W.A.S.P. Mainman BLACKIE LAWLESS Talks Politics

Vassil Varbanov of Bulgaria's Tangra Mega Rock recently conducted an interview with W.A.S.P. mainman Blackie Lawless. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Tangra Mega Rock: All the American musicians we've been talking to say it's a fuckin' rubbish situation with the U.S. government, the war in Iraq, the so-called "war against terrorism"...

Blackie: Look what happened in the '70s. The music back then created an awareness in people that it's up to them to make a change, and that awareness stopped the Vietnam War.

Tangra Mega Rock: Is it all about public opinion or it's deep inside people's hearts?

Blackie: It's both. As Abraham Lincoln said about the USA, we are a government of the people, by the people and for the people, and we still believe in that. Occasionally, we get somebody — like the one we have now or Richard Nixon — who comes along and tries to change that, but the way our system is built is called "checks and balances". I mean, the president can't really do anything without the Congress and vice versa. Even Thomas Jefferson said that because of the way the system was set up, all changes designed happen slowly. In other words, you're gonna get frustrated from time to time, but it keeps it from becoming a fascist state.

Tangra Mega Rock: You mentioned the '70s a few minutes ago. Back then there were people who had problems due to pointing a finger at the government. Do you expect any problems because of your statements made in "Dominator"... or you're quite used to it?

Blackie: I've had my share. To be honest, you don't think about it from this point of view when you try to do something that's driven by passion. First you have to do what you feel is right and then, if something happens, it just does. We have a different situation going on now. In the '70s we had the draft and you knew that if you're 17 years old, one year later you're eligible for it and you're going to Vietnam. Now we don't have the draft — we've got a professional army — so we've got this kinda lethargic attitude in people's idea, like "That's not gonna happen to me, so fuck it, I don't care!" At the same time people are dying, because America is involved in a bullshit war right now, and this should not be going on. America has no business being there. After September 11 I was angry, yes, and I wanted them to be hunted down like animals and executed, and I still do. However, this has nothing to do with Iraq. Like I said, in America there are a lot of people pissed off right now, but there's a difference between now and the '70s. Back then those kids were setting universities on fire, because they knew they were next. That attitude doesn't exist today, because they know they're not next. I would like to see Americans and the rest of the world get off their ass and start putting more pressure on Washington D.C. to stop this.

Tangra Mega Rock: What's gonna happen, according to you? Do you think we're gonna have a war in Iran next?

Blackie: I don't know, we need a crystal ball to see that... I remember telling people two years ago that the war in Iraq is not about oil, as they were thinking, but about something far greater than that. In America we have an expression, "setting up shop", which we use when you start your own business, and what's happening now in the Middle East is that the USA is setting up shop. Now a corporation is moving its headquarters to Dubai, and you know why? Yeah, because that's where they can best set up shop. They've got more customers there to peddle their weaponry — what better place than go directly to your customers? History shows us that if you can dominate people economically, you can then dominate them socially and politically, without firing one shot. That's what's happening right now — they're setting up shop in the Middle East.

Tangra Mega Rock: Is there any light in the end of the tunnel, according to you?

Blackie: I don't think anything according to me is important. It's more important what's better for the world, what's the right thing to do. Most people in the world are good people, but big business eventually dominates their lives — whether it's the car company they work for or the government — whatever it may be, it starts to change us. PINK FLOYD wrote the song "Money" and that's what they were talking about. How can all this happen? And when shall we as a people say, enough is enough, we gotta stop this? There's also an idea that David Bowie wrote about in the song "China Girl", where he said that this process of China becoming a giant has a lot to do with the Western civilization. He says: "I'll give you television, I'll give you eyes of blue, I'll give you a man who wants to rule the world..." What he's meaning is that I'll give you freely all these things, but I'll influence you so much, that you will willingly embrace the indoctrination that I'm about to give you. If somebody wants to do that as a people, if China wants to embrace Western theology — fine, so be it, that's wonderful. Honestly, I've enjoyed quite a good lifestyle because of it, but there are people around the world that don't want it, and that's why I chose the title "Dominator". The word "domination" means to impose will on people who otherwise do not want it.

Read the entire interview at Tangra Mega Rock.