Adam Green Interview

A day in the life of the ‘Jewish James Dean’

Adam Green is a man with one hell of an abstract mind.

Clash experienced a day in the life of the ‘Jewish James Dean’ with a fashion shoot in New York. Here he gives a wonderfully bizarre account of his daily routine, explains why Serge Gainsbourg is a man with sexual style and has some strong words for REM’s Michael Stipe.

“I wake up between The Shining Twins, who are my two girlfriends, and we go out to breakfast with their Mom. I like to eat bacon, eggs and cheese and other bullshit.” Bullshit? Apt. Okay… And then what tends to happen next for Adam Green? “I drink alcohol and occasionally I read a Russian novel, if I can concentrate. I’ve been building giant sculptures at my house, employing an army of Lolitas to help me. Sometimes that gets me into trouble.”

In between the daily incestuous menage a trios, homely artistic explorations and the enslavement of underage beauties, the ex-Moldy Peaches star has recently found the time to support The Cribs on their US tour and has just started his own headline stint around Europe, with dates in Leeds, Manchester, Cambridge, London, Birmingham and Brighton this month.

There is also the eagerly awaited release of his third solo album, ‘Minor Love’, which Clash last month reviewed as a “slow-to-excite but masochistically pleasing dark horse of a record” with startling honest lyrics that resemble the likes of Leonard Cohen and the rawness of Lou Reed.

The album is a serious departure from his days a doe-eyed indie anti-folk heart throb, and also his lesser known allegedly first-found fame as club-podium queen.

“I started in show business at a very young age. I was a famous dancer who did Kodak commercials and my name was ‘DJ Donald Duck’. I was bisexual at that point in my life and being gay allowed me to glam it up. I then started wearing all this Nazi shit and my publicist went mad, even though everybody knows I’m the biggest kyke in NYC.”

Though most of what Green says is hard to believe, the New Yorker does seem to have genuinely grown bored of his city and its current scene, which maybe explains why he prefers fantasy to reality.

“I feel that the people in New York have a lower level of intelligence than anywhere else. If I go to a zoo in somewhere like Germany, the animals there seem smarter than the average person in NYC. It’s full of posers and saps with no talent. I’m so sick of seeing how crummy they dress in NYC and how their music is so boring. They’re all a bunch of pussies that can’t write lyrics for shit and have no balls.”

Not one to follow the flock, he currently he favours a bell-bottom jean over a skinny and he goes for style with balls.

“I was checking out some pictures of Serge Gainsbourg in the Seventies and he used to wear his jeans really high, where you can see your dick through your pants and that can be sexy, if you feel sexy.”

Green’s dishevelled hair, retro fashion taste and dedicated anti-folk crusade, are not his only distinguishing features. His below-the-belt humour, innate sarcasm and slight madness is a major draw, and it’s no wonder that he has been associated with some of music’s other unruly characters, like Carl Barat, who is a close friend, and Peter Doherty.

Like the Libertines duo, Adam is also becoming known as someone who has a look that is a sign of his times, his culture and background. His dress sense reflects his personality – classically cool, slightly punk some days, obscene and even slightly grotesque on others. He says he wants to be an icon (much like Peter and Carl) and claims he is already a muse to some famous names.

“I think the concept of an icon is the most important thing that magazines ever taught me. I’m on my way for sure to be the ultimate fashion icon of the ‘Jew NYC’ scene, with the folk singers who look like Bob Dylan crossed with Benicia. Everybody calls me ‘The Jewish James Dean’.”

“I dress more handsomely now because I get constantly styled by Lolitas, who get me clothes that look good. My stripey shirts are dope and Mark Ronson obviously rips off my style, if you Google it, you’ll see. Lately I’ve been wearing almost no clothes and it’s pretty stylish.”

Musician, muse, icon and next step stylist maybe? “Michael Stipe needs a makeover really badly; I saw him in the elevator wearing a fucking blanket, acting quite the fool. I of course don’t plan on tolerating this type of style from him in the future, because he was really annoying and made me feel crummy.”

In the world of Adam Green, where reality merges with the surreal, who knows.

Words by Kelly Murray

View an accompanying photo shoot with Adam Green HERE.

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