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PF: I think that it can happen again, but it has to start with the people that put the show together. We've looked hard to try to put together a lineup that will do that. I'm thinking about the lineup more and more, and it is such a sexy, sexy lineup! That always changes things and turns things around, and that's something that's been missing in festivals. Not only are the guys sexy for the girls, but we have a lot of sexy girls that are sexy for the guys! You have to start with that, so that people want to interact with each other and see what's going on and know each other rather than just being part of this kind of somewhat aggressive mass where you're just hoping that nothing bad happens to you and you see the band you like and then you go home.
PB: Were you able to get all of the bands you wanted when you were booking the festival?
PF: There were three I couldn't get. But let me tell you, it was because of their management -- they wanted too much money. When I finally spoke to the bands, they said, "They never even told us!" A lot of political situations arise that people don't know anything about, but nine times out of 10, if I would approach the artist myself, they would say yes. I tend to have respect for the managers -- to a degree -- but there's a point where I would expect that the manager would at least go to the band, and I found out a few times that the manager hadn't even done it.
PB: During Lollapalooza's middle period, in 1993 and 1994, it seemed as if you lost control of the festival you created.
PF: The honest to god truth is that I was a pretty sloppy drug addict [then]. The workload Lollapalooza requires can be tremendous. If it were just booking the bands, it wouldn't be so bad. But it's so much more than that! On the grounds you've got the interactivity, the video gaming. This year's interactivity component is going to be a breakthrough, on the same level that Lollapalooza itself was the first year. We are becoming our own alternative media outlet. Remember, it's computers and plasma screens and telephones, and we're becoming a news service in certain respects -- a true alternative media. For example, you might drive an electric car and compete against somebody else and the winner gets to go back stage. But at the same time, you're going to learn about why fossil fuels don't work. It will be fun, and you'll feel like you've been to summer camp.
PB: So Lollapalooza is about all of that and sex, too?
PF: Yeah! That's part of camp, right? [Laughs]
PB: What is it about the music of Jane's Addiction that makes it so incredibly sexual? |
