Taken from Vampire Free Press - January 2001 issue

The Self Destruction Twins

The following excerpts, taken from the Vampire Free Press article “ Blues Von Hulkol: Dreaming Of Japan” [December 2000 issue],  were considered by the editors too explicit or provocative for the issue. The material was allowed to be published elsewhere, given to the journalist to have published or destroyed. However, due to popular demand the excepts have been rearranged for publication in this issue, as it’s own article. ..

During the interview, Blues was interrupted by a knock at the door of the studio. He barked in aggravation for whoever it was to open the door. It turned out to be Jan “Finn” Stalgerholm. Blues greeted him warmly and introduced me, explaining the interview. Finn took an immediate interest,and sat down, allowing me to put him in the hot seat along with Blues.

Finn is often an overlooked member of the group. He is not the oldest member, nor a leader, or the youngest member, even. He is like a middle child lost in the shuffle. No one can deny that his calm features, and innocent stare, disguises his personality. Finn, at the [assumed] age of 37 is troublemaker, still living the street life he forged as a teenaged Hanoi Boy. He is handsome, with dark, almost black hair, and soft brown eyes. His voice is deeper, and smoother than what would be expected.. It is almost a shock to hear. He is so much like Blues, yet nothing like him at all. He is the man caught with an angel [ his brother Monroe] on one shoulder and a devil [ his friend Blues] on the other.

JFS: “ I’d like to tell you guys that you almost ruined my fucking life last year.. That fake article you guys published [ Dead or Alive : For Any Price, Jan 2000], got me kicked out of Hanoi Boys, practically disowned by Monroe... Blues was gonna beat the fuck outta me, and so was half of Los Angeles.. Check your sources better next time, okay?”

VFP: “ Sorry about that Finn. We did retract the article. But do you have a reputation as a loose cannon, don’t you? “

JFS: “ That’s besides the point. I get into trouble, yeah. I step on a few toes, so what?”

BVH: “ Cut him some fucking slack will ya? “

VFP: “ Alright, Alright.”

JFS: “ Thank you..” [Finn leaned back, sighing. Blues passed him a cigarette.]

VFP: “ Okay Finn, now Blues agreed to answer all questions put to him, so I expect you to cooperate, too.”

JFS: “ Fine, but we’re wasting time, and paper. Lets get on with it.”

VFP: “ Well, since I have two members of the notorious Hanoi Boys, present, I think we should get into what makes you guys so infamous, and yet mysterious.”

JFS: “ I think alot of the mysterious aspect of us comes from our backgrounds, our Euro-Asian past. We don’t think, act, or react like other gangs, or vamps who are native to America or England. We keep to ourselves. . . It’s hard to explain.”

BVH: “ What my partner is trying to say is, that Hanoi Boys, aren’t like say, Ruby, or Hollywood. We grew up together. We are brothers. We treat our women differently, we live  life differently.”

VFP: “ How so?”

BVH: " When we first came to Los Angeles, the gangers thought we were a gang of homosexuals. The guys thought me and Finn were fucking Monroe, and Saigon all the time, I'm serious. They thought Monroe was my bitch.We were orginally dubbed "The Nymphos", on the side, but that got dropped after I punched too many gangers out for it.  Those guys also  got it into their heads we were soft. We had to work twice as hard to prove we were all 'man'. Monroe had to work three times as hard, cos he was the most chick like, you know the way he looks? We were sort of his protectors so that made him look even more softer, that was when he started up with that difiant "brat" attitude he puts up. There some gangs still insist we're queers. How many gangers are accused of being queers? You wouldn't go up to Kelly [Drakulous, Hollywood member] and tell him you think he's fucking Lewis [Cripps, Hollywood leader], not if you wanted to live! Stupid shit like that separates us from them."

JFS: “ And not all gangs have prices on their heads. Yeah, you got the good old Gangland Divorce in full effect, and fights in the street. But when those go down, you know why and who. We don’t have that luck. We take our chances when we walk out our front doors, and no one cares, least of all so called gang brothers, and Guardians. They’d like to see all Finn Vamps dead.”

VFP: “ Don’t you think you’re being too hard?”

