Ramones Interview

INTERVIEW WITH THE RAMONES FROM TheCelebrityCafe.com ARCHIVES

DM) I see is that you're in Brooklyn too.

MR) Yeah, I live in Brooklyn too, but I usually don't say what area, I've got to keep that asecret. I had to move out of New York City for that reason.

DM) Were you getting stalkers here and there?

MR) Well, yeah, you know, that's bound to happen. But I tried to keep a low profile.

DM) That was actually one of my first questions, a lot of people have talked about how most fans of the Ramones, have seemed to be almost of bit cultish.

MR) Oh yeah, definitely.

DM) Why is that?

MR) I don't know. I guess that's because they relate to us and they like the lyrics and the songs that Dee Dee wrote. The lyrics and the songs. And I think that they see we're a down to earth band, no gimmicks, who doesn't have to throw up on the stage or do stupid antics to get attention. It's all in the music, you know.

DM) What was the strangest thing you have happened so far with your fans?

MR) A woman in England, would always be by my hotel room door, she wouldn't go away. I had to tell a security guard to throw her out. Then she started going after Joey, and after that, she started being his girlfriend.

DM) Really?

MR) Yeah, that was weird.

DM) Do you find that it's at all possible to have a normal life?

MR) Oh yeah, I've tried to do that, but it's hard when you do 150 shows a year, I also have my own band, "The Intruders" and that for all over the world and I have a spoken word tour, and I have another band with Dee Dee Ramone called "The Remains". So it's pretty hard to have a normal... (pauses) I don't want a normal life!

DM) You don't?

MR) The reason why, I became musician and producer and author is because I wanted to get away from the normal life. I travel round the world, I make videos, make records, I stay up late. In the normal world, I'd probably be very bored in it.

DM) A lot of times, you hear celebrities say that all they want is normality.

MR) I think a lot of people they want to get away from the normal things because you end up just going into a grind every day. It's the same thing. It has no excitement... you know I mean?

DM) So how do you even keep a balance in your own life, with the two bands and the spoken word tour?

MR) It's pretty it's a good question, I just... I do a lot of practicing, I do rehearsing. I'm able to do that. I keep myself in good shape, I don't self-destructive on drugs or alcohol and I always give my best to the people who come to my shows, because if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be there. I don't take it for granted, you know.

DM) What is the typical day like for you then?

MR) The typical day is getting up going to the airport, going to the show, doing interviews, sound checks, eating, going to doing the show, coming back to the hotel room, maybe having a little party, and then go to sleep, wake up flying again, and maybe doing TV, stuff like that.

DM) So it doesn't sound like you sit around too much?

MR) No, if you sit still, that's when you die. You got to keep the body moving.

DM) Do you ever have a day to sit down and relax?

MR) Since the Ramones broke up, no, because I've been involved with so many activities, that I haven't had time for vacation in three years. But it paid off, because my second solo album was coming out tomorrow, and my "Remains" album with Dee Dee Ramone is coming out this week. If I, wanted to just sit down, hang out and do nothing I would not have been able to do that. It Takes a lot of work. You have to rehearse the songs, write them, produced them, so you have to be active no matter what you do.

DM) In a lot of articles, the live show with The Ramones has been pretty highly praised.

MR) An hour and ten minutes straight, no rest, very energetic music, and it was that way to the end, when we broke up in 1996. And I just put the energy over in my new group,it becomes a lot more advanced, it is a new millennium kind of band.

DM) Going back to the Ramones then in 1996, what was the cause, what happened?

MR) Well, Joey couldn't tour any more. He was tired, and his voice was shot, and he just didn't want to continue. He's pretty ill today too. I wish him luck. You're asking me the reasons and that's the reasons. And he wasn't a team player any more, thrn Johnny Ramone couldn't take it, so he kind of like ended the band. and I kind of went along with the two because it was time.

DM) Do you still miss the band at times?

MR) No, I talk to Johnny a lot . Me and Dee Dee have a second band together, just for fun. And I speak to Tommy, and Joey just stays in his house. Occasionally he will do a show at Saint Marks Place maybe once or twice a year, but he's not really active. The guy is going to chemotherapy and he has to beat it to be able to do anything. And I hope he does.

DM) It sounds pretty tough.

MR) Yeah, like I said if you stay still you are going to end up the dying. You've got to move.

DM) Do you ever get times where you feel like sitting in bed and doing nothing?

MR) Yeah, before I go the sleep, I put on a movie or I will watch some TV for a while. But I don't do it often.

DM) There's never time you feel "unmotivated"?

MR) Maybe when I am in a position when I can't mentally or physically do anything about it. Like when I'm on a plane and flying, I'll usually write a song or write more stuff for my book that I'm writing, about my times in the punk rock scene and the Ramones, but I feel that waste of time is not good.

DM) What you feel started that attitude?

MR) I don't know, drive, motivation, things don't come to you. I mean, you've got to go for it. You can't expect things to happen, if you don't work at doing it.

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