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 NIKKI SIXX SCORES SOUNDTRACK TO CONTROVERSIAL BOOK HEROIN DIARIES: A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A SHATTERED ROCK STAR
CD IN STORES AUGUST 21; BOOK ARRIVES SEPTEMBER 18 “The Most Addictive Rock & Roll Tale Since The Dirt”
(Los Angeles) August 27, 2007 – Famed artist and Mötley Crüe founding member Nikki Sixx has announced an August 21st release date for The Heroin Diaries, the gripping soundtrack to his forthcoming, much-buzzed-about book Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star (MTV Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster). Penned and produced by Sixx: A.M. (Sixx, James Michael and DJ Ashba), the dark and decadent album serves as the perfect backdrop to Sixx’s provocative tome about his tumultuous relationship with heroin and his multi-platinum band Mötley Crüe. The first single from the album, “Life Is Beautiful,” is already rocketing up the Rock Radio charts. Its companion video was directed by Paul Brown (Stone Sour, Audioslave), who also designed the stunning graphics for both the album and the book.
Co-written by Ian Gittins (Guardian, Q Magazine) and based on journal entries beginning Christmas 1986, Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star chronicles the highs and lows of being a member of one of the world’s biggest rock bands while also being one of the most notorious junkies to survive the excess of the 80s. The book, a worthy follow up to the NY Times Best Seller The Dirt: The Autobiography of Motley Crue, includes commentary from those closest to Sixx both then and now, insiders who personally witnessed his struggle and recovery from his addictions.
Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star will be released in the U.S. and Canada on September 18th through MTV/VH1 Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. A portion of the book’s proceeds will go to Sixx’s charity, Running Wild In The Night, a fundraising initiative for Covenant House California, which helps get youth off the streets.
In addition to his work as a musician and author, Sixx is currently engaged in a wide range of artistic endeavors including photography and fashion design for his clothing line, Royal Underground, which he founded in 2006 with Kelly Gray, former president and creative director of St. John Clothing. The line can be found in Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom stores.
Nikki Sixx was born Frank Feranna in San Jose , California , in 1958 and grew up in Seattle , WA with his grandmother. At the age of seventeen, he sold his guitars and took a bus to Los Angeles , where he began hanging out in local clubs and playing in bands. He founded Mötley Crüe in 1981 with friend and drummer Tommy Lee. As the cofounder, songwriter and bassist of one of rock’s most notorious bad boy bands, Mötley Crüe, Sixx has achieved international success, with album sales exceeding more than 40 million units worldwide. The band’s decadent lifestyle was documented in the best-selling 2001 autobiography and soon-to-be feature film, The Dirt. Mötley Crüe had one of the top-grossing tours of 2005, with all four original members reuniting to play before an estimated one million people in the United States. Sixx has also written songs with Meat Loaf, Marion Raven, Drowning Pool, The Exies and Saliva.
www.sixxammusic.com
www.myspace.com/heroindiaries
Running Wild In The Night- New Look
www.nikkisixx.net/RunningWild.htm l
www.nikkisixx.net
MOTLEY CRUE bassist Nikki Sixx will be embarking on a book signing tour of "The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star", which is slated to kick off on the book release date September 18th.
September 18, 2007 @ Borders - Los Angeles, CA Time - 7:30pm
Borders Books and Music 56
1360 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024
September 22, 2007 @ Barnes & Noble - Minneapolis, MN
Time - 1:00pm
Barnes & Noble 2969
118 E. Broadway,
Mall of America
Bloomington, MN 55425
September 23, 2007 @ Borders - Oakbrook, IL (Chicago)
Time - 2:00pm
Borders Oakbrook 020
1500 16th Street, Suite D
Oakbrook, IL 60523
September 24, 2007 @ Borders - Taylor, MI (Detroit)
Time -12:30pm
Borders Taylor 444
23000 Eureka Rd
Taylor, MI 48180
September 25, 2007 @ Virgin Times Square - New York, NY
Time - 6:30pm
Virgin MegaStore Timesquare
1540 Broadway
New York, NY
September 26, 2007 @ Borders - Philadelphia, PA
Time - 7:00pm
Borders Downtown (Broad Street) 021
1 South Broad, Suite 100
Philadelphia, PA 19107
September 27, 2007 @ Borders - Boston, MA
Time - 1:00pm
Borders Downtown Crossing 120
10-24 School Street
Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx recently spoke with GlamMetal.com correspondent Deb Rao about how he hopes his work with Covenant House and his fundraising initiative program that he has launched called "Running Wild In The Night" will make a difference in helping saves children’s lives and enable them to have a better opportunity to reach their goals in life.
