The following interview with Perry Farrell expands on a conversation that first appeared in the magazine.

What was the impetus for bringing back Lollapoolza?

There was a couple of things. You do something for a while and sometimes you just need to bail. Sometimes it just gets stale. We had a beautiful system that we created, we followed the same prescription as did any other festival. Repetition, competition made things kind of stale and we took a break, which was five, six years ago, and I had an idea for a new method of attending festivals and it had to do with interactivity. At the time I was considering painting but putting the scheme together and approaching people-the idea was a good idea but it wasn’t of it’s day yet. Kind of too far ahead. Technology wasn’t quite up to speed. There wasn’t a big enough vote of confidence to do the idea though people were inspired. So I just kept working on the idea and talking to people about it, I’d get close, one year or another pulling it off but it just wasn’t the right scenario.

I will tell you that when you that when you put a festival together, all these amazing things can surround the festival but for me the method, the truest method, has always been the music. So, if you don’t start with a great line-up, you can dress it anyway you want-like having an ugly head in a tuxedo, you still have an ugly head. So things were starting to go well with the relationship with the fellows from Jane’s [Addiction], so well that we decide to go in and record a record that took us this last year to record. And of course we started to plan for tours, I felt that now would be the time because the first thing that was solid… I could guarantee that Jane’s Addiction would come in and headline.

A few of the years when I was trying to put it back together, the first question was, “Is Jane’s going to play?” If I wasn’t offering Jane’s playing, there wasn’t as much interest. So this year we have Jane’s Addiction headlining and coincidentally or simultaneously, the technology is in place to do this interactive gaming. So soon after that came the musicians and the other bands you know, we got some great people working with us: Audioslave, Queens of the Stone Age Jurassic 5, The Donnas, Perfect Circle, Enid (CHECK). A very sound and solid line-up to begin with. I think that music kind of moves around its format for the last five years. The kind of music and the kind of groups that would have been ideal for Lollapoolza, it’s… it’s got a niche. The niche kind of wasn’t there for the last five years for some reason along with, and I as I say conincidentally and coinsidenally, we have the technology in place now and the Jane’s record, Jane’s is ready.

Conincidentally, the type of music that is perfect for this traveling festival is coming back strong. It’s more like it’s growing, not coming back necessarily. There’s a new look to and there’s a vibe to it. What it is, it’s live players, it’s people that want to play in bands and I think that’s the prerequisite: people who are willing to work their way, through their career, coming up slowly, and playing to people, playing clubs, doing your gigs touring. For the last two years, it’s been dominated by pop. Pop and rap. Bands were coming in quick and making a lot of money fast. They weren’t taking their time and I would say a lot them were put together, industry creations if you will. But now what I see, I’m overloaded, it’s a nice feeling but I’m overloaded with the talent. There’s so much young talent that wants to get out there and get on the road play and mix it up, create a musical community, it’s kind of like it was repressed. So that’s where there’s this huge resurgence of that format and that style.

I could talk to you for hours about what happened to the music industry and why certain styles created certain outcomes when it comes to parties, festivals, clubs. A lot of this stuff that was being made, musically, was prefabricated music so people would emotionally dose off when they went out. Prerecorded music in clubs, it just doesn’t have the same feeling as, I don’t think, as live musicians. There’s something that happens with us human beings and souls that you cannot replace. Even though it may sound good, it’s brittle and soulless. And you need live communication. It makes people interact and react differently. I think when the musicians here the call and come back and start playing and practicing their instruments, it forms a social gathering that is unique and it’s just of its time.

Another aspect to why it’s timely is that Lollapoolza began, ironically, during Desert Storm. So you can see the relationship that music has to society. When things “good” so to speak and there’s not much to complain about or comment on, you’ll find that pop starts to flood the market-meaningless drivel. But when you have people who dare to resist, feel the need to comment, want the public outcry, things are going wrong, it goes into the music. So, at times, the inspired musician starts to rise again. Then people…

I always have this analogy, sometimes this is how I size people up, a crazy way to do it. Sometimes I size them up by thinking to myself that if the whole world was falling apart, would I come running to that guy? There the true colors really… the true nature really kind of rises up when you consider people that way. Music to me is so important, that’s how I consider the musician and that’s how I consider the band. Really, I look at them as social commentators. Would I come running to that guy, that man, what have they been offering really, this whole time? So when the whole world is falling apart, I don’t think, "this person is here is really someone I would go really go to but yet on the other hand, that person there is someone I would rub up and rub shoulders with. I think it’s important to have people like them.

So with Lollapoolza, that’s kind of how I set about to choose the groups and I think that’s another reason why it’s of this time right now.

Do you think musicians have a responsibility to speak out, whatever their mind or beliefs or despite how they might feel, during a time a like this?

