SXSWi: New Interviewer Henry Rollins as Interviewee

The South By Southwest Festival in Austin has three components: Music, Film, and Interactive. And probably nobody navigates their way between these three worlds as well as Henry Rollins. Best known for his musical career (Black Flag, Rollins Band), Rollins has parlayed that into a career as a "jackass of all tirades" - actor, author, corporate speaker, unflinching social critic. He gave a freewheeling, honest talk at a one-on-one interview session with Esquire journalist Andy Langer.

His big project now is an interview show on IFC. He talked about how he tries to make his interviews different from the traditional. For example, he had Penelope Cruz on the show, and said she was expecting the Leno/Letterman "how's your boyfriend/tell us about Sahara/I hear you got a new car" treatment, but Rollins instead started asking her about a small-budget Spanish picture she was making. He says if you ask artists about things they're passionate about, you get passionate answers.

He also hosts a radio show. He says that most of the music, books and movies he's loved over the years have come to him on recommendations, and tries to make his radio show a "You should check this out - you'd love it" experience, rather than a traditional "here's what we think is hot" format.

Rollins is also involved in the USO, and talked about that for a while. He says that he doesn't do it for the attention, but because it gives him a chance to give soldiers - many of them fans of his – a few minutes where they don't have to worry about being bombed and shot. He also says many of them are concerned about antiwar feelings back home, and think 60% (or whatever the number is now) of Americans are against the troops. Henry tells them his position: he hates the war, he hates the people who started the war, but he wants the troops to come home safe and soon. Most of them, he says, never thought of it that way.

He's just as funny and thought-provoking and (sometimes) angry as you'd expect. When someone at the Q&A said, "I want to congratulate you on everything you've done aside from your music," he snapped back, "Thanks for the back-handed compliment, hippie." He talked about how change will never come from the top, saying "You can write all the letters you want, and
all you'll get is your Google analyzed."

And what does the self-proclaimed "low-budget Renaissance man" Henry Rollins want from his legacy? "He tried real hard; maybe he wasn't great, but damn! He had tenacity."

Bostonist has got some friends down in Austin, this week we've got one more. Michael Femia made his way down to Texas and will be helping us keep up with the hep cats at the SXSW Interactive festival. For the next week Michael will be reporting for Bostonist on some of the best events he's been able to catch. Find more of his musings here, and images here. Post and photo courtesy of Michael Femia