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Where's the cat?
Where is it?
Baby...
I waved to him!
It's red!
I fucking could have made it through there. What the fuck?
That's stupid!
No, because... look, Chris...
There is people in the middle, you will put great traffic...
I would have been on right there.
What's the problem with you? The law is the law.
That's a judgment call, it wasn't red.
You missed a piece...
What's up, man?
I'm selling the box : 30 €.
Yeah, but I play electric guitar. I don't play acoustic.
I'd put drugs in that thing. I'd put drugs in there.
"Chris Holmes on Radio Beat!"
We've been talking about him during the last hour,
finally, guitarist Chris Holmes is in our studio for the first time ever!
Chris, for many people, you are an american rock star who leads a wild life.
What do you think of the way people see you?
I don't really care.
They’re not the ones paying my bills.
A rock star is somebody like Gene Simmons,
who wants to be...
They walk in the room and: "I'm a rock star."
Me, it's a way of life or whatever.
It's a personality, you know.
I don't even have any memorabilia from W.A.S.P.
Nothing. - Nothing left?
The biggest part of the sound was Chris' guitar,
and just his attitude, the way he played, man.
He was like angry: "Motherfucker...!"
He was angry and that was all part of the fuckin' attitude, man.
Chris is a huge part of the W.A.S.P. sound for sure.
His guitar tone and his parts are huge part of it.
The most metal guy in that band, for sure.
That guy was not messing around, he was living it.
I recognize him as an icon in music.
When I first got into heavy-metal,
W.A.S.P. and especially Chris Holmes, was one of the first inspirational figureheads.
There was Ozzy, this was beyond KISS.
I remember watching those pictures in the magazines,
looking at Chris Holmes with the black eyeliner and the big blond hair...
"That's a cool guy, I wanna be him."
Chris was like the US version of Lemmy, back in the early 80s.
He was Lemmy, but just more crazy, psycho,
uncontrollable...
That was rock n' roll.
That's what the L.A. scene really needed,
to take it out of that glam-rock stigma that was going on in L.A.
The first two W.A.S.P. records are still two of my favorite records.
I remember listening to that, going: "I gotta move to L.A.,
'cause that's where that's happening."
Those really inspired me to get my ass out there.
My wife and I moved from L.A. to Europe,
so we came to visit her parents, they live in Cannes.
"No, baby, I see you..."
People think that W.A.S.P. was successful or whatever...
Yeah, we sold a lot of records and we were successful,
but I didn't understand how the money worked and all that stuff,
so all the contracts, I guess I signed away...
I didn't even sign away my publishing, I never got any out of it.
Freddie !
Don't kiss me or I'll fuckin' punch you.
My name is Frédéric Bujoli, I've been a lawyer for 15 years.
I'm a huge heavy-metal and hard-rock fan.
W.A.S.P. was of course one of the big 80s bands we listened to.
Chris is now a singer and looking towards the future,
but we need to restore his rights from his past.
Many things have not been settled since 1984.
"Come over here, come here Ug."
Here in France, a lot of people get mad that I don't speak French,
but I don't sing in French.
I'd learn English language first, before I learn French, but I still don't even know that.
It's probably better that I don't understand what they say anyway.
It's probably better that I don't understand it.
Other than talking, there are other languages like this.
That.
Yo!
This guy saw me play in L.A. in 1991.
1991.
A long time ago.
I saw this fuckin' guy on stage.
You can't break it.
Hair dryer... I get my hair dry.
Most of the people I've surrounded myself with in Hollywood,
they just care about themselves: "What can you do for me?"
Most of all other girls in my life, they really didn't give a crap about my career,
or me playing music, or anything like that.
Sarah kinda cared about what I did musically.
We spent a whole evening talking.
He told me about his life, I told him about mine.
It was natural and we never left each other.
Baby, there are people around, you can't do that now.
This was my previous wife, before.
She gives me a hug in the front.
We've got ten minutes before my first gig I ever sang in my life.
It's kind of a new chapter for me.
It's great now because I don't have to put up with the L.S.D.
It's called Lead Singer Disease.
I've put up with that all my life.
I'm not saying that all lead singers are assholes.
A lot of them are.
The lead singer I worked with for years was really hard to work with.
That makes the other guys really nice,
even if they're not, right?
I like the part that makes people happy,
makes me put some smile on their face.
People bring their own records and want them signed. You've gotta do that.
They get to take a picture with somebody they probably never thought they would be able to.
You see a lot of people smile and say thanks,
I like that.
I don't like making people sad.
- Good night! - Thank you!
I am the one and only Blackie Lawless,
and this is Chris Holmes: speak for them, Chris!
Sometimes he has to... stop!
W.A.S.P. were likes of new wave of shock band.
They were really good as well.
They took "God of Thunder" by KISS and they built on that.
How could you not love the theatrics?
