Aligning Addict Minds With Eric Avery & Perry Farrell

Jane’s Addiction bassist Eric Avery took to his blog on Sunday night with a few cryptic yet promising words about his current outlook while prepping to leave for the big NIN/JA tour- news that should put fans at ease, given that the notoriously volatile band’s reportedly been on the verge of breaking up once again- before the tour even gets off the ground.

Eric writes:

There are some days, and I hope you have all have as many as possible, that are entirely unlike the rest. My problem has never been that life got too dramatic for me; bad or good. It is that sometimes I let life get uneventful for long enough that it no longer seems important. That life doesn’t seem important. Therefore time just quietly tics by. This is not one of those days and this is about to be a time that doesnt do anything quietly. Must finish packing. Let it begin…

It’s no secret to Jane’s fans that Avery’s conflicts with peacockish frontman Perry Farrell led to the band’s demise in 1991 (along with a hearty, heroin-induced deathwish by half the group), and until this year Eric had been the only original member holding out on a full-scale reunion. But with one of the most anticipated tours in recent memory looming- Avery and the gang have buried there collective hatchets and set their sights on padding their retirement fund rocking the States once more. Apparently it’s just a lot easier said than done.

Farrell, meanwhile, has taken to preaching pragmatics:

“I just talked to Eric man-to-man. We’re different people, that’s okay,” Farrell said in a recent interview. “He serves a different purpose, he’s got a different frequency he operates on. I’m overjoyed that we’re working together. I don’t care that we butt heads as long as when we hit the stage we blast on people.”

As for the band’s famous in-studio therapy sessions with NIN centerpiece Trent Reznor, Perry gives him credit for trying his best to play the mediator while also producing new Jane’s songs. If anything, he wishes the chief Nail would’ve pushed them harder.

“He did his best to be both producer and psychologist,” Farrell said. “He was very respectful, trying to get out of the way and not overproduce. I wish honestly he would’ve produced a little more, but he was a little gun shy after seeing us explode on each other in the studio. He became the referee for a day and after that day I think he was done.”

Still, Farrell sees the magic the original lineup possesses, and he estimates that Jane’s Addiction has a “small, five-year window left.”

“Any time you get a chance to put the original members of a group together, you should. Look at Pink Floyd. I consider Roger Waters to be the greatest live rock act for a festival today. He has a great guitar player, but it’s not David Gilmour. You need the original members if you can have them. I love The Who, love Led Zeppelin, but nobody’s the same when they’re not original members, the people that wrote and recorded those songs and set their vibrations down into those tracks. That’s why it’s important to try to keep your crew together.”

As for the future, Farrell said Jane’s plans to give out new singles for free through their site as soon as they’re ready. The first one is said to be called Embrace The Darkness.

Chek out the NIN/JA tour dates here.