MÖTLEY CRÜE's NIKKI SIXX: 'What I Don't Like About Media Is They Don't Do Their Research'

In a new interview with Razor of the Tucson, Arizona radio station Rock 102.1 KFMA, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx clarified his recent comment about not seeing "a reason right now to go" back "in the studio" with his bandmates and record more new music. He explained (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't have a lot of respect for the way media handles themselves in general, whether it's political or rock media or whatever it might be."

Nikki continued: "When somebody takes a conversation of mine and they say, 'Hey, are you planning on going in the studio?' And I say, 'We don't see a reason to go in the studio right now.' 'Cause we just recorded three songs [in April 2023]. We were just in the recording studio. We have a second single coming. We have a third single coming. So we're not in a rush to… Vince [Neil, MÖTLEY CRÜE singer] lives in Tennessee. I live in Wyoming. We're on tour. So what I said was, like, well, first of all, we're always creating — always creating. And I was working on something this morning. I was just playing bass. My daughter was getting ready for school and I'm, like, 'Whoa, what's that?' And I put it on my little voice messages and I will eventually show it to the band or [our longtime producer] Bob [Rock] or whatever.

"But that's what I don't like about media is they don't do their research," Sixx continued. "And then people are going, 'Oh, MÖTLEY CRÜE is not going in the studio.' We didn't say that. We said we just got out of the studio. So if LED ZEPPELIN just got out of the studio and you ask Jimmy Page, 'Hey, when are you going back to the studio?' and he goes, 'Well, I don't really see the need to. I just recorded an album.' And they're, like, 'Jimmy Page says LED ZEPPELIN's never gonna make music again.' It's really messed up. But I hate that for the fans."

Sixx also addressed his recent tongue-in-cheek comment that new music from his band had been described as "a powerful cross between country and hip-hop". The 65-year-old CRÜE bassist, who is the band's chief songwriter, said: "I have a personality disorder called sarcasm, and sometimes it doesn't come across in a tweet or a Facebook post. And somebody just asked me, 'What's the new MÖTLEY CRÜE record sound like?' And I said, 'Country and hip-hop.' And I think I even put a smiley face, and it took off.

"Now what's really interesting is when we were doing the media for [MÖTLEY CRÜE's new single] 'Dogs Of War' coming out, that was the main question for everybody. So here's the question to you: is maybe not doing stupid stuff the only way to reach people now? It's, like, crazy. So you struggle — you struggle with it."

Sixx's original comment about not seeing a reason for MÖTLEY CRÜE to return to the studio at the moment came during a June 2024 interview with Riff X 's "Metal XS". He said at the time: "We have a few singles [already recorded], so I don't see us [recording any new music right now]… We're not gonna be around. I live in Wyoming and Vince lives in Tennessee, two guys in California, so I don't… I don't actually see a reason right now to go in the studio, 'cause we've got two more singles [recorded and ready] to [release]. And I always wanna be sure that if we go in the studio, we have a reason or we have something we're really inspired by, but it's a lot of scheduling, and we tour and we have families. For me specifically, I have a five-year-old daughter, and I really wanna be with her as much as possible. So when the time came to go do these demos of these three songs and then go in the studio with [producer] Bob Rock, it was like a perfect time. And that time will happen again, but there's no rush."

Nikki previously explained the "country and hip-hop" comment as it relates to MÖTLEY CRÜE's new music in a June 2024 interview with Janne Innanfors of the Swedish radio station Rockklassiker. He said at the time: "When we were doing some interviews, when we were getting ready to drop the ['Dogs Of War'] single, I said to Tommy [Lee, MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer], I said, 'You know…' 'Cause we kept getting asked that question [about the sound of the new CRÜE music]. And I said, 'Man,' I go… I'm the most sarcastic human being I know. And that sometimes doesn't always come across in a tweet or something. And I said we got so much media because it was such a lark, such a weird thing that was a joke. And I'm, like, God, that's really kind of fucked up where we're at today. No media checked, nobody called the office and said, 'What's going on? I hear they got new music. It sounds like country and hip-hop.' I mean, everybody at the label and management company would have just started laughing. They would have gone, 'You fell for one of Nikki's jokes.' But the irony is, isn't that how people get pressed now? People just love negativity. And I find it interesting. I don't wanna play in to it, to be honest with you, but that was a fun one… People run with whatever they think they can get some juice out of, and it's okay. Hey, if you're talking about our band, that's a good thing, negative or positive."

Regarding the mixed response to "Dogs Of War" from the MÖTLEY CRÜE fans, Nikki said: "We like the fact that there was kind of a knee-jerk reaction, because at least people were listening. It's a very strange time now where, whether it's a news cycle or socials, everybody has turned into a critic. And I always say, they've never erected a statue of a critic. It's never happened, right? It's always the artist. But now everybody's a critic. So within a short amount of time, we get, 'We love it.' 'We hate it.' 'You're over.' 'You've reinvented yourself.' 'It sounds like 'Shout At The Devil'. 'It sucks.' And we just kind of sit there and go, 'That's cool, guys, but we didn't really ask for any input from you.' We're just artists writing music, and we're pretty cool. I'm happy with it. I like it."

"Dogs Of War" was made available on April 26 via the band's new deal with Nashville's Big Machine Records

The "Dogs Of War" music video is an animated, all-CGI affair directed by Nick DenBoer.

In addition to "Dogs Of War", MÖTLEY CRÜE's April 2023 recording sessions with Rock produced a new song called "Canceled" and a cover of BEASTIE BOYS' "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)", the latter two of which have not yet been released.

MÖTLEY CRÜE's deal with Big Machine sees the band and the label working together again after making the 2014 project "Nashville Outlaws: A Tribute To Mötley Crüe", which featured CRÜE tracks covered by country stars RASCAL FLATTS, FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE, Darius Rucker and more. Big Machine also partnered with MÖTLEY CRÜE's new guitarist John 5 for the release of his 2021 album "Sinner".

MÖTLEY CRÜE's last studio album was 2008's "Saints Of Los Angeles", which was followed by a 2009 "Greatest Hits" compilation.

In 2018, MÖTLEY CRÜE recorded four new songs for "The Dirt" movie, including the single "The Dirt (Est. 1981) (Feat. Machine Gun Kelly)", "Ride With The Devil", "Crash And Burn" and the band's own spin on Madonna's "Like A Virgin".

John 5 joined MÖTLEY CRÜE in the fall of 2022 as the replacement for the band's co-founding guitarist Mick Mars. Mick announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE in October 2022 as a result of worsening health issues.