BVH: “ Fuck no. If you’d been called a “dirty finn” as much as we have by so-called friends, and gang mates, you kinda get the feeling you’re not as welcomed as you thought.”

JFS: “ Yeah, we out stayed our welcome. Atleast, me and Blues.. Monroe is still a golden boy. He can mingle better wherever he goes. It’s his face. It’s all forgiving, when he looks at a person with those enormous blue eyes of his. Saigon [ Jaffe] gets away with his shit cos he looks like a kid, and everyone remembers when he got his brains half beaten out..”

VFP: “ I gather there are some problems within the Hanoi Boys camp, from the way you two are talking.”

JFS: “ Hey, I’m staying out of it.” [Finn threw his hands up, shaking his head.]

BVH: “ Okay , fine, I lied.. . Things aren’t so tight. Fucking Monroe and I are at each other’s throats, again. I don’t get why he so loved. He’s an ice prince, frigid to the bone. Everyone calls him an ice cream blond, cold but sweet. Shit, he can be aggressive. We go toe to toe. He won’t back off when it’s me, he’s fighting with. He’s got problems, big fucking problems, which are all his fault. Monroe sequesters h’self up in his flat in Tokyo, he can’t go out unless he hires decoys. And then he goes and  claims my energies are bad for him. . Humph!” [ Blues was grinding his teeth. He seemed to be quite angry.]

VFP: “ Finn, are you going to let him trash your brother like that?”

JFS: “ I said I was staying out of this. They fight off and on, shit I fight with Blues like this. . Blues just don’t wanna admit why this tiff fired up. He’s dodging the real deal. . I’ll tell ya, what happened. Blues stole from my bro. Broke Monroe’s heart.”

VFP: “ You stole from Monroe?”

BVH: “ It wasn’t money, cos he doesn’t leave a single yen lying about. . A few months back I had a “li’l slip”. I do that now and again. My accountant froze my money, which was under orders of my wifey, should I get back on “the horse”.  I was staying with Monroe. He had a necklace he didn’t even wear anymore. A black braided leather, snake wrap around, choker necklace, with a golden head and tail that clip together. I took it and sold it off to some Japanese boy for some cash and smoked it up. Monroe blew his stack. How was I supposed to know his pal Gator [ the late leader of the Church of Doom, and Dead Saints, S. “Gator” Bostra] had given it to him?! I’m not a mind reader!”

JFS: “ Monroe is still pissed, he won’t let up on it. He’s very sentimental about his ghosts, you know? Gator was like his best friend, outside us guys. He doesn’t let too many people get to him. Gator and Thunder [ Johnnie “Thunder” Westurn, the late co-leader of The Church.] were two very lucky guys. Monroe does have problems, I will admit to it. He’s not as bad as Blues makes out, though.  He’s getting help for his issues. Seriously fucked up shit happened to him when he was young. Monroe just never got over his life  before my family took him in.

BVH: “ That’s his excuse for everything.” [ Blues sneered, blowing smoke at Finn. Finn gave him a mean glance.]

JFS: “ Yeah well, you use the Elder as your excuse!”

BVH: “ Atleast I gotta excuse! What’s your’s? Your brother Otto burned your guitar when you was a kid and so you’ll set some dude’s car on fire?!” [ The two began to squabble in their language. And jumped to their feet.]

VFP: “ Boys. . . Boys! [ the two stopped mid-shout, and settled back into the interview.]  Can we get back on track, here?”

JFS & BVH: “Niine, yes. . .”

VFP: “ Let’s go back to your reputation as shall we say ‘party hungry’?”

JFS: “ What you mean? Every ganger is party hungry?”

BVH: “ I know what you mean.” [Blues leans in and speaks to Finn.]

JFS: “ Oh, you mean the gang bangs, and drinking contests?”

VFP: “ If you want to put it that way, yes.”

JFP: “ You know I think we got the rep for the gang bangs, cos the other gangs were too selfish with their chicks. It’s not all for one and one for all. It’s ‘she’s mine, fuck you guys.’ . We shared, our drugs , our drinks, our clothes, and gear with each other, so why not a girl, or two? There are some exceptions. .”

VFP: “ Such as?”

BVH: “ Certain pearls [ girls] and wives.”

