2018.12.08 - Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon - Conversation with Alan Niven

Excerpts from Ultimate Guitar:
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During a recent appearance on the Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon show, former Guns N' Roses manager Alan Niven has once again condemned Axl Rose for performing under a pair of devil horns with AC/DC.

Niven said (transcribed by UG):

"I'm uncomfortable with Axl performing on a stage that has a giant pair of... devil horns on it; that he sings 'Highway to Hell,' which I'm not sure has the humor in it that it ought to have. I'm a great believer that you don't defend the devil. I believe that if you want negativity and you want nastiness in your life, that it's your responsibility to either invite it in your life or expel it from your life. I think there's a difference between celebrating the devil and aspiring to be a free spirit and challenging the evil over authoritarianism. And if it's just in play, it's stupid... And if it's not in play, then it's evil... Life is binary - either you're of the light, or of the dark. In the light, you can see what and who is beautiful... And in the dark, you're blind and you're lost..."

Niven later added:

"It really freaking disturbs me that there seems to be no shame or... an apology for the fact that the likes of Richard Ramirez found auditory stimulation in their song 'Night Stalker' [Richard Ramirez was a serial killer, rapist, and burglar responsible for over 15 brutal murders, rapes and attempted murders in Los Angeles during mid-'80s. He was nicknamed the "Night Stalker" and a fan of AC/DC, particularly the song "Night Prowler" off 1979's "Highway to Hell."] I mean - after that happens, and you're selling glow-in-the-dark devil horns at your gigs - I'm sorry, that makes you a dumbass Australian little hobgoblin. And you can quote me, and I know it's gonna piss a lot of people off, but when it comes to what really matters, you gotta stand or fall."

I'm amazed at your take on AC/DC. I've always considered them vanilla - a rock band that doesn't have a lot of message in their lyrics. Meat and potato. Are you describing a satanic message in AC/DC?

"I loved 'Down Payment Blues' [off 1978's 'Powerage'], I think that is worth the price of admission all the way around. But, I think if I found out I've written something like 'Night Stalker' and it was connected with an event that I've lived through in California - and I can palpably recall the fear that people had, especially women - I would have been mortified! And I wouldn't have put a pair of freaking, fucking devil horns on my stage, pardon my language. I don't think you defend the devil and I don't think you mess with it, and I think that if something unfortunate like that happens, then you should acknowledge it and say, 'Wow! We're mortified. That was never our intent, we were just being goofy. My god, I don't know what I'm gonna do in the future.' No, they just put another pair of devil horns on the stage, and that I found disconcerting and that's why I'm disconcerted that Axl runs under a pair of them."

How would you qualify Ghost's lyrical content - or their imagery?

"I remember when they first came out, there were a lot of kids around the town who were impressed by them. Being of the critical nature I am, I kind of went, 'Well it sounds like heavy ambrosia to me, apart from the fact they're putting this satanic, evil gloss over it.' I'll go back to the one statement: Don't defend the devil."

They have on their new album [2018's 'Prequelle'] a song 'Dance Macabre.' It sounds to me like [KISS'] 'I Was Made for Loving You' meets the greatest hits of ABBA. You're looking at this band and all this imagery with upside-down crosses and you go, 'But they're just doing ABBA with maybe a little down-tuning.' [Laughs] It's interesting, it's fun...

"Yeah, am I that off in saying it sounds like heavy ambrosia? That's what struck me in the first place. But to me, there's enough bad things going on in this world that it's difficult for me to accept even being playful about this shit. I think you have to make a choice. Life is binary - you're either in the light or in the dark. You're one of the good guys or you're one of the bad guys. Take your choice and there will be consequences. Because let me tell you, karma is a bitch."

Ghost did create something unique with this imagery. Because had they shown up in jeans and white t-shirts and done these songs - honestly, they would've been picked up by Frontiers Records, they would've probably never made it to North America, they would've been one of these great rock 'n' roll Swedish bands that does really great in Europe. It just goes to show - there is so much more to it than good songs. It really is this entire package.

"Let's go back to The Rolling Stones. I'm probably one of the few people that remember Jagger and Richards in those days. Playing with being a bad boy has always had its place in rock 'n' roll, but as far as playing the bad boy, I put my money on being anti-authoritarian. Question authority, question the people who tell you what you should do in life. That's an adequate and sufficient bad boy. When you start messing around with upside-down crosses and that imagery... you're going into a place where you may not come out... Just ask Alister Crowley, who disappeared - no one knows where he went, I think they came for him."

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