NIKKI SIXX Talks 'The Heroin Diaries'

Jesse Capps of RockConfidential.com conducted an interview with MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx earlier today. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

RockConfidential.com: One thing I love about "The Heroin Diaries" [Nikki's upcoming book] is that it features comments from several different people, usually fitting into the book at a certain time where something affects them or they're included in the story. How hard was it tracking those people down?

Sixx: I originally talked to MÖTLEY CRÜE. I wanted them to be brutally honest and tell me how it was for them. I just felt this "because we're a band, because we're a gang, because we're friends," they didn't want to go to my face and say, "You were this or you were that." Ian, who did a lot of the heavy lifting and organization of the book, came in and did hours and hours of extensive interviews with the band members and really they all just got into a very comfortable zone. He was able to get from them that brutal honesty that I think is so important. The diaries are so honest that we needed that kind of honest commentary from people who were there at the time. Once we had that I was feeling that we needed extended family. In comes ex-girlfriends, ex-managers, record company executives, other musicians that I was friends with and associated with. That really opened the story up even more. Finally getting my mother, sister and grandfather to come in and really get their interpretation reflected back on my chidhood — finding out that no one can really tell me what happened when I was a kid. It's sort of like I was an orphan of fate. I was living in this void of non-information. I took that into my teenage years and with hormones and angst and fueling it with all the things we do as teenagers, becoming a runaway. I took it on a path that was heading towards where this book takes us. It was in me being able to write the overview of the entire thing that I really got clarity in my own life. I actually got to close the chapter.

RockConfidential.com: Was anybody hesitant about being involved with the book?

Sixx: None of the people that are in the book were really hesitant. There are people that aren't in the book that said they would be in the book and then they'd disappear. There are people that told me they can't be in the book, even though that there's a charity piece to all of this, because it wouldn't be good for their image. Even though they did equal things or at least were around for the ride, they didn't want people to know. That's a little disheartening when people want to live with this masquerade of what their life really is. Each to their own. I've always preferred complete honesty in telling it as it is. Vanity, considering where she's at in her life, really put herself out there in a way that was unexpected. She really did share with the reader where she's at today and what it was like for her then. I think it was really brave.

RockConfidential.com: Going back through the MÖTLEY catalog, are there any songs that would make just a much sense in the storyline as the new songs?

Sixx: A song like "Primal Scream" lyrically would fit. I don't know. This is a very unique project. I think you could hear the SIXX: A.M. project and see my influence. At the same time you can hear stuff that DJ and James have done on their own and see their influence as well. Something magical happened with the three of us. It was something that I haven't ever experienced outside of MÖTLEY CRÜE.

Read more at RockConfidential.com.