What was your first taste of fame?
I played in bands in high school, playing parties, so that was a little bit of fame. When that happens you’re famous in your high school. Doing that it was big on a little scale. We thought Mötley had made it once we headlined the Whisky A Go Go. We just wanted to be the biggest band in Hollywood. That was fame to us. We didn’t think we’d be the biggest band in the world.
_What’s the best thing about being famous? _
You always get a good table at the restaurant, you never have to stand in line.
And the worst?
I love it when people ask me for an autograph, but sometimes it’s not great when someone asks while you’re in the bathroom. Or while you’re eating and people want to come shake your hand. Maybe you’re not in the best mood and everyone stops you for a picture. It gets annoying, but it’s the price of fame.
_Is it easy to lose your grip on reality when fame comes along? _
Look at people with a lot of fame that do the wrong shit with it. You read stories about people that are in the news because the police are investigating this thing and that thing about them. Get a fuckin’ life, man! You see that with sports athletes. They have multimillion-dollar contracts and they get caught with guns. What the fuck do you want a gun for? They know they’ll get kicked out for having one but they do it anyway. They throw away the great stuff they have in their lives because of the people around them, the so-called friends. You get fame and think you’re above the law.
Is it now easier than ever to become famous?
Today everybody wants to be famous, because it doesn’t take any talent to be famous any more. When we started out you got famous because of your talents. Now you’re famous for being famous. Look at the Kardashians – what did they ever do to be famous? Everybody thinks they’re rappers, because it doesn’t take any talent. It did when rap first started, but now it’s just talking to nursery rhymes. And now everybody wants to be a DJ, because all you have to do is put music into a computer and press ‘Play’. I guess it’s great if you’re not famous and you want to be, but it’s sad.
Is fame addictive?
Yeah, especially for the people that don’t have any talent. You have people on reality shows, and once the reality show is over, now what? Now you’ve got things like a chick was on [US reality TV show] Teen Mom, so now she puts a porn movie out. That’s her next way to be famous. That’s pretty sad. In a year that’s gone and what are you going to do then? You’re just chasing your tail.
Be honest, do you ever say: “Do you know who I am?”
No. I don’t have to, because now I own the restaurants that I go to, so it’s all good and I always get the best table.
