Let Your Fingers Do The Walking: Pharrell Interviewing Henry Rollins (Parts 1-2)

No matter, how old I get, Black Flag and The Neptunes (N*E*R*D) will always be amongst my first favourite artists. While I deeply love and appreciate their separate outputs, Pharrell & Henry Rollins are 2 of the last guys I'd ever figure would get along. With that said, Rollins and Pharrell get along like a couple reunited long-lost friends; Reserve Channel & Noisey recently uploaded a 2-part sit-down interview/conversation between the 2 prolific artists. Born and raised on the East Coast between DC and Richmond, Henry Rollins (52) and Pharrell (40) quickly bonded over the shared D.I.Y. nature of their Hip-Hip/Punk roots and early projects. Part 1, hosted by ARTST TLK, covers everything from Black Flag, weight lifting, the advent of Grunge, Regan-era tattoos, spoken word, sobriety, etc. Prenatal Hardcore fans should start out with Rollins' first Black Flag album, Damaged right on through to their sixth and final album, In My Head (1986). Might as well grab a copy of Miles Davis' 1957 compilation album, Birth of The Cool while you're @ it as per Mr. Rollins' request.


It's a damn shame that Henry Rollins wasn't included in either re-formed incarnation of Black Flag set to tour this upcoming spring-summer... But it's nice to still hear him speak rather candidly of his time spent fronting the band. Here's Rollins on how he accidentally joined Black Flag for 90 seconds back in 1981: "I'm lookin' at my watch goin', 'I have to be at work in like 7 hours and I have a long drive back to Washington. And I said, 'Hey fellas, you know that song you do "Clocked In" (which is about going to work and what a drag it is) I said, 'Can you play that for me, cause I gotta go to work?' And the singer at that time, Dez [Cadena] said, 'Uh, this is for Henry, cause he's gotta go to work.' And then Dez kinda looked at me and like reached the mic out like, you wanna sing it? I'm like, well, I don't mind if I do!" Noisey then uploaded Part 2 online late Friday afternoon as part of their on-going Back-and-Forth series, which has been conveniently described as, "hash[ing] out the major issues of our day from education reform and politics to dealing with personal challenges."