First time I heard the song "Fuck Like a Beast", I was just on the floor laughing.
I was reading the only magazine for popular music in Sweden, growing up,
and W.A.S.P. had just come out with their first album,
it was like an uproar in Sweden, everybody was outraged about this new music.
When you paid for your ticket to go watch W.A.S.P.,
your shirt was worn-out when you walked out there,
'cause you just got entertained for an hour and a half, in a big way.
The first show they did was like on a Tuesday night.
At that time, there was no Internet, no cellphones or big clunky things.
They had a couple hundred people from word of mouth.
That's when they tortured the girl on the rack.
The story goes that the next Saturday, they kicked the headliner off,
they put W.A.S.P. on it and 3.000 people came down.
The fire marshalls wanted to shut them down.
Blackie's idea was costumes that have weaponry.
He had sawblades, bolts, lag bolts,
and that stupid saw between his legs, I knew that was gonna be trouble.
I heard later he blew himself up one time.
It was scary because who the hell is eating raw meat on stage,
and then throwing it at the crowd, and the crowd loving it?
It was insane. I never wanted to be in the front row,
I'd stay in the back because I didn't want to get hit by some raw meat.
It was very scary,
to see these huge men come out on stage, fire everywhere, smoke going off...
Blackie actually came up with the idea for the fire sign,
but he wanted to do it round, with the name in the middle.
I said "no, just frame the name".
Frame the name in big letters,
we'll get fire resistant paint,
'cause the letters were just wood,
double-coat so nothing will burn, put bolts in it,
scratch'em up a lot, make them look nasty,
and then blow this flame up around
with two 5-gallon tanks of propane, that's one of them right back there.
One of the original propane tanks.
And just doing crazy shit...
Chris was wild.
He is a showman.
He could be just tired, not in a good mood or bummed out,
soon as the lights hit, he was an animal.
I always relied on, first of all the music that comes out of my hands,
through the guitar, trough the speaker cabinets,
off the stage. That's what people are gonna get.
The theatrics... I don't know...
I look at like like people that have to do it, they're not good enough to be themselves.
They're not good enough to be on stage and people buying a ticket to watch it.
Myself is. I am.
He could do without the costumes,
which is why he cut the butt off of his original costume.
He said "If I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do it my way."
I saw the film Jimi Hendrix and...
That's my dog. He's Ug.
I saw the film Jimi Hendrix and...
The way he played, jumping around...
I dug it man, that's all I wanted to do.
I never thought of myself:
"Wow, ok, I'll create this guy, Chris Holmes."
Gotta be always filming!
You gotta hang that thing around your neck.
That's it, right?
Move that piece of shit!
- Chris! - What?
The sound is ok, but when you play, it's too loud.
It's heavy metal, you can't ask Chris Holmes to play down like he plays disco!
Hey, who fucked up on the soundcheck?
These guys are waiting for us.
Why do you look at me when you do that?
Sarah, I'm not saying you did.
We play at 10?
My amp's fucked!
How you doin'?
What's up?
I have to thank for one thing my wife Sarah,
if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here at all.
I'll be at home in my closet, drinking,
smoking dope, doing nothing...
Thank you very much!
First time that I listen to Mean Man.
Really good music for me.
Nice to meet you.
Czech Republic, Prague!
You deserve a kiss!
Oh thank you!
My husband thinks that he's the best guitar player ever.
Rock n' roll!
God, I wished my fuckin' amp worked, man.
We're going to change that when we go back, baby.
That was a bummer.
You all made a great show.
Baby, stop, stop, stop!
Chris, people are sleeping!
I know, that's why I do it.
Do you like more to record or playing live?
I like playing live.
If I had a choice it would be playing live.
How does it feel when your own wife is managing you?
I don't trust anybody else.
I never got a penny out of W.A.S.P.
I've been "famous" but...
All my publishing money goes right into somebody's pocket.
I trusted somebody who I shouldn't have trusted.
My name's on the record as a songwriter,
but I don't get the money for it.
I saw some fans last night singing the songs that I wrote.
That made me happy.
How do you rest after concerts?
Rest?
Usually I lay parallel...
I'd like to play on top of Mount Everest.
You think you can do it?
I don't know, I always had a dream to walk there,
take acoustic guitar,
play "Yankee Doodle Dandy" or something...
"Kumbaya"...
Getting there and play "Fuck Like a Beast"...
That's my beard.
This is what happens when you don't shave.
I miss the part of when I traveled on the bus,
and I didn't have to worry about my instruments, or guitars, or anything.
I'd walk in the soundcheck, play a few notes,
give the roadies the guitar, then come out and play. Just had to take care of myself.
Since I'm starting out again, I've got to worry about my stuff.
It's a little harder, but I like to play, you know.
Is that everything?
A lot of people from the 80s are not playing anymore.
One good think, I can still walk, I'm kind of in good health, I guess.