See, it’s a very tough situation because on one hand your first priority is to entertain people. In a perfect world, if we had no war, we could be freer to make happier suggestions and talk about things that we love, that are silly and playful and funny and awesome and inspiring. But at the same time, as an artist, I wonder… the artist is the ultimate sensitive human being. His art comes off of reflection. So, how can one not reflect something is so heavy when it happens? It’s hard because you want people, I want people, let me personalize that, I want people to go away from my art feeling good and looking great. That’s my little catch phrase. That will make them in love with you. You want them to be in love with you. You want to have good music but at the same time you don’t want to be an idiot and you want to be someone that another can depend upon in these times of struggle and strife. So here’s how you do it.

One has to stay in a positive mood. It’s no different than leadership and leadership you’re going to follow the people who, number one, have a solution. If there is a problem, you can complain and your song can be a song of complaint or your song can be one of solution. I would choose to do the solution song because in the solution song, you can have a positive attitude and it can be a happier, healthier tomorrow or you just bum out and then your song turns into a masturbation song. I want sex but I can’t have sex. I’m having sex. You know, I’m not a masturbator. So, that’s my message.
You spoke earlier about technology and progressive thinking. How much do you think your ENIT festival has informed this Lollapoolza?

Well, for me, it was a wonderful experience because on a musical level, I was so happy to be able to marry electronic music with live music. What that did, what my worry might have been was that two might have cared about each other… I also have a thing where when I’m forced to make a choice, I’ll so, “ok then, I choose both.” And there it is a choice. I don’t have to say, “I like rock music therefore I don’t like electronic.” My choice is I like both. It was a happy marriage but the world has changed since that ENIT festival to some degree. It’s more difficult to keep that marriage there and I’ll tell you why.

We had Moby, who did the Area 2, and there was also a chance to marry electronic and live players on the festival. The music industry had a brief affair with electronic music and then I think it decided it’s not worth the effort because it doesn’t bring the big income that it’s looking for. So it’s quick to discard it. I kind of look at electronic music and its industry as kind of like natural resources in this country. You have natural resource. You want natural resource-it’s beautiful and you need it but a lot of people would say, “ah, screw it, put up some buildings. What’s the natural resource worth versus buildings?” To me, I’d rather have the natural resource because I appreciate the beauty. So it’s become more difficult to get quality electronic music in America. I think it’s safe to say that in the U.K. and Europe too, the numbers have dropped off and that’s a whole other discussion of why that. But the fact is that promoters don’t have the belief therefore when you’re going to put a package together, they will bite and they will be interested in live music, right now. Electronic music is one of those natural resources and they question… they’re not going to put much money into that. So it’s difficult, no, not difficult… you need more strategy to carry electronic music which we are going to be doing.

What I did was, I started about saying, "Ok, look. If I put a great package of living musicians together, the money will come in. I’m not going to book any DJs yet, I’m not going to do any electronic music yet. First of all, I wasn’t going to get any money from it so once I got the money to come in for the bands, then the sponsors saw the line-up and they loved the line-up, so from there, then… we were still contacting people, just putting them in a holding pattern to let them know what was going on to see if we could draw sponsors into subsidizing stages that we would need for the electronic. Now we’re at a point where subsidiaries are coming in strong and I can look to… start putting in electronic. For me, I love electronic music and I think that electronic musicians and producers are amongst the headiest and classiest musicians out there. But it’s not the case. The economic climate of electronic music is not worth… bring in a lot of cash and attention from promoters so it’s been a little different this year.

What do you think the crowd will be like at Lollapoolza this year considering so many original attendees are now adults with kids?

Once again you start with the musicians because the musicians would provide the music that demographic would listen to. So we don’t have Top 40 esque bands, so whoever is looking for top 40, is not going to be there. If that happens people that used to go to Lollapoolza, I’m not sure. I’m sure there’s some, people have really, really mellowed out. But you keep the demographic, musically, in the 20 year old range and take it from there. There’s other things going on on the grounds as well, technology, cell phone gaming, video riot, things like that, the demographic is once again in the 20’s. There’s going to be some people lower and some people above….

You keep getting older and the crowd stays the same age.

Well, I think that… I do for sure keep getting older. As far as the crowd it will be interesting to see. I didn’t necessarily detail this so that old Lollapoolza people came back and I didn’t necessarily detail so that new people, young people would… I didn’t try and suck up and kiss up to young people’s demographics because up until now young people were listening to boy bands and some other kind of rock that I honestly don’t feel it. As I call it, “youth culture.” You can be youthful and seventy, eighty. You look at Tim Leary or…

Wavy Gravy.

Yeah.

What’s your take on a festival like Bonnaroo and the comment that true alternative music is in the jamband scene and not the indie rock world?

I would say that I like the jamband vibe. I think they have a great thing. I would love to go like a jamband party and I think it’s fun to experience it but I wouldn’t discredit bands like The Vines, The Hives, The Datsuns, Strokes, Warlocks, Kings of Leon. They’re hot. To me, I like that vibe too so it’s not black and white. I appreciate what the jambands do in way of their parties-they set them up and they’re very free feeling. The only problem is that it is still… there’s no problem with it. It’s fine, it’s just another flavor.
What’s your perfect meal and what would you have to drink with it?

