NIKKI SIXX

The Mötley Crüe and Sixx:A.M. rocker prefers clicks to cliques

When bass player and songwriter Nikki Sixx isn’t busy shouting at the devil with Mötley Crüe or Sixx:A.M., you’ll find him taking photos or writing books. His latest project, This Is Gonna Hurt, combines all three: It’s a book of photography and prose accompanied by an album of the same name. This Is Gonna Hurt showcases Sixx’s gritty photos, serves as his literary follow-up to the bestselling 2007 memoir The Heroin Diaries and boasts new music from the rocker and his Sixx:A.M. bandmates, vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba.

How did this project take shape?

I knew I wanted to do something with my photography at some point. I had started writing songs with James and DJ for a Sixx:A.M. record. James came to my studio, where I have a gallery, and he was looking at all the photography that was framed as we were writing songs. I said, “Wouldn’t it be interesting if this influenced us, or if we influenced that?” And the lightbulb went on.

What’s the unifying concept?

We felt like we were not only exorcising our own demons, but also shining a light on what it feels like to be living in the world. It’s become this kind of plastic bubble. So many people forget about art or music or photography or fashion that it becomes disposable.

What demons came out?

I have at times become judgmental—but I’m not judging those who are usually outed from the party and not invited into the special velvet-rope rooms. I’m talking about the man with the gray suit and gray tie and gray smile—I’m judging him as a shark before I even let him get close, which I know better than to do. That’s what my book is about: getting people together. We are all the same. We just want to be accepted, so let’s stop the cliques. I have this thing where I get together with all kinds of different people—bikers, fashion designers, business people, people I’ve photographed, family members—and have these dinners. It’s amazing when you see a Hell’s Angel talking to a transvestite.

How long did this project take?

A couple years. The book was originally close to 500 pages, so we had to do a lot of surgery. The book company wanted 264 pages, and my foreword could have been that long.

How different is being in Sixx:A.M. from being in Mötley Crüe?

The chemistry of us four in the Crüe is way different from me, James and DJ. In Sixx:A.M. we don’t try to be anything, because we’re not really a band. We don’t conform to the band concept.

Does that take the pressure off?

Maybe I’m able to be very Zen about Sixx:A.M. because I have a safety net. I already have something that’s successful. But Mötley Crüe is like a train accident waiting to happen. I don’t ever look at Mötley Crüe and think, “I have a stable relationship.” I love the band, I love the music and I love the guys, but I don’t depend on it to last. I never thought it would last this long. But I definitely don’t do Sixx:A.M. and just throw it to the wind because I have a safety net. The fans don’t have to listen to something someone’s doing because they need to make their mortgage. I’m able to create from a place of complete honesty, which is nice.

–Eric R. Danton