New Exclusive Tour Videos Online - August 30th 2009

A set of videos filmed on the current tour have been uploaded on youtube, one video shows Marilyn Manson backstage getting ready to start the show. The other videos uploaded are filmed from on the stage, this appears to be the first official home video footage of the Manson tour since the 'Guns, God and Goverment' world tour.

View the videos here: www.youtube.com/camets

METAL HAMMER INTERVIEWS MARILYN MANSON - August 27th 2009

It's dark enough in Marilyn Manson's dressing room that your eyes take a moment to adjust, the air conditioning gently whirring the room to a perfect temperature, like how you'd imagine a vintage wine cellar, the black drape across the door giving the impression that you've entered a fortune teller's tent at a circus. Marilyn nods his gigantic bodyguard away and offers a glass of Absinthe. No thanks: it makes me go a bit mental. "Mental?" Marilyn raises an eyebrow I as if intrigued, but hands over an already-opened beer. Given The God Of Fuck's reputation, or at least his perceived reputation, taking an open beer from him could be risky; it could be laced with roofies, liquid acid, ground-up human remains... who knows? But fuck it, it's been a long day and, despite ringing ears and sunburn, it's about to take an unexpected turn. Marilyn, reportedly shell-shocked after his recent treatment by the UK's tabloids and steering clear of the press, is about to give Metal Hammer one of his most candid interviews, turning our allotted five minutes (the most any band is doing today) into almost an hour. We were only here to review the show...

The notion of reviewing the second annual Mayhem Festival, at San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, California, in any traditional sense, is completely absurd. By midday the temperatures are nudging over 100 degrees and, side-by-side, the Jagermeister and Hot Topic stages are situated so you have to look directly into the sun or get a mouthful of dust and stray elbows venturing into the pit for a better view. Sure, it's a great day for rock at an historic venue (the site of the first Ozzfest back in 1996. for starters) with a line-up that includes Cannibal Corpse, God Forbid, Behemoth, Trivium, Killswitch Engage, Slayer and, of course, Marilyn Manson.

But, make no mistake, this can be a hostile environment: there have been numerous gang beatings here in past years and today Nazi skinheads openly sport swastika tattoos, while overaggressive cops look for any excuse to fuck with people, keeping an unnecessarily keen eye on the Nevada and California Hell's Angels in attendance. Add to that the fact that 'for your safety' no outside water, food or umbrellas are allowed, the recommended eight glasses of water per day costing $40, and the best you can do is watch a couple of bands back to back before finding some shade like the hundreds of kids crammed under the Union Ice Company truck trying to catch its drippings. It's not too far from here that former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner died from heat exhaustion on a road trip last year and sooner or later someone will die here too if the policies don't change. And they'll probably blame Marilyn Manson.

Highlights from the two stages include The Black Dahlia Murder, who whip up a tornado of sound and demand to see us "banging our sweaty-assed heads", Cannibal Corpse, who offer such revolting classics as / Cum Blood, and Trivium, who think that American crowds can be louder than Europeans. Despite A Bullet For My Valentine frontman Matt Tuck "struggling with the heat", the UK's only representatives on the tour open the main stage with a slick performance of their heavier songs, followed by Killswitch Engage who don't, mostly because guitarist Adam D seems to think he's in Motley Crue and keeps demanding to see girls' tits. Thankfully we can sneak away for a quick chat with Slayer, who consider this a hometown gig even though it's in a different county, and were one of the bands here on that first Ozzfest 13 years ago.

"This [venue] changes names every year and then people come to town and they don't know where the fuck to go!" laughs guitarist Kerry King. "It used to be brutal for other bands. If you were in front of Slayer they'd throw shit at you until you left. It's still every bit as crazy. I expect chaos out here today! There's a lot of cops out there though; it's the first signing I've done where I've had cops with me and I'm like, 'Wow, this is weird...' But then when it's LA and Slayer there's definitely shenanigans."

For the record, Kerry thinks it's "kind of cool" that Slayer were banned from playing LA for nearly a decade after a riot at the Hollywood Palladium in 1988. So Slayer do tonight what Slayer do best: War Ensemble. Dead Skin Mask. God Hates Us All. flames, pentagrams, a new song called Psychopathy that'll rip out your spleen and slap you around the head with it. You know the score. Unrelenting and brilliant. By comparison, Marilyn Manson struggle early in their set, with opener We're From America actually getting booed. But the crowd warms to the hits, Disposable Teens. Sweet Dreams, Irresponsible Hate Anthem and finally The Beautiful People. It's not their best show, but by no means their worst, a triumph of sorts over the kind of audience who will shout "Slayer!" for 20 minutes after they've played.

Marilyn's had time to cool off after his show, half an hour, maybe more while we sit in a brightly lit production office answering questions from the aforementioned bodyguard: "Have you interviewed Manson before? Who for? When?" All for five minutes' interview time. Not that Marilyn Manson isn't a household name: he was in Bowling For Columbine, he's sold a lot of records, he's even been on Family Guy and the Graham Norton Show. Your mum knows who he is. Hell, even the President knows who he is. He's that dude that you love to hate. But still, five minutes! Come on!

But now here we are with an apparently clean slate, free range and a beer, and caught slightly off guard. And Marilyn wants to talk. Thankfully a recent interview with UFC fighter Dan Hardy, for Hammer's Defenders Of The Faith, provides the first question. He wondered how much of Brian Warner was left, or had Marilyn Manson taken over completely? Marilyn speaks slowly, every word considered.

"I think I've started to understand, in the midst of essentially having an identity crisis over the past year or two. not knowing or understanding who I'm supposed to be, that there's a part of me that has to go on stage and be in front of strangers, sharing my most intimate thoughts and there's part of me that does the same thing, but with people I know. So it's not two different people, it's more trying to come to terms with exposing your deepest secrets in front of people you don't know and in front of people you do know. For me. sometimes it's easier to do it in front of people I don't know, which is kind of fucked."