Can I just look at the engine?
I wanna see the engine. I'm from America.
I'm from America, I'm just kind of curious.
- What's this? - The air...
Hot and cold.
It's got a turbocharger on it.
- What kind of car is that? - Germany car.
- What year? - Trabant 1968.
It's cool. Thanks for showing me that.
Big motorcycle.
Thanks for showing me that, I appreciate it.
I'd never seen a car like that in my life.
Man, a two-stroke!
Chris Holmes was a character.
Everybody in L.A. that was into hard-rock and metal knew of Chris Holmes.
He was really an icon in the L.A. hard-rock and metal scene.
I remember actually the photo shoot,
when Chris was sitting on that chopper frame.
He had a barrel, a beer and a cigar. We were wasted that day.
That was at Neil Zlozower's studio in Hollywood.
Me and Chris were outside with the homeless street people, drinking and shit.
Blackie was pissed off inside because we were out there getting drunk
outside in Hollywood... That's a true story.
Get the fuck out.
Excuse me man, these guys make me crazy.
We got a record deal within a year.
We got one within nine months.
With Rod Smallwood at Capitol Records, that's how we hit the big time.
I was just happy making money on playing music.
I started off with 125$ a week,
that was great.
Before that, I wasn't making nothing.
If I would have understood how the publishing and all that shit worked then,
Blackie and I would have went head to head and I wouldn't have been in the band that long.
He would have fired me real quick.
Sure, everybody wants to be successful.
I wanted to play hard-rock. Do what Jimi Hendrix did.
To get to that level, there's a lot of business crap you've got to take care of.
Everyday photo sessions, this and that... just for the business...
We signed with Rod Smallwood,
they were like a bank, so at that point we had all the money we needed
to get the band off the road, you know.
In the beginning, it was all for one, one for all.
Everybody puttin' in what they did.
After the first record, Blackie wanted it just to be him.
He didn't want the other guys in the band.
Look at the records: should I say anymore?
Who's on the cover of the second one? Who's on the cover of the third one?
He didn't want it to be a band after the first album,
he just wanted it to be the Blackie Lawless project.
After that I really didn't give a shit about it.
- When you were a little kid, did you want to be a rock star? - Yes I did.
Definitely.
But she wouldn't let me...
Hello mom, can I take a rock guitar? She says, well...
No you can't, 'cause you'll turn into those drug infested rockstars.
- Do you consider yourself... - A piece of crap.
Why ?
Well, because I work the job... and I'm a piece of crap.
What do you think you're gonna be doing ten years from now?
I'll probably be dead. You'll come and see me in my graveyard.
Do you think this kind of rock n' roll lifestyle is hard on you and maybe that's why you drink?
I'm a full-blown alcoholic,
and I drink because... look...
He's gonna be remembered for that for the rest of his life, at some point.
Somebody will bring it up again.
But that's rock n' roll...!
I think I had the same reaction as everybody. I mean, it was sad.
I always wondered how much of it was real.
Over the years, I've had that conversation with him several times:
depending on what his mood is, he gives me a different answer.
That was vodka, that was real.
That thing about me and Chris, we never...
These guys, they put ice-tea and people think they're drinking Jack Daniel's on stage...
It was water, for Christ's sake!
Chris is not gonna pour a whole bottle of vodka over his head.
That's a waste of vodka.
When I did "The Decline", Blackie was flaming pissed.
He flipped out.
But I had already done it behind his back, I didn't really care at that point.
Penelope called him and wanted him to do it.
But he wanted budget to do this and that...
She didn't have the budget for it, so she asked me to do an interview.
To me, it was just a stupid interview...
Chris is a natural rolled out of bed rock star.
Blackie Lawless is Steven Duren
that turns into Blackie Lawless and then turns back into Steven Duren.
Chris Holmes is Chris Holmes the whole fuckin' time.
The only way I can explain it is:
here is the bus, it goes down the highway,
the bus stops at the show,
Steven Duren gets off the bus,
goes in, puts on Blackie Lawless,
does the Blackie Lawless show,
gets off-stage, takes off Blackie Lawless,
walks out the dressing room: Steven Duren, then he gets on the bus.
Blackie doesn't love interacting with people,
that's why he doesn't do the fan thing that much.
Holmes loves people.
There's this whole line of kids.
Chris comes up to the bus.
The kids go "Hey, can we get your autograph?" He's like "Absolutely!"
He goes on the bus and Blackie Lawless rips him one, dude...
"Don't ever do that. Don't ever go for the kids and do that.
You're wasting our time..."
He's like: "What? They're all fans."
He used to hold Chris back.
On stage you can't hold Chris back. He's gonna be Chris on stage.
That means jumping, that means spinning,
skipping, everything...!
But in the studio, Blackie would hold him back:
would keep his level down, wouldn't let him play some of the leads he wanted to play...
