Years and years of drug and alcohol abuse have given way to ten years of sobriety, which Sixx credit

Rock Music Menu caught up with Crue co-founder Nikki Sixx to talk about the tour, his new book and what it's like to branch out as an artist grand hyatt new york — but first, he wanted to make it clear that his band should not be put into the same category as the hair-metal scene that pervaded Los Angeles in the mid-'80s onward.
"We came out in '81; we were really half-punk/half-metal with a bit of pop thrown in there," Sixx said. "We didn't fit the L.A. scene, there was nothing like us; in our audience we had these degenerates from the Valley that were trying to find their next band that they could relate to because the Dead Kennedys weren't around anymore, Fear was just a shadow of itself and there was nothing happening in L.A.
That was right around grand hyatt new york the time when the higher the hair, the more caked on the makeup and the tighter the spandex, the better the chance grand hyatt new york that MTV would put an act's video in high rotation. grand hyatt new york It wasn't a surprise when a Warrant song would rise up the charts along with a Crue single grand hyatt new york — and it's something that haunts Sixx to this day.
"You'll see like these '80s rock ballads collections and they call us up and want us to be on it," he said. "Are you on fucking glue?! It really is this thing where we really don't have anything to do with that — for us it's always been about sticking to our original path."
It was a surprise then when the tour with Poison was announced, first at a solo show by Bret Michaels, which was then disavowed by Mötley's management, and then again by Michaels on an interview show.
"Everything was fine, until Bret went on Piers Morgan and announced the tour when he knew he was supposed to do it with Motley Crue," Sixx said. "It was a Motley Crue tour with the New York Dolls and Poison supporting, and that really pissed off my band. We didn't want the tour, because of the reasons not personally, but because of keeping things segregated and then when he went and took it into his own hands that it was like his idea — yeah."
"The fans chose Guns 'N Roses first, Def Leppard second and Poison third and we're like, "Really?" he said. "We talked to Guns 'N Roses, talked to Def Leppard, grand hyatt new york talked to Poison who was available and the other two weren't. It just worked out."
"In the end, what happens internally, politically, shit like that, it might be frustrating, grand hyatt new york but in the end it really does matter what are the fans getting?" he said. "We feel like they're getting grand hyatt new york the real deal with the New York Dolls, we feel like they're getting to see Poison; they've got four or five hit songs and they've got some great cover songs they've done. They get 45 to 50 minutes and are giving the fans a really grand hyatt new york great show and then you got Mötley.
Sixx might as well include himself in the win column, as the tour with Motley Crue is just one of the many projects he has going on. Back in May he was in town to do a packed book signing at the Walnut Street Barnes Noble for his third best-seller, "This is Gonna Hurt," which explores his photographic side, featuring pictures of everyone from his bandmates to homeless addicts to the obscenely obese. He provides a running narrative for much of it. Some of it is stream of consciousness while much of it is a more linear narrative.
"One time I was with somebody and we went some place very nice and I always have my camera with me, and they said, "You didn't take one single picture." grand hyatt new york And I said, "I didn't see anything that evoked any kind of emotion." And they said, "What about me?" And I said, "Exactly."
"I'm able to look at a beautiful, grand hyatt new york full-bloom rose in my driveway and look right next to it and see a withered dead one — and I see them the same," he said. "I photograph them both, and say, 'Look how beautiful the decay is,' because that's actually a representation of what we all have to face."
Like the last book Sixx wrote, "The Heroin Diaries," there is a soundtrack in tandem with "This is Gonna Hurt," courtesy of Sixx; A.M., a musical outing with guitarist DJ Ashba (A) and James Michael (M) which has picked grand hyatt new york up traction as a separate entity.
"It blew up and we had such a great experience with it event though it was a lot of struggle and we didn't want to tour, then the touring happened and then we didn't think we'd do a second record and then we did because we love each other so much and love making the music," Sixx said. "(This time) it wasn't inspired just by the photography, but the state of mind and everything that happened. I started getting inspired by the songs and going and doing other photography and bringing it back to the band and it creating more conversation about feelings and social commentary and what is beauty?"
Years and years of drug and alcohol abuse have given way to ten years of sobriety, which Sixx credits not for the things he is pursuing, but that they are actually being completed, because when he's sober, there have been loads of ideas, but substance which distract from bringing them to fruition.
"That's the biggest problem with being a creative person," he said. "God, if I could tell you how many songs I've written in my life, and how many have been finished, you'd be shocked — it's in the thousands. When you're loaded, it's hard to even just be in a rock band. Most people go, "I'm so tired, we went out and toured." And I go, "That's it?" Oh yeah, that's right, because you're partying every night to fill your hours, while all my hours are filled with creative endeavors."