“Basically I'm pretty happy,” says the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
Best known as the leader of the hard metal/blues tainted Danzig band – offspring of the goth metal/punk band Samhain – and the Misfits horror/hardcore punk band with cult support, Mr. Danzig considers himself a punk musician, though his 25-year career image is more of a black-winged horseman.
Initially in his discourse Danzig seems edgy, momentarily caught up in the breadth of activities.
“I'm in the middle of writing a script. And there's the business stuff. I run a publishing company. I have my label. And we're [the Danzig band] getting ready for two weeks of shows on the West Coast for The Blackest of Black Tour,” Danzig explains.
In only moments, he relaxes and laughs repeatedly, appearing downright giddy about his past successes and progress on new accounts.
The creative genius in Danzig anxiously awaits the release of his Gerouge movie project, while continuing to manage his comic publishing firm Verotik.
“I started using artists I wanted with not so much emphasis on the deadline,” he remarks. And of course there's the Evilive record company that represents Danzig band and solo recorded material. That's a lot for a 51-year-old guy to handle, so, the he does martial arts to stay in shape and keep the pace.
“Once you do Jeet Kune Do, you do it for life. I do regular yoga and mental yoga,” Danzig reveals. Of the latter, “You meditate, relax – and I do it whenever I feel like I need it.”
And as a writer, photographer and musician he always benefits from creative release.
“You do need to create, but it's not an addiction. It's your license. You enjoy it. Creative things pour out. It makes it worth living,” he says.
His infantile creation is a script about a serial killer circa 1970s, the era of Son of Sam. He shares the vision of a villain slinking through Manhattan's Grand Central Station.
“This person walks against the flow, walks up to someone and shoves an ice pick up their ribcage. He gets away before getting caught,” says Danzig. Oh is that going to be your movie theme? “No,” he laughs devilishly. That was just a tease.
Also on the agenda is the vanity band CD release, The Lost Tracks of Danzig, a musical smorgasbord of previously unreleased tracks spawning the group's entire career, from Danzig I through VII recording sessions. Each song was liberated from Pandora's Box and tweaked by Danzig himself who completed all vocals and instrumentation. The production presents more than 24 songs in chronological order along with a detailed booklet.
But alas, theatergoers are unlikely to hear Danzig's solo CD material from Black Aria II that hit the Billboard Classical charts in the Top 10 since its release Oct. 17. This is the intense follow-up from Black Aria in 1993 that immediately graced the top chart spot.
Of the first accolade Danzig chuckled and commented, “It was kind of cool, pretty funny. I'm the only punk rocker in history to have a No. 1 classical album. Probably no one else would want that distinction.”
The latest fantastical production comprised of eerie instrumentation and otherworldly chants is a progressive musical tale of a mythological figure referenced in multiple religions and contemporary literature and films.
“The story of Lilith is a really cool public story. I don't see her as a horrific character – but as a victim,” he says of the temptress woman or winged talon-endowed voluptuous creature.
She was supposedly the wife of Adam before Eve and cast out of the Garden to live a further life of torment amidst accusations of brutal killings of young boys to act out her vengeance against mankind. She reportedly evolved into a monster and lashed out in a rampage, “and then in the end she wanted to be with Adam – well, there's not really any ending,” he teases again.
Black Aria III is currently available. Dazing will perform Nov. 29 at the Wiltern, in Los Angeles. For more information, visit www.danzig-verotik.com.
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