Perry Farrell: ‘We are never breaking up’ Jane’s Addiction

By John Katsilometes

Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014 | 2 a.m.

Perry Farrell is unafraid to talk in platitudes, speaking energetically of Jane’s Addiction or the half-pipe in his backyard.

On the topic of the band, he says that despite relationships that have become more distant over the years, Jane’s Addiction will always be an active band.

“We are never breaking up this band,” Farrell said during a phone interview from his home in Santa Monica, Calif. “It is just too important.”

So after a hiatus of about three months, Jane’s Addiction is back onstage, playing Friday night at 9 at Brooklyn Bowl in the Linq Promenade. The band most recently performed at the Bowl in May. Then, as now, the chosen material will be the band’s debut album, “Nothing’s Shocking,” celebrating its 25th anniversary.

“This might be the last time we ever perform ‘Nothing’s Shocking’ in its entirety,” Farrell said. “I don’t have anything booked through the end of the year with Jane’s, at all. If you want to see us play it, this is the weekend to do it.”

Of his relationship with his longtime band mates, Farrell was frank.

“I have to be honest with you, I don’t hang out with the guys,” he said. “We are all involved in different things. Dave Navarro is a full-grown man now. Steven Perkins and I don’t really socialize. I do socialize with Chris Chaney. We both got married a while ago and have kids around the same age.

“I love the other guys, they are like my brothers, but you know how brothers are. … We’ve been in fights, some vicious, effing vicious fights, like brothers do. But we’re not in danger of breaking the band up.”

More from the interview:

Johnny Kats: The last time we saw you here was in May, also at Brooklyn Bowl. You seemed to have a lot of fun in those shows.

Perry Farrell: People love to come to Vegas, that’s for sure. People are hitting me up, telling me they are traveling to the show. … Vegas is the place you can do a victory lap, and we’re still doing a victory lap with “Nothing’s Shocking.”

J.K.: You’ve played a few venues in Las Vegas, over the years, indoors and outdoors. What is it like playing Brooklyn Bowl, with the bowling happening off to the side of the stage?

P.F.: For me, it works out really spectacularly. The stage is great for the audience, the sound is terrific. The guy who runs it (Peter Shapiro), he’s such a great guy and treats me and my family great. We love the venue.

J.K.: Artists have said they like that they can bring their family to town when they play there.

P.F.: Yeah, I’ve got two boys, you know, and the wife, and I bring my boys with me to Vegas, and they love to go bowling and watch the show. Then we go and take them out to do other things.

J.K.: Like what?

P.F.: We go to the arcades, roller coaster rides. I have a great time. It’s a little bit different than what I might normally do, with the strippers and the nightclubs. ... I even like to go shooting with my boys (Hezron Wolfgang and Izzadore Bravo). We’ll probably hit a gun-shooting range when we’re there.

J.K.: How old are your boys now?

P.F.: Ten and 12.

J.K: Do they shoot regularly?

P.F.: Well, we’ve got air rifles, we shoot in the backyard. Our backyard is a pretty wild backyard. I’ve got a Parkour (military training) course, a half-pipe going in there, and a rifle range.

J.K: It’s like an amusement park, kind of.

P.F. Yeah, there’s a friend of ours who lives out in Vegas, a dancer friend who married an acrobat who does the extreme fall in the show “Le Reve,” he falls six stories (Chris Grabowski is the artist). He’s a friend of ours. He was trying out my trampoline, showing my boys the craziest tricks.

We got really excited, and as the half-pipe was being put in, we started riffing on other things we could do in the backyard. … We can practice snowboarding on the skate ramp, and the trampoline. We’re having a lot of fun around the house.

J.K.: You’re just a big kid, aren’t you?

P.F. Oh, yeah. I’m 55, but I’m really a kid. When you have kids, you get to revisit your childhood. I was doing algebra with my kids this morning.

J.K.: You’re in the right profession because rock stars are playing well into their 70s these days. It just still comes naturally, right?

P.F.: It’s a perfect occupation. You get to stay really, eternally young. Making music and dancing, those kinds of things, people should keep doing. When people get older, they stop singing and dancing, and they slow down.

But if you do those things as an occupation, it’s always there for you. I feel bad for athletes because they peak in their late 20s and early 30s. What do you do after that? Sell cars?

J.K.: I saw you were onstage with Joe Walsh and The Foo Fighters the other night at the Roxy in West Hollywood. That looked like a barnburner.

P.F. Oh, maaaan! That felt like a blitzkrieg of sound. Can you imagine? The Foo Fighters already have, like, five guitar players. Then Joe Walsh jumped into it. He played “Rocky Mountain Way.”

… It was awesome. When I was growing up, I was listening to that cat. He was in my ears, growing up, inspiring me. He’s also a real hellion, like me, but he’s more settled down than I am.

J.K. You’ve talked of a concept in Las Vegas, a production. What’s happening with that project?

P.F.: I’m still working on it, and you can expect it’s going to happen in the next year or two. I want it to happen so bad, and Jane’s going to be a part of it.

P.F.: Like a festival? A Vegas version of Lollapalooza?

J.K.: No. It’s immersive entertainment, and it’s something you’ve never seen before, I can promise you that. You’re going to freak out. You’re going to love it.

It’s music-centric, and it’s everything that we are into these days: Technology, music, lifestyle, food, women, drinking, gambling. … You’re going to go there, and you’re going to want to drag your buddies back.

J.K. Haha! You promise?

P.F.: I promise!

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.