THE CLASSIC ROCK INTERVIEW PERRY FARRELL
There is a funny moment, while Perry Farrell talks about his extraordinary life, when he breaks into a song. Not one of the classics he performed with Jane’s Addiction, the band in which he became a star in the late 80s, but something he wrote as a child. ‘Tickle my bellybutton,’ he trills. ‘Tickle my underarm…’ This is followed by a long, high-pitched laugh. “I remember making up all these songs when I was a kid,” he says. “And most of them didn’t make any sense…”
At his home in Los Angeles, Farrell is in buoyant mood as he prepares for the launch of what he calls his “grand idea”, a project named Kind Heaven. It begins with an album of the same name and will eventually lead to the creation of a new centre for music and art, based in Las Vegas. In this there are echoes of the two ventures that have defined Farrell as a pop-culture pioneer and influencer: Jane’s Addiction, the group that did so much to shape alternative rock with their seminal albums Nothing’s Shocking (1988) and Ritual De Lo Habitual (1990); and Lollapalooza, the groundbreaking, freak-flag-flying festival founded by Farrell in 1991 and still operating today.
The music he has created for the Kind Heaven album is typical of Farrell, full of energy and colour and ranging from rock to electronica, with shades of world music and Broadway show tunes. His collaborator in chief is Tony Visconti, the producer of classic albums by David Bowie, T.Rex, Thin Lizzy and others. Guests include Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins and The Cars’ guitarist Elliot Easton. The album is mixed not only in stereo, but also in Atmos surround-sound – the future of music, Farrell believes. And as he sees it, what drives Kind Heaven in all its facets is a revolutionary spirit. “I’m trying to build a new community,” he says. “And I’m starting it with music.”
Born Peretz Bernstein on – he says that Jane’s Addiction is, for him, unfinished business. But for now, Farrell, who recently turned 60, is focused on Kind Heaven, which he speaks of as a mission. “I’m trying to make the world a better place, man!”