Marilyn goes on to discuss the semantics nihilism, basically giving an answer that takes up our allotted five minutes. On cue the bodyguard appears, but Marilyn simply says "talking" and the giant vanishes. We move on to other subjects, easy conversation about goth music, artists. Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin... Marilyn voted for the first time in last year's election. "I wanted to be able to say I was there when they voted the black guy in!"
At least Barack Obama's got a good excuse if it all goes wrong: just blame Marilyn Manson. Apparently there was another school shooting a few months ago, perpetrated by a 15-year-old called Justin Doucet. "Of course I started getting blamed for every school shooting." says Manson, "but at this point I feel pissed [off] if I don't. I want credit where credit is due if I'm gonna get crucified and have FBI surveillance, get concerts cancelled and go bankrupt for things like Columbine. Recently there was a circumstance where there was a kid who said, 'Hail Marilyn Manson!' and shot [at] his teacher. That would be a circumstance where it would be more legitimate to point the finger at me. but it wasn't pointed as hard as Columbine where it wasn't [legitimate]." How come they always look at the record collection and not the bookshelf? Guaranteed half of these people have a copy of the Bible.

"Well the Bible" says Marilyn, who tore one up on stage tonight, still a brave move in these parts, "is the first and foremost educator and learning device and the origin of merchandise - the crucifix. But if you take it as literature, reality or however you want to take it, it's not the book that people should be standing behind to accuse others of being a source of violence by creating entertainment, because that's all it's filled with! If I get in a position of arguing anything with Christians, and I went to Christian school so I know the Bible like the back of my hand - which looks pretty rough from blood packs, self-mutilation and fun - I tell them that there is nothing more violent than the Bible. If they made it into a real movie and not something with Charlton Heston then it would be something I'd watch."

Having long since overrun on our scheduled five-minute interview, we get to the subject of the late and very great Hunter S Thompson, who, it transpires, Marilyn met through mutual friend Johnny Depp.
"Hunter was someone I was very close to and most recently one of the people I've known who died and he was fully hated by the powers that be," he says. "I had a weird relationship with Hunter where he'd call me on a nightly basis - well, night, morning, whatever - for three years. I don't know if it's because I was the only one who kept the same hours as him, but he'd call me at five in the morning like. 'Hey Manson! Shit-eyes!' He called me Shit-eyes, which is one of the funniest things ever! I get a call from Johnny, maybe six or seven years ago, at four in the morning: 'Manson, you've gotta come down to the Viper Room! Hunter wants to meet you!' So I go down and he went into his whole thing with firearms and narcotics, as would be expected, nothing less than super-dramatic in the best way, but not trying, and we automatically bonded. Later along the line he told his friends, and it became well known, that I was the only person he was afraid of because I could stand toe to toe with him!"

Strangely enough, gigantic bodyguard notwithstanding, Marilyn can seem a little intimidating and unapproachable, a role he perhaps enjoys. A few years ago, when he toured the UK with Disturbed as support, he took it to the extremes of forbidding people to make eye contact with him so that everyone had to look away while he passed. "Oh. I was taking the piss!" he chuckles, and you wonder if he ever belly laughs. "It was partly because I'd heard in high school that Prince won't let people look him in the eye so I'm just gonna say you can't look at me. The other part of it was [the movie] Blue Velvet. 'Don't you fucking look at me!' But it was 100 per cent taking the piss!" Isn't it weird having that power? "I just like to see what I can get away with!" Marilyn shrugs. "When else are you gonna do it?

I've been in different places in my life and the bad times, which I'd consider to be a year and a half ago, before finishing this record, I bordered on being a person who has nothing to lose and that's a dangerous person. There's a lyric on my record. Leave A Scar: 'I'm well aware I'm a danger to myself, be aware I'm a danger to others'. Everyone was so concerned, but if you're so concerned then you're not doing anything about it. You're content with living off the proceeds of my insanity! But then, no one can tell you how to fix yourself if you're fucked up no matter what they do and I never wanted to be the guy that was in AA. I went to an AA meeting once and I got asked for an autograph and I'm like, 'This is not anonymous! This is stupid!' But as far as being dangerous or unapproachable or scary, I think on this last record I was able to capture my personality a little bit better than I have before because the songs appear in the order that I sang them, which I've never done before. The first song is very much murder/suicide and that's where I was. I was in a relationship where it became a theatrical thing for my ex-girlfriend. It was like, 'I wanna kill myself and I said 'OK' and got enough narcotics and a fucking gun and said, 'We're gonna do this but I'm gonna kill you first because I don't trust you!' I stopped myself from doing it because I laughed at the situation. I looked at it and I realised it was ridiculous! It's like in True Romance when she's beating the guy up, going, 'You look ridiculous!' I'd not written anything up until then and the next morning I wrote that song."

What do you feel about all the tabloid press you've had recently?
"First of all," says Marilyn, still too dark to make him out clearly, "the whole arrival in London was a clusterfuck because I was waiting to see my girlfriend Stoya and she got detained at Customs because of me; she was bringing my wardrobe and it was considered firearms because there were bullets in the outfit. Then all the tabloids said I went to the Metal Hammer awards and left, but I never even got there! I got to the point where I couldn't believe they were just going to straight out lie and say things that didn't exist. Of course I'd want to go to something that was honouring me, but I couldn't go and they said that I went and walked away, then wanted to fight somebody! I remember when tabloids were tabloids and confined to grocery stores, but the internet changed that and the UK, unfortunately, is the epicentre of that. But then I remembered that at no point did I ever want people to say good things about me, but I also never wanted the people who believe in what I do, and that's not limited to fans; I don't want them to see something based on a circumstance that I need super powers to control. I simply put on my website 'Death to all lying journalists'."

Doesn't that affect every interview? How can you trust someone you're talking to?
"Well you're not very inconspicuous!" smiles Marilyn. "And if you're gonna say something then simply stand behind what you say. A lot of writers hide behind anonymity or say things recklessly and of course they know the hassle of suing and libel, but what they don't know is it's very easy to find where you live and buy a baseball bat! Freedom of speech doesn't come with a dental plan! The thing about the British press is they think they're very clever and I find them to be very amateur. But that doesn't really matter because there's nothing you can say or do to me in the press that's worse than what's already happened."
There is a lull, ear still ringing and the whirr of the air conditioner. "OK, it's time for me to have sex," says Marilyn abruptly. There's no sign of any roofies kicking in so it's probably time for us to go. Unless, of course, Marilyn's got any good drugs. Ever the gracious host, he waves his giant away one last time and closes the door.

