CBGB: We never knew New York before Julian, we were too young but everybody tells us the city was wild then. It's more organized, safer today but ineluctably cleaner. Ten years ago, you could smoke pot in Central Park without being arrested. Thus, from the CBGB, we only know what this mythical place became: a bar without any interest, nearly a museum! But we managed to play there once, the pleasure of being on this stage, between a rap band and a metal band, a very sad experience. The place just went back to what it was: a crappy club. Because, this name comes from Country, Blue-Grass & Blues : the kind of music they had. Until one day a guitarist convinced the boss to let him play on Sunday evenings. It was Tom Verlaine with Television , which made the CBGB the mythical concert place at the end of the seventies.
Tom Verlaine: Pure beauty, a fantastic man. We've learnt 2 or 3 things from him. JP, our guru, made us discover those guitarists who know how to express very powerful things in only 2 or 3 notes. Jon Spencer is one of them, he only needs a guitar and a drum to create pure rock'n roll.
Joey Ramone: We already miss him. A great guy, a real dude. Fucked up. Ugly. For us, punk rock didn't start with the Ramones but with Nirvana. We've been to sources only later on. As the Velvet, they arrived at the right time, just before the music turns into something pompous or nice. Even if I don't regularly listen to these records, nobody escapes New York. That's where we grew up, our music too. The city made us and manipulated our songs. They have in themselves this mix between tension and relaxation, a very new-yorker feeling.
Blondie: She is marvelous. I've always preferred her concerts to her records : on their albums, you can't imagine how a real great band it was. Rough and raw. When we were kids, we were exchanging a lot of records. I remember Albert or Nick running to my place with a CD in one hand, "You must absolutely listen to this incredible thing from the late seventies." We listened to the music together.
Johnny Thunder: The real Johnny, a symbol of cool. It's a pity that all those drugs have damaged his creativity. He deserved so much more. I was lucky to have an elder brother who was fond of rock'n' roll, he collected all that stuff. When I was a young kid, he bought me a Sonic Youth album and the best of the Velvet Underground for Christmas. Since then, I tried to learn more about Johnny Thunder, by listening to the New York Dolls for example. But there's nothing to do: I don't get into it. It's not the kind of records that my parents had, we used to listen to Marley, the Doors or the Stones at home. And Serge Gainsbourg or George Brassens, whom my mother adored.
RZA, from WU TANG: A huge man. We don't mess with the Wu Tang Clan. Julian dreams to play chess against him. Among all of us, Albert owns more records, he has the wider taste. But he owns so many records that he has been robbed many times. He is our supplier. After 6 years of friendship, I haven't been through his whole collection yet.
Lou reed: I thought you had forgotten him ! We could be very upset to always be compared to the Velvets, but we don't care. I take it as a compliment, not as a shame. I like the way he took the opposite way to the hippies in the late 60s. Few years ago, he was signing books in a library. Julian queued, he hasn't forgotten any of the comments that Lou Reed told as he was signing. Arriving in front of him, he couldn't help it, he said, "it's not for me. Can you sign it for The Strokes?"