"We were hard-chargers," Perry Farrell says of Porno for Pyros, the band he formed in 1992 after alt-rock figureheads Jane's Addiction disbanded — at least for the first time. Back then, Jane's were one of the most fearlessly unique acts to ever bust into the mainstream, demolishing artistic boundaries at every turn. Porno for Pyros, rounded out by Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins, as well as guitarist Peter DiStefano and bassist Martyn LeNoble, was a considerably different beast in terms of sonics, but they lived by a similar rule. "We went all the way in everything we did — we went big," Farrell says.
Indeed, the band's two albums — their seminal 1993 self-titled debut, which spawned the hit single "Pets," and the 1996 follow-up, Good God's Urge — were ambitious and exploratory statements. And while Porno for Pyros were operating on a high on the Good God's Urge tour (even as ex-Minuteman bassist Mike Watt stepped in for LeNoble), the band soon slide out of active status as Farrell and Perkins shifted their focus back to a reunited Jane's Addiction. Save for a one-off performance in 2009 to celebrate the singer's 50th birthday, the band remained dormant until 2020, when they reunited, again with Watt, to perform as part of Farrell's Lolla2020 YouTube event. There have been several Porno for Pyros one-off shows since then, most recently with LeNoble back in the fold.
Now, the original foursome is issuing brand-new music — the single, "Agua," is part of a forthcoming three-song EP, their first new material in 26 years — and also embarking on an upcoming farewell tour, Horns, Thorns En Halos, which kicks off February 13th in Santa Ana, California. (While LeNoble appears on the new songs, he recently announced that he will not be joining the band for the live dates.)
Even as Porno for Pyros is nearing the end of the road, Farrell is excited for the immediate future. "Some of the best moments in my life have been spent with these guys," he says. "And those stories, they're all real, they're all true, and they're all heavy. So we get a chance to get back together? It's like a championship NFL team. Or maybe we weren't champions, but we were fuckin' rowdy."
Farrell sat down with Revolver to look back on 30 years of Porno for Pyros rowdiness, as well as discuss the present and future of the now reunited band.
HORNS, THORNS EN HALOS IS PORNO FOR PYROS FIRST U.S. TOUR IN 26 YEARS, AND ALSO THE BAND'S FAREWELL RUN. WHAT CAN PEOPLE EXPECT?
PERRY FARRELL I would say go for the music, man. Go for the sound, you know? One of the great art forms that we have on this planet is playing music live, being in a room that can turn into a frenzy of sound, like jazz or punk rock. And Porno for Pyros is an amalgamation of jazz and punk and rock and surf music, all spun into one. It's like music for extreme activities.
CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE NEW SINGLE, "AGUA"?
We wrote the song… I think we were in Tahiti. The same island where "Tahitian Moon" [from Good God's Urge] was written. And "Agua" is a really fun song.
Have you ever noticed how dolphins always have that smile on their faces? And whenever you get a chance to see a dolphin, it's always like a treat. It's like they're allowing you to see them. Sometimes they'll come into the lineup when you're surfing and they'll surf with you, and then they'll take off. But you're never mad at them for leaving. I like the way they smile and swim away. So I started to write about the playfulness of the water and how if dolphins were your neighbors in the water, they're kind of cool neighbors in the way they can smile in the morning and then just swim away. So that started out pretty simply.
And then fast-forward to now, where the band's back together, and when we finally got a chance to record the song, and the ocean is now filthy and it's full of toxic waste. It's being dumped in from nuclear power plants, and filled with oil spills and plastic bottles. I never thought I would see so much garbage and lack of regard for the water. And on top of all that, clean water's becoming scarce on the earth, and it's filled with microscopic bits of plastic that's even in the algae. And then it goes into bigger animals. I mean, this past summer, there were seals on the beaches of the West Coast, they would show up, hundreds of 'em, sick and dying. And I've felt this need inside to do something about it, so I would love to tie the song in with a water company and then look to do things like help clear the plastics out of the ocean, or help with drilling wells for clean water sources or getting filtration systems to people globally. Hopefully the song can take on a power and a purpose.
YOU'VE ALSO BEEN WORKING SIMULTANEOUSLY ON NEW JANE'S ADDICTION MUSIC. HOW DO YOU DETERMINE WHICH BAND YOU BRING A PARTICULAR SONG IDEA TO?
Well, the way it's rolled out, it's been just a natural progression. You kick back and see what each one's strengths and weaknesses are, and you bring material that suits the prospective band.
As an example, with Jane's, I have this idea of… well, I don't wanna give away what the sound is going to be, but I'm trying to add an eight-stringed instrument into the sound of Jane's. Because in the Messianic era, the era of redemption, music is going to be played on eight-stringed instruments. So for Jane's, imagine a sound with a modern eight-string guitar.
And with Porno, I look to put in songs that are more, jazz-meets-punk, or like 1940s Kansas City jazz — that kind of a feeling in the room where you're watching the musicians soar and climb and ascend and descend. You're not sticking to the script too closely. Also, each band has its own separate stories. Life stories.
WHAT IS THE PORNO FOR PYROS LIFE STORY?
Porno for Pyros, we started to hang out with each other in 1992, 1993. So '94, '95, that was like our heyday. And that period is, like, crack cocaine hits the streets of Los Angeles. The Rodney King riots had just happened. That's what the sound is. The self-titled song [1993's "Porno for Pyros"] is all about running the streets wild during the riots, right? And personally, it was at the height of my debauchery.
WE'RE 30 YEARS ON FROM THAT DEBUT ALBUM. WHEN YOU LISTEN TO IT OR PERFORM SONGS FROM IT NOW, DOES THAT TIME PERIOD COME RUSHING BACK TO YOU?
Yeah, it does. All the songs, as I say, they're all real stories of these young musicians running wild on the streets of Los Angeles. And then we took it global. We loved surfing, so we would find exotic places to go on surf trips, and then we'd be writing of our tales in Tahiti, in Mexico. In heavy surf conditions, or snowboarding, or, of course, partying our asses off.
FROM YOUR DESCRIPTION, IT SOUNDS LIKE PORNO FOR PYROS CAME TOGETHER DURING A TIME OF BOTH TURBULENCE AND DECADENCE. WHAT IS THE BOND BETWEEN THE FOUR OF YOU IN 2023?
We've always remained friends. We love each other. So the thought of getting back together with Pete and Steve and Martyn always brings a smile to my face. Porno for Pyros, our vibe has always been, stay wild, stay jazz, be dangerous, live on the edge… and fucking don't forget to laugh.
