ENIT '96

In Ludwig Pallmann's obscure futuristic novel Cancer Planet Mission (Foster Press, 1970), ENIT is a festival that unites various worlds in a celebration of peace, harmony, and cultural enlightenment. In reality, this summer, ENIT, which comes to Great Woods on August 20, will attempt to go one step beyond Lollapalooza -- or at least beyond what Lollapalooza has become.

In place of the white, male, American hard-rock vibe that Soundgarden, Metallica, Rancid, the Ramones, and Screaming Trees brought to the Lollapalooza main stage this year, ENIT is drawing on the rave/dance/DJ subculture to present (excuse the expression) an alternative to mainstream alternative. Farrell's own Porno for Pyros, who themselves seem to have embraced elements of the ambient, chill-out aesthetic on their new Good God's Urge, are headlining the tour, which also features main-stage acts like Manchester's groovy Black Grape, England's stylish Love and Rockets, dance diva Lady Miss Kier, agit-pop BPM-masters the Meat Beat Manifesto, and ambient-dance specialists the Orb.

But Farrell is aiming to make ENIT more than just another set of acts from a different side of the pond. He's trying to find unusual venues (Walden Woods was one idea batted around earlier in the year), where the show can start at 4 p.m. and go until 6 a.m. the next morning. For select dates, Farrell has brought on board groups from beyond the American pop orbit, including world-music star Buju Banton, the intergalactic jazz ensemble the Sun Ra Arkestra, and the New Orleans-based Rebirth Brass Band, who will perform during tree-planting ceremonies at each site. ENIT audiences will be treated to a communal Krishna-cooked vegetarian meal, a cocktail hour, and the colorful spectacle of San Francisco's Future Kulture performance-art collective. DJs will be on hand to fill the gaps between bands and to keep the party going until dawn. (At traditional concert venues such as Great Woods, where an 11 p.m. curfew is enforced, ENIT will be presented, in Farrell's words, "as a concert.")

Farrell has been raising eyebrows ever since he came into the cultural spotlight, and ENIT may be his riskiest venture yet, especially when you consider that he just as easily could have sat back and collected a fat paycheck from Lollapalooza for the rest of the decade and beyond.

But Farrell is mercurial, a restless, creative force who thrives on change. He's what psychologist Robert Jay Lifton described, in The Future of Immortality and Other Essays for a Nuclear Age, as the "Protean Man" -- a person who "tries out various involvements and commitments towards people, ideas, and actions; and shifts from them, leaves them for new ones at relatively minimal psychological cost." Farrell, a product and a shaper of post-punk alterna-rock, has grown to embrace the communal/environmental ideals of the '60s and the promise of the cyberpunk future. He is also a former drug-use advocate who speaks of maintaining a healthy body and spirit; a successful businessman who talks like a So-Cal surfer dude and functions as a counter-cultural rock star.

We spoke to Farrell from his home in Venice Beach, California, a week before ENIT set out for its month-long journey. Here's what he had to say about himself, the tour, and his constantly evolving philosophy of life and art.

Q: So is everything going smoothly with the plans for ENIT?

A: Well, no. It's kind of exciting, huh?

Q: Yeah, I guess it just wouldn't be showbiz if things weren't screwed up.

A: Let me tell you, I agree with you. When something goes wrong, at first it feels like it killed me. But then the next thing I know, I'm just so excited. I can tell you that concertgoers, or at least the clientele I'm opening my doors to, are very late to come through the door. They don't buy tickets right out of the gate. They have to do a bit of planning about getting to the shows and figuring out where they're going to stay. This isn't a show that's going to be taking place right next door for most people. In some cases, I guess the younger people even have to ask permission to stay out all night.

Q: What do you want ENIT to look like?

