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Ted Nugent has been at the center of controversy throughout his career, but not necessarily for his musical talents. Early in his career Nugent thumbed his nose at the free wheeling rock and roll drug culture that prevailed during that time and was an outspoken critic of drug use and abuse. Nugent’s musical accomplishments include 30 albums in 28 years with sales of over 30 million albums worldwide. Love him or hate him, Ted is his own man. The Motor City Madman, the legendary rock star and political activist, talks extensively with MusicPix.Net about being politically correct and incorrect, Hurricane Katrina, clean livin’, parenting, his new music, his political aspirations, and much more. (Read More)

"I’m not out to negotiate with political correctness. I’m out to burn it, I’m out to chop it down, I’m going to melt it. I like to think that political correctness and denial is like the emperor of Japan thinking he’s going to take over America."
- Ted Nugent

Ted: Well, I remember the Alamo. I studied history and I know the dynamic that is this American Dream…this experiment in self-government and I think it should be celebrated everyday in a politically correct denial cult-culture war. Now more than ever, we’ve got to stand on that wall of that Alamo and shoot Santa Anna’s men, politically speaking-activist speaking…we the people, hands-on speaking…and sometimes, like The Alamo (with ole Betsy) and I find that more and more people are waking up to the curse of apathy and the flood gates of counter productive policies that apathy has not only facilitated, but I think in many ways celebrated some of the words or conditions and some of the court cases and some of the regulations in this country could only be described as ‘chimp-like.’ So when I rally for common sense and self-evident truth, there’s a volatility factor there that I believe is the essence of rock and roll, so let’s get it on so I say!

MusicPix: So they go together pretty well ?

Ted: You’ve noticed that? In fact, I don’t have to really frame it in a form of a semi-question but rather exaltation, a solid confident statement of fact that the human experience is about defiance- about historically, the only real joy and happiness and gratifications comes from those moments in time where good people have stopped either stupid or evil people. Defiance is the only system by which only true quality of life can be attained. And again, now I believe more than ever, more than the Alamo, the Civil War, the First World War, the Second World War, I really believe that America is really facing the most pivotal and clear choice of doing what is absolutely right vs. what might feel good because of the false indicators from political correctness. In a court system that finds a sperm donor who signs a contract to waive all rights to the productivity of his sperm donation, yet the courts find him responsible for child support 15 years later when the lesbians divorce? I mean this is just a recent finding. This kind of malfeasance, corruption, anti-science, anti-decency, anti-logic- it just goes on every minute of every day. That’s why if you’re going to have fun at a Ted Nugent show, you might as well call a chimp a chimp, you might as well condemn the chimp, and ultimately kill and gut him…figuratively speaking, maybe literally speaking! That’s what really good, high energy, piss and vinegar passion, standing up for what you believe in, defiant rock and roll has always been about in its finest forms and variations thereof. And total defiance of even that identity thereof. But I believe that all the stuff that turned me on from the Chuck Berry’s, the Bo Diddley’s, and the Howlin’ Wolf and the Lightnin’ Hopkins…and even the Elvis Presley’s and ultimately the Jimi Hendrix’ and the guitar onslaught, it really came from a sense of defiance…saying this is a stupid system, this is a stupid idea…Here’s my middle finger you may want to try it on for size.

MusicPix: You’ve thrown around the term ‘politically correct’ in your opening remarks and you’ve indicated strong opinions as being opposed to being politically correct. In Ted’s terms, what is ‘political correctness’ or is there even such a thing in your mind?

Ted: Well, certainly. I mean, and it’s so blatant; it’s so laughable except that the laughable moments, the laughable encounters, the laughable policies, actually find their way into controlling circumstances. Here’s a perfect example. I’m proud to be a board member of the National Rifle Association. You want to talk about political correctness… you want to talk about being political incorrect…the tip of the spear is indeed the Second Amendment and the right to self-defense. That the politically correct would question the right to self-defense while the politically incorrect would go, “You threaten my life, and I’ll blow you up!” And when I made that statement, instead of the housewife being car-jacked, raped and murdered…instead of the innocent victim becoming a victim, I would recommend that the innocent victim not be so innocent and when they see their life threatened, the rape threat, the car-jacking threat, that they pull out a gun and shoot the bastard dead! And that is considered a controversial mindset. That’s considered a wild right wing extreme opinion that somehow an innocent person might want to defend themselves. [BIG Laugh!] I don’t know whether to laugh or cry that to defend yourself against clear life threatening evil is questionable today…isn’t that like vigilante…that anyone can find any fault, with the clear choice and the right to defend your life, is the politically correct toxicity in its most offensive and vulgar. And I stand in defiance of that? And those who get a big kick out of listening and hearing and celebrating and cheering that I speak for them? They love the truth. The Michael Moore’s and the Ted Kennedy’s and the Charlie Schumer’s and the Courtney Love’s of the world, they’re aghast that I might even recommend that an innocent person defend themselves and might even take a life in the process. To my critics I say, EAT ME! That’s it in the nutshell. I could go on and on and on with examples. I don’t have an opinion about self defense. Self defense is a basic human right. That’s not an opinion, it’s the truth. Those that disagree with me say ