by Jack Rabid
There isn't much to add to our introduction from last time, as nothing in that piece, or the interview itself, is now out of date. Social D. has still yet to release the new sixth studio LP they've been recording with their brand new lineup, so everything you read there is still fresh.
JR: Do you still keep in touch with some of the people that you came up with in Orange County, like Mike Palm of Agent Orange or The Adolescents or anybody?
MIKE: Yeah, I see him once in a while because I still live in Orange County.
JR: Seems like you're the only one of all of them who's really gone places. Although Mike is still doing Agent Orange.
MIKE: It's weird, out of that whole group, some are still shooting dope, and some are still going to jail, and some are still in and out of nut wards. Some are still doing it, and some have just goine and become accountants or something.
JR:
It must be inspiring that you've stuck with it when it could have become such a big catastrophe - considering you started out with one of the biggest drug problems of any of them.
MIKE:
I consider myself very lucky. I'd like to take credit for it, but people sometimes ask and say, "How have you been able to do this for so long?" If you set the ego aside, it's because I'm stubborn. Straight up. The thought of doing something else is fucking unacceptable, so I just stayed with it. It's a long and sometimes very discouraging road. And this industry...the industry I picked is tough and very discouraging at times. But also, on the other hand, I can't take credit for it all, because I feel just lucky that I came out of that situation and didn't die in a motel room like so many people have. To me, every day above ground is a good day.
JR:
Although you could also look at it lie you had four or five years of that sort of misery, and that you have a second chance, so you'd better not blow it again. Now, it's been about what, 16 years you've been off drugs? That's a lot longer than the four or five years you were down for the count.
MIKE:
Yeah, now I've been clean longer than the amount of years that I drank and used drugs - I drand and used drugs for 12 years. It almost feels like that in my past life I was a junkie. It really does. It feels like back in the '30s I was a junkie, and I've been reincarnated. I don't regret any of the past...well, I have a few regrets. But while growing up the way I did, it was very painful. The best writers, the best actors, the best musicians - they've all had that. That's like what makees them go and what makes them tick.
JR:
We were listening to Rocket To Russia just last night and I said, "Shit, I forgot how good this was."
MIKE:
Yeah, The Ramones probably had the most impact on me because of their simplicity. It was just so big sounding. When I was 17 it was just so big. And now even Weezer has loud guitars, too. Everyone's got loud guitars now.
JR:
But Weezer doesn't give the same adrenaline rush, though.
MIKE:
Yeah. I think Weezer writes some good songs, but I saw them live on television the other day and I was going, "Man, I could not sit through and hour and a half of this." The guy was staring at his fucking shoes the whole night. Whereas you go and see The Ramones and Joey Ramone is flipping off his monitor guy.
JR:
And holding up the mic stand over his head seven feet in the air!
MIKE:
That was one of the funnest tours we ever did, touring with the Ramones. This was in the early '90s and we had to eat with them every day. It was like a sitcom or a comic strip that came alive. It was like, "Oh my god! The manager just ran up to that guy." Or they were bagging on each other. It was like a film or a movie.
JR:
You did a tour with Neil Young, too. You were doing pretty well for opening slots!
MIKE:
That was a rough tour, though, the Neil Young one. The thing of it was, it was big arenas. You know, they hold 10, 15 or 20,000 people. So, say we're in Chicago or New York, and we've got a thousand Social D fans. Which is great. But, like, where are they? It's like, one's here...one's in the 32nd row...They're all spread apart because of the arranged seating. And then there's a guy right in front of me who hasn't been out of the house in 30 years - he just wants to hear "Cinnamon Girl." He didn't want to see a tattooed guy singing a version of Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire" all hopped up. He's not impressed, so it was rough. But we pulled some fans out of that.
Reminder: This is only an exerpt. You can read rest of this interview in issues #50 and #51 of The Big Takeover. You can also order back issues here- as Jack Rabid says, "For those who enjoy this interview, we reccommend the previous very-long one we did with Ness, found in issues 28 and 29." Muchos gracias to Jack Rabid and all the folks at The Big Takeover for permission to reprint portions of the interview!