He was always telling him what to do.
My feeling was always like:
"You hired this guy to play in your band because of a certain sound,
and you don't want him to have that certain sound?" That's ridiculous.
Here we are in beautiful Paris.
As you see, this is a house of worship up here.
It's called Pierre-Versailles, whatever...
And if you look over here,
there's the most famous icon in the world, right here.
Some guy named Eiffel built it.
I don't know if that's his first name or his last name, but it's a big famous icon.
You can't touch, baby.
Superman!
An angel...
That painting ain't shit.
Cupcake!
I love you!
We're gonna get high!
Wow, that's a view.
Nice to meet you.
- My lady... - Thank you.
- My name is Pierre. - What's up Pierre?
I"m very impressed.
What do you feed the cat with?
It's my cat. His name is Miu.
The cat's huge. It's the biggest cat I've ever seen!
And these are all the people I have photographed.
Famous French actors...
You know the light? It's a movie light.
Like the light in the movies in 1930.
You have one, two, three, four, five lights for you.
Get ready... Great!
- This is the gold light... - That's a reflector light.
Look!
You are the Lord of the Rings.
Up! Up!
Beautiful. One, two, three...
Very nice, my dear. Wait!
Yes, yes.
Got it!
I'm very impressed. He has a unique presence.
He doesn't confide easily.
He has a great future ahead.
He has a real presence, it only takes four shots.
I remember meeting each other at the NAMM show.
Chris Holmes comes walking.
Doesn't matter the size of the room, the room got really small.
When Chris is in the room, there's no space left.
One thing about Chris is he got along with all others musicians and bands.
There was only one one musician and one band, and that was Blackie Lawless,
that he didn't get along with very well. Otherwise he gets along with everybody.
We all loved Chris and he was just great to have around.
I think he actually hung out with us a lot more than he hung out with his own band.
In 1985-86, I was doing security for Black Sabbath,
Chris kept showing up at Tony Iommi's door at 3 or 4 in the morning.
"Come on Tony, let's go party!" I had to go out, because Tony was my guy.
I finally told Chris: "You have to stop coming in the room at 3 or 4 in the morning.
You're killing me. I need to sleep at some point."
"Fuck off! I don't care!"
That's the sound Chris was always after.
He wanted to get Tony Iommi's sound.
Funny thing is, he met Tony Iommi on a tour,
Tony Iommi said "I've been trying to get your sound for the last ten years."
Basically one of his guitar gods, to say "I love your sound",
that's pretty unusual.
He's my idol, he's great.
I did lots of chemicals with him, and drank...
It was great touring with him, that was 30 years ago...
We were touring with Maiden,
we climbed up in the truss, above the stage, Maiden was on stage.
We were above Nicko yelling down: "Fuck you! Nicko you suck, man!"
He's looking up and he's going like this.
Anyway, they were between songs,
and Bruce was in front of the stage talking to the audience.
Chris took this apple and let it go,
and it hit Nicko in his face.
It's just a funny story, nobody know what goes on.
He hit him in face. "I'll kill you motherfucker!"
When it's time to turn on the Chris Holmes button,
then he turns it on and it's overdrive, it's way over the top.
We were playing in Lisbon in Portugal and we had a day off.
Everyone knew that W.A.S.P. was in town.
Every bar that me and Chris went to, we had free drinks, free food...
We wound back at the hotel, I remember crawling on the grass...
When I first met Chris, he was kind of a shy surfer-looking guy with long blond hair,
committed to playing guitar, that's all he cared about.
As you get out into the world and discover alcohol,
and other things that everybody seemed to be doing back at that time period,
it's easy to fall into that trap.
I'd just go out to the clubs, get drunk and piss people off.
I'd play rock star or whatever...
I always thought he'd never make it past 30.
I met Lita Ford at the Cathouse.
She was doing the album "Close My Eyes Forever".
She was kind of big, I was big at the same time, we hooked up...
She tried to get me to stop drinking, but I wouldn't stop drinking.
I wasn't surprised or impressed, I was happy for him.
I think it was an important part of his life as far as him maturing as a guitar player.
That was a big time in his life.
That was the first that he bought a house that he could call his.
I used to see them together: they got along well, they both drank...
They both had a great time.
She was too music, and he was music.
You can't deal with one going on tour, the other one's home, the other goes on tour...
You just can't have a couple.
From North America, with their spectacular heavy sound,
here is W.A.S.P.!
It's sad to change band members so many times in W.A.S.P.
People don't like seeing that.
What made the band eventually killed it.
An ego.
You've ever seen me in a guitar magazine?
I've never been on a guitar magazine in my life, not one.
Blackie decides who's gonna do interviews: he would never let me do them,
because I'd get more press.
My personality kept me from doing most of the interviews.
I knew Chris was angry.
Chris holds it in and pretty soon Chris is gonna explode.
