Eagles of Death Metal's Boots!

Joanna: Hey! This is Joanna Angel...reporting to you live from the Velvet Margarita! So...tell me what's going on. Who are you? What makes you so special?

Boots Electric: I'm Boots Electric and this is Darlin' Dave we're from the Eagles of Death Metal...and what makes us so special is that we've been chosen by you for an interview!

[Joanna laughs]

Joanna: There was actually an audition to see who would be interviewed, and you guys made it!

Boots Electric: We brought the biggest attitude.

Joanna: Yeah...and the biggest...never mind...so anyway, how long have you guys been a band for? We'll start with the boring questions.

Boots Electric: About 11 feet.

Joanna: 11 feet? [Laughs]

Boots Electric: Well, we've been in love for eight years, but we've only been together for six. No, I think about six years...

Darlin' Dave: Five - six years.

Boots Electric: Five or six years. It was kind of like a magic fairytale beginning.

Joanna: So tell me the beginning if it was so magical...

Boots Electric: I was a married square. I was about 227 pounds -

Joanna: - Ouch!

Boots Electric: And I went through a tragic divorce that broke my heart. And I discovered chemical alterations to the body and the mind, and lost weight. And I -

Joanna: - that's a terrible – if you're reading this, don't lose weight like that. There are better ways to lose weight.

Boots Electric: Do not do that! So, I got divorced and my best friend happened to be in a rock band. And he brought me to Hollywood, and I wrote the first record, and now here I am...with you. Which is amazing.

Joanna: Oh wow, that is amazing.

Boots Electric: I didn't know I was a werewolf my whole life, and I saw my first full moon when I was 30.

[Joanna laughs]

Boots Electric: And I wrote the best record ever.

Joanna: So why did you want the name “Death Metal” in your band name if you're not really “death metal”.

Boots Electric: You know, that is an awesome question. Or if we wanted to sell records -

Joanna: I figured, like, “I don't really want to ask that question, cause I know everyone asks that...” but I asked it anyway!

Boots Electric: You know, you're the first person to ask it quite that way.

Joanna: Oh, everyone else just sort of danced around the issue, and they were like, “Soooo... - “

Boots Electric: - “Where did you come up with such an interesting name?”

[Joanna laughs]

Boots Electric: We just didn't want Walmart to sell records for us – no, just kidding...Joshua and I were in a VW van and I shit you not, the license plate said “doomed”...and we were smoking jazz cigarettes -

Joanna: - Jazz cigarettes? What's a jazz cigarette?

Boots Electric: A jazz cigarette is a cigarette that doesn't have tobacco in it. So, we were getting high and we were making fun of our friend who liked death metal and we were like, “Dude, this isn't even real death metal...this is like 'The Eagles' of death metal.”

Joanna: Oh, I get it!

Boots Electric: So that summed it up perfectly; to me the most evil thing in the world is a beautiful rose...the serpent was the most subtle of the creatures...so I think we're like real death metal.

Joanna: Oh, I get it...so you're making fun of The Eagles and you're making fun of other people...

Boots Electric: No, we're making fun of ourselves by making fun of other people.

Joanna: That's actually what I do all the time.

Boots Electric: It's the only way to go...you get to the truth of the matter.

Joanna: It's true, it's true. Ok, so you started a band and then what? What happened after you made your first record? Did you put it out yourselves? Did you put it out through a label?

Boots Electric: Yeah – my friend, Joshua Homme, who I keep referencing – he's like my silent partner 'cause I don't want to be in the shadow.

Joanna: But he's not here right now...

Boots Electric: No, he's at home right now. He's recording. He's married.

Joanna: Recording for you?

Boots Electric: Yes, recording for me...a beautiful ballad about my life. No, Joshua put it out through his label called Records Records and -

Joanna: It's really called Records Records?

Boots Electric: Yeah.

Joanna: That's awesome.

Boots Electric: And then Mike Patton put it out through his label.

Joanna: Really? Oh...are you friends with Mike Patton?

Boots Electric: Kinda; I really respect and admire him. But I think sometimes when you want to be the weirdest dude on the block, sometimes you are.

[Joanna laughs]

Joanna: Are you guys playing with them?

Boots Electric: I think we're crossing paths with them a little...we're playing with Spinal Tap too!

Joanna: Did he ever invite you over and have you make weird noises in his living room or anything?

Boots Electric: No, but I watched him pour piss out of his own shoe on top of Tool at the Warfield up in the rafters...

[Joanna starts laughing]

Boots Electric: ...and I was up in the rafters with him and he was like, “You wanna see something cool about this place?” And I was like, “Yeah dude.” So we went up in the rafters and it was all like “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”, and then he pisses into his shoe, and I'm thinking “That's...different...” and then he, uh [Boots Electric makes a dumping motion, as if he's turning the shoe upside-down]...”