The Interview is available in the September issue of Metal Hammer which is on sale now!

Scott Putesky article on MM in Florida Sun Sentinel - August 9th 2009

Ex member Scott Putesky has written a scathing attack on Marilyn Manson in the Sun Sentinel. The ex guitarist who is often quoted as wanting nothing to do with his past, has surfaced in time for Manson's dates in Floarida to launch an attack on Manson that while may be valid in some ways. looks derisive given the timing and the circumstances

When Marilyn Manson left his kids behind By Scott M. Putesky Special Correspondent August 9, 2009

In December 1989, my band, Marilyn Manson & The Spooky Kids, won a local music award for Lunchbox, a cassette of four songs that we sold at shows and record stores around South Florida. Oddly enough, the title track wasn't on the tape. But Lunchbox, the song, was a part of our live set, and a fan favorite.

The lyric recounts a true story about a grammar school student who, in self-defense, wailed on a classmate with his metal lunchbox, prompting the school to ban all metal lunchboxes. In the kid's act and the school's response, our singer, Marilyn Manson (nee Brian Warner), saw a bit of himself: the outcast who stands up to abuse yet, in the process, catches hell from authorities.

The Lunchbox narrator sees a way out: "I wanna grow up /wanna be a big rock-n-roll star/big time rock-n-roll star/so no one [messes] with me."

As my former band mate brings Marilyn Manson back to play the Mayhem Festival's local tour date (Brian is the only original member left), it's fair to ask how that's worked out for him.

At some point the song's tacit plea — for the frontman to be left alone with his thoughts in the back of a swank tour bus — morphed into a middle finger aimed at the world. And what I think surprised Brian is how the world flipped him right back. From then on, and even though he courted controversy as an aspect of day-to-day rock star business, people have messed with him — in more and worse ways than he could have imagined. (And he's a very imaginative fellow.)

Rejection came early
But back to Lunchbox. We put it out on a later release, After School Special, funded by a demo deal with Sony. We had privately auditioned with the song for the Sony A&R (artists and repertoire) team. Richard Griffin, Sony president of A&R, personally rejected us within minutes, saying he liked the show and the idea but "didn't like the singer." (I was the guitarist, Daisy Berkowitz.)

The label went with a new band from Seattle called Pearl Jam. So the lyrics to Lunchbox had become ironic by the time we finished playing it at the audition.

Brian's first misstep, toward where he is now, was forgetting the band's roots. Sure, when you are an anomaly — say, a goth/industrial happening in a land of golf and boating — you cannot comfortably credit the place you come from. It's not as if the city funded a program allowing us to wrap a naked girl in plastic and put her on a crucifix while we make loud tribal-metal noise on a stage sponsored by Sun Bank (are you sure this is an all-ages show?).

But if nothing else, you absolutely must acknowledge and thank the fans that made you. There's a business maxim that states it is more costly to win back a customer than it is to keep a customer. The same applies to the music business.

Even if you ironically sing about The Beautiful People and then move to Hollywood — just miles from where the Manson murders occurred — or you call yourself the antichrist of rock 'n' roll yet distance yourself from high school student violence some blame on you, your true fans will tell detractors that they don't understand you.

Florida salute
Years ago we had fans who had their own silkscreen press and had made us stark white-on-black T-shirts that said: "[Expletive] YOU WE'RE FROM FLORIDA," with Charlie Manson's face on it. In a popular YouTube video — the band playing a Spooky Kids classic, Suicide Snowman — you can see glimpses of keyboardist Madonna Wayne Gacy (aka Pogo, nee Stephen Bier) wearing the shirt.

It was Aug. 1, 1992, at The Plus Five Lounge in Davie and it was the last show that we played before dropping the Spooky Kids suffix (a record label recommendation). Once the band got signed and started touring, the amount of fan gifts we received grew and so did the general strangeness around us.

On a cold night in Buffalo, I was tired and ready for bed after a great show. There was party noise and pot smoke coming from other rooms but post-show parties are a dime a dozen on the road. I was informed earlier in the day by my road manager that there were two teenage runaway girls following the band and to inform tour security if I saw them. I took off my tight navy blue vinyl pants, put on a T-shirt and hit the sack.

About 20 minutes later, just as the delta waves were about to fill my head and put rapid movement in my dreamy eyes, there came a knocking at the door. BUMP! BUMP! BUMP! "Open up, Buffalo Police!"

I lumbered toward the door. Annoyed and with heavy metallic eyelids I cracked the door open with a quickly building paranoia. The cops looked me up and down with a slightly disgusted sneer (like they've never seen a guy with green hair and no eyebrows before).

"Have you seen these girls, are they in your room?" "No, I heard about them but haven't seen them." "Are they in your room right now, sir?" (as if they felt I really deserved the respectful "sir"). "No, I swear, come in and look if you like."

I turned on the light and opened the door. The cops looked in and backed out to leave. I sat on the edge of the bed relieved. I hadn't done anything wrong but it was my first rock star run-in with cops. As my head drooped down in a mix of agitation and exhaustion I saw it right there on me; I was wearing the "… WE'RE FROM FLORIDA" shirt.

Anniversaries
Today marks 40 years since failed musician and infamous cult leader Charles Manson (talk about crazy fans …), an itinerant repeat criminal originally from Cincinnati, told his acid-tripping minions to kill the beautiful people in the storied hills of Los Angeles. The innocent victims of this assault were marked for death because they represented the lies and superficiality that smugly represented Hollywood culture.

But the killers themselves were the innocent victims of a man who convinced them he was thoroughly human and Jesus Christ at the same time. Charlie Manson was more kook and carny on a power trip rather than a malevolent mastermind.