JFS : “ Shit yeah, I wouldn’t want to hookfa any of his wives! Especially Rosalita, what a bitch.”

BVH: “ Shut up man. . . I didn’t wanna fuck any of your sweet’earts.”

JFS: “ Liar, you got it on, hot and heavy with my girl, Juxah, and a couple others.”

BVH:  “ Oh yeah, I forgot. Well, we didn’t want any of Monroe’s chicks!” [ Blues and Finn chuckled.]

VFP: “ When did you guys stop doing the daisy chains?”

BVH: “ When Baz died. It just wouldn’t have been the same, with out him shouting. . .”

JFS & BVH: “ Clunk, Click, Strip off quick!”

BVH: “ He’d fall on the girl, before any of us had a go. Usually he’d be the one out first. . . We just don’t get together like that anymore. Since Baz died, our souls as a strong unit died with him. Me and Finn’ll double team a girl, or me and Saigon. The old teenage gang bang days are gone.”

VFP: “ You guys lived in shocking Asia, roaming the fleshpots of Thailand, the live sex shows. The geishas and soaphouse girls in Japan. Must have been a good time, all the time?”

BVH: “ A geisha is a woman of pleasure, but not like a whore. She is an intelligent, educated woman. She has an allure, and a mystery. I hired geishas for my business meetings, and to relax afterwards. A soaphouse girl is a whole other ball game. They are kinda like the ‘massage parlors’, Americans have. Go in for a soap up and end up having sex in the room with a hot girl. . Now Finn, 'ere,  worked for a live sex show in Amsterdam, and I don’t mean selling the popcorn!”

VFP: “ Is that true?”

JFS: “ Damn straight it is. . Hardest job I ever had to do. I can handle fucking in front of my gang bros, but a crowd of people? And I had to do so many shows a night, and sometimes, they put me into another show doing something else, and shit I was dead tired by the end of the night, and didn’t even want to look at any chicks! I’d go home and go to bed with a hot water bottle. . Saigon did shows of his own in Bangkok, he introduced me to the idea. It is quick and decent cash.”

BVH: “ I was completely jealous. I should ‘ave thought of doing it myself.  Just as well, Harl would probably dragged me off the stage! Monroe got offers, but you know he won’t be bought. I do kinda respect that in him. We all got a price, except him.”

VFP: “ It sounds like you are still living same as before, doesn’t it? Just not together.”

JFS: “ I’d give anything to live in a ganghouse with these guys again. But we got off track one day. Monroe got a steady job, Blues and Sai got married, and had kids with their women, and I was the only one not doing anything. It is kinda disheartening. I did go back to school and get my what you’d call a high school diploma. That’s about the only good thing I’ve done.”

VFP: “ You guys also had the reputaion for out-drinking gangs. Is that unfounded?”

BVH: “ No one could outdrink, Hanoi Boys. Even the old dudes, who couldn’t taste or feel it. They got sick of sucking down what was like water to them, and we were still going.”

JFS: “ There is an old joke in Finland, but we translated it to Blues. A Texan and Blues walk into a bar. The Texan asks for the strongest drink they had. The bartender pours the drink, gives it to the Texan. The Texan gulps it down, and passes right out. Blues steps up to the bar and says ‘Give me what he had, only make it a double.’!” [ Finn slapped his knee.]

BVH: “ Finns and a few other Scandinavians, are notorious as hard drinkers anyway. I think it’s to get over their environment, but then again, I was raised drinking rice wine, and smoking kwon-fah, in the jungle. Monroe used to get loaded like the rest of us, but he gave it up. I think he was worried about losing his looks.  Saigon can still tie one on like no one’s business. Baz was the master though. No one drank like him!”

JFS: “ He was the king. . . But as Monroe said when he died, ‘ You can’t put your arm around a memory’. We have to let Baz rest up there.”

VFP: “ Bazzle meant alot to you guys, even though he was not an original member?”

JFS: “ He completed us.”

BVH: “ Baz was everyone’s pal, but when he met us, we completed him, and he was never without us. We were never without him until his death.”

