ERIC AVERY: PERRY FARRELL 'Floats Through The World Not Being Told The Truth By Anybody'

On October 11, 2010, the webmaster of the JANE'S ADDICTION fan site Xiola.org conducted a Skype video interview with the band's founding bassist Eric Avery. You can now watch the chat in seven parts below.

On his problem communicating with JANE'S ADDICTION lead singer Perry Farrell:

Avery: "I've some bubbles — like the lead-singer-disease bubble — but I've never seen as extensive a bubble as Perry's, or as tight, I guess I should say, a bubble as Perry's. Really, it's him and [Perry's wife] Etty on the inside of that, and then they bring one person in at a time every once in a while. The new manager will be in there for a little while until he is jettisoned again. Anytime anybody brings any bad news into that, they're jettisoned, so that guy gets no real information from anybody; I mean, nobody tells that guy... I mean, maybe Etty does, but nobody [else] does. That guy just floats through the world not being told the truth by anybody; it's insane. So I was not gonna be the first. . . . That's the way it is in his life, period; it's not just me. The folks around him that I know don't tell him the truth. He just gets that whole boy-king problem; no one wants to tell him any bad news, and so he doesn't get any truth. It's tragic."

On his attempt to work things out between him and Perry for the sake of the band:

Avery: "As an adult, looking at it, I went in thinking, 'We don't have to like each other. He doesn't have to like me.' Obviously I tried to mend fences with him years ago, it didn't go well. So be it. If that's the case, that's fine; I'll deal with that. And I feel differently about that now as an adult than I did when I was 20. But as long as the work is good. And if that guy is gonna act the way that he does and be as over-sensitive about everything as he is, and all that stuff, he'd better deliver the goods at the end of the day, creatively and... I mean, you just take a look at the guy's output over the last few years...

"I kept telling him that I kept — which was true — that I kept being struck, as I was revisiting the songs to figure them out, remember them and all that, being struck by how fucking brilliant he was in 1991; I mean, his lyrics, his vibe... everything. He was just, like... In my opinion, he was the coolest, best rock frontman ever. I really can't think of anybody that I think was more compelling, captivating, interesting, unusual, creative... And I was there seeing it happen, that he was the real deal. And thinking about it as an adult, I think if we can get him in touch with that, then he can be the princess, whatever sort of princess he wants to be, and that's fine, and I won't hit him; I'll leave the room. And then we'll put out a good record, everyone will be happy, we'll do our thing, we'll return as conquering heroes, and we don't have to love each other. It's been done by lots of bands before us."

Bassist Duff McKagan parted ways with JANE'S ADDICTION in September after just five months of playing with the group. The VELVET REVOLVER and ex-GUNS N' ROSES member joined the band earlier this year after it split with Avery. In an email, the other members of JANE'S ADDICTION stated, "We wanted to thank Duff for helping us write songs for our new record. We love the songs we worked on with him — and the gigs were a blast — but musically we were all headed in different directions. From here Duff is off to work on his own stuff so we wish him all the best."

JANE'S ADDICTION quietly reunited in late 2008 for a third go-round, only with Avery on board for the first time since the band originally split in 1992. However, Avery left late last year and McKagan stepped in to play a few gigs and work on the band's new album.

JANE'S ADDICTION recently released its first-ever concert DVD and Blu-ray, titled "Live Voodoo".

There's no word yet on when the new JANE'S ADDICTION album will come out or what it will be called.

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