THE HIGHWIRE DAZE INTERVIEWS

Updated: 06/07/01

After several years of underground obscurity, Godhead is finally achieving the attention they deserve. Signed to Marilyn Manson's Posthuman Records and currently on the Ozzfest tour, there is a lot going on with this Washington DC based band. We spoke with Jason Miller, vocalist of Godhead awhile back while in the midst of a national tour supporting Marilyn Manson.

Highwire Daze: So here we are conducting an interview at Posthuman Records, atop a bike shop. You could go outside and see some transvestites - it's pretty cool!

Jason Miller: Sure!

HD: How did you wind up on Marilyn Manson's label and ultimately connected with his tour?

Jason: We were touring at the end of 99 and we played Hollywood and Manson's manager actually came out to see us play. They knew they were going to have this new label together and he really liked what he heard. So he gave Manson our new material. And Manson in turned contacted me and suggested that I come out to California to meet with him. So he flew me out here and I hung out for a couple days. We talked about a lot of things and it just seemed like the perfect match. We were looking for a new label at the time. The label that we were on didn't really do the things that we had hoped it could do. One of the things that's frustrating as an artist - you want to be on a level playing field with everyone else - you wanna be given the same chances that bands of equal or even lesser talent are given. And I don't think that we've ever got that, until now. So that was really exciting for us.

HD: So how has the tour with Marilyn Manson been going?

Jason: They're awesome. We've done like 38 shows with them. We're playing to a really receptive audience of people who want to hear new music. It's a lot different than some of the other people we've toured with in the past. Also, I think Manson's fans are very aware of the fact that he has this label, so they know who we are already before we start.

HD: With all the preconceptions people have about Marilyn Manson, what surprised you the most about him when you met him?

Jason: Nothing really surprised me. I think I was pretty well prepared to what he was going to be like. I read a lot of quotes from him, and I thought maybe there was a cruel side to him, but after knowing him, I realize that cruel side is actually just satire. He's not actually a cruel person at all. Some of the things I might have read that I thought were cruel was just simply satire, and sometimes that can't translate into print.

HD: You mentioned some of the other tours you went on. You toured once with Gwar…

Jason: Yeah, that was like people throwing sh*t at you every single night. I think any of the tours that we've done up until now really prepared us for now. It gave us strength as a band and it kept us tightly knit. We know each other inside and out now, and all it did was strengthen us, -- the Gwar tour. Sure it was frustrating to get sh*t thrown at you all the time, but we just dealt with it and knew that was what we were gonna be getting every night.

HD: What were the Gwar guys like?

Jason: They were super nice. They were really supportive and really awesome. They were like big brothers to us and taught us a lot.

HD: One of the other times you played LA was the Christian Death and Mortiis show. How did that go for you? When I interviewed Mortiis, he said it was pretty much a disaster.

Jason: That show was a disaster because it was suppose to be at The Troubadour, then at the last minute they moved it to the Key Club and they started the show at 6:00. And no one knew the times were different, and it really was a debacle. But luckily, that was the show that Manson's manager came out to see.

HD: So out of the bad came the good.

Jason: Yeah, actually!

HD: Where did you get the idea for some of the lyrics on the new album?

Jason: I think about half of the songs are social commentary and the other half are more intimate introspective things. I did have a departure from the previous album, where I'm coming out and speaking out about what I observe. I'm not necessarily making a statement of what should happen - it's more like an observation. A song like I Sold Society is about the commercialization of society and how everything is sponsored by something. Then we have a song like 2000 Years Of Human Error, which basically if you are under the assumption that the last 2000 years Western society has pretty much been based on the Bible. And the stories in the Bible, whether you believe they all happened or not, are all really well written parables on how people should live their lives and how they should treat other people. But no one who is in a position of power actually looks at the big picture and realizes that that's what the Bible is. What they do is take little bits and pieces of quotes or passages, and they interpret it in their own way for their own means. I've never really come out and said things like that before in my music. It's always been stuff that relates to me. Even there, I try to be a little bit ambiguous, because you want the listener to be able to identify with what you're talking about too.

HD: So what is your opinion about the idea of a Supreme Being?

Jason: I definitely believe that God exists. I really do. I'm still searching for all the other answers. I think a lot of people are. Beyond that, I really don't know what to say. I believe that there is a higher being.

HD: What made you decide to do a cover of Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles?

Jason: That was really more of The Method's idea. I didn't want to go along with it right away. We just sorta threw it on the tape at the last minute and I sort of begrudgingly went along with it - but it actually turned out great. It's like we took an old song that had no rock beat at all from the masters of modern pop rock music and turned it into something else. It turns a lot of heads and captures a lot of people's attention. So I'm happy with how it came out.

HD: If you check out the lyrics, it kind of a like a goth song…

Jason: Oh, totally! They completely fit in with what our lyrics go along with, so it's great.

HD: So here's the obnoxious Highwire Daze question and even Godhead's gonna have to answer it. So who's better? Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera?

Jason: That's tough! I think Christina Aguilera has a better butt - but it looks like Britney's been working out lately. It would be tough, but I'd probably want to date Christina Aguilera before I would date Britney.

HD: Of course this has nothing to do with their music…

Jason: F*ck that! Their music is horrible! I'm just thinking about them.

HD: If there was one thing you'd like leave a listener with after hearing your music, what would it be?

Jason: I would hope that they could identify with it in some ways - if they believe in the same things that I'm singing about or have felt the way that I've felt - they could feel like they have someone else that have a connection with. That, in turn, would make them feel better, because no one wants to feel like they have having these feelings all alone. That's why I put so much of myself on the line when I write the lyrics, because I know that other people are feeling the way I do - be it with a personal situation that they've had to deal with or even some social issues that they feel strongly about. If they can identify with it and latch on to that, then that's pretty cool.

HD: It appears that Godhead is finally on the verge of making it. So what kept you from getting discouraged and wanting to call it quits?

Jason: Just the belief that if I stuck at it long enough that things would turn around - and they certainly did…

2000 Years of Human Error is available from Posthuman Records! Make sure to see Godhead when they come to your town for Ozzfest 2001!!!