Henry Rollins has become the face of the DIY ethos that has underpinned punk from the word go. A veteran of the LA hardcore American scene, he is a true survivor. He has never let the demise of a scene nor the attitudes of his peers get in the way of doing what he does best: work — tirelessly and continuously creating in many fields and with many collaborators. From a certain point of view, Henry Rollins is punk.

Originally from Washington DC where he first joined State Of Alert in 1980, he soon moved to LA when he was invited to join the legendary LA hardcore band Black Flag. He fronted Flag from '81 to '86 when the band broke up and the Hardcore scene basically dissolved in disarray. Not one to give up easily, he started to concentrate on his spoken word performances and formed his own group, The Henry Rollins band, which toured until 2003, with a brief reunion in 2006.

He started his own record label and publishing company 2.13.61 to handle the recording and publishing of his own work and continued to create and travel the globe. He also diversified into acting and voiceover work in movies, and hosted a number of TV shows such as MTV’s '120 Minutes' and 'Full Metal Challenge'. In short he has done everything he could or was asked to do.

Terrible parody of the punk ethic?

Looking at that litany of work one might be tempted to conclude that Rollins sold out long ago, and is in fact a terrible parody of the whole punk ethic. Except for the fact that he controls all of his own work, seems to pick movie and TV projects for their sheer entertainment or ideological value as opposed to the budgets attached, and continues to travel the world doing his one-man spoken-word shows for next to nothing if he has to.

On 8 and 10 February 2008, Rollins staged spoken-word shows in Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively, finally bringing one of the most prolific, well known and highly active voices of the punk generation to a South African audience. Rollins has in fact visited SA before, but only briefly in between a trip to Kenya and Madagascar.

"I was there very briefly and I didn’t see much or do much," he said of his previous visit. "I went into SA because it was available to me at the time. There seemed to be lots of tension in the air that I didn’t notice in Kenya and Madagascar. It just seemed pretty hectic, but then so is Detroit!” he laughs.

"This is the third of fourth time I have tried to visit your country but it is the first time the offer has worked out. The deals have never been big, but I have always wanted to come, so this is not the first time I have tried to get on stage down there. I get a lot of mail from South Africa, saying: 'Come on! We all know you!' I have always replied that I am keen, so I am happy that it is finally working out."

"I am an open book"

Many might be surprised that someone like Henry Rollins would choose to come to South Africa, as we are hardly renowned as a large audience for alternative markets of any kind. But it seems this is precisely the appeal for Rollins. "I noticed when I was touring with Black Flag, that the smaller scenes in countries where you don’t expect one at all, were always the most enthusiastic, the most involved. I remember when we first went to Hungary and The Czech Republic, they just never thought it was gonna happen and therefore the response is great. Which is not to say that I expect the response to be huge in South Africa. I am careful not to have expectation, I don’t think it's wise or a good strategy. I like to go in saying: 'OK new people, I am an open book.' Otherwise you can walk in and get it totally wrong."

It might seem like an odd and long road from Hardcore to spoken-word, but it was something that Rollins ran in parallel for some time before Black Flag broke up. "There was a lot of poetry readings in LA and they featured everyone from poets to artists and people in bands with a big mouth."

He explains as to how he got started in the spoken word scene. "I used to go to these a lot. And so the promoter one night asked if I would go up, he said I had a big mouth and they were paying $10 so I went up and told a story of band practise from the week before," he laughs at the memory. "It went down really well and led to more work of that kind, and it grew. And in '85 I did my first cross-country tour of the 'States and by '87 I got to Europe and in '89 was in Australia and Canada doing shows. By late '80s it was also selling a lot of tickets and doing better than my band: better venues, making more money, and bigger audiences."

Don't say "no"

It’s a perfect demonstration of Rollins’ attitude to his creativity and thereby to work. He just does things, and doesn’t seem to waste time thinking too hard about it. "I come from the working wage end of the world, so I don’t usually say no to work!" he concurs. "I know what my options are, also I don’t say no to work when it comes along, be it a movie a TV show, a spoken word tour or what have you, I normally say 'yes'!"

Of course it is this very attitude which has certain critics in the alternative sphere screaming "Sell out!" but Rollins is pretty phlegmatic about that and has a clear response. "I am a very lucky guy." He states calmly: "Sometimes the critics will try and criticise what I am doing, but my response is that I am having the time of my life. Whatever you want to say about me, I really don’t care! I am working, I have got a place to go. I have a pretty amazing life."

Now if that is selling out, then anyone who enjoys their job has got a problem.

In summary the real Henry Rollins may be nothing like what you thought or were expecting. If so maybe it's time to take a leaf out of his book and check your expectations at the door.

"This is all I do. I don’t have a wife and kids or some kind of addiction except maybe work. If I take my hands off the wheel, all of this will stop. Everyone has their moment and mine is now and no-one knows when it will end, so I am striking when the iron is hot."