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Nikki Sixx Dishes ‘The Dirt’ on Netflix’s New Mötley Crüe Biopic: Q&A
Jake Giles Netter – The Dirt
SAINTS OF LOS ANGELES: The cast of “The Dirt” bring the Motley Crue story to the flat screen on Netflix starting March 23.
Netflix’s long-awaited
Not quite the crowd-pleaser that “Bohemian Rhapsody” was, it also doesn’t have to compete at the box office, its dark, no-apologies vision a nod to the likes of Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” and the more recent “Boardwalk Empire,” whose producer Rick Yorn served a similar capacity on “The Dirt” with sister-in-law Julie Yorn, both largely responsible for steering the project to Netflix. The movie stars U.K. actor Douglas Booth as Nikki Sixx, with rapper Machine Gun Kelly as Tommy Lee, “Game of Thrones”’ Welsh actor Iwan Rheon as Mick Mars and “Billions”’ treacherous David Costabile as manager Doc McGhee, with SNL breakout star Pete Davidson playing Tom Zutaut, the Elektra A&R exec who signed the band to the label. For the Crue’s Nikki Sixx, it’s been a long road, but he’s proud of the final result.
Pollstar: Guess some things are worth waiting for.
Nikki Sixx: We never gave up hope, but there was definitely frustration. We felt, from the very beginning, that we wanted to tell a story that had multiple layers. It was important for us to get the beginning of the era correctly. Several of the directors we talked to saw this as a “fun, ‘80s rock movie.” When we first got together, things were pretty vanilla and boring. … There was no rock scene on Sunset back then. We were all into ‘70s glam, T. Rex/Elton/Bowie/Dolls meets the Sex Pistols/Ramones played with the brutality of heavy metal like Black Sabbath or Deep Purple. Just a real big mash-up. We were garage glam, more street, less polished. And it was important to get that backdrop right in the movie.
Unlike the DIY punks, though, you unabashedly wanted to play arenas and be larger-than-life rock stars.
We never wanted to be a club or theater band. The punks gave us a new way of thinking. The energy and anarchy mixed with great songwriting. Cheap Trick was a huge influence on us. That band doesn’t get enough credit. Everybody loves them, but no one really talks about their influence on a generation of songwriters. Take them, the Sex Pistols, Elton John, David Bowie, throw in some brutally blaring Mick Mars guitars, and you have Motley Crue. I’ve always said Motley Crue is just a pop band dressed up in devil’s clothing.
You didn’t try to hide your musicianship or craft. The movie shows how you put in your 10,000 hours.
That [Malcolm] Gladwell thing is so true. When I got off the road with Motley Crue and Sixx AM, I did my radio show and after all these other projects, I needed to go back to the drawing board. You’re never too old to learn. I began taking vocal lessons, guitar lessons … I bought a stand-up bass, not because I’m going to be in a jazz band, but it represented a new challenge for me. That spirit is what we brought to Motley Crue — one of trying new things, experimenting, shaking it up.
What was it like watching yourself on screen, especially the raw scenes of you shooting up heroin?
I’ve dealt with addiction and continue to deal with it every day. I just did a two-part documentary for Leica cameras about addiction among young people in Canada. I’ve established a music education program at Covenant House to help get kids off the street. This facility offers them a reward for putting in the work by giving them a place to just cut free on musical equipment. Being an addict in recovery has been a very rewarding journey for me. Because it keeps me focused on trying to do a better job for the planet.
The hard part of the film for me, which I didn’t expect, was seeing my relationship with my mother, who passed away a few years ago without us being able to resolve our issues. The movie brought up a lot of pain around that. My grandparents, who aren’t shown in the movie, were always there for me. But there was always sort of a hole inside me because of abandonment, being abused by my stepfathers, an alcoholic mother, being shuffled from home to home, and we tried to focus on the “pretty drastic” measures that I ended up taking to compensate. I realized later on in therapy that I’m just a product of that upbringing. But me and my mom could never meet in the middle. It’s not something I’m proud of. I’m still confused about it.
Jake Giles Netter – The DirtDR. FEELGOOD
The film tells a surprisingly moral tale about the down sides of all that excess.
In making this film, it was always the band’s intention to show the truth of what happens when you’re young and successful, not just in rock ‘n’ roll, but as an athlete, politician, writer, you name it. All of a sudden, you’re in the zone, everybody loves you, the money, drugs and girls start pouring in, the touring, the crowds. We wanted to show the initial thrill of that. We didn’t want to make Trainspotting. But as you get sucked into the story, the mood changes. It was important to all of us to have that shift in tone, where everybody’s actions came back to bite them in the ass. And how we handled it as a band. It’s easy to be on top; it’s a walk in the park, but guess what… Winter comes, and it came in the movie. What I love is that you see how we made those decisions – the wrongs ones and the right one — to pull the family back together.
How would you compare “The Dirt” to “Bohemian Rhapsody”?
The Queen movie was important because it initiated conversations about gender identity in 2019. The interesting thing was Freddie [Mercury]’s life choices were, in the end, what killed him, but he brought a massive change in awareness. The music was wonderful – Queen is one of my favorite bands – but it also took to the masses an important dialogue that should be had right now.
What did you think of Douglas Booth’s performance as Nikki Sixx?
We spent some time together, we hung out a bit. He came to my house a few times. He asked me a lot of questions. We talked a lot of Nikki-centric things… how I hold my bass, things I hadn’t thought about. What I love about him and all the actors is, they wanted these roles because of the depth of the characters. This is not Spinal Tap… The actors all did a great job… Jeff Tremaine directed these young men so that you forgot they’re portraying a real band. You accept them as the actual band members. That was important to all of us, that the actors feel like the people they’re playing. Vince [Neil] told me, after watching 10 minutes, he forgot he was watching a movie about us. Douglas would become me right in front of me, which was kind of creepy. I told him, “Don’t ever do that again.”
The part where you make manager Doug Thaler disappear on-screen was pretty funny.
I learned a lot about how you need to take several characters and make them into one. That was our nod to Goodfellas. We wanted the film to have the temperature of that movie, along with some of the saturation and grit of Boogie Nights.
Jake Giles Netter – The DirtKICKSTART MY HEART
Having “The Dirt” finally come out must be satisfying for you.
We believed in ourselves, and bet on ourselves, when other people didn’t. That’s why it was so important for the movie to show us getting our recording masters back, which was revolutionary at the time. We worked to get back them back, and turned that into a lot of money, which gave us even more freedom. If you have financial independence as an artist, you don’t have to sell out to do what you want to do. You have to look at different revenue streams while protecting the most important thing — your brand. Books, Broadway shows, movies, radio shows…
Why the decision to go with Netflix instead of a theatrical release?
There are some fans on the Motley Crue Facebook page bummed out about not being able to get a Blu-Ray or DVD. Why do you need to carry around a disc when you can just watch the movie a million times \whenever and wherever you want? Part of our initiative is to move our audience to streaming and Netflix is the biggest streaming company. There are a great many young fans discovering rock ‘n’ roll for the first time. We want to bring everybody to the future and not just have them live in the past. That’s our goal.
There are four new songs on the soundtrack, including the title cut, as well as a cover of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin.” ‘Splain.
God bless the band for trying something really weird. Can you understand that we know what we’re doing? That’s our whole career. People doubting us and then proving them wrong.