That's the way he is.
Blackie, I knew, was gonna do more and more to put him down.
He wanted it to be the Blackie Lawless show.
He kept Chris in the background as much as he could,
with interviews,
with how much he'd allow him to turn up in the studio, different little things...
He didn't like to share the spotlight.
I left W.A.S.P. in 1991.
I just couldn't take Blackie's bullshit of just him, him, him and the band.
Some things were lied to me about.
I just didn't want to take it, it got to the point where I wanted nothing to do with W.A.S.P.
I go with he quit.
He got dragged through the mud for too many years. He finally went: "I'm done".
When Lita kicked him out, she dropped him off on my porch with a couple of suitcases.
I opened the door and said "Here's your spot to sleep",
and we were digging our chains together.
None of us could work, he was an all about no jobs.
We all had to quit our jobs: "How we're gonna live?" And we did...
I ran into the singer Johnny Severe through a friend who knew him.
He came up and we decided to do a band.
We found Chris Olson,
and Mike Kortz played bass.
He wanted all the members to be born and raised in Southern California.
Don't know why.
I guess he thought we all fought the same.
Psycho Squad was an interesting band.
I think the band was founded on the promise of how much can you drink and still play.
They used to get pretty well lit-up.
It was enjoyable doing music that I wrote.
I could write the whole thing and not have to worry about somebody
saying "no that's not good".
Somebody else taking all the credits for what you're doing...
When we put Psycho Squad together, we got endorsed by everybody.
We got us endorsed by Art to the Bone.
And pretty soon Chris is getting tattooed...
I think he's got flames and skulls on his fingers,
a big skeleton in his back with a knife shoved in his back:
"Go ahead, everybody else has".
I think I do know what the meaning of that was.
I think it was Blackie, you know.
Johnny was a good guy.
He drank a lot.
He was a great lyricist.
He's the one who opened my eyes...
Before him I never listened to lyrics that much,
even in W.A.S.P. I never really cared what Blackie talked about.
Psycho Squad, we didn't do no theatrics.
We just went in and kicked you in the teeth.
Our opening song: "Thrash the Place", 'cause that's how we felt.
That time, grunge had just happened.
Nirvana hit it real big.
Nirvana killed the hair bands,
Psycho Squad broke up.
I was just tired, I thought "You know what, this is bullshit, I'm outta here".
For us to get a record deal was almost obsolete.
We still tried but couldn't.
I think we played together for about a year and a half.
Chris Olson just called me about a month ago,
he said that they found Johnny, the singer, dead in his house.
His front door was opened, he was laying in the living-room, frozen...
Like Bon Scott.
He liked to drink, so he's probably gotten too drunk and passed out.
He left his door opened and froze...
One, two, test.
Zabou, can you hear me?
Here, you should put it on.
Hey, Sarah!
Sarah, take a picture.
He's gonna play a song with us.
Good.
You can turn your amp on 10!
He built his first guitar with a friend of his named Gary Presley.
They did it in woodshop class,
built the body, they did the neck and everything themselves...
The wiring, the electronics,
wiring coils up with more wire,
so you get a higher magnetic field, you get more distortion.
Chris discovered a lot of things about what you can do to a guitar to make it sound different.
A Fender Jazzmaster, that was my first real guitar.
I got it for 80 bucks from a guy down the street.
How did I find it? Selling drugs...
I was going to school in Pasadena,
my friend John was going to school in La Cañada with Chris.
Chris had put a band together.
He was looking to get a singer,
and I was ready to say "I'll be a rockstar, no problem".
I didn't know how to sing.
That was a band called Slave.
I think I was 17 there.
1976 or 1977.
That's a long time ago...
Look how skinny I was.
I was like a toothpick.
The first time I saw him play was actually at Crescenta Valley High School.
They had something called a quad, it was an outdoor sort of amphitheatre.
I couldn't take my eyes off of him.
I was thinking: "This guy's a really good guitar player,
He's got stage presence and he has energy".
We were all playing high-schools, american legion halls,
backyard parties, kegger parties...
This was the era when people started getting one or two kegs of beer,
charging a dollar at the gate,
and getting 300/400 kids in the backyard with a band.
We'd make our own light system:
we'd make a big box and throw some colored lights in there,
set them on the amps, and that's how we'd get our light show.
Here's a great shot of Chris with his Destroyer.
That must have been his first tattoo.
That's Sister, when I met Blackie.
I met the drummer first, then I met Blackie.
I was 20 so it had to be 1977.
I thought: "Oh my gosh, this team of Blackie and Chris is a really really good one.
These two will probably be a really good duo.
With their height, their craziness,
their wildness, their musicianship, everything.
There was just someting there.
Blackie was just a slave driver, I didn't like the way he was.
I couldn't wait to get out of the situation.
when it was ok for me to leave, I left.