Joanna: Was it Converse? Vans? Or leather?

Boots Electric: No, it was like really nice.

Joanna: Oh, at least that's easier to get the pee out of then.

Boots Electric: Yeah, but it was like – why would you do that? Ok, you're pissing on him; that's awesome!

[Joanna laughs]

Joanna: Did he do anything to make the record? Did help produce it or -

Boots Electric: No, and actually the word “ipecac” is offensive to me; it's something that makes you vomit – not gag, but vomit. So we had the name of the record label changed [from Ipecac] to AntAcid. And it's the biggest selling record on Ipecac, but it's the only one not actually on the name label.

[Joanna laughs]

Joanna: So you told him you didn't like the name?

Boots Electric: No, I didn't tell him that...I had a lawyer tell him.

Joanna: And he really put out a new subsidiary just for your band?

Boots Electric: Yeah. It was probably a smart and wise business decision; diversifying can actually -

Joanna: - Right, makes you look like a huge company.

Boots Electric: Really makes you look big...it's like driving a Lamborghini.

Joanna: Right, exactly! [Silent pause] Do you drive a Lamborghini?

Boots Electric: No.

Joanna: I don't either.

Boots Electric: I drive a a 1981 Toyota Corolla. No – I'm just kidding.

Joanna: Well, what do you like to do when you're on tour and not playing music?

Boots Electric: I like to write music. I like long walks. I like songs and dreams.

Joanna: Do you like to write the lyrics too, or -

Boots Electric: Yeah, well I'm an obsessive control freak, and I always have a vision of what I want -

Joanna: - I understand -

Boots Electric: - You know what I mean. You have this massive vision and it's gotta be that way. And I'm fortunate to have the sort of friends who are able to share that vision. But we also all have this theory that is let the music tell you what it wants. So we let it tell us, and we obey it and don't overdo it.

Joanna: I know when you guys play, you get really into it, and do a lot of crazy shit on stage...and you bring out this sort of sexual energy...have you guys ever had anything crazy happen on tour?

Boots Electric: Oh, come on. Of course...

Joanna: I want to hear some of the crazy Eagles of Death Metal tour stories...you don't have to name names...unless you want to...

Boots Electric: Crazy things happen; basically the band is like a big advertisement for “Let's Fuck!” I mean, let's face it...we're not here to save fucking whales; we're here to get down and have a good time.

[Joanna laughs]

Boots Electric: So that's what our army's out to do. Rock n' Roll has a way of possessing you; it's like an evil spirit...and so we tend to whip them into a frenzy – boys and girls – and I'll tell you the crazy shit that happens is dudes bartering their girlfriends for backstage passes. But they do it so casually because they're such pussies about it. I really think that a lot of it is situations where a dude wants to check you out while you're pissing. It's like maybe when you're hooking up with your buddy and another chick, it's just so you can have sex in your buddy's face and not so you can get down on a girl.

Joanna: Did you ever do that?

Boots Electric: I've never looked at my buddy's face...ever.

Darlin' Dave: A lot of married men like to do that...

Boots Electric: There's such a “swing” element that is sweeping the nation -

Joanna: That is true – that is true -

Boots Electric: Like black dudes surrounding your young, white girlfriend is a popular fetish I've noticed...it's sweeping the nation.

Joanna: Well, did you ever take anyone up on it? Did you ever say, “Alright, couple A and B...I'm gonna take you up on your offer, and I'm gonna bang your girlfriend and you're going to watch and take notes and whatever...”?

Boots Electric: Well, let me tell you this story. The first tour with Eagles of Death Metal for me was not like a fox in a hen house; it was more like a chicken in a fox house. It was bad news all the way from the beginning -

Joanna: - What's a fox house like?

Boots Electric: Like a bad place for a chicken.

[Everyone laughs]

Boots Electric: And do, I felt like the Eagles of Death Metal show was a fox house, and we had a show at Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco -

Joanna: - which is a crazy place to begin with.

Boots Electric: It is, it is. San Francisco and the Cafe Du Nord where Swedish dudes get naked and burn fires and shit. And so this guy who I guess I kinda knew from when I was a kid but I don't remember...he had this hot girlfriend and she was kinda loaded and he was making jokes like, “Dude, you can fuck my girlfriend if you really want to.” And I was like, “Really?” And he was like, “Yeah.” So I took her upstairs to the “front room” and it was all these pagan, wooden altar chairs where men get together and are Swedish. And I gave it to her – it was a really “no holds barred” situation; I really gave it to her...I violated her holiest of holies.

