Exene Cervenka, now 54, is recording her solo album, creating collage art and doing spoken word. Although she has had the symptoms for years, Exene was diagnosed in 2009 with multiple sclerosis, an inflammatory disease that damages the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, and eventually affects their ability to communicate with each other. However, she has chosen to see the positive side and feels very healthy and lucky.
‘Well, you know, I’m pretty lucky. I don’t know if it’s because I demand respect, but all the men around me are respectful people who have a lot of character. I never feel there is any sexism going on. I’ve felt that my whole life. That does not mean I have not experienced sexism. But, generally speaking, people like that I have not encountered too much, which is great. I’m very old-fashioned, and I am also very . . . not like a raunchy kind of punk rocker chick. I don’t invite that kind of crap. People who are intimate with me know sexuality is not a motivating factor to get me to pay attention to them.’
And when it comes about X not been mainstream music, she does not blame the media for not getting what the punk band was about:
‘…Dick Clark always put on a special. He was a big fan who wanted us on there. He didn’t understand why punk rock was not bigger. He thought it was like what he heard in the ’50s and ’60s. He was trying to break down that barrier. He could not understand why youth music was not played any more. He wanted us on the show.’
But when you think about X, you think political songs, like ‘The new World’ with the lyrics: ‘it was better before, before they voted for what’s-his-name’, but it never grows old, just like Exene who is still angry:
‘When it was really written was the Ronald Reagan era. I wasn’t going to become like . . . Here’s the deal with the guy in the story: He does not know or care; it didn’t matter who it is. It is always timely because it doesn’t fucking matter, it is always the same. Of course, I always think it’s better when we have a president like William Jefferson Clinton and Barack Hussein Obama in the White House because they aren’t sociopaths, at least. So many should be roasting over an open fire at this point.’
This type of songs have disappeared now. Who is writing protest songs in these days and age? Exene can only think about Tom Morello and rap:
‘As you were saying that I started thinking of Tom Morello, who does a lot of really good work, political stuff, singing songs for good causes. But if you want it to be like what they play on the radio, nothing comes to my head. You know, from Woody Guthrie to the Beatniks to the hippies and X, that happened in quick succession. It’s crazy. Since then, there has not been a lot. Of course, I’ve got to say we’re leaving out rap music, which can be totally political. But a lot of people do like what I’d call Americana and not popular American music.’
She is nevertheless very proud of the fact that many young people have just discovered X,… ‘very rewarding’ she said.
Tonight will actually be their third date of 9 shows around California, Washington and Oregon.
http://www.xtheband.com/dates.html