Twenty years later, Brian Warner, himself from Ohio, would don the persona of Marilyn Manson (regardless of what Charlie or his non-incarcerated followers would have to say about it) and find himself in a clean white-and-beige house in a gated community in Boca Raton with me planning one of the most twisted and creative cultural coups to ever come out of Florida. We would form a bizarre and brilliant rock band called Marilyn Manson & The Spooky Kids.

Actually I thought nothing would come of it, but it was so weird and so charged and so out of place it had to work. The new Manson's rock star charisma grew and in August of 1992 the Spooky Kids portion of the band's name went off into history and took with it the humor, insanity and fun for which the band was originally known.

People have forgotten, perhaps by deft propaganda manipulation, that Marilyn Manson is still a group as well as a persona. Despite what he doesn't say, Brian cannot do it all himself. Never could. This may not seem to make sense, in that the brand and the man appear to be the same. He'll tell you they are, or they are not (or both) — whatever is convenient. What makes less sense, however, is how the whole thing came to be in first place. That's another story.

Arma-Goddamn-Motherfuckin-Geddon Directors Cut

New footage of the first video from the new album has surfaced. This time without the coma enducing strobe flash images derived from the record companies censoring this video shows new footage..

TWIGGY INTERVIEW IN ELEGY - August 4th 2009

Twiggy recently sat down with French Rock magazine Elegy

ELEGY N°59 (May-June 2009) By Yannick Blay & Alyz Tale Marilyn Manson : sequel in jet lag mode

Tired and marked by the effects of jet lag and a drunken evening, Twiggy has just woken up and welcomes us in his suite of a Paris 8th district's hotel. It's 3 PM, Twiggy awakes.

Elegy : So, dead tired ?

Twiggy : Yeah, I spent the evening in a bar with Manson and the Black Eyed Peas... Then we went to a Parisian club not far from the hotel, where Manson has already been with his ex Dita Von Teese. I was wondering why there were no chicks in the bar, until I understood that it was a gay club (laugh).

Elegy : But Fergie was here ?!

Twiggy : Yeahhh (laugh) !!! And she was making eyes at me.

Elegy : Did you try to pick her up ?

Twiggy : She was sitting on my knees. But, no... Nothing happened. I have a girlfriend in LA. She just sent me a SMS. And it's only 6 AM or something over there.

Elegy : That's because she misses you.

Twiggy : (yawning) Etcetera !

Elegy : Excuse me ?

Twiggy : Etcetera. And everything else. Manson and I love to say that. So much that we both have it tattooed on our right arm (he shows me his right wrist where “etcetera” is indeed tattooed in full length). He just got “etc.”.

Elegy : He is softer than you ?

Twiggy (laugh)

Elegy : Is Manson in the same state as you ?

Twiggy : Probably worse than me because he got up earlier... In fact I'm not sure that he went to bed at all. And as we just arrived from LA yesterday, we're suffering from jet lag.

Elegy : You brought your acoustic guitar with you, are you taking it everywhere ?

Twiggy : Yes. Just in case some journalist asks me to play something or to use it in a photo shoot.

Elegy : Manson told me that you never put so much of your heart in doing a record than you did for The High End Of Low...

Twiggy : Oh, really ? I think we already worked that hard, but it's true that this album is one of my favorites out of everything I made so far. And as I like it, I don't care to know if other people like it too.

Elegy : Manson is saying somewhat the same thing. Is it difficult for you to listen to your first albums, as it is for him ?

Twiggy : Oh no, I have no problem with them. But it's true that I don't listen to them.

Elegy : You will have to listen to them again and rehearse some of those songs, no ?

Twiggy : Yes, sure. In any case we won't play songs from the albums I didn't work on. Even if I like those songs too.

Elegy : Did you start rehearsing already ?

Twiggy : Yes, yes.

Elegy : Can you play the whole new album live ?

Twiggy : No, we only rehearsed 5 or 6 songs.

Elegy : That's all ?

Twiggy : Yes. We have to play the hits : Beautiful People, Dope Show, Sweet Dreams, etc.

Elegy : Can you give us the setlist or at least the 6 new songs that you're gonna play ?

Twiggy : The setlist is not defined yet, but we worked on Four Rusted Horses, Pretty As A Swastika, Leave A Scar, I Have To Look Up Just To See Hell, We're From America and Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon.

Elegy : Not Devour ?

Twiggy : No, but we will probably play it on some shows. But not for festivals. On the festival tour, we open with Four Rusted Horses. But what's cool with the new album is that we can play everything live without being obliged to use tapes or computers. Everything could be played with only a guitar, a bass and a drum kit.

Elegy : The lineup includes Chris Vrenna, and Ginger Fish on drums ?

Twiggy : Yes. Ginger Fish also played some piano on the record. Chris will play keyboards live and of course Ginger will play drums.

Elegy : You're not gonna play the best song on the album : I Want To Kill You Like They Do In The Movies either ?

Twiggy : No, not in Europe at least. It's ten minutes long, that's too much for festivals. Maybe we will do a 40 minutes long version, so that we'll only play that song (laugh).

Elegy : Do you love movies as much as Manson does ? Do you have similar tastes ?

Twiggy : Yes, yes. We buy a lot of books and DVD, we spend time classifying them... I love Jodorowsky's stuff, I think it's very funny.

Elegy : What about Philippe Grandrieux ?

Twiggy : Well... I'm not as much a cinema fan as Manson is. I also like Fellini a bit, but you know.. I also love far less intellectual movies, I watch about everything that comes my way.

Elegy : Manson is a Tobby Dammit fan...

Twiggy : Yes, it is his favorite short film (laugh) ! I'm not a big Fellini fan, but we love that film which is a part of a triptych. It's with Terence Stamp, we love him ! I'm a fan since his role in Superman 2 (laugh). I'm not at all surprised that he told you about Tobby Dammit !

Elegy : And what are your musical influences ?

Twiggy : Oh ! It's probably shameful, but right now I'm more in the 90's with Richard Ashcroft or Noel Gallagher's work. I love that basic side, and their textures. I am a big Oasis fan. Other than that, David Gilmour has always been a big inspiration for me...

Elegy : You don't like the 80's ?

