MÖTLEY CRÜE Bassist NIKKI SIXX: 'We're Here To Destroy The World'

Billboard magazine recently conducted an interview with MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Q: Did you expect the [reunion] tour to be so successful?

Nikki: "None of us had a crystal ball. We knew the band would have an insane show. When tickets went on sale, would it be 1,000 or 2,000 people, or the numbers that it ended up being? We didn't know. We were blown away. I forget what the first date was, but Madison Square Garden was one of the earlier ones. The band's never been over-the-top huge on the East Coast, and some of those first shows went clean (sold out) in a very short amount of time."

Q: What has changed in the industry since you last toured as a band?

Nikki: "One of the first things I noticed is, all the people that were hired on as our crew or (for) the overall project said, 'Oh, my God, I've been so bored for the last 10 years. I am so excited to be on a MÖTLEY CRÜE tour.' We were like, 'What do you mean?' They were like, 'Dude, we've been out doing these safe tours.' We met with pyro companies and said, 'OK, we want to blow the bass player up, we want the drummer to fly, drums to explode in the air,' and everybody is like, 'Thank you.' We're like, 'What are you talking about?' They go, 'Well, you know, the last 10 years we've been doing tours, and for the grand finale bands would say, 'OK, we want some sparks.' You guys in one song have more than 10 bands have in their show."

Q: When did you decide to do a DVD based on the tour?

Nikki: "We knew once we got out on the road and people said it's one of the best rock shows they've ever seen that it was something that needed to be documented."

Q: How involved were you in the creative process for the DVD?

Nikki: "We're involved in everything, all the way down to what our luggage tags look like. We drive people crazy. We are so thorough."

Q: What's going on with the movie based on the band bio "The Dirt"?

Nikki: "We had David Fincher ('Seven', 'Fight Club', 'Panic Room') to be the director, but Paramount needed him to do a very huge movie and wanted us to wait. In the meantime, we are now meeting with other directors. It will get made, and it will get made right. The project has to be gritty. It's going to be like 'Goodfellas', the feeling of 'Layer Cake'. It's going to have an underbelly to it."

Q: What's next for the band?

Nikki: "We're here to destroy the world like we were in the beginning. February, we go back out. We're going to play small markets that rock bands don't usually go to, and then we'll make a record after that. Brand new. What it'll sound like, I don't know. I still don't have a crystal ball."