WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.580 Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today we are opening 00:00:03.580 --> 00:00:06.620 the throttle on the chaotic, brilliant and fiercely 00:00:06.620 --> 00:00:09.220 uncompromising career of a true American original, 00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:12.980 Neil Kirby McMillan Jr. Right. A man better known 00:00:12.980 --> 00:00:15.800 to the world as Mojo Nixon. And we're diving 00:00:15.800 --> 00:00:17.879 into the history here, looking at someone who, 00:00:17.980 --> 00:00:21.079 well, built his whole reputation on just refusing 00:00:21.079 --> 00:00:24.739 the rules. Celebrity, the music industry. He 00:00:24.739 --> 00:00:27.420 wasn't having it. Yeah. His professional path. 00:00:28.219 --> 00:00:30.579 It's really a master class in holding these anti 00:00:30.579 --> 00:00:33.240 -establishment views, but somehow still operating 00:00:33.240 --> 00:00:35.320 successfully within the very corporate structures 00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:37.200 he wanted to tear down. It's fascinating. Our 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:39.359 sources today, they really give us the full picture. 00:00:39.380 --> 00:00:43.179 A cultural provocateur, a master of satire, blending 00:00:43.179 --> 00:00:46.179 genres, and making sure that, well, no celebrity, 00:00:46.259 --> 00:00:49.380 no politician, no institution was really safe 00:00:49.380 --> 00:00:51.939 from his songs. Exactly. Our mission today is 00:00:51.939 --> 00:00:54.899 to trace how this psychobilly musician evolved, 00:00:55.219 --> 00:00:57.799 you know, became this multimedia cult. hero. 00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:00.179 We need to understand how he navigated his career, 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:02.420 keeping that reputation for relentless, often 00:01:02.420 --> 00:01:04.879 controversial, and let's be honest, pretty hilarious 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:07.260 attacks on the whole pop culture machine. Right. 00:01:07.780 --> 00:01:10.640 So if you need like an initial snapshot of the 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:12.799 Mojo Nixon universe before we really dive in, 00:01:12.859 --> 00:01:14.500 there are three defining things you got to know. 00:01:14.900 --> 00:01:19.209 First, the sound. That psychobilly genre, that 00:01:19.209 --> 00:01:22.829 raw kind of sped up mix of like 50s rockabilly 00:01:22.829 --> 00:01:25.829 structure mashed with punk rock speed and aggression. 00:01:26.170 --> 00:01:28.629 Yeah. And second, the song that really put him 00:01:28.629 --> 00:01:31.709 on the map globally, that anti -pop novelty anthem, 00:01:31.909 --> 00:01:34.670 Elvis is Everywhere. It was huge on alternative 00:01:34.670 --> 00:01:37.790 stations, MTV. It really cemented his place. 00:01:37.930 --> 00:01:40.840 Totally. And third, that. That ultimate career 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:43.620 pivot later on. Right. Becoming this beloved, 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:45.900 though still totally irreverent, satellite radio 00:01:45.900 --> 00:01:48.280 host on Sirius XM. The Loon in the Afternoon. 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:50.260 Exactly. The Loon in the Afternoon on Outlaw 00:01:50.260 --> 00:01:52.459 Country. So that's the whole landscape of anarchy 00:01:52.459 --> 00:01:54.459 we're going to unpack. Okay. Let's do it. Let's 00:01:54.459 --> 00:01:55.980 start at the beginning. The source of the sound, 00:01:56.099 --> 00:01:58.620 the psychobelly foundations, and that really 00:01:58.620 --> 00:02:00.840 essential early partnership he had with Skid 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:04.120 Roper. Okay. So. Neil Kirby McMillan Jr., born 00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:06.480 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, August 2nd, 1957, 00:02:06.900 --> 00:02:08.960 started his music journey in Danville, Virginia, 00:02:09.219 --> 00:02:11.620 then headed west out to the alternative scene 00:02:11.620 --> 00:02:14.080 in San Diego. And what's interesting there is 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:16.759 how fast he seemed to find his lane. You know, 00:02:16.759 --> 00:02:19.580 people throw terms around like rockabilly, cowpunk. 00:02:20.539 --> 00:02:23.719 But the specific thing he helped define was psychobilly. 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:25.759 Yeah. So for listeners who maybe haven't spent 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:28.759 time with that genre, what is psychobilly exactly? 00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:32.219 And why was it the perfect fit for his brand 00:02:32.219 --> 00:02:37.039 of anger and humor? Well, psychobilly is. It's 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:39.469 a beautiful mess, really. Structurally, you've 00:02:39.469 --> 00:02:41.969 got the classic slapback bass, the reverb heavy 00:02:41.969 --> 00:02:44.729 guitar from Rockabilly. Right. But then you inject 00:02:44.729 --> 00:02:47.409 this relentless, super high tempo drumming, the 00:02:47.409 --> 00:02:50.689 raw energy of punk rock. And crucially, the themes 00:02:50.689 --> 00:02:54.150 often mix in horror, sci -fi, general social 00:02:54.150 --> 00:02:55.990 transgression. It's inherently not commercial 00:02:55.990 --> 00:02:58.349 music. No way. It's too fast. It's too loud. 00:02:58.449 --> 00:03:00.330 Lyrically, it's way too dark or satirical for 00:03:00.330 --> 00:03:03.169 mainstream radio. So Nixon, with that booming 00:03:03.169 --> 00:03:05.849 voice and his satirical rants, he was the perfect 00:03:05.849 --> 00:03:07.780 frontman because the music itself rejects. did 00:03:07.780 --> 00:03:10.400 that clean, polished pop sound just as much as 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:12.460 his words did. And starting out, he needed someone 00:03:12.460 --> 00:03:14.900 to play off of musically. He found Skid Roper 00:03:14.900 --> 00:03:17.900 in San Diego, early 80s. And looking at how they 00:03:17.900 --> 00:03:20.080 worked together, it was always Nixon's personality, 00:03:20.460 --> 00:03:23.099 his lyrics that were front and center. Roper's 00:03:23.099 --> 00:03:25.759 role was, well, pretty specific. Just minimalist 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:28.259 backup, right? Totally. Minimalist is the word. 00:03:28.419 --> 00:03:31.319 Often the stage setup was just Roper on guitar, 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:33.900 maybe banjo sometimes. Yeah. And perhaps like 00:03:33.900 --> 00:03:36.659 a basic drum machine. Wow. And that minimalism 00:03:36.659 --> 00:03:40.139 was actually genius because it forced you, the 00:03:40.139 --> 00:03:43.360 listener, to focus completely on Nixon's lyrics. 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:45.860 Roper wasn't there to compete with him. He was 00:03:45.860 --> 00:03:48.419 there to provide this frantic stripped down foundation 00:03:48.419 --> 00:03:51.520 for whatever rant mojo was on. It was perfect 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:55.240 for this kind of. Anti -commercial lyrical theater. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:58.840 Their first album, 1985, on Enigma Records. That 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:01.039 kind of set the stage. The first single, Jesus 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:02.759 Set McDonald's. I mean, right away. Right out 00:04:02.759 --> 00:04:05.020 the gate. Injecting irreverent humor into two 00:04:05.020 --> 00:04:07.840 of America's sacred cows. Religion and fast food 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:10.400 consumerism. And being on Enigma was important 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:12.639 then. Enigma was a pretty significant indie label. 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:14.659 It gave them enough distribution to get their 00:04:14.659 --> 00:04:17.000 counterculture stuff heard. Got them onto compilations 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:19.639 like Rat Music for Rat People. So they kind of 00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:21.740 had one foot in the underground, but also one 00:04:21.740 --> 00:04:24.310 foot. Stepping towards, you know, wider recognition. 00:04:24.550 --> 00:04:26.990 But the moment it all just blew up was their 00:04:26.990 --> 00:04:30.850 1987 album Bodacious. And that gave us the ultimate 00:04:30.850 --> 00:04:34.629 rock and roll religious text. Elvis is everywhere. 00:04:34.990 --> 00:04:36.529 That's the one. That's the track that defined 00:04:36.529 --> 00:04:39.850 him. Yeah. It it secured him a spot in the whole 00:04:39.850 --> 00:04:44.050 alternative music zeitgeist and ironically got 00:04:44.050 --> 00:04:47.129 him tons of airplay on MTV. which is wild the 00:04:47.129 --> 00:04:49.069 song's brilliant because it takes elvis this 00:04:49.069 --> 00:04:52.189 deceased pop icon and makes him this omnipresent 00:04:52.189 --> 00:04:54.649 god figure and nixon immediately ran with that 00:04:54.649 --> 00:04:57.089 concept adding his own unique kind of southern 00:04:57.089 --> 00:04:59.709 fried absurdity declaring his personal religious 00:04:59.709 --> 00:05:02.829 trinity It wasn't just Elvis. No, no. It was 00:05:02.829 --> 00:05:05.430 Elvis Presley, Foghorn Leghorn. Foghorn Leghorn. 00:05:05.550 --> 00:05:07.990 And Otis Campbell, the town drunk from Mayberry. 00:05:08.329 --> 00:05:10.870 It's almost profound sociology disguised as a 00:05:10.870 --> 00:05:13.550 joke. It really is. By putting the king next 00:05:13.550 --> 00:05:15.449 to this cartoon rooster known for being loud 00:05:15.449 --> 00:05:17.990 and bombastic and a fictional drunk, Nixon was 00:05:17.990 --> 00:05:20.550 celebrating these American archetypes while totally 00:05:20.550 --> 00:05:23.089 mocking how seriously we take celebrity worship. 00:05:23.149 --> 00:05:26.129 The message is pretty clear. The only real gods 00:05:26.129 --> 00:05:29.410 in America are... fictional, flawed, or just 00:05:29.410 --> 00:05:32.230 really loud. And that desire to just lampoon 00:05:32.230 --> 00:05:34.870 contemporary celebrities, that became the absolute 00:05:34.870 --> 00:05:37.430 core of the Skid Roper era. He was like a ruthless 00:05:37.430 --> 00:05:40.370 sniper targeting the manufactured pop machine. 00:05:40.569 --> 00:05:42.750 Relentless is the word. Think about who he went 00:05:42.750 --> 00:05:45.709 after. The classic MTV establishment figure, 00:05:45.970 --> 00:05:48.569 VJ Martha Quinn in Stuffin' Martha's Muffin. 