"Everybody knows what's gonna happen if me and him fight... Everybody's got a big mouth on the Internet, but we all know the real deal."

Cro-Mags' controversial vocalist John Joseph McGowan, better known only as John Joseph, talks about his current projects Fearless Vampire Killers and Bloodclot, the quarrels and fights with Harley Flanagan, and the situation within Cro-Mags nowadays, two decades after the release of the legendary debut album "The Age of Quarrel".

Alex Boyadjiev: How came the idea of doing this tour entitled "Fearless Vampire Killers - The Age of Quarrel 20 Year Anniversary Tour"?

John Joseph: The thing was I've been doing shows in the States on and off, with different people doing Cro-Mags songs, but never came back to Europe since 1993 or something, so I wanted to come back and do some Cro-Mags stuff. It was like one last opportunity.

A. B.: A lot of people want to know why you're not in the original Age of Quarrel line-up and especially why is bass player Harley Flanagan not on board, having in mind that these shows have been advertised as a reunion tour...

J. J.: Well, it's been a lot of problems over the years. I've been working stuff out with Harley a few years ago, and his attitude just really stinks. He would start fights at shows, and I'm not into that. There's too much dishonesty, and I don't wanna be in a band with somebody that I have to watch every penny... You know, it's not that I'm sitting here spreading rumours, it's just that you're asking me and I'm telling you. Harley's stolen a lot of money from the Cro-Mags, from every single line-up that ever existed - with Parris (Mayhew - guitar), with me or whoever.

A. B.: Recently Harley posted an open letter to you where he offered to reunite with you and...

J. J.: Yeah, and then in that same letter he says, if you won't do a reunion you'll have to fight. Fight me then! You know, it's childish, because everybody knows what's gonna happen if me and him fight, although he likes telling people on the Internet different things. Everybody's got a big mouth on the Internet, you know, but we all know the real deal.
Harley only wants to do things when he needs money, and that's basically all about it. In the message there was nothing about comradery and let's be brothers and stuff, it was all about that we can make a lot of money. I'm not in it for the money.

A. B.: The first Fearless Vampire Killers tour happened in May 2006, and now, just five months later, you are back in Europe. Why?

J. J.: We did some shows in May, and now we wanted to do some more places we didn't do then. I'm really busy, so I coudn't do two months straight.

A. B.: Let's also talk about your new band, Bloodclot.

J. J.: We're almost done with the album - we've done it for like two years. We've got Danny Schuler from Biohazard on drums, Scott Roberts from Fearless Vampire Killers, Spudmonsters and Biohazard on guitar, and Rick Lopez from Merauder on bass.

A. B.: When should we expect the album?

J. J.: We're gonna finnish it by the end of the year, and it should be out in February or March, I think. I don't know who's putting it out yet, but we have a lot of interest, so it's going to be a good project, we're looking forward to touring...

A. B.: What about this book of yours, "The Evolution of a Cro-Magnon"?

J. J.: It's coming out probably in January. I spent four years writing it. It's just about coming to the music scene, growing up on the street... My dad was a professional fighter and almost murdered my mom, you know, and the state took us away and me and my two brothers grew up in an orphanage... So it's just about living in the streets of New York at 14 years old, and how I survived and got locked up in prison as a kid, and how hardcore music and vegetarianism and yoga and all that took me out of that hole... That's why the book is called "The Evolution of a Cro-Magnon", and it's not negative. It's a positive book.

A. B.: Let's focus on Cro-Mags again. Which were your best and worst moments during your career with the band?

J. J.: The best moments were in the early days, when everybody was getting along well. As for the worst moment of this band, it was in the end of the 1987 tour, when we went to Europe and Harley and Doug (Holland - guitar) stole allВ our money at the end of the tour, and that's why I quit before "Best Wishes" (1989).

A. B.: But then you came back...

J. J.: Yeah, I came back and was robbed again at the 1991 tour. You know, these are never-ending cycles, and I'm a forgiving person. When someone's your friend and you grew up with him, you always say, ok, this time maybe it will work out, but... It just gets to be one nightmare after the other.

A. B.: Except for Fearless Vampire Killers, Bloodclot and your book, is there anything else you're working on?

J. J.: I've got a couple of movies I wrote and... Just keepin' busy, man, trying to stay positive... And I run a yoga center in New York City.

A. B.: And what happened to Both Worlds - this incredible 90's band of yours?

J. J.: I was like in the middle of writing a film, and the record label (Roadrunner Records) wanted us to be on tour like 10 months a year, and I couldn't do it, so they dropped us.

A. B.: What about your plans for the near future?

J. J.: Just working hard, keep making movies... I also wanna do another book... and stay positive. I also might record an album with the Fearless Vampire Killers, so then we could come back to Europe and do new stuff.

Copyright: Tangra Mega Rock