Joan Jett

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Joan Jett

Web site: www.joanjet.com

Joan helped create bad-girl hard rock in her all- female band , "The Runaways." Influenced punk with her solo act, "Joan Jett and the Blackhearts." Some call her "the original riot grrrl." To me, she's just the woman I wanted to be when I first started playing in rock bands. My god, she has it all: loud guitars, intelligence, and sex appeal from here to heck.

How could a young boy resist?

She had huge hits with "Bad Reputation," "I Love Rock & Roll," "Crimson and Clover," "Do You Wanna Touch Me?" and "I Hate Myself for Loving You." She's still foxy, still has a loud guitar, and still tours the world.

Figure 18.7. Joan Jett. Photo by Randee St. Nicholas.

Michael Dean: Hi, Joan. I was a card-carrying member of the Joan Jett Haight-Ashbury Fan Club. ^[3.] I carried that card in my wallet (three different wallets, actually) for over 14 years . Still have it in there.

^[3.] Free-to-join fan club run by Kerista Commune, a freaky Frisko hippie proto-computer nurd cluster that put out Rockhead: The Magazine for Intelligent Rockers . They all lived in a house in a group marriage and had sexy comics of themselves in the magazine. I was not a member of their commune, nor was Joan Jett. But the magazine and the fan club were nifty.

Do you remember that club?

Joan Jett: Sure do.

Figure 18.8. My Joan Jett Haight-Ashbury Fan Club membership card. (This, I just realized, is probably the only thing I have from back then. I have some of my baby stuff, but I got it back this year. Didn't have it all that time.)

MD: What's important to you these days?

JJ: The music is obviously important; it's what I love. But I've been immersed in that for so long that now what's important to me is to get some balance and do things other than what I do onstagejust enjoy other aspects of life. Whether that be relaxing , enjoying nature, my animals, getting to know my friends , getting to know New York, all the things I haven't done.

MD: Sounds kinda spiritual.

JJ: Yeah, absolutely .

MD: What's your spirituality?

JJ: No denomination really, just a mishmash of a lot things, Buddhist, pagan, nature, no real definitive path , just me trying to figure out what's going on.

MD: I heard an interview the other day, and someone asked Carlos Santana what religion he was, and he said, "I don't know. What religion is God?"

JJ: Well yeah, that's a good one. Exactly.

There's so much hatred with people and their religions and ranking and who's better and who's the right word. It's scary.

It's hard to define for other people. You can only speak for yourself. All these things are important, the internal things, not the external.

MD: What's it like being you?

JJ: It's hard for me to answer, I don't know what it's like to be someone else. ( All laugh . ) It's great most of the time.

MD: Any regrets in your life or career? Anything you would have done differently?

JJ: I'm sure many things, but I don't think, as far as major aspects of my life, I would have done much differently. I think you've gotta make mistakes because it's the only way you'll learn. Someone can tell you something, but that's not your experience. Until you live it, it's hard to know.

I don't know that I'd take anything back. I don't think that I would.

MD: Why do you run your own label (Blackheart Records) rather than being on a major?

JJ: Well, many years ago it was hard to get signed. Those people didn't want anything to do with our music. So to get it heard we had to do it ourselves . We had no choice. That's why we started selling records out of the trunk at gigs. And slowly it caught fire and we built a wonderful fan base in the whole United States. It started in the Northeast and spread from there. And once we had our own thing going, there was no reason to give up that control. And a lot of times people think they know what's right for me. I don't even always know what's right for me. ( JJ and MD both laugh. ) People have an idea for your direction, of how to spruce you up a bit and I don't like sprucing.

MD: What's different about the music industry from 20 years ago?

JJ: It's hard for me to say because I'm not super involved with the business aspect of it. Also, I don't really pay attention to what's going on with everybody else. But I'd say the biggest thing is the downloading.

MD: How do you feel about that?

JJ: I'm not one of the people who thinks it's great.

MD: Has it hurt record sales for you?

JJ: What it boils down to for me is that it's a fucked up thing to teach people that it's cool to steal. A lot of people think it's not stealing, and I just don't get that. I'd like to have someone explain to me how that's not stealing. So yeah, does that mean I get free food, any services that I get are free? That's not the way it is in this world. And that's certainly not the way it works with art either. Someone taking advantage of artists is really annoying. It happens on so many levelsnot just rock and roll, but acting, etc. So I just don't appreciate people telling us what a good thing they're doing for us. Don't do me any favors, okay?

MD: How can people avoid getting ripped off in the music industry?

JJ: Get paper. Get whatever deal you're making in writing. Even if it's not a super professional thing with lawyers and all, write down your terms. Make sure that everything is discussed face to face, eye to eye. Write it down, date it, have a witness sign it. It keeps everything copacetic.

MD: Care to talk about drugs?

JJ: Wow hmmmm that's such a subjective thing. Some people are so destructive when it comes to getting inebriated, and other people not so much. It's hard to tell somebody not to experiment in life. But yeah, it's better if you don't get screwed up on drugs and alcohol. It's better for every aspect of you: health, mental health. In my experience it's not a positive thing.

MD: Any closing advice for young people starting out in music today?

JJ: Expect a lot of negativity. In my experience, I was so excited, I thought we were going to change the world. But pretty soon we got resistance, on a lot of different levelspeople being really nasty and calling you names and being way more nasty than the situation called for. It's just so shocking; you're not sure why people don't want you to succeed. And I'm sure the reasons vary depending on who you're talking to.

I think you've got to surround yourself with some sort of support group, whether it's your band, where you're in the same headspace, or friends, or if your family's supportive. It's important having people around you who believe you can achieve your dream.

And I say, "Go for it." You've got to give it a shot. And if you don't, and you wind up doing something else with your life, you'll always look back on that time and wonder why you didn't try a little bit more.

It's difficult. There's a lot of different pitfalls beyond people trying to tear you down. It's a tough living to make. But it's fun. It's very rewarding . It's nice to connect with people. That's what it's all about for meknowing that people are feeling good listening to what you're saying or playing. Or both.

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