SIXX: BRET MICHAELS Said He Wanted To Tour With MTLEY CRE Because POISON Needs Credibility

Michael Christopher of The Delaware County Daily Times recently conducted an interview with MTLEY CRE bassist Nikki Sixx. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On how MTLEY CRE should not be put into the same category as the hair-metal scene that pervaded Los Angeles in the mid-'80s onward:

Sixx: "We came out in '81; we were really half-punk/half-metal with a bit of pop thrown in there. We didn't fit the L.A. scene, there was nothing like us; in our audience we had these degenerates from the Valley that were trying to find their next band that they could relate to because the DEAD KENNEDYS weren't around anymore, Fear was just a shadow of itself and there was nothing happening in L.A. We were really about VAN HALEN meets the NEW YORK DOLLS or BLACK SABBATH meets the RAMONES, so when bands came up behind us and we got lumped in with them, we really didn't like it."

"You'll see like these '80s rock ballads collections and they call us up and want us to be on it. Are you on (expletive) glue?! It really is this thing where we really don't have anything to do with that for us it's always been about sticking to our original path."

On MTLEY CRE's current tour with POISON and NEW YORK DOLLS:

Sixx: "Everything was fine, until Bret [Michaels, POISON singer] went on 'Piers Morgan' and announced the tour when he knew he was supposed to do it with MTLEY CRE. It was a MTLEY CRE tour with the NEW YORK DOLLS and POISON supporting, and that really pissed off my band. We didn't want the tour, because of the reasons not personally, but because of keeping things segregated and then when he went and took it into his own hands that it was like his idea yeah. He was the one on the phone that told me he wanted to do it because his band needs credibility and MTLEY CRE is a credible band it pissed us off, because we were sucker-punched."

On fan poll MTLEY CRE took which led to the decision to tour with POISON:

Sixx: "The fans chose GUNS N' ROSES first, DEF LEPPARD second and POISON third and we're like, 'Really?' We talked to GUNS N' ROSES, talked to DEF LEPPARD, talked to POISON who was available and the other two weren't. It just worked out."

"In the end, what happens internally, politically, (expletive) like that, it might be frustrating, but in the end it really does matter what are the fans getting? We feel like they're getting the real deal with the NEW YORK DOLLS, we feel like they're getting to see POISON; they've got four or five hit songs and they've got some great cover songs they've done. They get 45 to 50 minutes and are giving the fans a really great show and then you got MTLEY. In the end, everybody does win."

Read the entire interview from The Delaware County Daily Times.

POISON's Bret Michaels and MTLEY CRE's Nikki Sixx were interviewed on the March 17 edition of "Good Day LA", a television talk show that airs on KTTV (Fox 11),the Fox Broadcasting Company-owned and operated station in Los Angeles, California. You can now watch the chat below. Also available is footage of Michaels' and Sixx's March 17, 2011 appearance on "Good Things Utah" on ABC 4 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

"Good Day LA":

"Good Things Utah":