A: I really had no template. But if I were to sit down and call to mind something that would be akin to it, I could start to dream up pictures of what the Grateful Dead might have done. I hold them in high esteem in terms of what they tried to do with their concerts. And Bill Graham, in particular, was an amazing man. He took risks and he was always trying to take things further out. He got the Dead to the Pyramids, and I think that's pretty far-out.

Q: ENIT also has a futuristic spin to it, right?

A: I have been interested in trying to invite extraterrestrial life forms to the show. And a friend of mine called me in the middle of the night last night and claimed that they're about to make a press conference about a meteorite that they found that has life forms from Mars on it.

Q: Maybe they got your message.

A: I know, it's so amazing. This is what I mean. Have things gone according to plan? Absolutely not. But then at the same time, just in the nick of time, something like this meteorite comes along and gets me so excited.

Q: How are you trying to contact alien life forms?

A: First I'm going to try musically. I found a book that details the musical breakdown of minerals on this planet. For example, phosphate and amethyst and amber, they all have resonances . . . each mineral has its own particular resonance. And this book breaks down the resonances musically. So I'm having this gentleman play sheet music of minerals, if you will, and I have it taped. And in between acts at ENIT I'm going to play it out towards the cosmos and see if any music comes back our way. I'm counting on a sense of humor to be had by all, including extraterrestrials. I think they would kind of get a laugh if they understood mineralogy and that we were playing the notes for rock salt.

Q: Maybe they'll drop in for a margarita . . . Do you think that the signals that government scientists have been sending out to the stars just don't have enough of a sense of humor?

A: Well, yeah. It's like a Web site. You go onto it, and if it's set up real square you probably won't want to converse with that guy. But if you see one that's got some humor and insight to it, then you'll want to get involved.

Q: Did you think that Lollapalooza was losing its sense of humor?

A: You know, I'm going to be fair and I'm going to tell you that things change. And to be vital you have to leave behind things that you previously built. That's the way things go. For example, the way we've set up our water system . . . okay, so we pollute our water. Now, all right, that's ignorant. So you're supposed to turn around, enlightened, and say, "We didn't think that out right, and now we've gotta go back and everything that we stood for we have to stand against." I think that's healthy. Unfortunately, we're not accustomed to turning on ourselves in that way. In our lifetimes, we're very reluctant to turn around and admit that the very thing that we once stood for is something that we now detest, or that it's something that we're not into anymore. We evolve. People can be reluctant to move away from what they deem a success, especially a monetary one. You know, "Well, we've made money in the past with this music, why should we move away from it?" Why? Because in its time it was fine, but now there's new music evolving. And although it's not in the forefront of the business end of things, it's what I'm listening to now.

Q: So ENIT is a reflection of what you're listening to now?

A: Yeah, absolutely. But its also my reaction to the fact that the festival gig has gotten so diluted. There's not just one, but there's five or six of them going on now. So if you're looking for the returns that Lollapalooza had in 1991 -- well, you just have to realize that there's more competition. That's very healthy. My forte isn't trying to come back with a big net. My forte is trying to create a good party, and I still think I can do that, especially if I keep listening. For me, the most important thing is to go out and research and listen and discover. If I sit back on my haunch and think that I have the answer, I'm going to get bypassed as far as who can put together a good party.

Q: So you just want ENIT to be a good party?

A: What I would really love to see is a world party. That would be the most beautiful thing I could ever see in my lifetime. I would love to see the world party simultaneously.

Q: Do you feel any competition with Lollapalooza?

A: I'm not trying to outdo anybody. But if people say to me that they want grunge, I'm going to tell them now that I don't want to listen to grunge. So you do your party and I'll do my party. And that's fine enough. There's still a lot more people listening to grunge than the kind of music that I've been listening to. But I have to be true to my heart. And for a few years I wasn't true to my heart, and it hurt me really bad. I sat around thinking to myself, "Do I want the money, or do I want the honor and self-respect?"

Q: So you're talking about more than just a musical difference between what Lollapalooza has become and what you hope ENIT will be.

