Interviews

Exene Cevenka

by Christina Nersesian

If you happen to know about Los Angeles’ music scene, then you’ll probably know that Exene Cervenka is still its reigning queen. Singer for the seminal punk band X and frontwoman for countless other projects, she is a staple in the City of Angels. We sat down for an interview and Exene and Jason Edge of The Original Sinners and this is what they had to say.

Forest Fire: Tell me a little bit about your art. I understand you had an art exhibition in Santa Monica last year?
Exene: Yeah, I had another one in Miami and another one in New York. It’s collages that I make from things that I’ve found over the last thirty years. They’ve got all kinds of different images. It’s really a great art form because you can get really lost in it while you’re doing it and you can juxtapose so many different things, which is really fun to do in art. I really think that there’s definitely beauty in the mundane.

FF: How did you guys [The Original Sinners] all hook up?
E: Well the Sevens [7 Shot Screamers] were a band that I saw in St. Louis and Jason [Edge] was in a band that played with them. They’re just a great band and great friends.
Jason: It’s hard to find people that act like a band, you know. We’ve known them a long time and they’re a wonderful band and wonderful to work with.

FF: I have a question about the scene, about the kids that you play for. I know back when X was just starting, the scene was different; it was new. What do you see in the difference between then and now?
E: X shows are very much like how they used to be because it’s mainly kids and older people. When punk rock started out, it was just kids and the older intellectuals. Some of those people were in their 50’s, but they found out about punk rock and they came to see it. The bands all supported each other. Now, I think it’s only when you’re really young that you’re part of a scene.
J: Well, and scenes have to be really small to actually work. You have to know the people that you’re working together, making art and music together. You have to know them personally to be working on something, to be amazing and be influenced by them.

FF: Do you guys consider yourselves famous?
E: No, I just consider it playing music. I’ve been doing it since I was 20, so I don’t know any other way. I try to keep it, if anything, at a minimum. I mean, I don’t like it when people get all, ‘Oh my god, you’re so great, I love you so much, you’re my hero’ and all that because I’d rather just meet people down at the same level.

FF: What does it mean for a musician, and more specifically for you as a lyricist, to share your music and words with the fans or on an album? Is it something very personal?
E: Yes, yes. It’s very personal and the more personal it is, the more universal it is. If you’re writing about something really specific, then other people can relate to that. I try to keep things, both time and place, specific and put in a lot of details, make people feel like they’re there.
J: Exene’s very brave that way. Lots of songwriters sing outside of themselves -- they’re just story tellers. They kind of shield themselves. She’s very brave in that she’s willing to take the bits of her life, good or bad, and put them there and we do relate to them.

FF: I saw some girls out there singing to all your songs. Is that an affirmation for you, when you see that? Or are you just happy putting it out there, period?
E: Yeah, it was nice that they were there. I love that, it’s great. It means that it means something to them. I want to be worthwhile in this world; I want to give people something, otherwise that’d be selfish.

FF: I was reading somewhere about the “punk goddesses,” with Chrissie Hynde representing the UK, Patti Smith for New York and you [Exene] for Los Angeles.
J: You’ve got a crown!
E: Flattering, though I actually think New York should Debbie Harry or Ivy [Kristy Wallace] from the Cramps. Patti is kind of an iconic figure that stands on her own. She’s kind of like a hippie and a punk rocker. It was a great time for women because it was a time when we were equal to men in rock and roll -- women could do anything. All these people were amazing and they weren’t sex objects; they were artists and musicians and singers.

FF: Seeing that you’ve been in a quite a few bands, how important do your bandmates become to you personally?
E: Oh, they’re really important. I’ve had, let’s see, X, The Knitters, Auntie Christ, my solo stuff and then this band [The Original Sinners]. It’s like a big family. You have some bad family moments and some amazing family moments. It’s really something else.

FF: Where do you think you would have been had you not moved out of your family situation?
E: I have no idea. I think John [Doe] saved my life, really, truly.

FF: In what ways?
E: Well, I came to California because I had a friend here and I didn’t know anyone else and I got a job and met John within a few weeks of coming here and he thought my writing was really good and he met Billy, then they started and I wanted to be a part of it. It was a big commitment on his part and I think I would have been in trouble if I hadn’t met him because I didn’t really have anyone else.

FF: Do you like being a mom?
E: It’s the absolute worst, hardest, most painful thing and the absolute best, most wonderful, rewarding thing. It’s the extreme experience of both directions. I’m really proud of my son, but it’s a lot harder than people think. But it really does change your life.

Visit www.exenecervenka for more info.