After that, I played with a band called Buster Savage.
I'll never forget: I saw Buster Savage at the Starwood,
Chris Holmes came out, with a baseball cap on, wearing aviators,
he's got like a dust mask on.
They're playing the first song and he's totally grooving.
Comes up to the solo section,
and then he just whips off the hat,
and all this long-ass hair one length comes out!
He starts rippin' on this solo.
I'm like 15... "What the fuck is this!"
I got in trouble drinking and driving and I had to go to jail at Cerwin Vega.
they laid me out so I could collect unemployment jail.
The day I got out, my sister goes: "This guy named Blackie called.
Here's his number."
I didn't talk to Blackie for years.
I called him, he said he needed to talk to me. He had the idea of W.A.S.P.
That was about 1981.
I kind of didn't want to play with the guy then,
but he promised a record deal.
I said "Yeah I'll play with him for a year",
and we got a deal.
Here we are in Stockholm.
That's me.
Sweden!
French guy, right? French coffee...
Chris, American. American cup.
Welcome back to Headbangers' Ball, it's our Valentine's Day Massacre,
it's actually gonna turn into a bloody Valentine right now,
'cause I gotta say to you: "Kill Fuck Die".
I'm not being rude: that is the title of the new W.A.S.P. album,
out on the 24th March.
As you can see, Blackie and Chris are joining me here at Rock City in Nottingham.
May I say that you look absolutely fantastic, it's great to have you back on the show.
So welcome, just to start off, you've been playing some shows in Europe,
How have things been going?
We're doing a seven show pep rally, effectively, it's what it boils down to.
Because as you mention, the album's out on March 24,
and Chris and I have not played together in public for 7 years.
We decided to come and give everybody a teaser
before we do the real tour in the next couple of months.
You're certainly creating a buzz,
everybody is talking about the W.A.S.P. show which I guess is exactly what you want.
I've created a buzz all the time.
I've lived in Hollywood,
got stuck in the Hollywood drug-grunge scene just living there...
Then I had a chance to go to Wyoming for a while.
My sister's ranch, I went up there.
Russell Wallace called me and said' "Hey Chris, Blackie wants to talk to you."
That's the last thing I'd ever thought I was gonna hear about.
He gave me his number, I called him up.
I go: "Yeah, what's the deal?"
He goes: "I want to know if you wanna go on tour again."
I go: "That was the last thing on my mind.
If you wanna know an answer right now, it's no.
- Is there a chance ? - Yeah, let me think about it.
He goes: "Well I give you 'til a week."
I rejoined in 1995.
Blackie needed that, 'cause Blackie kept trying different things,
but when Chris came back, it kind of breathed new life into it.
He kinda covered that up from me for a while.
He'd be playing with them about a year before I saw him again.
"You're not gonna believe it, but I joined W.A.S.P. again..."
I'm like: "Chris, when are you gonna learn?"
We destroyed our female following with K.F.D.
The cross, the nun,
fucking the nun, pulling out the foetus,
stabbing it on the knife-codpiece and holding it up as if in victory...
It was too dark. Women couldn't relate to it.
The only reason I came back to play music is because I wanted to travel again,
to see Europe and stuff...
If not, I'd have probably never left L.A.
I went back and got my ass kicked a second time.
To get a good ass kicking,
'cause I hadn't get kicked good enough the first time.
Then when he rejoined the band,
Blackie made it specific:
he spent money to get him sober.
It was the best thing for Chris, and if we loved him,
and we wanted to be in the band, then we needed to support his sobriety.
I got a D.U.I.
I was out messing around in the clubs, having fun,
doing the Chris thing and got in trouble drunk again.
It kind of made me quit drinking.
I know they have their differences and all that,
but Blackie very much cared about Chris and spent time and money to help him get sober.
Probably the best thing that ever happened to me
was getting a sixth D.U.I.
If I didn't get that 502, I'd probably be dead now from drinking.
I'd probably drank myself to death.
I didn't play a note on "Unholy Terror".
Listen to the record.
Why do you think he'd put my name on it? So it would sell.
If it didn't have my name on it it wouldn't look like we did songs together.
"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting": I didn't play on that,
and he put my name on it, I got pissed off.
I got mad.
- I thought you'd want your name on it. - I don't want my name on that shitty ass guitar playing.
If I didn't play on it, I don't like lying on things like that.
There was a blow-out,
it happened at my studio.
It was in 2002, Blackie came in with a piece of paper,
and I read it and it was a fan who said:
"I saw W.A.S.P. at Harpo's, which is in Detroit,
I got everyone's autograph, except Blackie's.
Blackie went on the bus, I asked Chris for Blackie's autograph,
Chris said no, he couldn't get it.
I asked why". And the next caption was: "He's a fucking asshole."
Blackie asked me if I said that.
I gave him back the paper and I go: "Yeah, I did say that."
