RUST NEVER SLEEPS

Rip It Up, Issue 36, 1 July 1980, Page 13

RUST NEVER SLEEPS

Let's talk primarily about the movie. When you set up the tour with the gigantic speakers, did you have a movie in mind? I think it all started when I looked at the pile of amplifiers I had when I was rehearsing, and it just grew from there.

I get the impression from watching the film that you are having a much better time than you were before?

Well, that's true I think I don’t take it so seriously any more. People want to have a good time now, which is why punk is so healthy, because they don’t take it seriously. Groups like Devo and the Ramones are just making fun of the old bands and they’re much more vital than most of the old groups. I like Donna Summer, though: “Beep! Beep! Hey Mister ’’ I like that kind of stuff. I suppose the film shows that I don’t want to take it too seriously. At first, people told me I was belittling myself with all these props, but it worked out. I don't know how it will make out with the movie public. I don’t really care. It’s done now.

You really don't care, do you? Well, it doesn't really affect anything. It’s just the last thing I did.

So, all the things you do, you do for yourself? I think so, yeah. I like it when people enjoy what I do, but I also like it when they don’t. I sometimes really like aggravating people It may sound pretentious, but I like to read reviews that say I put out a distorted record, or that I have no respect for the craft I'm in. They don’t know what they’re talking about, as far as I’m concerned.

Let's get back to what you were saying. In effect, you said that yesterday's heroes are today's boring old farts, or as you put it: it's better to burn out than it is to rust. I think so. People want a star to be flashy. They don’t want humans, they want something that satisfies their illusions, something larger than life. It’s great, and once it isn’t great, they don't want to know. I think that’s where it really came from better to burn out than to rust, or fade away, or whatever.

Where did the title ‘Rust Never Sleeps' come from? Actually, I didn’t think of the title myself. Some friends of mine from Akron, Ohio, used to be in an advertising company, and they had a client who was a rust inhibitor, and he had the slogan, 'Rust Never Sleeps'. I was jamming with them, and we were playing 'Rust Never Sleeps', and I said,-"Don't worry about the lyrics, if you can’t remember the words, make up your own."

So, the first thing they said was, ‘‘lt’s better to burn out. because rust never sleeps," and I thought, "Wow! These guys write better lyrics than me." It made me think whether I would just corrode and repeat myself, and not be able to move until further notice, or whether I will be able to expand and keep going. It was Devo who came up with that line.

And they're also in the movie? Yes, they are.

You've been in a couple of other movies. If you had to choose, would you pick film or music? I wouldn’t be able to make the choice. I’d like to make more films, I'm set up for it. I have my own studio. This is the second film I’ve made, though probably the first that most people will notice. In the future, I'd like to do more.

Have you thought about script-writing?

No, I could never write more than half a page at a time. I can’t relate to scripts I can't really understand them. I’m still of the school of spontaneity. You’ve got to leave a certain amount of the imagination. Otherwise, it’s like a woman taking her clothes off too soon.

For a long time you were apart from Crazy Horse, but now you are together, playing better than ever. How did that reunion come about? We went through a lot of changes. One of the original members died. That had a profound effect, and we just couldn't play any more after that. We had to wait, and eventually, It came

together again. Also, I stepped out to do something else so I wouldn’t stagnate. Crazy Horse gave me the feeling and support that nobody else could, and that's why we still play together. Because of that feeling, and our technical expertise, we can’t play fast we can play really slow, but not fast, maybe it’s the rust. I don’t know.

“Like a Hurricane ” gets cooking pretty well.

Yeah. But if you listen to that, it's really only four notes on the bass that keeps going down. It’s like a trance we get into.

How did the title American Stars and Bars come about? Well, originally the concept was to have two sides to the album. One was American history, the other American culture, bars and such-like, which was where I was most of the time drunk on my arse in bars. Then I couldn’t

remember the American history part, so we left that out!

Do you think about being Canadian now, or are you an American? I think I’m a world citizen. I went to about ten different schools, never stayed long in one place.

How did you end up in L.A.? I knew that if I came down here, I would at least get a good shot at it, whereas, if I'd stayed in Canada, I would have probably still done really well, and nobody would know who I was. There just aren't enough people up there. If you’re going to take a shot at it, it’s got to be from th* centre.

But did you know from an early age that you wanted to write songs?

Yes. From about nine, I think. There’s a song, “Dont Cry No Tears”, I wrote before I was fifteen, I know that.

Did you come to L.A. cold, or did you know people there?

No, I didn't know anybody there. I was lucky to run into Stephen Stills, who I had met in Canada, and I stuck around and things worked out.

How many years was Buffalo Springfield? Eighteen months. The time between my last record and this one. It sort of blows my mind when I think of it now.

What was the next step for you after that? I sort of dropped out of the group. I couldn’t handle it I don't know why, but something inside of me felt like I wasn't quite on the track. I think it was around the time of the Monterey Pop Festival.

So after that you took a vacation? No. I started work on my own album straight away.

And then you got involved with Crosby, Stills and Nash?

When Stephen approached me, I thought they needed someone tor the live part, where they didn’t have enough electric guitars or something rock and roll to maintain over the folk harmony thing. When I first joined the group, they didn't want to use my name. They just wanted to be Crosby, Stills and Nash. I though, "Well, what's in it for me?” Eventually, they saw the point, that it should be "and

Young" on the end. In that group I was always like an add-on. Even when we played live, I didn't come out at first. I came on later, which was good for me. It separated me. I didn't really want to be grouped in with another bunch of people I wanted to be myself.

Do you think, in your wildest imagination, that there will ever be another C.S.N.& Y. concert? Maybe in my wildest imagination, but that's about it. Any way, who still cares? It's better for them to remember how it was than to see what might happen.