Well it depends on what time of the day. Right now [afternoon] I just had matza and caviar with keefer. I would have a lemonade with some Grey Goose and aloe vera juice with a shot of paprika.

Who is DJ Peretz and why is he following you?

Peretz is my Hebrew name, so that’s… it’s my real name. As far as DJing goes, I just got very inspired by writing electronic music and eventually wanted to spin. Spinning is really physical work for the brain. You can DJ maybe forty minutes and it’s like doing a full body workout for your brain. And I love just getting in there for a couple of reasons. It’s very mediatative. It sounds… what’s a better of saying this? When you start to take and combine these sounds the next thing you know… I know what it’s like. It’s like swimming underwater, that’s the feeling. If you’ve ever gone Scubaing, where you go down and go, “wow, no one can talk to me and I am truly here.” No one has the excuse… it’s impossible to get to me.

What is your most transcendental surf moment?

I would say it was on the island of G-Land, Garajautan. It’s in Java. It was the first time I had surfed big waves. We were on this island-there were only three people staying there aside from the people that lived on the island-and I’d have to scream before the sets came in to get my courage up to take off on these waves because they were double-overhead and then pitching. If it’s overhead, it’s scary but you can do it but when it’s two times over your head, it’s something your body doesn’t want to do. You just have to do it. I remember this one wave, dropping in and getting into the position I see in the surf magazines. There’s this position where you go backside and grab the rail of your board and you tuck in backside and you kind of start trimming. One of your arms is in the water and you’re tucked in like a…

Like a pig-dog.

Yeah, exactly, like a pig-dog. I was going to say tucked in like a fetus.

It’s super hairball going backside in that situation as opposed to frontside.

Yeah. So there it was and I’m looking through. And my two buddies, of course I was only the guy out there and they were watching me, so I had to do something for them, stoke ’em on the shore and that was it.

Rumor has it that a documentary about Jane’s Addiction was made but never released, gaining similar lore to that of the Rolling Stones’ Cocksucker Blues. Confirm or deny?

I know that we made a movie back in about ‘97 that we’ve gone through a series of “should we let anybody see this? I don’t think so.” You can probably pick it off of Ebay if you wanted to. [laughter]

Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?

It wasn’t in the pale moonlight, I’ll tell you that much.

What do you think Jane would say today?

Jane? I think she would say, “For a limited… for fifty dollars, please buy these limited signatures of the real Jane on these record sleeves.”

What was it like working with Bob Ezrin? How much influence did he have on the final product?

Well, you’re talking about a fellow who produced The Wall.

I feel like you guys come somewhere between Pink Floyd and Alice Cooper [who Ezrin also produced].

Yeah. [laughter] When you go to a guy like Bob Ezrin, inviting him to come in and play with us, you’re hoping that he’ll do for you what he’s done for the other people he’s worked with and you pray that you get some of that stuff. I felt freer just knowing that Bob was working with us, freer going home at the end of the day instead of staying around and knit-picking on every little tiny sound. I knew that it’s going to be great. My ears started to develop and listen the way Bob listens. I think it’s pretty amazing that my sensibilities of what a high is and what a low is and what an east and a west is have changed because you see the process and you realize that there is a process to the inevitable sound. It’s the same thing like a painter when you first look at their canvas. He’s getting started but he’s only using white. There’s a process to it. So with him, we got to experience and learn. He’s also a great musician so what he can add to things is not just one atom. I sing and that’s the only thing I would say, “leave it up to me.” Everything else, I have to say that I get to work with the best people.

If you could watch one person get hit in the nuts, who would it be?

Oh man. I don’t want to say. Believe me there’s a few people who I would just love to change their face.

Any politicians? They have always been popular for this question.

No, I mean it’s not even politicians. Politicians… you almost have to just throw your hands up and just… what can you say? They’re a certain breed of people. They are important because I don’t want to be a politician and I don’t want to be a copy. I don’t know, sometimes I wonder if there were no cops. I say to myself, “do cops create these things or are they there to stop these things?” It’s a silly argument I have in my head because then I come to the conclusion that, “no, people would really be fucking with each other if there wasn’t somebody to mediate.”

How long did the album take you? Some would say thirteen years while maybe it was literally a year in the studio. What would you say?

I would say, all added up, it took about half a year. That’s if we didn’t have to go off on tour but those things were important too because you get to practice the songs and maybe come back with a better approach to it. If nothing else, the song you already got, maybe you decide this part here, we don’t even need this part and that part there, I think we should play it this way. So, it’s good because older bands usually, well not usually, but older bands sometimes run into the problem that they start an album by going into a place and writing while they’re recording the album. When the younger bands get started, you’ll be playing the same material a year before you get in the studio to record it sometimes, at least six months before you start to record, and you get to work these things through and really understand the song. So it was nice because we got a dose of that while we were recording this. We didn’t just stay in the studio and slap things into the mix. We had a chance to go play them and then come back. And I would it took us about ten months to finish and really there was four months of DJing, touring and people and holidays.