Twiggy : I did... In the 90's. It seems that I'm always listening to stuff that came out ten years before (laugh). But the 80's metal will always be a part of me : Judas Priest, Blast, Cinderella or Mötley Crüe, and also trash metal with Metallica, Testament or Slayer.

Elegy : What band led you into learning to play guitar ?

Twiggy : Well... I think it's Van Halen, whom I saw live in 1984. But it is Kill'em All and Ride The Lightning from Metallica that really made me improve. For me it was “Sports-Metal”, imitating them meant a lot of training (laugh). Those are the two bands that brought me into music.

Elegy : What made you come back to Marilyn Manson ?

Twiggy : I was in a tight corner, I was just back from a Nine Inch Nails tour and I was feeling lonely. I was wondering what I would be able to do next. And I ran into Manson in a bar. We stared at each other and we were like “what about doing a record together, more organic ?”. That was it. We made a small tour last year then we start composing together. We must have wrote about sixty songs or ideas of songs and we just selected fifteen.

Elegy : Did you work differently this time ?

Twiggy : Yes, because before we would work fifteen days on the same song. This time we worked a few hours on a song, then we switched to the next one. That is why we wrote so many. And the songs have been finalized more quickly.

Elegy : How did you choose which songs to put on the album ?

Twiggy : It's Manson, depending on the lyrics, I think.

Elegy : Do you take part in the lyrics writing sometimes ?

Twiggy : Sometimes I tell him that I prefer this word to that other word, but that's all. I'm more responsible for the music.

Elegy : But when you compose, don't you have some ideas for lyrics sometimes ?

Twiggy : Yes, I also write lyrics, but not for this project. On the other hand, we used some songs ideas that I had in store for about ten years. I wrote Arma-godamn-motherfuckin-geddon in the second album era.

Elegy : And when you write lyrics, it is for Goon Moon, your project with Chris Goss ?

Twiggy : Yes. Or for MySpace and YouTube... I share my small musical videos or some songs... As soon as I have some time, I start composing for Goon Moon again.

Elegy : Will there be a particular stage setup for this tour ?

Twiggy : To be honest, I have no idea.

Elegy : It's gonna be a surprise for you as much as for the audience ?

Twiggy : Exactly (laugh).

Elegy : Will you play in Paris ?

Twiggy : I just don't know. I do not take part in the organization of the tour. We're rehearsing in Berlin, and the tour starts at the end of May.

Elegy : What is the difference between your work with Manson and Reznor ?

Twiggy : Both are very demanding. But with NIN, you aren't in a creative situation, it's Trent's band. His expectations are very high, he is a very talented musician, you learn a lot with him. He is more responsible than Manson. With Manson, it's more about surviving chaos, the emotional chaos that he tries to express in his songs with the use of my music. He is less demanding on a technical point of view. With Reznor, you need discipline and rigor, and he shows you who the boss is. His search for perfection makes you a better musician.

Elegy : Are there a lot of takes in the studio ?

Twiggy : I practically didn't work with him on the studio. He does almost everything on his own on the records. I just did the live shows.

Elegy : So your work with Manson is more gratifying...

Twiggy : For sure. With NIN, it's just a job.

Elegy : And with A Perfect Circle ?

Twiggy : That was more of a band. Even more than Marilyn Manson, where it's just him and me who create. We are the heart of this band, even if Chris Vrenna has some technical contributions. With A Perfect Circle we compose live together. Trent is all alone with his computer.

Elegy : How do you proceed when writing songs in Marilyn Manson ? Do you try to create a particular atmosphere ?

Twiggy : When one of us has an idea, we call each other and we call Chris too. Actually, Chris and I often meet in the studio to write the core of the songs.

Elegy : Was one of the songs more difficult to do than the others ?

Twiggy : No, it was really easy. Most of the time it was good at first take.

Elegy : Is there a song that gives you more pleasure to play live than the others ?

Twiggy : Devour, and Leave A Scar.

Elegy : There is a great variety on the album, did you want it like that ?

Twiggy : Yes, I think. As we had more than fifty songs, Manson chose the ones he thought would make the best album. We had to choose between about ten really heavy songs, some a bit less heavy, and others even less.

Elegy : Have you been frustrated that some of the songs didn't make it to the album ?

Twiggy : Of course, but I'm happy with the record as it is. Maybe some of those songs will appear on the next album ?

Elegy : Obviously you have seen the walls in Manson's room with th lyrics written on them. Wasn't it a bit frightening ?

Twiggy : A little, yes. It was surely worse for the owners, when they got the keys back, because it was a rented house ! It was very dark, the anteroom of Hell... There were also porno pictures... I didn't like going there too much, it scared me.

Elegy : The owners must have kept the deposit...

Twiggy : Sure (laugh). They must have repainted or destroyed everything.

Elegy : Was the house in downtown LA ?

Twiggy : Yes, at Hollywood Bowl. When we were going to the studio, we had to cross all the traffic, it took some hours... Sorry, now I need some sleep (laugh).

Twiggy in ROCK HARD - August 3rd 2009

ROCK HARD N°90 (July-August 2009)
Marilyn Manson : Twiggy Pop

Interview by Morgan Rivalin, done on May 27th, 2009 in Paris

“If only I could counter jet lag by getting drunk, my life would be a lot easier...”. It is with these words full of a certain wisdom that Twiggy Ramirez, back with Marilyn Manson after an absence of more than four years (that he spent with A Perfect Circle as well as Nine Inch Nails) welcomes us in his suite of a Parisian hotel. A few days away from the beginning of a European tour which would have gone through Hellfest when you'll read those lines, we met the musician – a bit sleepy – to hear about his return to home and about The High End Of Low, Marilyn Manson's seventh album. Interview with the one we should no longer call Jeordie...

Rock Hard : in which context did your reunion with Marilyn Manson take place ?

Twiggy : I'd just finished a tour with Nine Inch Nails. I was lurking in an hotel, in Hollywood, where I met Manson. That day we just talked about everything and nothing in particular, but we stayed in touch by phone. Then he offered me to take part in his next tour. I accepted. It happened in a very “organic” way, without the intervention of managers, records labels or whatever... It was very easy to do because both of us really wanted to work together again.

