Dying by Sexy
We all know, or should know, that Jesse “the Devil” Hughes can
bring it on the stage; But did you know he use to be a reporter? Or that he dishes
out some of the best relationship advice out there -only paralleled to Dr.
Phil? We caught up with Boots Electric himself during Eagles of Death Metal’s
tour with Peaches to talk about these tidbits and find out more; Like, how
exactly can one reach “death by sexy?”
Find out in…
10 Questions with Eagles of Death Metal
- by Mattias and Dave-Os –
In true rock star form, Jesse told us what he had to say with a
cigarette in his mouth, and a girl around each arm.
1. You were a journalist before the whole band thing; what is the greatest
story you’ve ever covered?
Jesse: I covered the introduction of the Contract of America by the
Republican Party. That was a great story to cover. I also covered
2. What are three ways to reach death by sexy?
J: Dying…I’m just kidding. It’s more of a “being slain in the spirit
of sexiness”. It’s just realising that shit doesn’t matter. Not taking yourself
too seriously is the key, then you die to corniness and just come alive sexy.
Sexy isn’t necessarily sex or being overtly sexual; it’s simply being
comfortable and happy and having a good time. There’s something beautiful about
people smiling.
Mattias: Can you be sexy and not attractive?
J: Yea, but the ability to be attractive isn’t necessarily a
physical thing. The reality of life is that some people are just born ugly -
that’s just the way it is – but that has nothing to do with how beautiful they
are as people. Really. That’s the corny, hippy answer
to give you and I think hippies are full of shit in general but it’s the truth
and that’s why I say it.
3. You say everybody in the world should be able to dance. What’s
some advice you have for people who can’t dance?
J: Give up. No, I’m just kidding *laughs*. Everybody can dance, but dancing well, or dancing like
MC Hammer is something that everybody cannot do, so I suppose knowing your
limits. It’s just dancing; it’s just about rolling with it. All dancing is, is
the physical simulation of sex: in, out, in, out, in out. That’s it. It’s
simply the rhythmic gyrations that one can enact while emulating the act of
coitus in a dance.
M: Can you dance like MC Hammer?
J: I could try. Tonight on stage I’m going to give you
a couple of modified Hammer moves. I’m going to do the “Please Hammer, Hurt Em”.
4. Writing comes naturally to you. How do you get in the right
mindset when writing music?
J: I think the trick with music, to be perfectly serious, is, like
with any art that requires you to write something down or create something, you
have to just simply obey the mood when it comes. When you’re inspired to write
you have to sit down and do it no matter where you are. So really the key for
me to getting in the right frame of mind is knowing
that it isn’t a certain frame of mind. It’s a frame of mind that’s going to
come, and if I start resisting the urge to pay attention to the inspirations
that I have, then they’ll stop coming. It’s just really being open to whenever.
M: So you write like anytime?
It could happen right now. A lot of times I’ve started pulling a
Jimmy Page and jamming with the band while we sound check and we get a lot of
ideas and its killer. There are ideas everywhere; there ain’t
nothing new under the sun. Just walking into a record
store is inspiring to write music.
5. Other than you, who do you think has the best moustache out
there?
J: First I’d like to say I loved the way you prefaced that question
because I think it’s true. Sam Elliott has one of the greatest moustaches ever;
Charles Bronson in “The Mechanic” has one of the greatest fucking moustaches of
all time. James Brown on the cover of the “Payback” album has one hell of a
moustache. Tom Selleck, Freddie Mercury…
[Ladies laugh]
Dave-Os: *laughs* She was doing Hitler. I saw her go like this:
[makes the Hitler moustache with fingers].
J: Hitler had an interesting moustache.
Lady 1: He had a legendary moustache.
J: He made it impossible for anyone ever with good taste to wear
that moustache again but…who else has a good moustache?
Lady 2: You did Freddie Mercury and that was the one that was on
my mind.
J: Hitler and Freddie Mercury, now it’s finished. William H. Macy
has a great moustache. Wonderful moustache.
M:
J:
M: A lot of us can’t grow moustaches like you.
J: I know it sounds corny, but I feel like the
moustache grew me. Like, I got the moustache and it grew me back and
body-snatched me and now here I am.
M: How can you not have a moustache, but still
harness the coolness of one?
J: Sideburns, or come check me out. No, um, if you can’t grow a
moustache, you simply shouldn’t be concerning yourself with what’s cool as it
relates to a moustache. It’s simply not in the cards for you.
6. You were with The Suicide Girls for an hour on one
of their radio shows giving out advice to all the guy callers calling in…
J: Yeah,
yeah, and I’m also on their DVD, and they performed with us onstage once at
Sunset Junction. That was a very interesting backstage…That was before rehab.
