say to the fans?
JL: Ahh, just keep coming and seeing us!  You're our life support!

JS: Anything else?
JL: No, no.  You definitely covered it!

JS: Well, thank you!  And have fun with your new daughter!
JL: Okay!  It was nice talking to you Jeanne!