DAVE NAVARRO Discusses Adult Film Directorial Debut, Upcoming Projects

Jesse Capps of Rock Confidential recently conducted an interview with Dave Navarro (THE PANIC CHANNEL, ex-JANE'S ADDICTION, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Rock Confidential: Your adult film directorial debut, Dave Navarro: Broken" [first in a planned series of celebrity-directed porn movies from Teravision, the company owned by porn star Tera Patrick and her husband, former BIOHAZARD bassist/vocalist Evan Seinfeld], was just released. I know you've known Evan Seinfeld and Tera Patrick for a while. How was the idea of you directing an adult feature brought up?

Navarro: I was actually covering a convention here in Los Angeles called Erotica LA for Spread Entertainment. We took some cameras down and we were interviewing the stars and the manufacturers in the industry. I reconnected with Evan and Tera and did an interview with them for the show. They called a couple of days later and asked if I'd be interested in doing a film. It just seemed like a really different, fun project to take on. The interesting thing about the adult film industry is that it moves incredibly fast. You go from a conversation to a month and a half later and it's a finished product.

Rock Confidential: There will always be a stigma attached to the adult industry. It's diminishing, but it will always be there. Did you consider that when you made the decision to direct an adult film it may affect you on the music side of the business?

Navarro: I've been through a lot of things in my life. I've survived the murder of my mother. I've survived heroin and cocaine addiction. I've been in two very successful bands. I've had a lot of hardships and a lot of positives and things to be grateful for. The reality is, once you've gone through the course of events that I've gone through, you understand how little some things matter in the long run. I really didn't care. It was a creative project. There were some ideas I wanted to add to the film that had nothing to do with sex and it had more to do with filmmaking. It was something I wanted to try out. If an artist doesn't do something he wants to do based on the potential for public perception, there's a big problem.

Rock Confidential: Do you see yourself directing more adult films?

Navarro: Not necessarily. It was something that I thought would be cool to try and have a take on. My true love and passion is music and that's what I want to focus on, especially at the beginning of next year. It was a cool experience and everybody over at Teravision was cool to work with but it's one of those things that was just an extension of creativity but not necessarily a new beginning.

Rock Confidential: You recently said you've missed the danger and the edge in music for many years. When did it fall off for you? When did the change happen?

Navarro: I received a lot of flack for that comment. My point wasn't that music itself lacks danger and edge. My intention was that the industry today won't allow it. There are plenty of bands out there that have plenty of edge and danger but the corporate structures shy away from it and they're looking for the quick buck. They're looking for the middle America, teenage, radio world. The point I was making was at least Teravision was a structure that is all about the edge. There are certainly bands that are embracing what I miss about music. Around 1991 and 1992 when JANE'S ADDICTION was working with Warner Brothers, they were all about us being unique and edgy. Today there isn't a whole lot of outlets for bands that want to push the envelope.

Rock Confidential: You mentioned something musically is happening in January. What is up next for you as far as music in concerned?

Navarro: I'm working with a DJ right now, DJ Skribble. He and I do live mash-ups. We have a bunch of dates lined up. He'll take like LL COOL J and I'll play a ZEPPELIN riff under it. We mash up rock jams and hip-hop jams together. It's purely a fun experience. We're not creating anything that's of the heart. It's more of a fun experience. Come January I'm going to get to work on another project. I don't know if it's going to be a band or a solo project, but given the state of the music business and now that I've found myself out of Capitol, I intend to do it all myself at home and make it available purely online.

Read the entire interview at Rock Confidential.