What’s in a name? Porno for Pyros is a hell of a moniker, one of the most risque in rock ‘n’ roll. Any self-diagnosed “pyro” must be a freak show on wheels, right? A nihilist? Nothing could be further from the truth, at least insofar as it pertains to this band. Porno for Pyros’s founding frontman is Perry Farrell, a bringer of glad tidings, an extinguisher of fires — and a committed peacenik.
This isn’t his first rodeo. Porno for Pyros is a splinter group — it was carved out of Jane’s Addiction, the gutsy and eclectic Los Angeles band that Farrell has fronted on and off for nearly 40 years. When Jane’s Addiction disbanded for the first time in 1991, Farrell concocted a spinoff with drummer Stephen Perkins. The two were joined by Peter DiStefano on guitar and Martyn LeNoble on bass. LeNoble has since occasionally traded places with Mike Watt, formerly of Minutemen and the Stooges — with LeNoble’s departure last year making that permanent.
“Mike is — I call him a lifer,” Farrell says. “This is his life and his mind never strays from musicality and what it means to be a musician. His knees are shot, he’s walking with a cane, but when this opportunity arose, he took it.”
Jane’s Addiction was formally flexible; the band could do funk rock, jangle pop, acoustic serenades, elegiac songs of mourning, you name it. This was also true, to a lesser degree, of ‘90s-era Porno for Pyros, which recorded two albums for Warner Bros. before splitting up for decades in 1998. One of their last releases was “Hard Charger,” forever associated with the acidic Howard Stern film “Private Parts.”
Farrell and his mates were out to prove their worth and/or multidexterity. Albums like “Ritual de lo Habitual” (Jane’s Addiction) and “Good God’s Urge” (Porno for Pyros) did exactly that. But he insists he’s hungrier and more determined now than he ever was as a young man.
“I’m more keyed in at 65 than I was at 25 because there’s much more at stake,” Farrell says from Aspen, Colorado, less than two hours before Porno for Pyros would take the stage at a venue called Belly Up. “I have a very strong purpose, and that’s to bring the world together to solve our differences. I was feeling very low because of the awful news coming out of (Gaza), but I’ve since concluded that it’s time to step up; this is the time in human history to correct things. The world is transforming and inching closer to redemption.” He goes on to discuss the archangel Gabriel and the prophecies of Isaiah. It’s not always obvious from Porno for Pyros’s music — surfy, scruffy, chiller-than-thou funk rock — but Farrell is a man of deep religious conviction.
The whole world, it seems, is armed to the gills. So it’s a relief to hear Farrell’s prediction for the future: mass disarmament. This, he maintains, can and will be achieved in his lifetime.
“I’m expecting an incredible transformation in the next three to five years,” Farrell tells the Tribune. “We’re going to start to unify as a species. That’s why I have to stay sharp; I can’t let anyone discourage me. I can’t be a goofball.”
For all of Farrell’s quirks, he is right about most things, especially the big things. He knew there would be life after Jane’s Addiction, that Porno for Pyros would achieve plenty in its own right. He knew that Lollapalooza, which at first was inconceivably modest — 10 bands, two stages — would in time become summer’s hottest ticket. The inaugural Lollapalooza was his doing, a bon voyage concert he threw as Jane’s Addiction was disintegrating. Today Farrell says that outdoor music fests are “part of prophecy” and vital to the peace and reconciliation process.
What’s more, Farrell was astute enough to identify “Little Me,” a darkly comic, high-energy funk rock track, as just the song to tide over peckish fans. “Little Me” dropped earlier this February. Porno for Pyros has been recording new material since 2021 after reuniting for the virtual Lolla2020 during the pandemic; the band also played Lolla in 2022. Prior to “Little Me” there was “Pete’s Dad” and “Agua,” a pretty song about wanderlust and cavorting with marine life (specifically dolphins).
“Agua” was written in the ‘90s but languished unrecorded for years. It’s just as well. In those days Farrell was a “punk” (his word), self-sabotaging and and altitudinally challenged. Today he’s a “fully realized man.” He brings a man’s clarity to the new four-song Pyros EP, which at press time had no firm release date.
“I feel like I’m coming into my own as a man,” Farrell says. “As you get older, you get wiser about touring. You learn how to train better, how late to stay out — my whole thing is, ‘Let’s see how good I can do. What will I need? I think I’ll need two hours of sleep, some Japanese macha’ — you see where I’m going with this? I’m dedicated to bettering myself.”
“If I want greatness onstage,” he continues, “I have to make sacrifices.” Peace be with you, brother.
Horns, Thorns En Halos 2024 Tour, with Tigercub, at 8 p.m. Feb. 26 at Salt Shed, 1357 N. Elston Ave; general admission tickets from $49.50 at www.saltshedchicago.com