Joanna: Was her boyfriend there?

Boots Electric: He was downstairs -

Darlin' Dave: - he was with me!

Boots Electric: He was downstairs talking to Dave and he was like, “Where did they go?” He thought we were joking!

Joanna: That's awesome.

Boots Electric: So we gave it to one another, the double-backed beast, for real. And we came downstairs and it was this really windy staircase and I'll never forget it – he was at the bottom and we met at the bottom and then we looked in each other's eyes and then it got real. And I was like, “Thanks dude!” And then we went and played the show and the whole show -

Joanna: - I'm not sure if you were the hooker in that situation or if she was -

Boots Electric: - I feel used.

Joanna: Who did who a favor?

Boots Electric: I'm not a piece of meat.

Joanna: Yes you are.

Boots Electric: Yes I am.

Joanna: You volunteered to be. Well, that's crazy – was he a fan?

Boots Electric: He was.

Joanna: Oh, he's not anymore.

Boots Electric: And he was such a puss about it. He was such a sissy. He threw toothpicks at us. He would yell out “Fuck you, Eagles of Death Metal!”

Joanna: Really? But he asked you to?

Boots Electric: Yeah, but sometimes, when you call the devil he might arrive...even when you don't think he will.

Joanna: Did you invite him to go upstairs?

Boots Electric: No, I knew that he didn't think it was really going to happen, but I knew that...I didn't care. I was horny.

Joanna: [Laughs] And he gave you the green light.

Boots Electric: He made it possible for me to have sex.

Joanna: But if that guy's out there reading this: he didn't want to steal your girlfriend; he just wanted to borrow her for a little bit.

Boots Electric: I helped you guys! Gave you something to talk about.

Joanna: So you never did it with a couple? Just half a couple.

Boots Electric: No, I've done that. You know, sex is an interesting environment where every household has an element of erotic cinema. You know now there's sort of an amazing acceptance or incorporation into the fabric of society itself of the adult world. And that being said, there's a lot more room for experimentation and it's easier to manipulate the human mind into sex acts, so yeah – I've definitely done couples. Whatever it takes! We will relegate the dude to a far corner of the bed...

Joanna: Do you have a hard time finding a relationship, because you're so -

Boots Electric: No, when I'm ready to be with someone, I make a deal and I keep it – when you make a deal to be straight with someone, you make the deal and you do it.

Joanna: Have you ever been with someone seriously that you...shared, like that?

Boots Electric: Yes. And sometimes it can go south. You know, you have to be ready for it. You have to be hard enough or able to steal yourself, cause that will fuck you up mentally. If the second you see dick-in-mouth of someone else and you're like, “That fucking bitch!” -

Joanna: - You're gonna ruin everything!

Boots Electric: And if you really care about someone, hopefully you'll look ahead to the future...there's no reason to saddle someone with a daddy issue when they didn't need to have one.

Joanna: It's true.

Boots Electric: Of course, I try to look like every girl's dad when they were about three -

[Joanna laughs]

Boots Electric: - it's called the “Paging Dr. Freud” and then -

Joanna: You have too much hair for that.

Boots Electric: My last relationship ended about two weeks ago in Australia with me getting hit in the face with a lamp. Shit can go south.

Joanna: Like a chandelier or like -

Boots Electric: - like a hotel lamp.

Joanna: Oh, ok. That's not so bad; could've been worse.

Boots Electric: Yeah...

Joanna: Well, I uh, direct, produce and do everything to my movies -

Boots Electric: Ok, darling, you are Svengali acted out...PT Barnum would be proud. I am such a fan of yours, and if I am acting giddy, I'm sorry – I can't hide it.

[Joanna laughs]

Joanna: [Shyly] No, that's ok.

Boots Electric: I have been on so many of your sets – I'm just a creepy dude. No, I'm just kidding.

Joanna: That's ok...there is a creey dude inside of me too.

Boots Electric: I like to make that [porn] accessible, because it's definitely a need that goes hand-in-hand with rock n' roll. It's synonymous.

Joanna: Why do you think it is synonymous?

Boots Electric: Well, let's look at the roots of rock n' roll...what does that word mean? It comes from a word for fucking. It's true...and I don't know, there's something when you embrace it – when you give into that animal – it charges it up. I assure you that I've made music for you. I promise you that. I will make more music for you.

Joanna: Yes! So sometimes, I'm stumped on story ideas for the short videos I make – do you have any suggestions? What would you want to see? And you could pick the amount of guys, the amount of girls, anything!

Boots Electric: Well, there are two scenarios that I have. I like the “Oh my god, what do we have here” - the “little flower” scenario; the young girl alone in the forest and then two or three guys come out -

Joanna: - oh, ok, so you like it to be a little creepy...

