As the drummer for The Doors, John Densmore helped create what would become one of the most revered bands in the history of rock. The quartet, which also included frontman Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger, embodied the wild, searching spirit of the counterculture movement in the late 1960s. Densmore still has not stopped producing work, even after recently adding septuagenarian to his long list of titles that have included Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, author, playwright and actor.

In the March issue of Relix we spoke with Densmore’s Doors bandmate Robby Kreieger. In the following conversation we explore the Record Store Black Friday release of Densmore’s project with Obey artist Shepard Fairey—a Native American-inspired single that includes The Doors’ “Ghost Song” and a cover of Peter La Farge’s “Drums”—and talk with him about the Amplifier Foundation that it supports, along with a possible new book and his unexpected collaboration with Skrillex.

Can you talk a little bit about your collaboration with Shepard Fairey and kind of how that all began?

Well I had met Shepard because he did the cover of my book The Doors: Unhinged, and I was extremely pleased—we all know how talented he is. So I became aware of this foundation that Shepard has with Aaron Huey, the photographer for National Geographic—it’s called Honor the Treaties. It’s [now] under this name the Amplifier Foundation. I went to a TED Talks to see Aaron speak, and it was very, very powerful. It’s about [how] we haven’t honored these treaties—obviously—and it’s just an incredible talk. I had done this song, “Drums” by Peter La Farge—are you aware of him?

No, can you give me some background on him?

He’s a Native American folk singer who was in Greenwich village, hung out with Dylan in the early ‘60s. Unfortunately, he got into alcohol and sort of self-destructed. Johnny Cash covered a couple of his songs and really admired him and everything. So, there was this album done of Peter La Farge songs, and I actually did the vocals—I just sort of talked it, like Dylan—[for] half of it, and the other half was done by Floyd Red Crow Westerman, who was the Native American actor who played the chief in Dances with Wolves, [and] he played the shaman in The Doors movie—great guy. Floyd unfortunately passed a year or two ago. So there was that, and then the Doors had done “The Ghost Song,” which, you know, has kind of a Native American feel to it. It was on the American Prayer album, the poetry album. And, you know, Jim has the line “Indians on dawn’s highway bleeding, ghosts crowd the young child’s fragile eggshell mind”—it’s at the opening of Oliver’s movie—Oliver Stone [1991’s The Doors]. This actually happened, and he kind of felt like the spirit of some of those Native American workers jumped into him or whatever. You know, he was an army kid, moved around a lot in the Southwest, felt very sympatico with Native Americans. So it hit me, and I went, oh wow, what if these two were back to back on a twelve-inch [and] a benefit for Shepard and Aaron’s thing. And I was very pleased that it all came together. Shepard covered one side, and Cheyenne Randall—great artist—did the cover of the other side, “Drums,” so you have it.

When did you actually do the recordings of both sides?

American Prayer was done quite a while ago, when was that? Geez, after Jim died, I guess around mid-‘70s. “Drums” was just done a few years ago.

And what made you decide to release it on Record Store Day, as opposed to other mediums?

Well, I had met Michael Kurtz, the head of Record Store Day. They helped me—still are helping me—greatly with my book. I ended up doing a book tour at record stores instead of book stores, because—The Doors: Unhinged, that’s the book, where Shepard did the cover—I self-published, and, you know, it’s about music, and it’s just a perfect marriage: Record Store Day and me. I actually started [the tour] on Record Store Day, a year ago or so. So I met all those people, and what a cool scene! I had no idea. You know, there’s a couple thousand of these stores across the country, and they all got beat up by Borders, and then Borders got their karma. Those who’ve hung on have diversified, and they have vinyl, which is coming back, and books and posters. They have a bunch of people who love music, and there’s a sense of community at all these stores. So wow—it’s really inspiring that they’ve hung on, and they’re still there.

When do you think the last time was that you released a vinyl record?

[Laughs] That’s funny. 1970 or something, I don’t know. Well no, The Doors have done Record Store Day releases. We were trying to get this on Record Store Day, but it didn’t happen, so [it was] on Black Friday. And oh—synchronicity here—it’s supposed to be on Black Friday, because it’s the day after the first peoples of this land taught us how to give. And it’s kind of a good lesson, because we were not so nice to them, were we? So this is a beautiful reminder. And all the money goes to Honor the Treaties/Amplifier Foundation. You know, the idea is to amplify voices of indigenous communities through art and advocacy, and it’s very cool.

The Doors recently released archival film that’s been turned into a full movie, Feast of Friends. Were you involved in that process, or do you have any thoughts on it?

Well, I certainly knew about it and made comments about it. We got Bruce Botnick, our longtime recording engineer, to make the sound as good as possible. This movie had been kind of bootlegged, and we ourselves had cherrypicked it for other projects. The demand was [so high] that we thought we better put out the original, with the best sound and the best visuals possible, for those who want it. So there it is.

It’s a phenomenal movie, and at the time was a very unconventional documentary, just the way it captured the band in that backstage, free spirited way.

At the time, nobody was doing videos—it was before videos. But Ray and Jim went to film school, and their friends were hanging around anyway, so [we thought] we might as well have them have cameras.

I know you’ve been working on your book tour, but do you have any other musical projects or any performance plans in the works?

Well, in the back of my head, I actually want to work with Keith Secola, who co-produced “Drums.” He’s a wonderful Native American singer-songwriter, and I might produce one of his albums. And I’m working on another book, too—but it’s about music.

Now that you’ve done a book, you have the flow down in your writing process, right?

Well I have not one, but two self-centered memoirs, so I might as well keep going. I mean, this new one would not be a memoir. So far it’s called Meetings with Remarkable Musicians, and each chapter is about how I hung out for a few minutes or for years with the likes of Ravi Shakar or George Harrison or Carlos Santana or Elton John, whoever. Kind of teachers—mentors—who fed me, you know what I mean?

A couple years ago, you recorded with Skrillex. How did that come about, and what were your impressions of playing a little bit with the electronic world?

We were approached, and he was this big guy, and I was kind of like “Wait a minute”—as Ringo said when drum machines were invented, “I’m the fucking drummer!” [Laughs] But his stuff was interesting, and so I went down to meet him. And then I found out he was a musician and he had some cool ideas about combining electronic, computer stuff with live musicians. So I did it—and I like it.