To the delight of many, Jane's Addiction have reformed and are joining Nine Inch Nails on tour in a show of peace, love and understanding.
Uh, yeah. Can you say, "Seems like old times"? Jane's frontman Perry Farrell says he and bassist Eric Avery, who quit the band in 1991 and who was the lone hold-out to rejoin, are "butting heads."
Farrell even went so far as to say that Nine Inch Nails leader Trent Reznor has been acting as something of a "referee," but has been unsuccessful to keep the two combustible bandmates from throwing tantrums and hissy fits.
Smooches and hugs - not!
"I'm not going to tell you it's been all smooches and hugs," Farrell said recently in an interview with Reuters. "But it shouldn't be because that would be a bore.
"If my band didn't have issues, if they didn't throw tantrums, I would think I was with a bunch of suckers. As long as they can handle it, I can handle it. After all, we're just delivering music that people love, so how bad can it be? It could be worse. We could be drafted."
I'm OK, you're OK. Or something...
Regarding his famously strained relationship with Avery, Farrell said, "I just talked to Eric man-to-man. We're different people, that's okay. He serves a different purpose, he's got a different frequency he operates on. I don't care that we butt heads as long as when we hit the stage we blast on people."
Reznor, who is also producing Jane's Addiction's new songs, has tried to keep the group on an even keel - mostly in vain.
"He did his best to be both producer and psychologist," said Farrell. "I wish he would've produced a little more, but he was a little gun shy after seeing us explode on each other in the studio. He became the referee for a day and after that day I think he was done."
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On the other hand, sometimes that's how great music happens. We shall see.
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Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar World, Guitar Player, MusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.
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