He goes: "I thought we had a better understanding about each other"
I go: "Well, let me explain to you why I said this."
And I explained it to him.
He got up, walked out of the room and said he was jealous.
It was the last time I ever saw him.
We have to go back from the same way.
I just want to sleep.
She's the guest of the place,
but the keys are not working, guys.
Can you come and get us, we don't know where we are...?
Holy shit!
So we drive this way, we turn left at the crossroads, then right?
Sorry.
Let's pray!
Did you pray for your breakfast?
Both my uncles are mormon.
Their kids are all mormon.
They make you a priest when you're sixteen.
I told them, and they decided not to make me a priest.
My folks were mormon,
so he went to church and everything until he got about 16 or 17.
I hated the mormon 'cause I had to go to church.
Every Sunday: get up at 7 o'clock,
brush my teeth, comb my hair, put on my tie...
go to church all day, I hated it...
I blame the mormons for all my drug use.
The mormon troop had a Boy Scout troop.
From 12 to 16, we'd go down the Grand Canyon,
we'd do lots of drugs, extremely lot of drugs...
Extreme amounts of drugs: usually cocaine and alcohol,
and LSD.
Then he decided he didn't wanna go to church anymore.
If he didn't wanna go, don't push him, I don't care.
It's his life, you know...
Believing in religion is stupid.
I can't believe it, it's stupid.
This is a rock, if it hits my head, blood comes out.
Well, make blood come out, God.
How you doin'?
My friend had a picture of his wife and they divorced,
so he had a shotgun next to her head blowing her head off.
Fuckin' camera.
One time, I was going up to Arizona to visit my mom,
I stopped at the gas station, it's got the fake tattoos,
and it's got the one you put around your wrist.
So I buy it and I get to the house about 4 in the morning.
I go in the bathroom and I put it in water, and I put it on my forehead.
It dried.
In the morning, she wakes me up at 10.
"What the fuck did you do?"
I'd forgotten and said "What's up?"
"That tattoo on your head!"
"Oh, you like it mom?"
"You fuckin' idiot!"
Now we're talking. That's a man tattoo.
What Mean Man?
I was a huge W.A.S.P. fan when I was a kid.
I still am, so this is huge, definitely.
I snivelled and cried and beat him up and everything else
when he first started getting the tattoos.
Finally, what can you do? You're not with him 24 hours.
I said "Just don't get'em above your neck,
so when you come to my funeral, you can wear a shirt buttoned-up."
My mom had an Hells Angels' jacket made.
I truly believe, if she did not have children, she would have joined the Hells Angels.
Why do you think?
'cause I'm crazy I suppose...
Alright!
My name is Thomas.
I've been a fan since '88, I think,
and I started collecting in '89.
I've got somewhere between 300/400 different records,
CDs and a couple gold records...
I spent a lot of money on W.A.S.P.
I've been a fan now for 25 years,
but it's the first time I get to see Chris Holmes.
Norway!
Enjoy yourself while you can and you're 20!
Thanks for comin', alright!
I just lived in L.A., surviving...
I tried to find groups to play in but nobody would play with me.
I started managing him for a brief period of time.
He was down and out, depressed,
living in a house behind a house.
He did call me and stuff, and never really asked for money or anything.
Just say "How you doin'?"
He'd come over, have a beer, we have a good dinner and stuff,
then he'd be on his way.
He wouldn't ask for help, that's not what he did.
He would get by with the bare minimum.
He wouldn't be happy, but he could survive like that.
He worked doing construction, roofing and concrete work.
I worked shitty jobs in L.A.
I used to work for Hustler, doing the lights for pornos.
It's a job most guys would die for, but it's really boring.
Chris Holmes everybody!
I put together one of the first Hollywood celebrity all-star bands
called the Big Ball Stars, that's some great players in it.
At the time, Chris was hiding out.
So I said "Why don't you come and play a song with my all-star band?"
"No, no one likes to play with me. I don't get along with anyone..."
He'd been pretty banged up and around the business for a while.
Nobody had seen him play in years:
he played guitar flawlessly
and he jumped around on that stage like a fucking maniac.
But didn't miss a beat, and he just totally dominated the stage.
People were just blown away, it was like: "Holy shit, Chris Holmes is back!"
When he met Sarah, he was at a pretty low point in his life.
I don't think he knew where to go or which directions to take.
She came in and really started to manage his life for him,
which he needed at the time. He needed that support.
I'm a huge Motörhead fan.
One day, Chris told me about the recordings that he had with Philthy.
He had mentioned to me: "I've been working with this guy for a few years,
I think we're ready to mix it, would you be interested?"
I said: "Hell yeah!"
Chris and Philthy!
Out of anybody I've ever met in the music business, and I've met a lot of people,
he's probably the coolest guy I've ever met as being a human being towards other people.
