interviews

Rogues Gallery - Jane's Addiction
by Malcolm Dome
Raw - No. 14, March 7-20, 1989

Full name
David Michael Navarro. There's quite a lot of both Italian and Spanish blood in my family.

Date of birth
June 7, 1967.

Current home
Los Angeles.

Three adjectives to describe yourself
Wow, that's a tough one. OK, here goes. I'm insecure, quiet...and ostentatious. You see, I'm a Gemini and those of us under this zodiac influence are supposed to have opposing forces within our characters.

Instruments played
Guitar, piano, drums and bass. One of my main ambitions is to play all the instruments on a song.
As a kid, I had the usual parental pressures to take piano lessons and for two years from the age of eight I did exactly that. It was when I was ten that I discovered the guitar...and everything happened from that point on.

Who did you impersonate in front of the mirror?
You won't believe this, but I impersonated no-one. With me, it just kinda happened. I didn't have any one influence above all others. I guess if you push me I'd say Jimi Hendrix had a strong hold over me, but I never stood in front of the mirror and pretended to be him with a tennis racquet...

First vinyl appearance
It was in 1986 on a live album titled 'Jane's Addiction' put out by the Triple X label in California. It was recorded at The Roxy Club in LA then mixed down at the Music Grinder Studios.

Previous bands
The only one worth mentioning is Dizastre, a Speed Metal band. We really sucked. Stephen (Perkins, Jane's Addiction drummer) was also in the group. Apart from that, there's nothing else of note in my past.

Worst thing about you
That I lie a hell of a lot. I really am full of shit. No, truly. I'm also totally selfish.

Worst job you've ever had
Well, the only job I've ever had is this one--being a guitarist in a rock band. So I guess this would have to be the worst one I've ever had. And there are aspects of this job that I loathe. All the 'rock star' trappings are awful--the bullshit that goes on and the synthetic quality of so much that surrounds any band. It doesn't impress me, but I have to deal with it.

Favourite musician (who plays your instrument)
This is gonna surprise a lot of people, because I'm not a big fan of rock music. Therefore, my favourite guitarists are not the usual Eddie Van Halens and Ritchie Blackmores, but rather Robert Smith (The Cure) and Daniel Ash (Love & Rockets). Mind you, if you listen to what I play, it's so different to either of those two guys that you'd have difficulty spotting why I like them so much!

Greatest piece of music you've ever heard
How do you answer a question like that?! I guess it would have to be Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, because it's just so dramatic. I studied classical music at college when I was 17, and that's when I discovered the true power and beauty of this piece. It never fails to move me.

Hobbies/interests
Well, I collect tropical fish. I have a 60-gallon tank at home and it's filled with all manner of species. I also love classical music and reading. I'm a BIG reader. Currently, I'm learning some of T S Eliot's poems off by heart, and I'm tackling works by J D Salinger as well.
Oh, and I have a passion for impressionist painting.

Biggest phobia
Being found out. On several occasions I have been close to being found out about various things, but it's not happened yet. There's always a first time, though, and that really scares me...

Strange things you do in the privacy of your own home
Oh, I love dancing. It's not actually proper dancing--I'm no Fred Astaire--it's more just fooling around. I'll dance to anything--even silence! I also have a tendency to break things. I'm really clumsy in this way.

Most peculiar request form a fan
Oh God, there must be some really weird ones, but you've caught me on the hop. The only thing that comes to mind is that a girl once asked me to give her EVERYTHING I was wearing at the time--I refused. That's not very peculiar is it? Like I said, there are probably much stranger things but I can't think of any right now.

If you were a woman, who would you be?
Oh, Cher. The woman's got so much style and she's so spunky. She takes no shit from anyone and does exactly what she wants to do.

Whose bath water would you most like to drink?
Siouxsie Sioux (vocalist with Siouxsie & The Banshees). If she were to phone up and ask me to marry her, I'd do it immediately. There's just something about her that gets to me. Apparently, she hates guitarists like me, but I live in hope!

One thing about you that would surprise a RAW reader
That I hate rock music! No, it's not so much the actual music, rather the general attitude that goes with it. It really sickens me to see the way some rock musicians behave.