Rock Hard : did you recall the past and the events that led you to the split ?

Twiggy : No, not really... We left all of this aside. We were mostly happy to see each other again and we kinda had a fresh start. But I have to say that during all these years we weren't really upset at each other. We just grew apart and lacked the desire to work together anymore... But years have gone by and now our relationship is better than it has ever been.

Rock Hard : did you keep an eye on what Marilyn Manson was doing while you were away ?

Twiggy : No. I didn't listen to his albums and I will probably never do it. I had to learn one song of each album in order to play them on stage, but other than that I don't know them...

Rock Hard : did you start to write the new songs of The High End Of Low, an album that you co-produced, immediately ?

Twiggy : We started at the end of the US tour I just talked about, which lasted about six or seven weeks. As soon as we got off the tour bus, we were longing for only one thing : writing new songs. The “concept” was simple : each new day meant a new idea for a song. We never got bored because every day was different and we were working in a totally different way from the previous day. As a result, the sources of inspiration behind those songs are numerous...

Rock Hard : what were your inspirations ?

Twiggy : (thinking) I don't know exactly... It could be something I've heard in a bar, or some pop thing playing on the radio... But my personal influences are still the same, and they are very diverse. When I write some songs, I always listen to the old classics I've heard thousands of times, but that I still love so much. Pink Floyd, Spiritualized, Oasis, etc. Those songs came to us in a very spontaneous way and the record took shape little by little, day by day. We didn't know which type of record we were going to do, but we knew that we didn't want to recreate something we already did in the past. I made that record in the most honest way considering my musical tastes, and I know it was the same for Manson. The musics and lyrics he wrote for The High End Of Low are totally in accordance with what he is and his tastes. We always worked that way when I was part of the band before, and I think that's what made our success back then.

Rock Hard : did you work as a tandem ?

Twiggy : each song has been done a different way. There were no rules. I recorded some songs at my home, then Manson added the lyrics. Some other songs have been recorded in a studio, along with Sean (Beavan) and Chris (Vrenna). But in any case, most of the songs have something in common : they are mostly first takes. That record was composed while it was recorded, or is it the contrary ? (laugh)

Rock Hard : the booklet doesn't really tell what instruments you are playing on the album...

Twiggy : a bit of everything ! Guitars, which I will also play on stage, bass, programming... As it was clear in my mind which kind of sound I wanted for that record, I thought it would be better if I did a lot of things myself. It is a rock album, rather rough in itself, which suits me perfectly. We used to have so many guitar tracks and electronic effects in the past... Today we limit ourselves to two or three guitars, keyboards, bass, drums and that's all. Just like any rock band in fact. That's cool, because we happen to be one ! (laugh)

Rock Hard : who's gonna be the new bass player for the band ?

Twiggy : it's a musician named Andy (Gerold) that Billy Howerdel (A Perfect Circle, Ashes Divide) recommended to me. Andy was a part of Ashes Divide and he is truly amazing. It took him a single audition to convince us that he was the right man for the spot.

Rock Hard : do you agree that some of the songs in The High End Of Low have a “pop” dimension ?

Twiggy : it's a word that I have no problem with. If the melodies are good enough so that people find some pop qualities in them, I'll take that for a compliment... The album I listen to the most right now is the last Lily Allen, I have nothing against pop... when it's well done.

Rock Hard : The High End Of Low is very rich and varied, as it is 15 songs long. Was the choice so difficult to do, that you kept all the songs ?

Twiggy : oh no, we didn't keep all the songs. We had enough songs to do at least three albums ! But it's true that the choice has been difficult. When you are honest at writing songs, you can only love all that you create and it's nearly impossible to step back and decide which song is better than the other. I really love Leave A Scar and Devour, but there isn't a single song that I don't like.

Rock Hard : you have been very busy those past years. To which extend do you think that you have improved as a musician ?

Twiggy : I've changed, for sure, but it's difficult to tell in which aspects I may have improved. When I left Marilyn Manson, I had no idea of what I would do next. I was kinda offered the “jobs” with A Perfect Circle and Nine Inch Nails without having asked anything. I still wonder why they called me, but I'm glad they did ! (laugh) Thanks to both bands, I had a lot of fun and I learned a lot. I grew up a lot, too.

Rock Hard : do you think that Marilyn Manson, the band, is still as dangerous and provocative today as it was at the beginning ?

Twiggy : (thinking for a long time) in fact, I think it is more dangerous now, because what we play is more anchored in the real world. There is still provocation and Manson is still an expert in that area. But those songs are also more personal and this is really frightening. We are not hiding behind anything. Of course we'll keep on wearing extravagant clothes and makeup, but we are no longer hiding behind some characters that we created.

Rock Hard : you just spent several years working under your real name Jeordie White. Was it easy to become Twiggy again ?

Twiggy : To be honest, those last years I had some difficulties getting rid of the Twiggy character... And today, I find it weird when people doesn't call me Jeordie ! (laugh) But it's not really important for me. People may call me Twiggy or Jeordie. I don't care. In fact I'm using the Twiggy moniker to make sure the fans know that I'm back. But I'm not really the same Twiggy that I was before. I am no longer the same person.

Rock Hard : what kind of person were you ?

Twiggy : I don't know... An idiot ? (laugh) Something like that ! In any case I was someone who didn't know what he loved, and who was hiding behind a persona he created. It's no longer the case. I cannot talk for Manson, but as far as I'm concerned, I've changed a lot and I consider my role in this band in a different way.

Rock Hard : after you left Marilyn Manson, you auditioned for several bands, among them Queens Of The Stone Age and Metallica...

Twiggy : I never really auditioned for QOTSA. There was an opportunity at one moment, but it never materialized. At the same time I auditioned for Metallica, but without really thinking of joining the band. I wanted to play Master Of Puppets once with them, and I was very happy to be able to do it, but frankly I didn't really want to be a part of that band. Of course, I would have become instantly rich, but it would probably have been far too complicated... I'm good friend with Lars (Ulrich) and I knew in which situation Metallica was at that time. A Perfect Circle was much better for me.

