Perry Farrell
The rock icon and dad on his newest baby: Kidzapalooza.
by Aaron Burgess
August 2, 2007
How much does music figure into your day-to-day home environment?
I know it might sound surprising, but I like quiet an awful lot — although some of the fun things that you do together as a family have to have music. I love to play music when I'm taking a bath; and, like, last night, we gave the boys a bath in our big tub, and of course it wouldn't be complete without bringing out the boom box so they could just rock out and play in the tub with their boats. So there are times for it, absolutely.
Has your background made you more sensitive about providing a stable home life for your kids?
Yeah. I mean, listen: the truth is, we're on the road right now; we're starting to lay the groundwork for Satellite Party [the ecologically minded dance-rock group in which Farrell plays alongside his wife, Etty Lau]. And if I could speak for a moment about the modern musician, where it's at is playing live, out on tour. We had our boys out with us on tour, with Jane's Addiction, where we could afford them a very comfortable life, basically flying up front in first class and staying in four-star hotels. But with Satellite Party, when you're starting out, laying the groundwork, the lifestyle is not one for a child. We're basically on a bus with ten to twelve people at a time, and sometimes we don't get a hotel; sometimes we show up in the morning, get off the bus and maybe take a shower down at the venue. And you really have to have children in a stable environment when they're at this age, so our boys are studying in Hong Kong for most of the year, living with Grandma, and when we get off the road, we all meet up. One day, I'd like to have them home-schooled out on the road with us, but now is not the time for it. So that's giving you a little bit of insight into our world.
What sort of world are you hoping to create for the kids who now make up the Kidzapalooza generation?
When these kids come to Lollapalooza, they'll see there's an energy when you can gather so many people in a beautiful environment--and in our case, boy, the city of Chicago has given us Grant Park; there's not a better surrounding for a rock festival in this entire country. And they'll get to walk through other areas of the festival — like, we have a place called Green Street, which is all about the environment and the small solutions for making your own personal life more eco-friendly. We have an art gallery that was started by the Chicago Art Institute; these are college Our boys are studying in Hong Kong for most of the year, living with Grandma, and when we get off the road, we all meet up.students, fine artists that are simply amazing. We've incorporated [Paul Green's Chicago ] School of Rock and the Alvin Ailey Dance Camp, to let kids see what they could be doing and actually teach them. It's very much a hands-on, this-is-your-world, this-is-your-future kind of an experience. And so when they see all these things, and they see all these other kids and feel the energy and enthusiasm that they have for music and art, and they see adults, too, enjoying the environment, enjoying the outdoors, enjoying the music, I hope they'll see that it is a whole new, big, beautiful world, and it's our world to inherit; we really have the power.
For a lot of us who grew up in the Lollapalooza generation, you represent a sort of idealized Dad figure: this sort of anything-goes spirit grounded in a strong, civic-minded sensibility. How does that differ from the parent you actually are?
I personally don't like listening to people preach, but if you can create a living example, show somebody and inspire somebody, those kinds of things stick with you for your entire lifetime. I had a friend, Timothy Leary — and I know it sounds like he's somewhat of a dangerous friend to have — but he was also a person who knew about the World Wide Web and helped to create awareness for it and make use of it; he was on the forefront of those kinds of things. From hanging around with Tim, I learned about the Web and its power and its usefulness, and I learned how to be young at heart forever and surround myself with musicians and artists and forward-thinkers. And, you know, he never sat down and told me to do that. I saw a man who was seventy-five years old living like a college student, which, for me, meant he was always interested and always ready to adapt and change and go and contribute to life. And so I try to be that type of a dad: By living the example, I hope my children will want to be like me. And I guess that's the best way I know how to parent.
©2007 Aaron Burgess and Nerve Media
About the Author
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Aaron Burgess lives with his wife and their three wonderful boys in Austin, Texas, where he supports his freelance-writing career with a daytime gig in the high-tech industry. He is a regular contributor to SPIN, Harp, Revolver, The Onion A.V. Club, Alternative Press and the St. Louis Riverfront Times. |
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