00:05:48.649 --> 00:05:50.769 Right. And then that double -barreled attack 00:05:50.769 --> 00:05:55.490 on the whole late 80s teen pop industry. Rick 00:05:55.490 --> 00:05:57.889 Astley and Debbie Gibson. and Debbie Gibson is 00:05:57.889 --> 00:05:59.709 pregnant with my two -headed love child. And 00:05:59.709 --> 00:06:02.149 here's where the intense irony of his career 00:06:02.149 --> 00:06:04.949 really starts showing up. The video for Debbie 00:06:04.949 --> 00:06:07.569 Gibson is pregnant. Who's in it? Winona Ryder, 00:06:07.649 --> 00:06:10.529 who is starring with Nixton in the 1989 movie 00:06:10.529 --> 00:06:12.899 Great Balls of Fire. See? That's the ultimate 00:06:12.899 --> 00:06:16.519 act of subversive complicity. He uses the Hollywood 00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:18.339 connections he's making, the system he supposedly 00:06:18.339 --> 00:06:22.000 hates, to amplify a song mocking the very culture 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:24.540 Hollywood creates. It's genius marketing dressed 00:06:24.540 --> 00:06:27.560 up as anarchy. But his anti -establishment critiques 00:06:27.560 --> 00:06:30.300 weren't just about pop stars. He went after basic 00:06:30.300 --> 00:06:33.480 societal structures, too. Songs like I Hate Banks 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:36.720 and that huge anti -consumer anthem Burn Down 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:39.620 the Malls. Those tracks are really key to understanding 00:06:39.620 --> 00:06:42.790 the depth of his satire. Burn down the malls 00:06:42.790 --> 00:06:45.449 isn't just a catchy phrase. It's a specific jab 00:06:45.449 --> 00:06:48.189 at corporate sameness, consumer culture. Right. 00:06:48.250 --> 00:06:50.990 He was basically telling people to reject the 00:06:50.990 --> 00:06:53.410 idea that you could buy your identity inside 00:06:53.410 --> 00:06:55.550 some air conditioned shopping center. And then 00:06:55.550 --> 00:06:58.089 just to throw you off balance, you get the total 00:06:58.089 --> 00:07:01.550 surrealism of the amazing Bigfoot diet. He never 00:07:01.550 --> 00:07:03.569 let the listener get comfortable. And that natural 00:07:03.569 --> 00:07:05.730 instinct to bite the hand feeding him led to 00:07:05.730 --> 00:07:07.829 a very public showdown with the biggest tastemaker 00:07:07.829 --> 00:07:11.310 back then, MTV. They decided they wouldn't air 00:07:11.310 --> 00:07:13.649 the Debbie Gibson is pregnant video, said it 00:07:13.649 --> 00:07:16.449 was too inflammatory. And Nixon, he didn't blink, 00:07:16.589 --> 00:07:19.870 just cut ties with the network. He chose artistic 00:07:19.870 --> 00:07:22.310 freedom and provocation over the massive reach 00:07:22.310 --> 00:07:25.370 MTV could offer. That move, so early in his career, 00:07:25.529 --> 00:07:27.610 it cemented his reputation as genuinely anti 00:07:27.610 --> 00:07:29.629 -corporate. He walked away on principle. His 00:07:29.629 --> 00:07:31.660 fans remembered that. OK, before we leave the 00:07:31.660 --> 00:07:33.860 Skid Roper era completely, there's this one deep 00:07:33.860 --> 00:07:36.040 cut detail we have to mention. It just perfectly 00:07:36.040 --> 00:07:38.779 shows how he merged satire with this kind of 00:07:38.779 --> 00:07:42.720 meta commentary. The B -side to Elvis is everywhere. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:47.519 Oh, yeah. 619 -239 King. Exactly. Pure mojo brilliance. 00:07:48.060 --> 00:07:50.879 The track actually included a real working phone 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:53.839 number. It did. It was his direct, playful response 00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:55.779 to all those conspiracy theories going around 00:07:55.779 --> 00:07:59.259 then that Elvis was secretly still alive. Nixon 00:07:59.259 --> 00:08:01.399 was basically daring the king to call him up 00:08:01.399 --> 00:08:03.480 and leave a message. It's like this low -tech, 00:08:03.500 --> 00:08:05.620 anarchic piece of interactive performance art 00:08:05.620 --> 00:08:07.560 hidden around a B -side. It let the audience 00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:09.519 kind of participate in the whole. Rumor mill. 00:08:09.620 --> 00:08:12.279 So we move into the 1990s and the provocation, 00:08:12.279 --> 00:08:14.699 it doesn't stop. If anything, it ramps up. Nixon 00:08:14.699 --> 00:08:17.560 and Roper split in late 89. And Mojo didn't waste 00:08:17.560 --> 00:08:20.620 any time. His solo debut, Otis, came out in 1990. 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:23.399 And Otis gave us what might be his most notorious 00:08:23.399 --> 00:08:27.829 solo track ever. Don Henley Must Die. This wasn't 00:08:27.829 --> 00:08:29.470 just satire anymore. This was like an aggressive 00:08:29.470 --> 00:08:31.829 public demand. Okay. And this is where the industry 00:08:31.829 --> 00:08:34.889 power dynamics get really fascinating. We know 00:08:34.889 --> 00:08:37.149 the song was super controversial. Our sources 00:08:37.149 --> 00:08:39.409 say it caused such a fuss that his own record 00:08:39.409 --> 00:08:42.490 company, Enigma, was actually begging radio stations 00:08:42.490 --> 00:08:45.730 not to play it. Think about that. That's the 00:08:45.730 --> 00:08:47.730 definition of a commercially disruptive artist. 00:08:48.090 --> 00:08:51.740 A record label. asking DJs not to play their 00:08:51.740 --> 00:08:53.720 own product because they're worried about lawsuits 00:08:53.720 --> 00:08:56.200 or just offending people. That's extraordinary. 00:08:56.580 --> 00:08:58.960 But the way the whole Henley incident resolved 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:02.960 itself, it's legendary and just deeply ironic. 00:09:03.240 --> 00:09:05.940 The guy he's singing should drop dead, Don Henley. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:09.460 He hears about it. And on July 31st, 1992, at 00:09:09.460 --> 00:09:11.840 the Hole in the Wall in Austin, Texas, Henley 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:15.259 walks on stage. And performs the song with Mojo 00:09:15.259 --> 00:09:17.679 Nixon. That's unbelievable. What does that tell 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:19.399 you about Henley, about Nixon? Well, it says 00:09:19.399 --> 00:09:21.919 Henley was either incredibly smart or just supremely 00:09:21.919 --> 00:09:23.860 confident. He completely turned the controversy 00:09:23.860 --> 00:09:26.460 around by just leaning into the joke, right? 