Covenant House provides services in 21 cities, 15 in the U.S., to homeless and runaway youth, including advocacy, health care, education, vocational preparation, drug abuse treatment and prevention programs, legal services, recreation, transitional living programs, street and community outreach and aftercare.
Nikki, What do you hope that fans will learn about the addiction from reading your book,” Heroin Diaries"?
SIXX: My hope is it both paints a picture of not just the addiction, but how we can get there and the recovery part too. The whole picture is important. If someone is struggling, or has someone in their life that is.
Do you feel that music saved your life?
SIXX: For me Yes, 100 %. I have a hard time imagining how life would of been without it. Today, it's not just music, but when I was in those years between 13-26, it was the only thing I had that gave me hope.
How important is it to have music programs in schools today? Tell us about the proceeds from the book that will got to Covenant House and help establish a fund for the children to have music in their lives.
SIXX: Music, arts, and all creative programs are very important in my opinion. Not only in life, but also in our school systems. Covenant House is not so much a school, but an outreach program for at risk youth. When they bring these kids off the street and start getting to the core issues dealing with it all. They have had to endure, then the recovery part starts and a creative outlet for them to plug into is what we're creating. My goal is to bring awareness and income to Covenant House. So these programs being set up will be in place for years and years to come and maybe, just maybe One (hopefully more) kids will stick out the Covenant House program and get back on their feet and have an opportunity to do something positive with their life... Maybe changing someone else's life in return and so on and so on.
Do you feel the rock lifestyle played a major role in your addiction?
SIXX: No that I did all on my own. I take complete responsibility for my actions, good and bad.
What were your initial expectations when you first began writing for "Heroin Diaries"? How difficult was it to relive the past, in order to set the vibe for the entire album, chapter by chapter?
SIXX: Our expectations were absolutely zero. We had the outlook that we were doing something that we don't believe had ever been done before. Which was scoring a soundtrack to a book. It was for us complete freedom, as producers and songwriters to not really have to niche into anything. The album takes you on a journey, musically, lyrically, and it does go left. But very far to the left, and very far to the right. For us, it was complete freedom to do that because we had no expectations. We never expected to be on radio. The fact that it is and doing so well at radio is just is icing on the cake. It is fantastic not to follow a standard, as songwriters and producers.
Over how long a time period, would you say did it take to score the music for the entire, "Heroin Diaries" soundtrack?
SIXX: Yeah know, we did a double album of music. We just were so open. There were no rules. If it was a twelve-minute song, or if it was a one-minute song, we just went with whatever the song needed. If it had a heavier feel, or more of an acoustic feel, or if it had a more orchestrated feel whatever the song called for and whatever it went with the three of us is where we went. It went very quickly. We probably had over 30 songs. I would say about eight months. Quite, quick to be honest with you.
How difficult was it to assemble the right musicians to work with in SIxx A.M.? Did you work with any of these musicians before your musical venture with the band? The musical chemistry between, DJ Ashba and James Michael and you work very well together. You mentioned all three of you produced the soundtrack to "Heroin Diaries", is that correct?
SIXX: Yes, all three of us produced it. I met James probably, somewhere between seven or eight years ago. We had written not only for Motley Crue, but Meatloaf and Salvia. We became very good friends. We had done all kinds of song-writing together. DJ and me got together, as friends. We started writing music and had the same chemistry between him, and me when we were working with Drowning Pool, Marion Raven, and Trapt. DJ and I are very, very close friends and we share a studio together called Funny Farms Studio. So it was just natural to get all three of us together. Because you got a bass player, producer, songwriter, a guitar player, producer, songwriter, and a vocalist, producer, songwriter. We didn't need anybody else. We basically laughed the whole time. We just had the best time, because we are such good friends. It is such a fresh, exciting experience to have no boundaries.