JFS: “ I hate the fact we were not given the allowance to revenge Baz’s death. Vantac Westenhoffen was never tried, never arrested, never served a day of jail, for cutting Baz’s throat, so deep it severed the spinal cord. He almost took his head off completely! All the while his cronies kicked and beat Baz. We never got our day in court to have our say. It’s cos they found out Baz was a Finn, and well, justice flew out the fucking window!”

That night,Vantac ordered my throat slashed too. I was wearing a scarf tied around my neck, which saved my life. My throat was gashed, but not as deep as Baz’s. I remember Vantac, practically counting his reward money. If he had his way he could have collected money on all of us. But I guess, W.A.R., had the same idea, he and Black Rose went after the rest of the guys. Saigon was almost a dead man. It was more than greed that started the attack.”

VFP: “ The attack back in 1985, referred to as The Rape of 11th Hour?”

BVH: “ There was bad blood going on. We had fist fights, car trashings, and shit like that. No one, except the guys who started the attack knew it was gonna happen, and what for. It was all for power, territory, revenge, and money.”

JFS: “ Monroe told me a few years ago, that when he and W.A.R. were fighting in the attack, W.A.R., said to him. ‘Consider this our gangland divorce’ and started strangling Monroe. That is how the fall of 11th Hour got the name, The Gangland Divorce. It was like a huge marriage broke up and went straight to hell.”

VFP: “ Speaking of bad blood. Finn, you have had some run ins with local heroes, Hollywood.. Has it all been forgiven yet?”

JFS: “ To a point. Here in L.A. I can’t catch a break, I mean the cards are stacked against me cos I’m not from around here. No one wants to hear me out, and it is frustrating. I got blamed for a lot of shit I didn’t do. I blame Gaurdians for some of it. They used me as a pawn when they tried to bring down Hollywood. Ill tempers got taken out on my gang. It wasn’t right.

It comes down to who you can trust, and obviously we know who we can’t trust. When we left Los Angeles after Baz’s funeral , we were drummed out of the brotherhood. Harlow is considered native here now cos she’s got The New Roses, and her radio show. But us guys, we are left out in the cold.”

BVH: “ Like it is between me and Monroe, relationships here are strained between us and the other gangs. It can get uncomfortable.”

VFP: “ But you’re not getting into fights like you used to?”

JFS: “ Naw, ever since Black Rose got locked up, and put out of commission,and Vantac was executed, the tension that used to be felt on the street of Los Angels, isn’t there anymore.. We just can’t explain why Gator and Thunder got iced.”

BVH: “ It sent Monroe off the deep end. He was found wandering Los Angeles streets, the day after I called him in Tokyo, about Gator’s death. He had no money, no jacket, his hair was out of sorts, and his face was tear stained. Somebody said he had a nervous breakdown. But we’re not sure. He won’t say. He just claims he was in shock.”

VFP: “ Many declare, that gangers live by the sword and die by the sword.”

BVH: “ Yeah and punks never die. But you can’t argue with a body count. We chose this way of life out of comraderie, not out of killing. But it quickly reverted to that state. Hopefully one of these days, it won’t be like that, any more. But as long as the bad guys are running around, it won’t happen.”

VFP: “ Perhaps hope lies in the future? There are many new, young vampires. The children of the gangers.”

JFS: “ I hope the kids start up a gang more famous that 11th Hour. That is my hope. And that it doesn’t go wrong like with us. . .”

BVH: “ Me too, just as long as Andi doesn’t get involved. I don’t want her to be in a gang. I refuse to allow my li’l girl to be some vamp’s bitch. She’s gonna be somebody special.”

JFS: “ Yeah, no boys are gonna gang bang our Andi!”

BVH : “ I’d be forced to kill them.” [ Blues smiled.] 

JFS: “ Damn straight, we’d all have to being her Sehtas, uh uncles. . Hey I gotta run, I actually came over to grab your Little Junior. I’m playing a show tonight, and your Little Junior kicks ass.” [ Blues directed Finn to a guitar in the corner.   Finn put it into a case, and carried it to the studio door with him. Blues stopped him and gave him a cassette of tht new demo tape. He warned Finn to take care of the guitar since it had once been played by New York Dolls legend, Johnny Thunders. Finn promised he would. He left, and Blues finished the interview with me, on our own. ***

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