Rock Hard : what do you think of the “abrupt” ending to A Perfect Circle ?

Twiggy : Maynard (James Keenan) simply got back to Tool and Billy (Howerdel) wanted to do something different... I don't know what will happen with the band, but I'm really proud of Thirteenth Step (2003) and I hope that we will work together again. I would love to do another album with those guys. We'll see what the future holds for us.

Rock Hard : what do you think about your experience with NIN ?

I loved the shows we made together, but what I'm keeping from it is mostly some kind of discipline. It hasn't always been the case – far from it – but Nine Inch Nails is now a very disciplined band. It helped me turn the page and make a clean sweep of the excess from the past...

Rock Hard : you could also write a book describing that period, like The Dirt by Mötley Crüe ?

Twiggy : If I was writing a book, it would be very short : “people told me that I had good times, but I don't remember anything...” ! (laugh) Maybe I could write a few pages with the help of hypnosis, but in any case it would be too short... (laugh)

Rock Hard : you started a Stoner Rock band, Goon Moon, with Chris Goss, and made a first record in 2007. Do you have other projects together ?

Twiggy : people call it Stoner Rock because it is a “weird” kind of music and because Chris Goss is a part of the band, but there is absolutely no rules in Goon Moon's music. This is why both of us love it so much. It's an outlet. We made an album with the collaboration of many of our friends, among them Josh Homme (QOTSA) Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle), and Dave Catching (Eagles Of Death Metal), and we are very pleased with it. I don't see why we wouldn't do a second one... Well, I will start with this Manson tour, and then I will think about the future. I'm playing guitar in the band now. Going back to the instrument I debuted with will maybe offer some new perspectives, and bring some new desires...

Rock Hard : you're going to tour with Slayer this summer in the USA. What do you think of that lineup ?

Twiggy : It's weird ! I grew up listening to bands like Metallica and Slayer, so I'm proud to tour with them. But honestly I don't know why such lineups can see the light of day... Well, don't worry, I know it' all about money ! (laugh) I love Slayer, but I also know that their fans are sometimes disrespectful. Fortunately, we play after them. So if we are lucky, most of their fans would have gone back home when we will get on stage !

 

MANSON INTERVIEWED BY ZILLO MAGAZINE - August 1st 2009

Manson has been interviewed by German Magazine Zillo. Thank you to Komakino for breaking the news and to Tinuviel and Ich_Bin_Du for the translation:

Zillo 07./08. 2009 Translation: Salvation / solution – process

Interviews with Marilyn Manson aren’t an easy undertaking. While the master of provocation hardly allowed any conversations with the media regarding his latest album “Eat Me, Drink Me” this time there’s at least the possibility of a phone interview from the far Los Angeles, where Manson manages the whole public relations from his property. After several postponements at the first attempt, which finally end in a refusal, plus other delays at the second attempt (Manson tends to overrun his interviews) the American enfant terrible number one finally is on the phone and ready to talk about his new album “The High End Of Low” – he's doing it like a waterfall, without stopping once, full of verve. After all Manson has been over a drastic private crisis which he handled successfully through his new album. Although the name Evan Rachel Wood isn’t mentioned once during the interview, it is assumed that the breakup with the attractive actress, who he has loved passionately in the video to “Heart-Shaped Glasses”, has left big scars, which – with the aid of art – have to be digested.

 

The interview starts with a question about the last album “Eat Me, Drink Me”, which showed Manson from an unusual rocking and reduced side and wasn’t exactly enthusiastically welcomed by a lot of fans, and reveals the first controversy. “I’d rather consider “The High End Of Low” than “Eat Me, Drink Me” as a low-key Rock’ n ’Roll album, even though it’s disconcerting to characterize your own productions because an artist or producer is never really impartial”, says Manson who immediately proceeds from the musical to the personal motifs. “It’s very difficult for me to listen to “Eat Me, Drink Me” these days, since I wasn’t involved to this record in the same way as I am in the actual album – namely at 100%. In a similar manner I wasn’t much involved in life in general at that time. I don’t really know how to look at this record in retrospect. Admittedly I like the album, since some songs are fantastic, but others make me cry and or I don’t understand them anymore, because I’m no longer the same person. You can rate it as a Rock ’n’ Roll album. But I don’t think, that it really contains any of those painful emotions, which I tried to express. That’s the great difference to “The High End Of Low”.

Another striking difference between “The High End Of Low” and “Eat Me, Drink Me” is the lineup, whereas the last album was composed, produced and recorded with Tim Skold this time the former band member Twiggy Ramirez rejoined the band and helped Manson out – a Reunion that Manson declares as his biggest luck of the last years. “I didn't hesitate for a moment, as Twiggy and I fatefully met each other last year”, he explains. “It was frivolous and foolish that I let him leave the band back then and that I allowed Tim Skold to take his place. But I brought him back immediately, as we talked about the possibility of making music together again after such a long time. It was bound to happen.”
But the separation wasn’t all bad, since Ramirez, who’s real name is Jeordie White, gained valuable experience between 2002 and 2008 when he played for A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails and Goon Moon. “During our separation Twiggy did a lot of things he’s proud of. He learned a lot and became musically a different person. He was a guitarist in the past and then played bass for Marilyn Manson. What most people don't know is that he used to record guitars for Marilyn Manson in the studio all the time. However, I think that he wasn’t able to show the world – or at least me – his paces before now.”
The new-found harmony between Manson and Ramirez is mirrored in an unconventional manner of composing, which was characterized by a great spirit of optimism and at the same time by that Fuck-off- attitude which characterized the band in the early days. “We directly started the songwriting for “The High End Of Low” after we played a few shows together, without even having unpacked our bags”, the singer remembers. “We tried to approach everything the way we did it in the early days - without any maturity, regret or knowledge, which often tied us up later. We realized that there are a lot of people who surround artists just because it’s their main intention to make money with them. They aren’t interested in creativity or art. That doesn't make them bad, but they destroy so many good artists and many artists also destroy them self like this. This time we didn’t want to pay attention to who’s going to pay us. There were only some guitars and microphones and we casually started to write songs. Twiggy exactly played the music I always wanted to hear. Out of it the record we always wanted to make suddenly came off, and we didn’t understand at all why we didn't always do it that way.” Life can be so easy.
For the sake of completeness it has to be mentioned, that “The High End Of Low” wasn’t a pure two-man-project.
“Also involved was Chris Vrenna, who was the “adult” in the situation, since Twiggy and I are quite chaotic.”, Manson lets us know. “Chris also wrote songs and was able to hold us back a little because we throw overboard all the rules, for example in terms of the mode of production. A good example is “Four Rusted Horses”, a song which stands in place of eight, nine other tracks on the album. They all have been recorded just as they sound right now. The record is very rough and I like it that it isn’t overproduced. We had the ambition to record rough music that contains as much first takes as possible rather than correct every single detail, which others count as mistakes, but in my opinion represent the charm and the personality of the record.
You often get manipulated by record labels, because passionate artists tend to by influenced by others. This aren’t necessarily things that go completely against your grain, but if you go to sleep at night, you think, nevertheless, that this is no longer the vision you originally had – if only you had made it like this or like that. On concerts you often observe the difference and realize, that the music of the particular band contains more spirit, power, rage or sex when they play live. This time I’ve realized very quickly, what we lacked, because we just came back from a tour.”

