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Books

Exclusive Interview: “Before The Chop III” Writer Henry Rollins

 

For the last six years, Henry Rollins has been writing a weekly column for the L.A. Weekly in which he talks about whatever he wants. Well, mostly. Since newspapers, even free alternative weeklies, have a limited amount of space, and editors, his columns have always been, well, edited.

But for those of us who like our Rollins uncut, there’s his Before The Chop books, in which he presents the original versions of his L.A. Weekly columns.

Having just released Before The Chop III: LA Weekly Articles 2014-2016 (signed paperbacks, digital), I spoke with him about what he wrote in these columns, how being edited by someone else has impacted his writing (or not, as the case may be), and what we can next expect from him and his publishing house.

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Books Music

Exclusive Interview: “Before The Chop II” Writer Henry Rollins

 

Every week for the last four years, Henry Rollins has written a column for the L.A. Weekly, a free alternative weekly newspaper in Los Angeles. And almost every week, some editor cuts something out or changes the title.

But while you might think this would send him into some Hulk-like rage — especially if you don’t know much about the man and his professionalism — Henry instead just saves the originals for an ongoing series of books he calls Before The Chop, the first volume of which is available both physically and digitally .

With the second, Before The Chop II (digital) now out, I sent him some questions via email to ask how much his editors change his work, if these changes have impacted how he writes for them, and why — after twenty years of writing about music, his life, and other real things — he’s never penned a work of fiction.