A: Well, I'm doing ENIT for new reasons. My reasons have to do with camaraderie and community. I don't want to say the word "communism" because then I'll end up on somebody's list.

Q: Perry, I bet you're already on somebody's list. I understand that what you're aiming for is a communal feeling, but it seems difficult to achieve that on a large scale. I can't remember who I first heard say this, but if you're in a band playing to 500 people, there may be 100 people in the audience who get it. And when you're playing in front of 50,000 people there still are probably only 100 people in the audience who get it. If there are people coming to ENIT because they like Porno for Pyros, are they going to like the Orb?

A: I'm hoping that if somebody were to "get" Porno for Pyros, then the Orb are just so amazing musically, they should "get" the Orb too. Now, Jane's Addiction and the Orb is a bigger distance to travel. So I just have to bide my time, relax a little bit, and wait for people to catch on. I know people say that people don't forget your past. But I'm under the belief that these days people's pasts can be forgotten if you put in good new work.

Q: What part of your past do you mean?

A: Well, for example, people love Jane's Addiction and I loved Jane's Addiction. But I love what I'm doing now. I really love what I'm doing now. It makes me feel good to sing. And it makes me feel good to work with computers and DJs. And it makes me feel good to hear the musical outcome. The rock thing is just like the blues thing is just like the classical-music thing. I mean, it had its time. No one is ever going to put down the great ancient -- not to classify myself as a great ancient -- but I'm saying that you can't put down classical music just because its time has passed. But you do say to yourself, "What can I do now?" I'm much more up for that than sitting back and cashing in on my past. Sometimes people get mad because it was something that they dug. It was something I dug too, but there's so much new work to be done.

Q: It sounds like Porno for Pyros in 1996 is very different from Porno for Pyros in 1993.

A: Exactly. I go to rehearsal, and it's a different thing. Music will change people in different ways. If you want people to get excited you can do that. If you want people to get angry you can do that. But if you want people to feel comfortable, well, I think I can do that now. I listen to so much music and so many people. So all this stuff is building in my brain, and I'm thinking to myself, I'm no different from anybody else, and I feel that there's a lot of confusion out there. I don't want music that's going to further confuse me because I'm already at the edge here -- I'm about to get pissed. What I want is music that opens up my third eye. There's a brand-new room there. I'm looking for music that works on that level and that allows me to listen to my friend without saying, "Shut up!" I want to be enhanced. I would like to feel comfortable.

Q: It's difficult to separate the business from that, isn't it?

A: Well, I'm doing it this year. I'm absolutely taking a giant bath. Some people say that I'm a good businessman. But I'll be honest with you, I think I've got people fooled because I don't give a shit about business. Really. I don't consider it. I have somebody consider it for me. I have an accountant who stops me from doing things if I'm going to go bankrupt, which might happen this year. I mean I might have to sell my house when this tour is over. So what. If I go back to an apartment, who cares?

Q: One of Lollapalooza's goals was to bring people from different musical backgrounds -- from different scenes -- together for one concert. Judging by the lineup on this year's main stage, Lollapalooza has at least partially abandoned that goal. Do you still think it's possible to get different kinds of people to mix?

A: Sure I do. Look, my favorite clubs are places I can go into and be like, "All right, black people, great, there's some Asians here, oh my God, is this girl Indian? She's wild." Then I feel -- believe it or not -- at home. I do not feel at home when there is one color going around the room. It makes me real uncomfortable because I start to feel there's a uniformity going. What I love, and I try to keep my friends and business this way, is a mix. With ENIT I've brought the balance of the black community up high. Instead of the one token rap group, I've got three different acts that, coincidentally, are black. And the guy who choreographs with me is black. We have to go beyond boundaries. Musicians do. I mean it's one of the communities where I can honestly say people honestly see past color. If a guy can play, then that's all that matters. To me, it's no sweat. But for a crowd, I know it's a little different. And I'm not playing God or anything, but I really do intend to bring people together.

