Rock & Roll Purgatory, interview with Phester Swollen

When exactly did the Rotters form, and how did you meet?

A - We formed in late 1977 but didn't actually play any shows until 1978. Nigel Nitro and I met at Moorpark JC in the film production department. Over the years the band has seemed to go on hiatus,then reform, then disappear again.

What sorts of things have you been involved in when not working on The Rotters’ music?

A - Oh God, I don't know, mostly trying to forget about the Rotters. I was in a couple of other obscure bands after the original Rotters disbanded between 1980 and about 1984. But there have been big periods where I've played no music at all and had as little to do with it as possible. And then, I live in a trendy artist area of Los Angeles so I've written several film scripts. It's a requirement to live here. You don't have to finish them though. You just have to have the idea and a couple of pages and lots of delusions. I actually completed all mine, full length too, with rewrites. Had I known I didn't have to do that to be part of the community I wouldn't have bothered. Trying to cope with life has been rather important too.

Could you explain to those that may not know the controversy your single “Sit On My Face Stevie Nicks” caused. I assume that you would not want Stevie Nicks to sit on your face today, so who would you like to sit on your face?

A - Ha ha. I've contemplated changing the lyrics to "Don't Sit On My Face Stevie Nicks". It's not a pretty thought anymore. You might as well kill yourself by shoving your head up an elephant's ass. In short, the single was in rotation on KROQ here in LA in early '79 right at the time Mick Fleetwood was penetrating Stevie Nicks behind Lindsay Buckingham's back. Strange as it may seem, they didn't find any humor in it. Maybe all the blow they were doing was impairing their judgment. Maybe Mick thought we were trying to but in on his action. Or since she was such a "lady" he must have felt he needed to come to her rescue. So, they threatened KROQ with a lawsuit, us with a lawsuit, any clubs that let us play with a lawsuit and told record stores they wouldn't get any Fleetwood Mac records but they'd get a lawsuit if they continued to sell ours. Of course they really didn't have as much power as they thought but it did scare a lot of people and got us banned from a lot of places. KROQ pulled our single as did Tower Records. And we couldn't play places like The Whiskey or The Starwood, not that we really cared. Who would I want to sit on my face today? Well, I'm happily married, so to keep things that way, my wife. But if you're talking about slutty fuck-me bimbos who know jack shit about music but pop up on our AOL screens every time we sign on, well, we just can't get away from them can we? There are more of these fucking lame ass rip-off chicks now than ever. It seems to be the formula for success in the music business these days more and more. You can thank MTV and VH1 for that shit. Somebody good like Janis Joplin wouldn't stand a chance today. Her biggest gig would be Al's Bar on a Saturday night with The Urinals and The Leaving Trains.

What were you doing in Japan for three years when you recorded the album, "Presumed Dead In Japan"? How did you end up there, and why did you stay so long?

A - Good question. Nigel is still there, has been for 17 years. I don't expect him to ever come back. We've lost him. Johnny Condom is over there too. It was kind of a coincidence. I went to escape as did Jeff Hughart our second bass player. I don't really think three years was very long. I could have stayed longer. Nigel works in radio playing the role of the wacky American. I don't have a clue what Johnny Condom does. As far as I know he's shaved his head and become a monk. Jeff slaved away teaching English to businessmen. I worked in a two year music college as a baby-sitter for 18, 19 and 20 year old girls. I also had a really cool job where I sat around with the President and General Manager of a jewelry company specializing in pearls and drank. They paid me a fortune for this.

What are some of the shows you’ve played that stand out in your memory, and why?

A - I remember most of our shows well. When you don't do that many you tend to remember them. Some were nightmarishly bad in a bad way. You know, the kind of shows where somebody throws down his guitar, quits and walks off in the middle of a song. We had an interim drummer pass out from drugs on stage once. We didn't use him again after that. Some of the best memories come from the shows we played in Ventura in '78 and '79, which even though it's only an hour north of LA, is frighteningly conservative. The Doobie Brothers can still sell out the Ventura County Fair today. We got pelted with shit, kicked out of places and shut down by the police. We did two Ventura County Battle of the Bands that were as violent as any gig the Sex Pistols did in Texas. I got hit in the face with a bottle at one while playing and bled all over my shirt, guitar and the stage. That scared the shit out of the promoter and really quieted the sea of extended middle fingers. And we didn't win. Nigel took acid at the second one and turned into a bowl of weeping jelly in the parking lot just before we went on. That was pretty cool. He was the most obnoxious wasted night club performer on stage that night you could ever imagine. It might have been his best show ever. And then there was a riot between the police and the punks that closed the show down. And we didn't win. Those were the glory days when people got seriously angry at punks. What we really liked was a strong reaction either way. If they didn't like us we made damned sure they hated us.
We had a great show in San Francisco in '79 with The Dead Kennedys at The Mabuhay. There were some really wild fun all age shows with Ill Repute in the mid-80s. The ones in Japan were bizarre they were so polite. Lately the shows have been getting better and better. We just did a great Club Hot Pants show at Mr. T's Bowl here in LA last December 9. But I miss the wildness of the early years and playing all age shows. We haven't done any of those since we started playing again.

You’ve mentioned that part of the reason you initially broke up in 1980 was because of beer, laziness and because you “didn't follow any L.A. punk clique rules.” What sorts of rules was an L.A. punk band supposed to abide by at that time?