So that was cramming as many stripper-sluts as you can into a little bathroom
and snorting speed. You know, wherever you can find a place to snort it, if you
catch my meaning.
M: What would your advice be to a guy calling in about a
long-distance relationship? Do you think they work out?
J: Yea, anything’s possible. It’s funny that you should remember
that I gave sex advice to the guys calling…cuz
normally, I don’t know if you’ve heard it but, a lot of my advice was “what
would you advise? I wanna get a girl.” “Stop being
such a faggot.”
*laughs*
J: My first little bit of advice is “Stop being lame. If you want to
get girls, stop going to gay bars.”
M: That’s the first thing you should do.
J: *laughs* You know where I’m coming from.
7. What was it like working with the Bikini Bandits?
J: That was wonderful, man. I mean, what part, if girls are your
thing, right, if that’s your bag…It was awesome. I mean, having a bunch of hot
bikini girls crammed into a tight little sweaty room,
pouring cherry cola all over their bodies doesn’t suck for a second. But it was
hard. I felt like I was being objectified like I was just a piece of meat.
*laughs*
J: No, I’m just kidding. That was what the video was about. One of
the videos was about meat, I don’t know if you saw it…I introduced a bunch of
different cuts of meat, and the video is a bunch of girls dancing with meat and
breaking big sausages in half, and slapping themselves in the face with sausage
and…there’s this one where this girl’s frying bacon and she pours the bacon
grease all over her and, you know… artistically it was a very important piece
of my career.
M: It really shows your emotional side.
J: I was definitely fondling my feminine side the entire time the
video was being shot.
8. Do you think you’ve made Little Richard proud yet?
J: I don’t know, but I’d still like to find out cuz
I need the pressure to be over with, you know what I mean? I think I have a
little bit. In the sense that some crazy ass white boy running around,
screaming like I am, maybe he gets it. Because I just know that he loves to see
little ole white boys running around, screaming ever which way, so there’s got
to be some part of me that’s making him proud.
M: You ever meet him yet?
J: I met him once. He lives on one half of the top floor of the
Hyatt in
*laughs*
J: He said that to Crispin, so that was like, awesome.
M: What would you say to him now if you saw him?
J: I’d probably start crying…It’d probably turn into one of those
fantasy things where I’d want to say something big and
powerful but it’d just evolve into “I’ll suck your dick right now!”
*laughs*
9. Advertisers like your music. Eagles of Death metal music has
been used for a lot of commercials. What’s a product that you’d like to write a
song for?
J: I like to be challenged by things…I mean, I think there’s nothing
wrong with making things better, that’s why I have no qualms about putting my
music in advertising, I think that’s good. I think cool people like to buy
stuff too. And I think nice people like to buy stuff too. But, I would like to
write something for Preparation H...or Depends, and I could write a song like
“It depends.”
*laughs*
D: I think you have something.
J: *laughs* Yeah, I think we’re on to something. We’re gonna work together you and I; we’ll make millions. What
would be a… I’d like to do something for
M: Make-up?
J: Absolutely, honey.
10. Who would you like to
see next on Band of the Day?
J: I’d like to see The Raconteurs. I’d like to see The Strokes, cuz honestly, I’m telling you
straight, you guys have asked some really cool questions. I mean, I love doing
this stuff, but it’s always wonderful to come onto something and sit with
someone who gives a fuck about anything. And you guys are asking all the right
questions; you’re pushing all the right buttons, honey. This
machine’s about to open wide up for you, baby. No, I’m just kidding, but
uh…The fuel tank’s filled and ready to go, and this is a sex machine. No, I’m
just kidding, um. *laughs* I don’t know where that came from. I really apologize.
D: I’m really confused. *laughs*
J: *laughs* Me too, honey. And I think you
can help me out. *laughs* I’d like to see The Strokes; I’d like to see Rye
Coalition. I think you guys would get a big kick out of them. Fuckin’ badass.
M: We interviewed Billy Talent a bit ago and they picked you guys.
J: Really? That’s so weird man. We did a festival with them in
M: Yeah.
J: That’s really sweet. So, uh, I wanna
change my answer officially to Billy Talent.
M: We’ve had them on already.
J: What were they like?
D: They were great.
J: Were they strong?
D: Very strong.
J: How many push ups could they do? *laughs*
There you go you insecure ladies and gentlemen. You’ve got some
solid coolness advice from a rock star. Everyone
can dance, and you don’t need a moustache to be cool – I don’t even know why
you’d want one ladies. And for the
gentlemen, if you really want the girl, stop going to gay bars.
We want you so hard,
The BotD Team