Over the years, there was talk that there was unreleased Porno for Pyros material that was written before their breakup in 1998. But when the band – singer Perry Farrell, guitarist Peter DiStefano, bassist Mike Watt (who replaced original member Martyn LeNoble), and drummer Stephen Perkins – called it a day, the possibility of ever hearing that material dwindled.
After reuniting last year to play a handful of shows, Farrell, DiStefano, Perkins, and LeNoble entered a studio to complete some of those songs, including the newly released single “Agua.” The track will be part of a forthcoming EP containing other previously unheard tunes that were recently recorded, as well.
While it took the band a quarter century to record and play gigs again, the reunion appears to be short-lived. Porno for Pyros announced that their first full tour in 27 years will be their last. The outing, dubbed “Horns, Thorns, En Halos Farewell Tour,” kicks off February 13th in Santa Ana, California, and wraps up on March 10th in Montclair, New Jersey, with tickets available here.
Heavy Consequence recently caught up with Farrell to discuss Porno for Pyros’ decision to record new music and embark on a farewell tour. The legendary vocalist also talked about “Agua” and gave us a scoop on another new song titled “Fingernail.” Additionally, he looked back on the band’s classic self-titled full-length debut (as 2023 marks 30 years since its release).
Read our interview with Perry Farrell below, and pick up tickets to Porno for Pyros’ 2024 tour here.
What led to Porno for Pyros hitting the studio more than a quarter century after your last album?
These things, they’re almost like syrup dripping out of a bottle. You have all these things that are in your mind that are unfinished – some of it. Some of it’s finished. But Porno for Pyros was definitely syrup that was still dripping off the bottle here. I had some unfinished business with them in the way of these songs. We’ve had these three outstanding songs that we had written probably 26 years ago, something like that. They came out beautiful. I’m so happy for the way that they came out pretty close to how I imagined it. But, maybe even a little better.
Why announce a farewell tour only one year after Porno for Pyros got back together to play shows?
Well, I think the way to look at it … this is just my business – how I’ve got my life set up. So, I’ve got Porno for Pyros, I’ve got Jane’s Addiction, got Lollapalooza. So, I’ve got all these beautiful things. Like I said, it’s almost like … you can call them drips, or, like octopus got an arm, all these things are kind of like my arms. With Porno for Pyros, what I can see for in my life – put out these three songs, do this tour.
We’ve got a beautiful song ‘Agua’ that I think will be an important song for the world. We speak about how we love the water and the joy that mankind gets from the water. As well, it’s our survival – it’s a key to our survival. But I think that we’ve come up with a song that that expresses that mankind needs something to kind of ignite him. And we’re so very close to crossing the finish line towards redemption. But there’s some things that are outstanding. One of them is clean water. And it really has to do with how we treat our neighbors, how we treat the Earth. We’ve got a song to sing right now with Porno for Pyros, so, we’re gonna go out and do that.
“Agua” is the band’s first single in 26 years. The song’s genesis dates back to the 1990s. What made you go back and record and complete that track in particular?
Well, when I last saw Porno unified – recording and touring – we would go on islands and write. We’d challenge the island’s musicians, we’d go on the island, we’d surf these incredible waves. But we always brought our instruments with us and then the night came on that island, and we would have a song and dance party with the locals.
And so those songs really – especially that song – it kind of summed up our sentiments when we were together. I mean, we were bad drug addicts. But we also were extreme sport athletes at the same time – as well as being musicians. We went out into the surf with professional surfers and surfed Western Samoa, Hawaii, Indonesian Islands. There’s a hardcore surf waves, and you get power. Ocean energy, from those moments. And we’d try to bring that power into music, make a song of it. It might just need something – that kind of power – to make the point. That’s what I feel. It’s kind of like you’re loading something up what you’re going to discharge. But in this case, what we’re loading up is we’re loading up a song, a message, and you gotta go out there and you have to perform it, and prove it.
Is there anything you can tell us about the other songs on the upcoming EP?
So, the song ‘Fingernail,’ it’s really about … we know that our fingernails grow. I just clipped mine this morning ’cause I don’t want to have grungy fingernails in front of strangers, you know? But life grows this slow. It’s growing. It’s happening. But we can’t see it – as human beings. I know the spirits and angels, they can all see it and they experience it. I think how they deal with time and space – and the fabric of time and space – is different than us in the way of speed. And they can see the future before we do. And they can probably … I don’t know what they can do with the past.
But anyway, the song ‘Fingernail,’ there’s something very interesting about fingernails and hair. When we go to sleep, we astrally project. And when we return into our bodies, we return, but death is starting to accumulate. So, we return, our soul goes back into our body and pushes the death out. It comes out through fingernails and through hair. And the way that you know that to be true is you can cut your fingernails because they don’t hurt because they’re dead.
So, that the song relates to … I guess it’s just accepting and just reaching a point of serenity in your lifetime at that very moment. It’s possible to do. But it took like 26 years or so to finally write the song – because it’s all about time, and the knowledge within patience.
Who is going to be playing a bass for the shows next year?
Martyn LeNoble is a wonderful guy – he loves the outdoors, he loves to track animals out in the wild. He really is a naturalist. By the time we got the tour together, Martyn was heading out to the forests. So, we were left to look for a bass player. Mike Watt is in my estimation one of the greatest bass players of all time. And an alumni. But he’s got two very bad knees. He can’t even stand through a set – so he’s sitting now. He walks with a cane. But he just did a tour, it was like 60 shows in 60 days, and he drives himself there. He’s hardcore. So, I’m very excited about playing with him.
So it will be Mike playing bass on the tour?
Yeah, Mike’s going to play bass on this tour.
This year marked 30 years since the release of Porno for Pyros’ self-titled debut. What do you remember about recording the LP?
My memories, some of them are … they’re kind of wild. They’re out of control. The city [Los Angeles] was in a crack epidemic and crack was being sold right in the heart of where we were recording that record. So, you can imagine we were running out onto the streets, scoring crack, going back to Crystal Studios, and recording that record. I don’t know how long it took. It felt like to me…I don’t know, maybe three to five sessions. I could be wrong, but like I say, that’s how little I remember about the technical stuff. That’s what it felt like.
But again, what you might compromise for technicality, you could pick up with heart and soul. So, that time right there – Rodney King riots, crack epidemic, police brutality, Los Angeles gangs. It got to the point, then all of a sudden they erupted a civil war in Compton – then they had to come together. The whole entire city was ravaged by thieves and looters.