A - I haven't a clue. We never followed any of them. The singer from one of the other bands we played with was dressed up like Alexander D'Large of Clockwork Orange complete with white shirt, pants, suspenders and jock strap who danced around on stage with a cane and bowler hat looking like a fucking idiot gave Nigel shit for wearing the wrong T-shirt. And some of the Germs' friends hassled me for being "normal". I guess old jeans and T-shirts were wrong. We never made any effort to dress punk. Maybe that was the problem. Claude Bessey, aka Kickboy Face of Slash magazine, didn't think we were funny. Maybe we just sucked. I don't know. You got me.

What exists in the world today that inspires the wrath of The Rotters? What topics do your newer songs deal with?

A - We still have all the same crap to deal with now don't we? For the most part you still have to suck to be successful in the music business. A lot of it is worse. Hell, Stevie Nicks at least writes her own songs. I'll take Fleetwood Mac over virtually anything you hear or see on any VH1 awards show today. Fuck Kid Rock! Fuck Eminem! Fuck Christina Aguilera! Fuck dance moves! Do I need to go on? Just for masochistic sake I actually like to check out those awards shows from time to time. I can handle about ten minutes of them. They really piss me off, reconfirm the belief in what The Rotters do and keep me focused. Also I'm always amused by other people's suffering, specially when it's self inflicted. We got a lot of that and it ain't going away.
And then there's Little Bush as President! God help us! Wasn't Big Bush enough of a cretin? Maybe Little Bush will puke in public at an important State function too, or something better! Either way, I'm sure he'll add to the suffering.

How would you compare the scene you were involved 20 years ago to the punk scene today? What newer bands are you in to?

A - The scene is totally different today and not in a good way. It's safe. There's no chance of getting hurt. There's no danger, no fear. It's almost impossible to piss anybody off or cause a ruckus anymore. How sad. And to make matters worse we're flooded with fake punk bands raking it in. None of them have the balls to do what we all did in the 70s when we regularly got kicked out of clubs or had shit thrown at us for playing punk rock. Hell, fucking Blink 182 drives around in nice new pretty vans while their mommies save scrap books of their boys glorious careers! Our parents told us what we did was pure shit. And that was typical for a real punk band.
And then worst of all, one of those Blink guys was actually the Prom King! THE PROM KING!!!!!!!?????? You've got to be fucking kidding me! Real punks would only go to the prom to fuck it up if they went at all, which was unlikely. So much for Blink's credibility. There are way too many of these kinds bands today. Of course there are still a lot of cool bands, but you'll never see any them on MTV or hear them on KROQ. And that's the way it should be. What bands do I like? Well, I don't listen to all that much punk rock anymore really. I like almost anything as long as it's the real thing done by people who'd be doing it for the love of the music regardless of how successful they are. Most of the punk type bands I like are bands with people I know in them. I've got some friends in bands in Vancouver and then there are a number of them here in LA of course. That too is the way it should be. If you want to see good punk rock, or anything for that matter, go see you're local struggling failures. They're the best. Fuck the name acts signed to Warner Brothers or RCA or any big label. The best punk band I ever saw, bar none, was a band called Publik Enema (the first one) from California's central coast area. They never recorded. They never played Los Angeles or a single show with a big crowd. They lasted maybe two years and broke up before the 70s ended. They were God head, way better than any punk band I've ever seen including some legends like the Screamers or the Alleycats or you name it. They were just a great punk band but part of it was because they were, and still are, my friends. They had no delusions on who or what they were or what punk rock was. They never gave a shit about anything other than being wild and doing it their way. And that's what punk's really about.

I’ve read that you attended Moorpark College in the late 70’s when the band was forming. What did you study there, and did you end up with a degree?

A - I studied film production. I was delusional. I have a BA degree in film studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. It took me 12 years to get. I had a job that paid me $4.75 an hour and had no future. I quit and went back to school to get a degree and meal ticket. When I returned from Japan the best job I could land in LA paid $4.75 an hour. I was delusional.

How has the last two decades changed your perspective in general? Do you have a family now? What other jobs have you taken to get by over the years?

A - I'm not as stupid as I was 20 years ago. I'm probably a lot more uh...mature? Well, let's say I'm more under control. Hopefully I'm less delusional. But my views of what punk rock is and should be have never changed. And I certainly haven't mellowed in my playing style. Yes, I have a family, a wife and a five year old boy. Jobs? I'm a total failure or the most successful person in the world depending on your point of view. I've never managed to find a career. Unfortunately I'm a musician but it's taken me 20 years to accept that. And now it's probably too late to turn it into a cash cow. I've been waiting for my ship to come in a long time but it's getting smashed to pieces in the rocks and the rats are drowning. On the other hand, I stay home, manage the Rotters and take care of my boy. I'm not sure there's anything realisticly I could do that would be better.

What sorts of interests do you have outside of punk rock?

A - I brew my own beer. Good stuff too. Not from those cheap kits or from extract syrup but from grain. It's the real thing. We have an extra refrigerator with two five gallon kegs outside. We had a beer party last summer with five different types. It was a huge success. We'll probably have another.

Is there anything else on your mind you’d like to share - perhaps a few nuggets of wisdom or a secret you’ve kept for years that is burdening you with unbearable guilt?

A - That's such a good question I'll feel guilty if I'm unable to come up with decent answer. I feel unbearable guilt over everything I've ever done in my life so I think I'll just skip that. You won't have enough room. Let's see, nuggets of wisdom...hm...uh...don't be delusional...read good book once in a while...and...oh yeah, have a good time all the time.

Phester Swollen - Rotter