One of my big brush with fame stories is when I met Mitch Easter when we opened for The Velvet Crush about 15 years ago. It’s a funny story because he was this long-haired older dude I didn’t recognize and he was so super cool while the guys from the band (it was a trio that Mitch had produced, but he was playing fill-in guitar on tour) were complete a total a-holes. The drummer in particular was a dick, stoned constantly, about 9 feet tall, 90 pounds and wearing some sort of massive boa. And I think he would have benefited from adult acne treatments.

Anyway, I was talking to Mitch for a while about the showmanship of heavy metal concerts. He was particularly impressed by Glenn Danzig. He’d recently seen Danzig and was blown away by the complete spectacle. It was a hilarious conversation to have, particularly when I discovered, a few minutes later, who he actually was. I couldn’t believe I’d just been talking smack with the guy who recorded Murmur.