Q: ENIT has a slant toward the dance end of the pop spectrum. Do you think dance music is the future of bringing people together?

A: Well, what harm can come from dancing? At some of these shows, the music gets people pissed off at each other or angry at the world. And what are people going to do with all that rage? Are they going to go out and be another asshole, hitting people? Or do you want to make people dance and smile, do you want them to smile like a dolphin? We played a show in New York and this guy was screaming at me, "Where's your rage, where's your rage?" He kept yelling that at me, so I finally said, "Come up here. What do you have to say? Maybe I can learn something from you." What does he do? He pulls his pants down. He didn't have anything to say. Rage is a blocked-up emotion. It's a stopped thought that stays in your body, and it hurts. The rage has to turn into wisdom somehow. And I told that guy that I was trying to put my rage to better use.

Q: Has that, or any of the recent heroin deaths that have made the headlines, changed your opinions about drug use?

A: Well, you know, the ever-evolving theories of how one should live apply to me as well. I'm looking at drugs the same way you're probably looking at them. You'd like to experience them, you like the feeling of them, you don't want anybody to be hurt over them. Obviously, addiction is out. That's the first thing I can tell you. It makes no sense. It does not show a great respect for your own body to pollute it. I still believe in the ritual of going through things like the shamans did. The ancient way of taking a plant into your body should be respected. And you should do research before you do anything like that. I think there's a curse when things are given to you outside of love, with the wrong intentions. You have to be really careful where you get the plant from. If it's coming from the wrong direction it's going to ruin you.

Q: Tell me about the Future Kulture people.

A: They're just going to be hanging out, helping around the grounds. They're dressed like fairies and imps and demons. They'll help serve tea and bring water and fruit around. At night they'll be dancing with us. And we're inviting people to join them. I've got postings up on my Web site and we're inviting people to come and work with Future Kulture, maybe to help keep the grounds clean. Or maybe we'll have them backstage to help. We're having a really cool backstage. It's in the round so that there's no "star" dressing room. I remember Gibby [Haynes, of the Butthole Surfers] saying to me at Lollapalooza, "You know where our dressing room is? Out by the toilets." So I had to tell Gibby that I didn't lay out the dressing rooms and put him by the bathrooms on purpose. Things got carried away with that stuff.

Q: What are you planning to serve for a communal meal?

A: Well, sometimes when I was poor I would go to these Krishna centers because they gave away food for nothing. They got in your ear a little bit, I must say, but that was the deal, man: if you're not paying for the food then you've got to lend an ear. In this case, I've asked them not to proselytize. They're there to serve vegetarian food -- lentils, rice, cauliflower, tofu, and things like that. It's included in the price of the ticket. But I've got to tell you, in all honesty, if you really are up for gorging yourself, then eat before you come. May attitude is this: I fast once a week. I don't want people to be lying there with their bellies so full that they can't dance or appreciate or converse. You'll find that when you eat less, your mind and body stay more active. I'm not going to say people should fast -- there will be a communal meal [with] baked goods, fruit, juice, and absolutely fresh water. But I want to keep people's bellies light and their minds sharp.

Q: Are you going to be able do tree-planting at all the shows?

A: Yeah. Every venue has okayed it. But we only get 13 trees in each location. So in order to make it more ornate, I'm going to try and get sculpture artists to create something that will be at the center of the circle. And then people can buy tree seedlings for a dollar or $1.50, and plant them at home.

Q: Communal meals and tree plantings -- it does sound like something the Dead might have done . . .

A: I don't have that much of an attachment to things from the past. I think the Grateful Dead was really wild, and it was probably the best situation I can think of in terms of a traveling festival, at least in terms of the people being kind and having a sense of community. But what has happened is that computers have come in and created a hyperculture. And I love that. But what that lacks is the human spirit and human fire that you can't get from purely electronic music. The marriage of the two is what I'm after. Man working with machine. That's what we are.