{IGGY-POP.COM}
Interview with WHITEY KIRST
Webmaster : Where and when did you first meet Iggy ?
Whitey Kirst : Hollywood, a long time ago.
Webmaster : What were your first impressions of him ?
Whitey Kirst : They were good.
Webmaster : What's the most fucked up thing you remember while hanging out with Iggy Pop onstage and backstage ?
Whitey Kirst : Hanging out with him onstage and backstage.
Webmaster : Acording to what you told me two years ago, It seems like you're having more fun now than when you joined Iggy in 1990. Has Iggy really changed his behavior ?
Whitey Kirst : Yes, I think sometimes, it's hard to say, it could be a really big word, yes it's a gas.
Webmaster : How do you do to write killer songs like Beat'em up, Drink new blood, Ugliness ? Did Iggy asked you to write songs in a certain way or did you came up with the ideas ?
Whitey Kirst : Well if I told ya that, then you could do it too, then ya might not like'em as much, but usually I write'em on the guitar. But Beat'em Up was on a Casion Keyboard in my basement. Sometimes we come up with stuff together, or in parts, it varies... Really it's far too complicated to get into, very confusing, details and just leave it to your imagination.
Webmaster : Which songs do you prefer to play live and why ?
Whitey Kirst : I like mine cause' they are mine and I like them, but I also like a lot of others too because they are just fucking great songs, and fun to play. I pretty much enjoy all we do.
Webmaster : Is it still exciting to play the same songs for years (like btw the 96 - till summer 99 circa where you almost played the same setlist) ?
Whitey Kirst : Yeah, it's always a gas, I prefer some sets to others, but I can't recall what they all were.
Webmaster : Are there many unreleased songs you've recorded with Iggy ? (what are their names ?)
Whitey Kirst : Lots, too many to name... Maybe one day I'll try to name'em all, but not tonite as I am dire need of a bath.
Webmaster : Iggy often hurted himself onstage, and he even bled really bad. Do you remember some of those gigs that turned bad like the one in Greece in 1996 ?
Whitey Kirst : Yeah, someone threw a bottle, hit him in the head, it was an outdoor gig in Greece, he went ape, started bleeding and climbed up the lighting rig on the side of the stage like King Kong waving his arm about like little airplanes were attacking him, then started screaming "you can't kill me, I'm iggy fuckin Pop", we played a longer gig that night and some of the crew were pissed at me cuz of that... They thought it was cuz of me i guess ? But he was ok and the show went well.
Webmaster : In 1997 you were on tour with the R.O.A.R but you had to stop it after Iggy stage dived into a thin audience. Can you tell us your memories about that ?
Whitey Kirst : it was in Columbus Ohio, lots of kids on summer vacation, don't think they knew much about us. Probably there to see some newer group, we were playing down on the street and all these really young kids were in the front, Iggy was probably freaking them out or something, I think they were scared. Anyhow he gets a little scary looking sometimes (someone once told me "tales from the cryptish"). So he saw these kids in the front and he dove out at them, but they were so scared i guess they moved out of fear or something, so he went straight into the concrete head first. Our guy Jos pulled him out of the crowd and got him back onstage, he was bleeding a lot, and only had one arm, he crawled a little, grabbed the mike and started saying all this weird cool shit on his knees, singing and talking at the same time, really cool stuff, then he started fading, jos came on stage and threw him over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes and walked off, we played a while longer then we split too, he was backstage with an ambulance, he was freaking out saying he wanted to keep playing and finish the gig, but he had a dislocated shoulder and his head was split, so they took him to the hospital. we kept doing gigs after that a little while, Jos the roadie would gaff tape his arm to his side around his waist so he couldn't move it.
Webmaster : When you're not on tour nor recording an album, what do you do musicaly, have you got any side projects ?
Whitey Kirst : I'm currently orking on a plate of nachos.
Webmaster : Who / what do you consider to be the most influential to you musically ?
Whitey Kirst : I love most everything, so I really couldn't say, there's so much out there... And for so long it's tough and it changes a little from time to time. Could be music, feelings, environment, etc. It all fits in somewhere.
Webmaster : How comes that your brother joined the band in 1999 ? How is it to play with a member of the family ?
Whitey Kirst : We needed a drummer, Iggy asked about him, he played with us, he got the gig. It's pretty cool, always wanted to play with a brother.