Interview with Nikki Sixx May 22, 2007
MOTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx is putting the finishing touches on "The Heroin Diaries" soundtrack, which will be released on August 21 under the band name SIXX: A.M. According to Sixx, "All 13 tunes are done. James [Michael] is just mixing the last few now and the album will be completely done next week." He adds, "What a huge body of work we've pulled off. We're all proud to have this album under our wings."
On Tuesday May 22, Sixx and UGO.com will premiere the video for "Life Is Beautiful", the first single from "The Heroin Diaries". The song is performed by Nikki Sixx, DJ Ashba (ex-BEAUTIFUL CREATURES), and James Michael.
"The Heroin Diaries" CD is a precursor to Sixx's autobiography of the same name, which arrives September 25. The album's 12 tracks each match up with one chapter in the book; "Life Is Beautiful" can be streamed from the book's MySpace.com page.
"The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star" offers an unflinching and utterly gripping look at Sixx's descent into drug addiction with a soundtrack, featuring James Michael and DJ Ashba (ex-BEAUTIFUL CREATURES), to match.
In this candid memoir, Nikki Sixx — MÖTLEY CRÜE's bassist and main songwriter — recounts the band's heyday. "The Heroin Diaries" takes readers along on one of the most breathless and harrowing roller coaster rides in the history of pop music. At its heart lies the author's nightmare come true: a punishing heroin addiction that brought him and the band to the edge of losing much more than just their spot on the charts. Serving up snapshots of rock culture at its most manic, this insider's look at triumph and tragedy is every bit as explosive as the musical odyssey it chronicles.
"The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star" will come out through MTV Books/Simon & Schuster. The accompanying original concept soundtrack will be released by Eleven Seven Music and distributed by ADA, with a portion of proceeds donated to Nikki's Running Wild in the Night, a fundraising initiative for Covenant House. The book is a tell-all covering 12 months in Sixx's battle against addiction, drawn from Nikki's 1986 and '87 journals, and reportedly makes CRÜE's celebrated "Dirt", now being made into a motion picture, sound like Mary Poppins
Nikki Sixx recently spoke to Boston writer Deb Rao about the upcoming video release of "Life Is Beautiful", that is slated to premiere May 22nd at www.UGO.com . His new band SIXX: A.M., and what inspired him.
www.myspace.com/nikkisixx
Nikki,"The "Heroin Diaries" soundtrack is slated to be released on August 21st. The first single off of,” The Heroin Diaries" soundtrack is entitled,” Life Is Beautiful". Are you overwhelmed with the response your first single;” Life is Beautiful" is receiving?
SIXX: We are all blown away. Too be honest, we had no expectations, except to make a very adventurous album. I had so many people comment on how life changing they feel the lyrics are. One person told me, they were on the verge of suicide until they heard the song. That is why we make music right there, in a nutshell.
What is like working with your new band SIXX: A.M. featuring Nikki Sixx, James Michael, and DJ Ashba? The band sounds incredible.
SIXX: We're all producers and songwriters. It's magical because we each bring something different to the table. We laugh a lot. We're all best friends and have so much in common and that helps us bond even deeper to the music.
Nikki, My first reaction to your first single,” Life Is Beautiful", is that it is one of the best new songs that I have heard in a long time. The key factor here is that the lyrics are real and people can identify with them. The musicianship is outstanding. It must be so inspiring for you as an artist to be able to put out such an amazing release filled with real life experiences and music that indeed touches your heart and soul.
SIXX: Yes, I'm proud. DJ and James are amazing talents and we're a great team. SIXX: A.M is a fun name. It is definitely magical.
May 22nd will mark the premiere of your video of "Life Is Beautiful" at www.ugo.com . Tell me about the concept of the video? Who directed the video and how does it reflect on the book,” The Heroin Diaries"?
SIXX: It was important working with Paul Brown, (who did the art for the book) to have the video look, smell, and feel like the book. This is a body of work and it's important to us that the theme stays the same throughout. Paul is to me one of the future's brightest stars and darkest souls. He's amazing. As you will see, from the whole concept.
Nikki, Thank you for doing this Interview update for GlamMetal.com
SIXX: Thank you so much for the support.
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