Boots Electric: Kinda creepy. But also, I like the element of being caught. I like being in just one dressing room down and you can hear your girlfriend or whatever in the other room, and it requires a couple people to help you create a facade. I like that – I like to get into the brain. I read the articles when I get my Playboy.

[Everyone laughs]

Joanna: Ok, so you want something that feels like you're getting caught?

Boots Electric: Yeah. I like posessions. I like the pointing of the toes with sincerity.

Joanna: Do you like to look at people's faces?

Boots Electric: It depends if someone's face has something interesting to look at. That look of pleased agony, or the arching of the back...that's the kind of stuff I'm into. I don't care if it's happening on a beach of in my aunt's living room; I don't give a fuck. As long as it's happening to me, now.

Joanna: Right. I mean, when you watch porn do you feel like you're there?

Boots Electric: Sometimes that POV stuff bothers me, cause I don't want to feel like I have another dude's dick. And other times, the adult cinema is a tool, so you can put an idea directly and highly defined into a girl's head immediately, and be like, “Ok, I know now that she is thinking about getting bent over a desk and fucked like this woman...”

[Joanna laughs]

Joanna: Ok, so you watch porn with girls?

Boots Electric: I only watch porn with girls. That's the only time I'll watch it.

Joanna: Oh, well that's good...have you watched me with girls...?

Boots Electric: Yes.

Joanna: Yes! I like to insight...

Boots Electric: You've insighted a lot...many times...

Joanna: [Turning to Dave] Is it hard being in a band with him?

Darlin' Dave: It's the most wonderful experience anyone could ever had...

Joanna: Awwww. [Dave and Boots embrace lovingly]

Boots Electric: We're all close friends. It's really nice.

Joanna: Who started the band? Did you or – no, your friend was in the band -

Boots Electric: The band started us. And it made me. I was a radically different dude; I used to work in politics. I was a conservative, political activist.

Joanna: A conservative?

Boots Electric: Yeah. I'm a Bo Derek conservative. She's one of the biggest republicans in the world, believe it or not. She's all about “get the fuckin' government off our backs completely. They should have no say in what we do; we should not have to keep records in Chatsworth for anything. That's what I think. No federal government.

Joanna: Ok, it's a different view.

Boots Electric: It's a radical view. It's the back of the Log Cabin Republicans.

Joanna: What is your favorite thing to eat here?

Boots Electric: We are at the Velvet Margarita, which is the gang headquarters. It's like our favorite place in the world.

Joanna: you eat a lot of burritos here?

Boots Electric: I don't really eat a lot of burritos, but I eat a lot of chips.

Joanna: The chips are awesome [Reader take note that throughout the course of this interview, Joanna has been sneaking tortilla chips from a basket on the bar...and right after she says that, she takes a chip from the basket and feeds it to Boots.]! So what are you doing now? Anything interesting? Anything you want to talk about? You just came out with a new album, right?

Boots Electric: Yeah. It's called Heart On.

Joanna: I was listening to it on the way here.

Boots Electric: What did you think about it, darlin'?

Joanna: I like it. I like you guys!

Boots Electric: Awesome! We make music for girls. We really do. We find a lot of girls; there's a whole MILF thing starting. Girls and their daughters.

Joanna: So it's music for MILFs? I haven't done a MILF movie yet, but I kind of want to. We have a movie called “Cum On My Tattoo” -

Boots Electric: I know – I have that.

[Joanna laughs]

Joanna: I really want to make a “Cum On My Mom's Tattoo”. So maybe you can help cast it.

Boots Electric: I will, and I want to come up with some movie ideas darlin'...and I want to write music for you. I want to score a film.

Joanna: Ok, I always need music.

Boots Electric: Many times the adult world and the rock world come together, and I think it's high time for that.

Joanna: No, they do – they need each other.

Boots Electric: I need you, darlin'. And I want to make it certain that I'm being absolutely dead serious when I say that.

[Joanna shyly laughs for a bit]

Joanna: So, I'm gonna put this on BurningAngel. And they're either leaving a jerking off area to come here, or reading this rather than jerking off -

Boots Electric: And that is a big commitment to make.

Joanna: So do you have anything you want to say to them?

Boots Electric: Yes, if you have an erection for over four hours after listening to Heart On seek psychological attention immediately.

[Joanna laughs]

Joanna: Ok, well, I guess that's it. Did you have fun?

Boots Electric: I am having fun. I don't want it to end, for real.

Joanna: I had fun too...hopefully it recorded...or I'm gonna kill this guy. Well thank you...bye!