Self-proclaimed as “the stoopidest band in the world”, Love/Hate were rank outsiders in the Sunset Strip’s race to the top. That didn’t stop them from claiming a brief yet decadent few years in the spotlight. On the eve of a tour based around their second album, Wasted In America, frontman and final original member Jizzy Pearl checks in.
These dates feature Love/Hate’s Wasted In America in full. How do you look back at that record?
Very favourably. I’m blessed that all this time later, people continue to give a shit about the band’s music.
Where did it all go wrong for Love/Hate?
A lot of it had to do with the complex chemistry of the band members. But of course some of it was our own fault; back then so many bands made records that stuck to a strict formula – twelve songs that all sounded alike, y’know? We were much more varied in our musicality. Maybe that’s why the Brits got us so wholeheartedly and America required a lot more convincing.
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Who completes the line-up?
It’s a bunch of British guys I’ve known for a while – guitarist Stevie Pearce, Christian Kimmett on bass and drummer Mickey Richards.
Love/Hate were there at the birth of hair-metal. Was it as indulgent as one may presume?
Oh yeah. At that point the Sunset Strip was a vibrant, awesome place to be, a bit like the Roaring Twenties in that it’s now a discussion point. Sadly it’ll never be like that again, but while it lasted it was cool.
In 1992 you were jailed for a publicity stunt that saw you mock-crucified on the Hollywood sign. Any regrets?
No. I look back on it and simply marvel that I didn’t plummet to my death. It was a dumb, reckless thing to do but it got people talking about the band.
You’ve also fronted L.A. Guns, Ratt, Quiet Riot and Steven Adler’s Appetite. Is there a part of you that pines to do something entirely different?
Do you mean like opera? [Laughs] Or spoken-word? No, I don’t.
Not even as a singer-songwriter?
No. I’m proud of the fact I can still hit all the notes. That’s why I’m the go-to guy. They know I still deliver and that I’m not a fuck-up.
Love/Hate’s tour commences in Edinburgh on March 8.
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