by: dpd

John John Jesse is a punk rocker. When I first saw his paintings, I knew what John John Jesse had to be. Paintings of beautiful women juxtaposed to swastikas and Molotov Cocktails, John John’s work reflected something authentic not seen in the art of punk rock for years. Each painting seemed to visually tell a story of past binges and begged for further probing on the story teller’s part. These paintings have finally resulted in my quest to find out more. I recently had the chance to communicate with John John Jesse and ask questions ranging from the nosy to the annoying.

FR*A - Punk is a vital part of your art and who you are. You were in seminal punk rock band Nausea for over seven years. You toured relentlessly and so I’m sure you’ve acquired ton’s of stories. What was the worst gig you can remember? The best?

JJJ - Actually some of the worst gigs were the best…we were shit faced in Budapest in 1990 and I slugged an audience member in the head with my bass, Sid Vicious style cuz he was heckling us…turned out he wasn’t heckling but rather smiling so hard because he was our biggest fan and couldnt believe we were even playing in his city…

Another was playing the May Day outdoor show in Berlin in 1991…we were at the end of our set doing a Dischatge cover song “State Violence State Control” and in plain view we can see the riot cops charging down the hill onwards towards the thousands of audience members…it was really exciting…we visited the stage 2 hours later and the police had smashed it into toothpicks.

FR*A - It’s 2007 and punk bands are still popping up. Do you still get excited listening to new/current punk rock music? Do you have any musical interests that would surprise people?

JJJ - Punk will never die…it’s a cultural movement and lifestyle…it may, or may not be in the spotlight at times but it’s always there in the underbelly being kept alive in small clubs, DIY events, fanzines and kids discovering it everyday…It’s like hip-hop…new fans always do their homework and discover old records by bands that formed the movement. I don’t like any MTV poser pop punk that’s out in the mainstream, how can they even call that punk rock, it’s not even angry! But yeah, I do listen to some new bands.

C’mon, everyone has a few guilty pleasures in music. Embarrassingly enough, mine is 80’s new wave - Journey and ELO…

FR*A - You left home at an early age and got heavily into drugs… you yourself described it as a “rock and roll cliche”. Last time I heard, you’ve been clean off of all drugs for a while. What caused you to finally realize that you needed to clean up? What was your worst trip ever? Did any of these moments creep into your pieces?

JJJ - I got clean because it was inevitable. I was going to die at anytime… it was a 15 year run. My spiritual soul was corrupted. I didn’t give a shit about anyone but my drugs. My paintings are my autobiography - so yes, the stories are there… maybe not so obviously but I am not a writer, so I can only tell my tale through painting.

FR*A - Any tattoos? If so what’s the story behind your first one?

JJJ - I have over 10 tattoos - my leg, chest, neck, arms, and some ratty squatter needle and thread homemade ones too. My very first one was a homemade jailhouse tattoo but my first real one is on my upper right arm of the Lp art from the Bristol band, The Amebix… it was the art on the inside sleeve of the No Sanctuary record. I got it in 1985 and the tattoo artist Elio thought I was of age to get tattooed but it turned out i was only 15. He finished it anyways since he already started it (Elio tattooed EVERYONE in the early eighties hardcore/punk scene, including members of Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags, and Nausea. He now owns Flyrite Tattoos in Williamsburg Brooklyn).

FR*A - Please explain your painting process (for example, do you start with pencil sketches, or do you go straight into it?).

JJJ - I used to sketch a lot before to prep for every piece, but that stopped awhile ago - the magic that comes out without a blueprint has a magic that a contrived preliminary drawing just does’nt.

FR*A - Why are there so many naked women in your paintings?

JJJ - I just love girls to be totally honest. It’s not being sexist, I would never even call my work sexy or erotic… some might, but I don’t, they tell my life story better than if I painted myself in every painting don’t you think?

FR*A - Is it hard for you to part with your artwork when it sells?

JJJ - No, you get over that in the beginning. You always make more, you always get better. When you know that money pays your bills and provides for your family, it feels really good. I don’t even own one painting of mine… they sell instantly.

FR*A - When is the “Punk Rock” link on your official site gonna be finished? What can we expect?

JJJ - I promise that will be done soon. The art on there is supposed to be all the flyers and record art I did in the 1980’s…

FR*A - Where were you when 9-11 happened, and what were your thoughts following the events?

JJJ - I watched the second plane live on TV after a friend called early in the morning… I was with my then girlfriend, it was super surreal. We did venture the streets of the Lower East Side and Soho all day after, and it was like a zombie town. No cars driving, just thousands of people wandering around. No one could believe it. My mom worked in the ground zero area, she got home safe covered in white smoke ash.

FR*A - Sex Pistols or The Clash?

JJJ - Thats an unfair question! I ain’t answering. They are both PERFECT for two different reasons.

FR*A - Did Sid kill Nancy?

JJJ - I have really close friends who were friends with Sid and were around that whole world of theirs… and NO, Sid really did not kill her. Thats all I can say.

For more on John John Jesse, visit his official site at: http://www.johnjohnjesse.net/