00:09:27.059 --> 00:09:30.860 He stole Mojo's thunder. And Nixon, always quick, 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:33.279 was totally won over. Praised Henley for having 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:35.980 balls as big as church bells. But then, immediately, 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:38.980 classic Mojo, he couldn't resist, asked the crowd, 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:41.940 is Debbie Gibson here too? Always had to bring 00:09:41.940 --> 00:09:44.159 it back to the pop machine. Incredible. But even 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:46.460 with that, like, artistic win and that personal 00:09:46.460 --> 00:09:48.460 high point, commercially, things immediately 00:09:48.460 --> 00:09:50.840 went south for his back catalog. You sure did. 00:09:51.139 --> 00:09:53.840 Just months after Otis came out, Enigma Records 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:56.440 went bankrupt. And this wasn't just a small bump. 00:09:56.580 --> 00:09:59.080 It was a disaster. The whole legal situation 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:01.179 around his early work, the Skid Roper stuff, 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:04.659 Otis got thrown into total chaos. His music was 00:10:04.659 --> 00:10:07.379 stuck in legal limbo for years while they sorted 00:10:07.379 --> 00:10:10.690 out the bankruptcy. Wow. The ultimate anti -establishment 00:10:10.690 --> 00:10:13.230 guy gets completely sidelined by the financial 00:10:13.230 --> 00:10:15.389 messiness on the fringes of the establishment 00:10:15.389 --> 00:10:18.610 itself. So after Enigma collapsed, Nixon just 00:10:18.610 --> 00:10:21.289 kept going, working relentlessly, often with 00:10:21.289 --> 00:10:23.590 a backup band called the Toad Lickers, jumping 00:10:23.590 --> 00:10:25.549 between different indie labels all through the 00:10:25.549 --> 00:10:27.490 90s. And the controversial songs kept coming. 00:10:27.870 --> 00:10:30.029 Keeping pace with the times. He had this amazing 00:10:30.029 --> 00:10:33.070 knack for tuning into American absurdity and 00:10:33.070 --> 00:10:35.110 whatever was happening in the news, like Orenthal 00:10:35.110 --> 00:10:38.409 James was a mighty bad man. Clearly a satirical 00:10:38.409 --> 00:10:41.389 take on the whole O .J. Simpson saga. Right. 00:10:41.509 --> 00:10:44.750 But if Don Henley Must Die tested the limits 00:10:44.750 --> 00:10:48.169 of roasting a celebrity, his next big target 00:10:48.169 --> 00:10:50.809 really tested the limits of distributor power. 00:10:51.560 --> 00:10:54.519 Explain that. Why was Bring Me the Head of David 00:10:54.519 --> 00:10:57.159 Geffen even more inflammatory than the Henley 00:10:57.159 --> 00:10:59.100 track? What was the power difference between 00:10:59.100 --> 00:11:01.039 Henley and Geffen in the music industry then? 00:11:01.220 --> 00:11:03.639 That's a really crucial point. Henley was a huge 00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:07.019 artist, sure. But David Geffen, with Geffen Records 00:11:07.019 --> 00:11:11.100 and his other ventures, he was a mogul, a gatekeeper 00:11:11.100 --> 00:11:14.240 for the entire industry. Targeting Henley was, 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:17.139 you know, artistic commentary. Targeting Geffen, 00:11:17.259 --> 00:11:18.840 that was like attacking the industry's plumbing. 00:11:19.320 --> 00:11:21.659 And our sources confirm Bring Me the Head of 00:11:21.659 --> 00:11:24.399 David Geffen ended up relegated to a B -side 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:26.639 collection because of intense pressure from album 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:29.080 distributors. Not the label this time. No. It 00:11:29.080 --> 00:11:30.840 was a logistical backbone. The company's actually 00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:33.220 shipping the CDs to stores they refuse to carry 00:11:33.220 --> 00:11:35.940 it. It really showed that the real power wasn't 00:11:35.940 --> 00:11:37.919 just in the corporate suites. It was also in 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:40.279 that distribution network. And this era also 00:11:40.279 --> 00:11:43.179 gave us tracks that... pushed lyrical boundaries 00:11:43.179 --> 00:11:46.299 into, frankly, genuinely shocking territory. 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:50.000 We have to mention, just for the full picture 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:53.159 of his anarchy, songs like Tie My Pecker to My 00:11:53.159 --> 00:11:57.600 Leg, which contains stuff referencing bestiality, 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:01.340 incest, coprophilia, pretty extreme. That track 00:12:01.340 --> 00:12:03.679 is kind of the ultimate flip side to his political 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:05.879 wit. It shows the whole spectrum of his need 00:12:05.879 --> 00:12:08.549 to provoke. On one hand, you get brilliant, sharp 00:12:08.549 --> 00:12:11.409 political satire. On the other, you get pure, 00:12:11.429 --> 00:12:13.889 unfiltered shock value designed to test everyone's 00:12:13.889 --> 00:12:16.490 tolerance, the listeners, the industries, maybe 00:12:16.490 --> 00:12:18.509 even the laws. It wasn't always subtle. Sometimes 00:12:18.509 --> 00:12:20.889 the goal was just pure transgression. Okay, moving 00:12:20.889 --> 00:12:22.889 away from the extremes for a second. The 90s 00:12:22.889 --> 00:12:24.830 also saw him really solidify his place within 00:12:24.830 --> 00:12:27.690 that punk and outlaw country scene through collaborations. 00:12:27.789 --> 00:12:29.710 He did Prairie Home Invasion with the ultimate 00:12:29.710 --> 00:12:32.190 anarchist, Jello Biafra. Yeah, that was a perfect 00:12:32.190 --> 00:12:34.870 philosophical pairing. And you also see him working 00:12:34.870 --> 00:12:37.389 with Dave Alvin. And frequently with guys from 00:12:37.389 --> 00:12:39.710 the Beat Farmers like Buddy Blue Seagal, these 00:12:39.710 --> 00:12:42.009 connections really reinforce his identity as 00:12:42.009 --> 00:12:45.409 this kind of outlaw figure who was embraced by 00:12:45.409 --> 00:12:48.370 the, you know, alternative music elite. And that 00:12:48.370 --> 00:12:50.710 connection to his peers led to a really poignant 00:12:50.710 --> 00:12:53.309 tribute after the tragic death of his close friend, 00:12:53.509 --> 00:12:55.629 Country Dick Montana, from the Beat Farmers. 00:12:55.769 --> 00:12:58.850 Yeah, Montana died right on stage in 1995. It 00:12:58.850 --> 00:13:01.429 was a huge blow to that whole scene. And Nixon 00:13:01.429 --> 00:13:04.529 paid tribute to him on his 1999 album, The Real 00:13:04.529 --> 00:13:07.500 Sacre Bleu. It's just a necessary reminder that 00:13:07.500 --> 00:13:11.000 behind all the chaos and satire, Nixon was deeply 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:14.159 loyal and really embedded in this specific supportive 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:16.679 music community. What's truly amazing about Mojo 00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:18.500 Nixon, though, is that his career was never just 00:13:18.500 --> 00:13:20.379 going to be contained by the music industry. 00:13:20.460 --> 00:13:22.720 Even when he tried to quit, he was fully committed 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:25.740 to being this multi -platform cultural disruptor. 00:13:25.820 --> 00:13:28.519 He was a persona first, really. And that persona 00:13:28.519 --> 00:13:30.779 just translated seamlessly to other mediums. 00:13:30.779 --> 00:13:32.580 Yeah. His first jump into film was that debut 00:13:32.580 --> 00:13:34.840 acting role in 89, playing drummer James Van 00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:38.340 Eaton in the Jerry Lee Lewis biopic Great Balls 00:13:38.340 --> 00:13:40.419 of Fire. Right. Playing a drummer in a rock and 00:13:40.419 --> 00:13:42.700 roll period piece makes sense. But then he followed 00:13:42.700 --> 00:13:44.779 that up with some really unexpected roles in 00:13:44.779 --> 00:13:47.500 the 90s. Oh, yeah. He was in five other movies, 00:13:47.539 --> 00:13:51.179 and the variety is just wild. He played Toad 00:13:51.179 --> 00:13:53.539 in that famously bizarre Super Mario Bros. movie 00:13:53.539 --> 00:13:57.200 in 93. Toad. Think about that arc. From Psycho 00:13:57.200 --> 00:13:59.700 Billy Ranter attacking MTV to playing a mushroom 00:13:59.700 --> 00:14:02.059 -headed creature in a huge studio movie based 00:14:02.059 --> 00:14:04.539 on a video game. Then he pops up as a sidewalk 00:14:04.539 --> 00:14:08.659 preacher in Car 54, Where Are You? in 94. He 00:14:08.659 --> 00:14:10.799 clearly used his notoriety to get into Hollywood 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:12.639 and then just picked the weirdest parts he could 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:15.659 find. And his voice, that distinct voice, found 00:14:15.659 --> 00:14:18.039 a perfect home in the growing video game world, 00:14:18.100 --> 00:14:22.019 too. In 1997, he voiced Sheriff Lester T. Hobbs, 00:14:22.059 --> 00:14:24.279 a recurring bad guy in the computer game Redneck 00:14:24.279 --> 00:14:26.669 Rampage. That character was basically just an 00:14:26.669 --> 00:14:29.149 extension of the Mojo Nixon persona, right? This 00:14:29.149 --> 00:14:32.830 angry, kind of unhinged southern archetype. The 00:14:32.830 --> 00:14:34.950 synergy was perfect, especially because the game's 00:14:34.950 --> 00:14:36.970 soundtrack, which was licensed Psycho Billy stuff, 00:14:37.169 --> 00:14:40.129 also featured two of his own songs. He was integrating 00:14:40.129 --> 00:14:43.509 his brand across music, film, interactive media, 00:14:43.690 --> 00:14:46.730 maximizing his cultural reach. But the ultimate 00:14:46.730 --> 00:14:49.889 career pivot, really, was radio. That gave him 00:14:49.889 --> 00:14:52.710 a daily stage for his quick wit, his irreverent 00:14:52.710 --> 00:14:55.250 takes, moving those anarchic rants from song 00:14:55.250 --> 00:14:58.009 lyrics into actual conversation. He started out 00:14:58.009 --> 00:15:00.450 as a regular DJ in the late 90s, you know, learning 00:15:00.450 --> 00:15:03.250 the ropes in San Diego and Cincinnati. But Satellite 00:15:03.250 --> 00:15:05.730 Radio, with its niche channels and frankly its 00:15:05.730 --> 00:15:08.509 willingness to embrace edgier stuff, it was practically 00:15:08.509 --> 00:15:11.549 made for him. And by 2008, he was a genuine fixture 00:15:11.549 --> 00:15:14.090 on Sirius Satellite Radio, which became Sirius 00:15:14.090 --> 00:15:16.750 XM. He was hosting three different shows, each 00:15:16.750 --> 00:15:18.509 tapping into a different part of his personality. 00:15:18.669 --> 00:15:21.210 The Loon in the Afternoon on Outlaw Country was 00:15:21.210 --> 00:15:24.309 his main gig. And The Loon became so popular 00:15:24.309 --> 00:15:27.570 because he brought that totally unfiltered, anti 00:15:27.570 --> 00:15:30.440 -Nashville attitude to the country format. It 00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:32.100 wasn't just playing records. It was like this 00:15:32.100 --> 00:15:34.799 daily celebration of country's counterculture, 00:15:34.899 --> 00:15:37.179 always loaded with his commentary and personal 00:15:37.179 --> 00:15:39.240 stories. And then he had two other completely 00:15:39.240 --> 00:15:42.879 different shows, the NASCAR -themed Mojo Nixon's 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:45.460 Manifold Destiny over on the NASCAR radio channel, 00:15:45.539 --> 00:15:49.360 and the political show Lion Cocksuckers on the 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:52.120 Raw Dog Comedy channel. And this is key, I think. 00:15:52.259 --> 00:15:54.539 It shows the incredible width of his appeal. 00:15:54.990 --> 00:15:57.169 He could talk to the outlaw music crowd, the 00:15:57.169 --> 00:15:59.549 hardcore race fans, and the politically cynical 00:15:59.549 --> 00:16:02.289 audience all in the same week. That political 00:16:02.289 --> 00:16:04.950 show, Lion Cocksuckers, was exactly what it sounded 00:16:04.950 --> 00:16:07.610 like. Unfiltered, definitely not partisan, but 00:16:07.610 --> 00:16:10.210 very politically charged. He was basically delivering 00:16:10.210 --> 00:16:12.210 the same kind of anarchic rants he used to put 00:16:12.210 --> 00:16:15.039 in songs. He even took on an admin role. Started 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:17.320 in 2005 as a general manager on the Sirius Howard 00:16:17.320 --> 00:16:19.980 100 channel. He really did become kind of a media 00:16:19.980 --> 00:16:22.879 mogul for the outlaw world. But we absolutely 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:25.340 have to talk about the weirdest footnote on his 00:16:25.340 --> 00:16:28.879 entire resume, the Olympic oddity. He went from 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:31.440 attacking MTV to being the honorary captain of 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:34.019 the United States luge team. This is one of those 00:16:34.019 --> 00:16:35.960 facts that just makes you stop and say, what? 00:16:36.139 --> 00:16:39.120 It's so incredibly no Joe Nixon. 1998, he gets 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:41.080 named honorary captain for the U .S. luge team 00:16:41.080 --> 00:16:43.940 at the Winter Olympics. How does a psycho Billy 00:16:43.940 --> 00:16:46.700 Rocker end up giving advice to luge athletes? 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:49.080 It's the ultimate collision, right? High -speed 00:16:49.080 --> 00:16:51.720 corporate sports and lowbrow punk rock. Exactly. 00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:53.519 And of course, he couldn't just take the title. 00:16:53.580 --> 00:16:55.820 He had to immediately capitalize on the absurdity 00:16:55.820 --> 00:16:58.460 by writing a song about it. He got members of 00:16:58.460 --> 00:17:00.360 the Beat Farmers together and even convinced 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:03.000 luger Gordon Shear, who was competing in men's 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:05.420 doubles, to play drums on the track. Get out. 00:17:05.579 --> 00:17:09.490 Yeah. The song was Luge Team USA. And the band 00:17:09.490 --> 00:17:12.170 name they used was just the perfect, ridiculous 00:17:12.170 --> 00:17:15.769 mashing of themes, the Arctic evil nipples. It 00:17:15.769 --> 00:17:17.849 just perfectly illustrates his whole approach. 00:17:18.029 --> 00:17:20.910 He takes this random, highly official, corporate 00:17:20.910 --> 00:17:23.470 adjacent thing like the Olympics and twists it 00:17:23.470 --> 00:17:26.650 into pure punk rock absurdity. He used the platform 00:17:26.650 --> 00:17:29.349 not to endorse the games, but to make a joke 00:17:29.349 --> 00:17:31.809 about the very idea of a guy like him being involved 00:17:31.809 --> 00:17:34.960 in elite winter sports. So despite all that energy 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:37.660 across different platforms, Nixon did officially 00:17:37.660 --> 00:17:40.900 retire from music in 2004, marked his last live 00:17:40.900 --> 00:17:43.980 show March 20th that year, Continental Club in 00:17:43.980 --> 00:17:46.559 Austin. But, you know, the retirement didn't 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:48.859 stick. Which kind of proves some people are just 00:17:48.859 --> 00:17:51.220 born to store things up. His first little comeback 00:17:51.220 --> 00:17:54.519 was in 2006, and it was purely to support Kinky 00:17:54.519 --> 00:17:56.299 Friedman, fellow musician running for governor 00:17:56.299 --> 00:17:58.640 of Texas. And his quote explaining why he came 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:02.259 back is just pure mojo poetry. He said, if supporting 00:18:02.259 --> 00:18:04.579 Kinky for governor is what it takes to drag my 00:18:04.579 --> 00:18:06.740 ass out of retirement, consider my ass dragged. 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:09.380 He always had a line, didn't he? But the full 00:18:09.380 --> 00:18:11.539 unretirement happened a few years later, October 00:18:11.539 --> 00:18:15.049 2009. He announced a new album, Whiskey Rebellion, 00:18:15.130 --> 00:18:17.049 claimed it was a collection of unreleased tracks 00:18:17.049 --> 00:18:19.210 he found in a shoebox full of old cassettes under 00:18:19.210 --> 00:18:22.049 his porch. Which is a charmingly low key origin 00:18:22.049 --> 00:18:24.710 story for a comeback record. Totally. But the 00:18:24.710 --> 00:18:26.950 way he promoted Whiskey Rebellion, that's where 00:18:26.950 --> 00:18:30.130 he tied his art directly into this unique kind 00:18:30.130 --> 00:18:32.630 of anarchic economic theory he laid out in a 00:18:32.630 --> 00:18:35.410 press release. We need to spend a minute on this 00:18:35.410 --> 00:18:38.170 because it just perfectly sums up his whole anti 00:18:38.170 --> 00:18:41.009 -corporate thinking. Absolutely. So to promote 00:18:41.009 --> 00:18:43.349 the album, he didn't just. sell it. He temporarily 00:18:43.349 --> 00:18:47.569 made the new CD and his entire solo and skid 00:18:47.569 --> 00:18:49.970 roper back catalog available as free downloads 00:18:49.970 --> 00:18:52.809 on Amazon. This is 2009. Remember, the music 00:18:52.809 --> 00:18:54.849 industry is still freaking out about file sharing. 00:18:55.130 --> 00:18:58.609 Exactly. And his reason for giving away his life's 00:18:58.609 --> 00:19:00.990 work. It was extraordinary. He said he couldn't 00:19:00.990 --> 00:19:03.730 wait for Washington to fix the economy. He argued 00:19:03.730 --> 00:19:05.890 his bold move was necessary because giving away 00:19:05.890 --> 00:19:08.309 his music would actually overstimulate the economy. 00:19:08.430 --> 00:19:12.099 His economic logic. Mojo Nixon style was flawless, 00:19:12.339 --> 00:19:14.519 if completely backwards by normal standards. 00:19:14.859 --> 00:19:17.160 He claimed history proved that when people listen 00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:19.279 to his music, money immediately starts flowing 00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:21.880 towards, well, vices and entertainment. Right. 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:25.200 He specifically listed money going to bartenders, 00:19:25.299 --> 00:19:28.759 racetracks, late night greasy spoons, bail bondsmen, 00:19:28.900 --> 00:19:31.579 go -kart tracks, tractor pulls, football games, 00:19:31.819 --> 00:19:35.099 peep shows, and several black market vices. His 00:19:35.099 --> 00:19:39.039 conclusion. Yeah. His music causes itches that 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:41.519 it usually takes some money to scratch. It's 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:43.940 the ultimate libertarian, cynicalist argument 00:19:43.940 --> 00:19:47.339 for economic stimulus through basically music 00:19:47.339 --> 00:19:50.000 piracy and having a good time. And this wasn't 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:52.480 just a stun in 2009. It connected right back 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:54.900 to his long held beliefs about intellectual property. 00:19:55.099 --> 00:19:57.400 Precisely. He was always an outspoken supporter 00:19:57.400 --> 00:20:00.140 of free file sharing. Way back in July 2000, 00:20:00.420 --> 00:20:02.460 right in the middle of the Napster Wars, he publicly 00:20:02.460 --> 00:20:05.440 backed the movement, explicitly said he was not 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:08.200 an asshole like Metallica. Oh, direct shot. Yeah, 00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:10.319 direct reference to Metallica's very public, 00:20:10.380 --> 00:20:12.279 very aggressive lawsuit against file sharing. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:14.400 Nixon just took the opposite stance on principle. 00:20:14.539 --> 00:20:17.079 He really lived his philosophy. But his politics 00:20:17.079 --> 00:20:18.740 were complex, weren't they? He called himself 00:20:18.740 --> 00:20:21.920 a libertarian, cynicalist anarchist. Yet despite 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:24.519 all that anti -establishment talk, he publicly 00:20:24.519 --> 00:20:27.519 supported Barack Obama in 2012. Which I think 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:30.099 shows his anarchy wasn't just anti -government. 00:20:30.269 --> 00:20:33.390 It was more anti -convention, anti -hypocrisy 00:20:33.390 --> 00:20:36.670 within the system. He could embrace these radical 00:20:36.670 --> 00:20:39.589 anti -establishment labels, but still participate 00:20:39.589 --> 00:20:41.569 in conventional politics when he thought it served 00:20:41.569 --> 00:20:43.369 a purpose. And we have to touch on the cultural 00:20:43.369 --> 00:20:45.890 world he inhabited, especially his, let's say, 00:20:45.930 --> 00:20:48.430 spiritual side. He was a member of the Church 00:20:48.430 --> 00:20:50.829 of the Subgenius. For anyone listening who isn't 00:20:50.829 --> 00:20:53.190 familiar, what is the Church of the Subgenius? 00:20:53.210 --> 00:20:55.630 And why is that connection so important for understanding 00:20:55.630 --> 00:20:58.819 Mojo? The Church of the Subgenius is maybe the 00:20:58.819 --> 00:21:01.960 ultimate piece of American counterculture satire. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:04.539 It's basically a parody religion started in 1979 00:21:04.539 --> 00:21:07.400 designed to make fun of commercialism, organized 00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:09.779 religion, conformity, everything mainstream. 00:21:10.220 --> 00:21:12.799 Its main figure is this guy, often depicted, 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:16.039 J .R. Bob Dobbs. And the core philosophy is based 00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:18.900 on achieving slack. Slack. What does that mean 00:21:18.900 --> 00:21:22.230 here? Slack is essentially... freedom. It's the 00:21:22.230 --> 00:21:24.089 time, the spiritual energy you get back when 00:21:24.089 --> 00:21:27.029 you reject the usual demands of work, life, corporate 00:21:27.029 --> 00:21:29.329 society. It's the ultimate rejection of the whole 00:21:29.329 --> 00:21:31.990 rat race. So for Nixon, whose entire career was 00:21:31.990 --> 00:21:34.769 about railing against the pinks, the conformists, 00:21:34.789 --> 00:21:37.130 and demanding irreverence, being part of the 00:21:37.130 --> 00:21:39.450 subgenius church just perfectly aligned with 00:21:39.450 --> 00:21:42.089 his lifelong mission to disrupt the system and 00:21:42.089 --> 00:21:44.690 celebrate absurdity is basically his philosophical 00:21:44.690 --> 00:21:48.369 home. All this rich, wild history, this constant 00:21:48.750 --> 00:21:51.630 push and pull between anarchy and the mainstream, 00:21:52.069 --> 00:21:54.910 