NIKKI SIXX: 'Right Now Is The First Time Where I'm Actually Not In A Band'

MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx says that he is planning on pursuing a number of different projects in 2018, none of which involve playing in a band.

Sixx recently announced the end of his nationally syndicated Premiere Networks/iHeartRadio rock radio programs "Sixx Sense With Nikki Sixx", "The Side Show Countdown With Nikki Sixx" and "The Side Show Classic With Nikki Sixx". His final broadcast will be December 31, 2017.

During a chat with rock and roll comedian Dean Delray, Sixx talked about how he intends to spend his time during the coming months. He said: "I'm gonna be leaving radio. I've been doing it for eight years, and I love 'Sixx Sense', but I'm gonna be leaving it and I'm gonna start focusing on television and programming. I'm working on developing some TV shows right now. And maybe doing a one-man kind of tour. It's something I'd be interested in doing. I got a little taste of that… Vince [Neil; MÖTLEY CRÜE singer] would ask me to go on stage and say a few words during the show to give him a rest or to get some water or something, and it turned into being, like, fifteen minutes. And I'd be, like, 'I hate this,' and the guys in MÖTLEY were, like, 'Man, the fans love it.' And I started thinking, maybe this is something I can go out and… not like stand-up, 'cause I don't think it'd be comedy, but it would be like talking about my life [with] a lot of funny stories."

Sixx went on to say that he is not scheduled to return to the live stage in the foreseeable future. "[There are] no tour plans for SIXX:A.M.," he said. "James [Michael] and DJ [Ashba] and me talked at the beginning of this year, and I think that the idea of SIXX:A.M. being a side project has been just the way it's been, and we went out and started focusing on it being a main project. And I think DJ has a bunch of stuff he wants to do musically, and he has this media company that he focuses on that he does really good at. And James is a producer and a songwriter.

"Right now is the first time where I'm actually not in a band, and I'm not gonna have radio, and as of January 1st, I don't have a job," he continued. "Like, what's gonna happen with this brain with all that free time?"

Sixx added that he has talked with his office about "completely taking everything off the plate for 2018. It'd be the first time since I've been… somewhere between thirteen and fifteen years old where I haven't had a job," he said. "I'm a blue-collar, hard-working guy. So I just wanna go in… My calendar is gonna look like this: January 1st — nothing. And it's gonna go that way until I find something that I wanna plug in, whether it's podcast or doing some of this other stuff we talked about. I'm also writing another book. I enjoy writing."

Nikki called "Sixx Sense" "the love of my life," saying: "I met so many great people. I get to listen to new music all the time, 'cause we're always trying to find new music as well. But I think it's time to step down and see what's next for me. And I think we've helped break a lot of bands. And I know a lot of people are, like, 'Man, that's the only station we listen to,' 'cause all the other stations are kind of like the same old thing.

"In radio, there's formats, so we do active, alternative and classic," he explained. "So we cover all the formats. We don't cover R&B or hip-hop or pop, obviously, 'cause there's no relation with me really there. But there's so many other different ways to receive our music now — streaming services and stuff — that aren't so formulated. So I'm kind of looking at, what does the future look like for music and the best way to receive our music and spread the word about music? So that's kind of what I'm looking at right now."

The tenth-anniversary editions of Sixx's 2007 memoir, "The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock Star", and SIXX:A.M.'s "The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack" were made available last week.

"The Heroin Diaries: 10th Anniversary Edition Soundtrack" by SIXX:A.M. features new artwork, personal notes from the band and include three newly re-imagined tracks: "Life Is Beautiful 2017", "Accidents Can Happen 2017", and "Girl With Golden Eyes 2017". "The Heroin Diaries: Ten Year Anniversary Edition" by Nikki Sixx features a new cover, never-before-seen photos and exclusive brand new chapters.

Photo credit: Courtney Sixx