The album has been produced by Sean Beaven, who already played a major part in the success of “Antichrist Superstar”. But previously it was necessary to find a concept. “I don’t know if all musicians do this when they write an album, but we lock ourselves in and try to internalize what kind of story we want to tell and how we want to do that”, the artists refers further and recounts how music, lyrics and an imaginary movie in his head in the following become united. “I started filming in my house and tried to reconcile the events: on the one hand the rebuild of the relationship with Twiggy and on the other hand – at the same time but not necessary related – the resolution of the romance with my ex-girlfriend and the confusion that goes hand in hand with it. I didn't know anymore if I’m the director of the movie or just an actor.” And if you believe Marilyn Manson his house indeed looked like a film set during the development of the record. “I’ve got fog machines and movie spotlights in my house”, he assures.” They look great in pictures and movies but also in real life. I know it’s unusual and ridiculous and exactly what you would expect from me. But it’s real. Yes, I seem to be completely insane to certain people, but you can’t unveil this form of creativity without the despair and passion I have inside me.”
And how does that concept behind “The High End Of Low” look like concretely?

Twiggy had made similar experiences like me and we tried to find out how we can find our place in this world. I wanted to make a record about us, falling from grace and then find back into life. It’s also about how someone like me can ever find love in this world. Again and again people make the mistake to give up their independence. It’s like the story of Lucifer. Nobody is gonna love you, if you’re not being yourself. It’s not easy to see that, when you’re writing it down, because the distance to your own life is missing.”

So “The high end of low” is just like its predecessor a completely autobiographic album, maybe the most personal record in Manson’s discography so far, because it is about the last 2 turbulent years in the musician’s private life. “The album is the story.”, he says. “If somebody asks me what happened to me in the last few years, I’ll tell him about the events on the album. But I tell them in a different way than I did on ‘Eat me drink me’, because this time the events/happenings are portrayed in a strange canalized way.” Many things occured through the isolation and lonelieness Manson had to take after the split with Evan Rachel Wood. “I went to the recording room every night from november ‘till january and recorded my vocals.”, he remembers. “This was the first period in my life I was living completely alone. This may be nothing special for some people, but I moved out of my parent’s house to start a Rock’n’Roll band and be on tour and live in hotels most of the time. Then I was living together with my best friend Twiggy, but I lost him.

After that I had 3 longer relationships with women, and so I was in a situation which was completely new to me. So I was faced with many things. But I think the darkness comes before every light.” The last 3 songs on the album describe this period in epic wideness. The final is introduced with the meaningful title “I have to look up just to see hell”. “It starts with the bitter knowledge, that it is impossible to find love in this world.”, Manson says. “You just have to look at the world and the television program. Everything sucks here in America. It goes on with the anger, that I let it come so far (?), that I gave up everything. Me, who started his career with pissing into everybodie’s faces.” He’s talking about “Into the fire”, a dramatic half-ballad with piano part, which sounds unusual for a Manson song. “It needed a musical assembly of Ginger Fish, who plays the drums in the other 14 songs, but here the piano, Chris,Twiggy and me, to express this. It wasn’t a typical Hollywood happy ending, but it’s very cinematical (?) and I couldn’t imagine a more dramatic final for the album at first. In my opinion – and I think many people will agree – the guitar solo Twiggy plays in that song is the most exciting solo I’ve ever heard. But I won’t tell him, because his ego would grow too much. (laughs) But I’m very proud of him, and after that song I thought the album was complete. It was the third of january I think. The ending wasn’t very hopeful. I decided, okay, I’ll survive this hard time. But I don’t have to destroy everything ‘cause I’m tougher now. I will be cold and won’t have any feelings. So I wanted to tell everybody how I handled this crisis. This is my pride, my anger and that’s me – like I was in the beginning, only more cruel and hopeless.” But after a while Manson didn’t want to leave the ending unchanged. “Then I listened to the song again and noticed, that I was not saying this. By the way, right now I’m sitting in my room and looking at the lyrics of “Into the fire” which are written on my wall with lipstick. Much is smeared and I don’t remember how I got so high to write it there, I guess I was standing on something. I spent christmas and new year’s eve completey alone. The only character I was in touch with was my cat, ....

NEW EUROPEAN DATES - August 1st 2009

A series of new European tour dates have been announced. To keep up with them as they are added, please visit the forum:

http://www.ultimatemansonbible.co.uk/message_board/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=910

MANSON APPEARS IN PLACEBO TOUR VIDEO - August 1st 2009

Manson appears shortly in Placebo's Myspace Tourvideo part V. The part with Manson starts at 2:40

PLACEBO Summer 2009 - A Short Film - Part V from PlaceboWorld on Vimeo.

New Manson Widget - August 1st 2009

Manson has unveiled a new widget on his twitter page which allows you to listen to snippets of the new album and will be updated with tour info et cetera: