JEORDIE WHITE | BASE TENDENCIES
PRESS
The Nine Inch Nails world tour might be one of this year's biggest, and for NIN bassist Jeordie White that's something to celebrate. But forget the raucous backstage antics, if you bump into him and he asks you to pull his finger, just back away slowly...
How's the tour going?
Jeordie: Really well. I've been really surprised with the reception we've been getting and the attendance. It's totally overwhelming. People who haven't seen us are going to get an amazing show.
Are you still alternating your set list every night?
Jeordie: Yeah, we've been playing a lot of double-nights, so we've been very keen on mixing it up. It's partly for the crowd, but mostly for us, because it gets boring playing the same songs every night. We don't want this turning into a job.
Do you ever get tired of playing "Head Like A Hole"?
Jeordie: Not at all. That's an extremely popular song so it's totally natural for us to play it. That's what you're supposed to do.
What do get up to when Trent's playing the solo part of "Hurt"?
Jeordie: I wait for about two minutes and we play the last 40 seconds of the song. It's not really long enough for the Xbox so I tend to grab my PSP.
What have been the high points of this tour?
Jeordie: I don't know that there's been any single high point, but it's been a lot of different playing this time around, and getting together with Trent after many years. It's almost a way of reconnecting with my past and moving on all at the same time.
How is playing for NIN different from your time with Marilyn Manson?
Jeordie: Very different but both equally fun. Playing with Marilyn Manson was an unbelievable part of my life, but that part is over and this is much different.
How so?
Jeordie: Touring with Manson we were just on a fucking self-destructive rampage...destroying everything, destroying ourselves. The art-project side of things totally overtook my life. But I think it was really playing with A Perfect Circle kind of prepared me for doing this. It made me a better player, too.
Why don't you wear dresses anymore?
Jeordie: I kind of left that behind with Marilyn Manson. It doesn't make sense to wear it anymore because I was in character. It'd be like KISS wearing their makeup, which is fun to see but kind of a parody of itself.
Aaron North (guitar) is very animated onstage -- how's he fitting in?
Jeordie: Great! He's got a great personality and he's like a little hurricane onstage. He just does what he does. You can't even hope to compete with that guy.
It's well documented that Trent's cleaned up. Has that made touring more business-like?
Jeordie:I wouldn't call it a business-like atmosphere, but it's been a lot healthier than it has been in the past. Trent's the same guy he has always been, he's just not as self-destructive.
So what do you do when you're not playing shows?
Jeordie: I play a lot of video games. I also sit on the tour bus and fart. I'm on the Nintendo and playing games on the computer quite a bit, but mainly it's about farting and drinking Diet Coke.