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The Bakersfield Californian Thursday, October 18, 2012
Eye Street Editor Jennifer Self | Phone 395-7434 | email jself@bakersfield.com
Index Scary for Charity ...................................... 22 21st annual Fall Home Show .................... 23 Arts Alive .................................................. 24 K.C. Museum Halloween events .............. 25 The Lowdown with Matt Munoz.............. 26 Scott Cox .................................................. 27 Spook Out Cancer.................................... 28 Calendar .............................................. 31-33
Addicted to their art LA alt-rock icons come down mountain to Fox BY MATT MUNOZ Californian staff writer mmunoz@bakersfield.com
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iming has always been on the side of Jane’s Addiction. Beginning with their arrival in the mid-’80s against the backdrop of Hollywood’s glam metal scene, they bridged the gap as an alternative for those seeking intensified chaos as punk rock began to loosen its grip. In both their sound and image, the group embodied the state of the city’s burgeoning alt-rock movement with a combination of psychedelic flash and gothic artistry reflective of the dark urban underbelly of downtown Los Angeles. Singer Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery were able to bring the intensity of their live show to the studio, producing a trio of the era’s most iconic recordings before abruptly calling quits in 1991. After a few years apart to pursue other endeavors (Farrell and Perkins formed Pornos for Pyros while Avery and Navarro formed Deconstruction), the group has remained close for a series of extended reunions, new recordings and tours, including their latest, which comes to the Fox on Tuesday. Drummer Stephen Perkins, 45, said the group’s guiding principles today are the same as always, which is why the bandmates have remained close through the years. “You don’t do it for the money,” he said during a phone interview
Jane’s Addiction When: 8:30 p.m. Tuesday Where: Fox Theater, 2001 H St. Admission: $37 to $57 Information: 324-1369 or vallitix.com
from his home in Southern California. “You know, Jane’s Addiction breaks up, people offer us a lot to stay together. We can’t. If we’re gonna fake it, it’s not real.” Jane’s Addiction came of age at a time when commercial radio relegated anything “cutting edge” to late night, and videos too hot for MTV were censored, as was the case with many of the band’s short-form videos, including “Mountain Song.” There’s also the issue of sustaining a music career in the digital age, something Perkins said he’s adapted to. “Nowadays the business is just so different. I mean, people are just giving music away. It’s almost insulting to charge people to buy it. There’s almost no reason for people to buy it, so what do you do? You put on a great show, and there’s no way to replace that. Of course, everyone films your show with a phone and puts it on YouTube, two hours after you get on stage. We’ve always had performances, but the work is that you can still do it and still be relevant.” Jane’s Addiction sprang from the ashes of Farrell’s original band, Psi Com, an experimental quartet that saw brief success in the underground. The band was named in honor of Farrell’s housePlease see BAND / 29
PHOTO COURTESY OF JANE’S ADDICTION
Jane’s Addiction appears Tuesday at the Fox Theater. Pictured above from left: Stephen Perkins, Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro.
Jane’s muse wasn’t Jane; it was Casey Bakersfield native reflects on her long romance with Perry Farrell
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he’s known as the “Classic Girl,” written about in the Jane’s Addiction song of the same name and seen in countless images from the band’s early years. But what many fans don’t know is that Casey Niccoli also happens to be from Bakersfield. Niccoli dated Perry Farrell from 1982 to ’93, and through those years witnessed
first-hand the evolution of Jane’s Addiction as both girlfriend and creative muse. Currently living a quiet existence in Los Angeles, the reclusive Niccoli is reticent about looking back on her years around the band. “I’m actually trying to be more open to it,” said Niccoli, who attended Highland High, during a recent phone interview. “You know, I’m a little older now, a lot of time has passed. I’m secure. I always wanted the band to play my hometown, and here we are 20-something years later
and I have nothing to do with it.” Niccoli’s current lifestyle as a working mother is a far cry from the wild rock life she led alongside Farrell, whom she met in Hollywood a few years after following her then-boyfriend from Bakersfield to the big city. “I was 18, and I really wanted to move,” she recalled. “L.A. was so exciting to me. I had $250 to my name, packed up my car and moved to L.A. I felt like I belonged here. I got into the punk scene, and three Please see NICCOLI / 30
PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.
Casey Niccoli of Bakersfield and singer Perry Farrell are shown in a scene from the Jane’s Addiction video “Classic Girl.”
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The Bakersfield Californian Thursday, October 18, 2012
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or four years later I met Perry. My boyfriend’s band played a benefit show with Psi Com (Farrell’s former band). I just showed up, and I was immediately just mesmerized, fell in love, I wanted to have his babies, and I just couldn’t stop talking about him. I was obsessed at that point.” Niccoli and Farrell began dating a year later. “His style was a lot more extreme than when he was in Jane’s Addiction. Very artistic, spiritual, a different vibe that kind of reflected what he was into at the time.” Niccoli described Farrell’s creative mindset at the time prior to the formation of Jane’s as that of an ambitious visionary running on all cylinders. “Perry was and still is, I’m sure, just a very inspired, very driven person. He really put his ideas into motion. He was fearless in the way he approached his art. He didn’t really think about what people were gonna think or how people were going to accept it. It was kind of something that happened. I’m very shy, private. He used to tell me, ‘You make a terrible celebrity,’ because I didn’t kind of fit the bill.” Niccoli’s relationship with Farrell would heavily influence the band’s visual aesthetic: She was the model for the conjoined twins on the iconic cover of the album “Nothing’s Shocking,” and she was featured in the video for “Mountain Song” and the controversial short film “Gift,” among others. But perhaps Niccoli’s biggest claim to fame was as the object of Farrell’s affection in the music video for the song “Classic Girl,” from the group’s album “Ritual de lo Habitual.” “We just had a magical connection.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CASEY NICCOLI
Casey Niccoli, the muse of Perry Farrell in the early days of Jane’s Addiction, is a working mom who lives in Los Angeles, but she frequently visits family and friends in Bakersfield.
I just believed in him so much. He was so talented and so unique. He was a graphic artist when I met him. We both had day jobs. I would have loved him just as much had he not been in a band. We just clicked.” Niccoli, who is considering writing a book on her life’s adventures, hasn’t spoken with Farrell since their breakup but shared a few friendly words with guitarist Dave Navarro during a book signing in Los Angeles. “It’s always going to be a part of my life. I get tagged with videos on Face-
book. I take it with a sense of humor. I’m not looking to score off it. It’s nice to be liked; it feels good.” Though she visits Bakersfield regularly to see family and friends, Niccoli has no plans to attend Tuesday’s show. “Perry’s got a new life and a relationship where he really honors his wife. I respect that, don’t try to contact him and leave him alone. I wish I could just be a face in the crowd and be like everyone else. Maybe one day.”
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