it naturally led to people wanting to document 00:21:54.910 --> 00:21:58.619 his life. A documentary film, The Mojo Manifesto, 00:21:58.779 --> 00:22:01.400 The Life and Times of Mojo Nixon, was actually 00:22:01.400 --> 00:22:04.299 announced way back in 2013. Yeah, it took almost 00:22:04.299 --> 00:22:06.680 10 years to finish. Finally premiered at South 00:22:06.680 --> 00:22:09.480 by Southwest in 2022, became available to stream 00:22:09.480 --> 00:22:12.940 in March 2023. The film really solidified his 00:22:12.940 --> 00:22:15.019 status as someone whose unique cultural impact 00:22:15.019 --> 00:22:18.299 deserved a serious, albeit appropriately irreverent, 00:22:18.299 --> 00:22:21.380 look. Which brings us, sadly, to the final cut 00:22:21.380 --> 00:22:24.410 and call. Neil Kirby McMillan Jr., Mojo Nixon, 00:22:24.710 --> 00:22:28.670 died February 7th, 2024. He was 66. Yeah. The 00:22:28.670 --> 00:22:30.849 cause was a cardiac event. Okay. And the setting 00:22:30.849 --> 00:22:32.710 where he passed away, that's where the story 00:22:32.710 --> 00:22:34.569 of his complicated career gets really, truly 00:22:34.569 --> 00:22:36.809 poignant. He died while he was on board the Elwha 00:22:36.809 --> 00:22:38.829 Country Cruise. He was there as both a performer 00:22:38.829 --> 00:22:41.470 and a host. The ship was docked in San Juan, 00:22:41.529 --> 00:22:44.500 Puerto Rico at the time. The ultimate anti -corporate 00:22:44.500 --> 00:22:47.180 icon dying while taking part in this highly curated 00:22:47.180 --> 00:22:50.940 commercial ticketed fan experience. Wow. And 00:22:50.940 --> 00:22:53.099 the final coincidence around his death is just 00:22:53.099 --> 00:22:56.160 genuinely eerie, tying back to his movie career. 00:22:56.319 --> 00:22:58.980 It is. Just two days after Nixon passed away, 00:22:59.180 --> 00:23:01.440 James Van Eaton, the very drummer he played in 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:04.950 Great Balls of Fire, also died. It was this completely 00:23:04.950 --> 00:23:08.130 surreal, final moment of connection in a life 00:23:08.130 --> 00:23:10.549 that was built on strange juxtapositions. And 00:23:10.549 --> 00:23:12.930 fittingly, his life was celebrated by the music 00:23:12.930 --> 00:23:15.109 community he championed. There were memorial 00:23:15.109 --> 00:23:17.670 events, including an all -day concert down in 00:23:17.670 --> 00:23:19.750 Austin during the South by Southwest Festival 00:23:19.750 --> 00:23:23.049 in March 2024. So when you look back at the sheer 00:23:23.049 --> 00:23:25.150 volume of work we've covered here, six albums 00:23:25.150 --> 00:23:27.369 with Skid Roper, three with the Toad Lickers, 00:23:27.430 --> 00:23:29.670 including that Jello Biafra one, plus multiple 00:23:29.670 --> 00:23:33.130 solo albums, it's just a relentless, uncompromising... 00:23:35.789 --> 00:23:39.130 This deep dive, it really shows us that Mojo 00:23:39.130 --> 00:23:42.369 Nixon's career was defined by this constant tension, 00:23:42.529 --> 00:23:45.910 right? Anti -establishment anarchy mixed with 00:23:45.910 --> 00:23:48.450 brilliant satire. Yet he was still this savvy, 00:23:48.549 --> 00:23:51.509 engaged player on mainstream platforms like MTV, 00:23:51.930 --> 00:23:54.730 Hollywood and the hugely centralized Sirius XM. 00:23:54.869 --> 00:23:58.289 Exactly. He mastered the system not by fitting 00:23:58.289 --> 00:24:01.069 in, but by using its loudest microphones to shout 00:24:01.069 --> 00:24:03.250 about his refusal to fit. in. He was the ultimate 00:24:03.250 --> 00:24:06.029 outsider who somehow got insider access without 00:24:06.029 --> 00:24:08.369 ever losing his edge or his dedication to finding 00:24:08.369 --> 00:24:11.190 that slack. He was yelling, burn down the malls 00:24:11.190 --> 00:24:13.410 while simultaneously selling tickets to watch 00:24:13.410 --> 00:24:15.849 Denilition. Precisely. He used the commercial 00:24:15.849 --> 00:24:18.289 system to undermine it right up until the very, 00:24:18.369 --> 00:24:20.349 very end. So maybe let's leave you with this 00:24:20.349 --> 00:24:22.690 final thought on his legacy. Given that Mojo 00:24:22.690 --> 00:24:25.440 Nixon was this. passionate public supporter of 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:28.259 free music sharing, constantly attacked corporate 00:24:28.259 --> 00:24:31.539 control, called himself a libertarian, cynicalist, 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:33.940 anarchist. What's the ultimate meaning of his 00:24:33.940 --> 00:24:36.140 final performance and his death happening on 00:24:36.140 --> 00:24:38.400 board a highly curated commercial cruise ship? 00:24:38.539 --> 00:24:41.700 A controlled, packaged fan experience. You need 00:24:41.700 --> 00:24:43.920 pre -bought tickets, centralized organization, 00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:46.799 the works. What does that final setting tell 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:49.500 us about the inevitable commodification of outlaw 00:24:49.500 --> 00:24:53.170 culture? Does the system always eventually absorb 00:24:53.170 --> 00:24:56.430 the rebel? Or maybe, maybe he was performing 00:24:56.430 --> 00:24:59.190 one last massive piece of subversive theater, 00:24:59.349 --> 00:25:01.529 bringing the anarchy right onto the high seas 00:25:01.529 --> 00:25:03.710 of commercialism, celebrating the community that 00:25:03.710 --> 00:25:06.069 grew around his rejection of the mainstream right 00:25:06.069 --> 00:25:07.950 in the belly of the beast. That's the question 00:25:07.950 --> 00:25:10.369 worth mulling over. Think about that. Thanks 00:25:10.369 --> 00:25:12.809 for joining us for this deep dive into the anarchic 00:25:12.809 --> 00:25:13.930 legacy of Mojo Nixon.