Ahead of his appearance at Shadows Of Salem Horror & Paranormal Con 2024 (taking place October 19 - 20 at Salem Waterfront Hotel-Suites in Salem, MA), former Danzig guitarist John Christ, who left that band in 1995, sat down for an hours-long interview with Vanyaland for a 617 Q&A (Six Questions; One Recommendation; Seven Somethings).
Says Vanyaland: "Throughout the chat, he was never without an acoustic guitar, often casually noodling as he spoke and at other points illustrating how people think he played 'Dirty Black Summer' then showing how it was actually done. Along the way, Christ talked about his last days in Danzig, getting involved with the horror and comic convention scene, and having to relearn guitar after being unable to play for a half decade."
An excerpt from the 617 Q&A follows:
Vanyaland: People were saying metal was dead in the wake of grunge, and yet the live “Mother” was one of the biggest hits and most played videos of 1993.
John Christ: "It was after the third record was out that Beavis and Butt-Head started playing stuff from our first album, and there was a feud with them [on the show]. “I think Glenn Danzig could kick Axl Rose’s ass.” [Label executive] Mark [DiDia] goes, 'I got an idea. We’re going to remix and master 'Mother'.' We’re gonna do a studio version and a live version, and we’re going to pitch it to Beavis and Butt-Head three months later, boom! Metallica calls. 'We want you to come on tour.'
"It was Beavis and Butt-Head that broke us. A silly little show. I’m getting phone calls from my friends back East, you know, guys my age that never grew up, that just thought Beavis and Butt-Head was the greatest show that they’d ever seen in their life, And I’m just laughing. I’m going, 'You got to be kidding me. You don’t like this stuff, really?' And they’re like, 'You got to see it. They’re playing you. They’re playing reruns of this episode three or four times a day on the weekends.' I’m like, 'Are you kidding?' And it’s funny. I teach at a college and my students know Beavis and Butt-Head. They’re coming around again."
Vanyaland: When did you know it was over?
Christ: "Actually, after the third record, we were mixing the third record, I think, and I don’t remember the exact event. There was a series of things that were going on, and there were some contractual things that had gone on behind the scenes. And Eerie and Chuck and I were unaware of the legal maneuvers that were going on behind the scenes. And later we found out that there was this unspoken gag order that nobody was supposed to let the three of us know what was going on.
"There was a lot more money coming in than we were told, and there was a lot more money going to other people that we never saw. And whenever that was brought up, then it was like, 'Well, why don’t we just dissolve the band right now?' And everybody goes, 'Huh.' There’s a record in the can. You’re working on videos. The tour is already booked, and… You can’t just stop the machine. 'We’ve been with you from day one. What the F is going on?' So, you start to get lawyers, you start to do things behind the scenes without rocking the boat too much, hoping that they’ll go, 'Okay, you’re right. You know what? Let’s work this out.' And it didn’t get worked out."
Read more at Vanyaland.com.