If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't have even done the first abum,
'cause it was all done on his computers and stuff.
He actually died, it's sad.
He was ill for a long time.
His liver shut down,
and the last thing I said was...
They came to pick me up in a car, I put my hand on his head and I just said
"Phil, it's probably the last time we'll ever see each other."
He shook his head and said "Yeah, I know",
then he died a few days later.
It was very hard to record the first album, we had no money.
Everyone thought we were not able to do it.
Chris said "We need to go to Europe, it's the only place where I can still make it."
I'd had that conversation with Chris.
We talked about L.A., U.S... It's nothing.
Over there, you're a rockstar, over here, you're a has-been.
The opportunities aren't here for you, why don't you go to Europe?
I got rid of everything I had: my car, my dog...
It was everything I'd ever known, I lived there my whole life, you know.
Tell the camera who won pool!
That was a good mess!
I love you, man!
- Is your mom still alive? - Oh yeah!
I love your mom!
She's still going.
Drinking vodka with your mom and filming...
That was thirty years ago.
I'm so glad I don't drink anymore!
I quit drinking twenty years ago.
- Welcome to Halifax! - Is this Halifax?
Hi, I'm Paul, I'm from Halifax.
I sell fancy dress for Halloween, carnival, that sort of things.
Chris kindly agreed to a personal meet & greet
and jam session with my band.
I grew up listening to W.A.S.P.
from 1985...
Chris inspired me to pick up a guitar and learn to play.
Finally, I have the chance to invite Chris and the band here,
so it's kind of a privilege to be able to do that.
It's Chris Holmes, it's not W.A.S.P.
Chris Holmes was part of that band.
He's singing, he's got his style,
and he sounds great: he's rock n' roll.
Chris, give me a hug, man.
We're going to see him again.
He was the same guy, 27 years ago:
polite, a gentleman, true to his fans,
and he just enjoys playing the guitar.
Oh, Mean Man!
- You're gonna play "Fuck Like a Beast" tonight? - Hell yeah!
Blackie won't play it anymore.
My first time listening to W.A.S.P. was about when the first L.P. came out.
In 1984, I saw them at the Lyceum in London,
it was their first gig there.
It's my favorite band of all time.
All of my life,
especially when I was young,
I couldn't understand where they all come from.
I spend the last few months in here.
Going to rehearsal with the drums, and bass and everything,
putting up with three other guys, which takes time and money...
It's easier just doing it all here in pre-production.
And I can figure out if I can sing on a song or not.
Ug sits over here. He's my little dog, Ug.
His name's Ug 'cause he's ugly.
I'm lucky I can play guitar,
I can program the drums,
and I can sing and do it all myself.
I don't need anybody sit here and help me do it.
I'm very lucky I've learned all those things.
It's funny!
Chris can live in any place:
live in France, live in America, but he needs to come visit at least.
If he wants to live in France, great, but come visit America,
'cause I know he misses it.
- Do we think he's gonna come back? - We hope he comes back someday.
Hopefully, he'll come through with his band.
My big dream is that he's gonna call me and say "Jim, I'm going to be playing in L.A.,
I need you for this day and this day", and I'm gonna say "I'm there".
He told me he'd never come back. I think he's homesick.
I'm pretty sure he's homesick. He wants In-N-Out Burger or something...
He's a wild man,
but inside that guy, you've got a heart of gold,
someone that couldn't be more genuine.
He's a sweet person, got a heart of gold, but he's got the anger and the rebellion,
and he's got the balls, like I do, to say what he thinks and play what he feels.
That's why I love it, man, 'cause he'll tell right to your face: "fuck you!"
He'll tell you right to your face: fuck you!
We're in Cannes, we're in the recording studio,
recording the songs for my E.P.
That means we've got eight tracks of guitar, right?
That's alright.
Barely enough...
I'd put fuckin' 52 if I could.
As you see, we're doing it in a proper studio,
other than the way I've recorded the last previous projects.
Yeah, it should sound good.
Thank you for comin' here!
Everyone, get up for Mr. Chris Holmes!!
I've been doin' it a long time.
Fuck, I'm 61 next month!
Once the energy is gone, I wouldn't play, I'd quit.
That's what I play: it's energy that comes out of the way I play guitar.
If that wasn't there, I'd totally quit playing and do something else.
I'd give it up, but it's still there when I play.
I had a problem with my hand last year.
Something has happened to my elbow,
and my hand's still numb.
I just learned to play with my fingers a different way, it's ok.
That's just the way it is.
My sister, she goes:
"I didn't expect him to live past 30."
Well now I'm 60, and I'm still going.
I'll do my band, my thing, start this and...
if it fails, it fails, and if it doesn't, it doesn't...
I'll make sure it's gonna kick ass on stage.
That's my main thing, that's what I do.
Thank you very much, I love you!
I would say good night, but it's not night:
good day!
That's my last word.