greg brown

Black Lips are from Atlanta and recently rolled around on their backs while performing on Conan O’Brien. They released Good Bad Not Evil on Vice last month. Guitarist Cole Alexander speaks from somewhere on the grapevine.

What’s the green room on Conan like?
It’s nice—we got a TV and like catering stuff. We were like, ‘Can you get some booze?’ But they didn’t bring booze until an hour before—we were there all day doing soundcheck. We realized they held out til the last minute so we couldn’t get shitfaced. I guess they’d probably had problems before. We were in good shape—we definitely didn’t get shitfaced. One good thing about the green room is they come up with the show onstage and they’re like pitching ideas—you can turn on the TV in the green room and see the cameras on and them getting ready. You get to see them make the show—it’s almost funnier than the real show.
Your own private Conan.
We were trying to like get video off the TV but it didn’t work.
Was that the greatest experience during the lifetime of the Black Lips so far?
That was up there. When we played in Palestine for Hamas, that was pretty cool. One kid started singing a Hamas chant—we were doing ‘Johnny B. Goode’ and that was the one song they recognized.
What country produces the best bands?
The states—I think we got the best fucking music. England had great stuff, but overall I think just any random record from the states… Hip-hop is so good and you can get an old country record or an old rock record, and plus we have immigrants from every other country.
What have people been throwing at you lately?
People were throwing glass bottles at us the other night. One guy made contact with my cranium.
What’s that feel like?
It hit so hard I didn’t feel it at all. It went through my head without any pain.
What were the Tyrades talking about when they told Razorcake the only Black Lips rules are no fireworks and no stuffed monkeys?
We like monkeys and fireworks. I think that was one of the club’s rules. They don’t like stuffed monkeys. We destroyed one and it got all caught in the monitors and ruined the monitors.
So Black Lips have no rules.
And no fear, either.
What record label do you own the most releases from?
Crypt or Bomp. Or Hypnotize Minds.
Three 6 Mafia’s label?
I have tons of their shit—they did all these underground tapes in the ‘90s. Chapter 2: World Domination, Mystic Stylez, Triple Six Mafia Underground… The most albums I have from any label are probably no more than eight or nine.
What’s the best reissue series?
Back From The Grave, by far.
What’s the best uncomped song?
There’s this song on an album that’s not on a comp—‘Caledonia,’ by Cro-Magnon. It’s like death metal from the ‘60s. They got bagpipes on it, too. I’m way into the Fugs, too. I got the original records on ESP. I got one that looks like a heavy metal album on the front—it’s got a bunch of pictures of Ginsberg inside and they look like metalheads, and on the back it says ‘Heavy Metal Music,’ and heavy metal wasn’t even out then. It was like 1968.
Bomp magazine was calling records ‘hardcore punk’ in 1974.
I heard in the ‘60s they did call ‘em punk bands. But like how parents would call them—like cops call people punks.
How did you get to be Mighty Hannibal’s backing band?
He’s awesome—he’s an old-school show biz guy. He’ll bust your balls if you’re not on point. Jared got it together—he got in contact with him and really pushed him to come back to Atlanta because he lived in New York. He’s like a legend in Atlanta but a lot of kids didn’t know him because he’d been away so long. So we got to reacquaint them. When he came, he got a proclamation from the city council for his civil rights stuff and anti-drug work.
Did you dress up when you played with him?
Aw, no—well, we did dress up. But he didn’t insist. He’s blind.
Did you see Blowfly when his horn section was like high school kids in sweatpants?
I’ve heard his records. And I saw Dolemite the other day! He was still sharp—he’s like 92. He’s in a wheelchair, though.
Which one of those guys are you gonna end up like?
I don’t know—if I start to suck too bad, I’ll quit.
Do you have someone you trust to tell you if you suck?
We got a couple friends. If we’re like bad right now—like if we’re kind of crappy, they might not say because we’re still in our prime. But when we’re straight-up old and horrible… Now and then there might be a bad moment, but they’ll be like, ‘Ah, that’s fine.’
Is Roky Erickson the greatest human American of all time?
I think he’s a real American hero. In the ‘60s, the states kind of fell behind England. They had such a strong scene—Beatles, Stones, Pretty Things, Kinks, Troggs—and he was one of the guys who came back at ‘em. Not like it’s a competition, but he could match that quality of music. And he was one of the first people to put purely psychedelic music in a pop context. He’s one of the fathers of punk.
Did you guys really piss in each other’s mouths?
That’s just bullshit.

BLACK LIPS PLAY FRI., OCT. 19, WITH THE SPITS AND THE HUSBANDS AT THE TROUBADOUR, 9081 SANTA MONICA BLVD., HOLLYWOOD. 8:30 PM / $15 / ALL AGES. WWW.TROUBADOUR.COM. AND SAT., OCT. 20, WITH PIERCED ARROWS AND THE SPITS AT THE ECHOPLEX, 1154 GLENDALE BLVD., ECHO PARK. 9 PM / $15 / 18+. WWW.ATTHEECHO.COM.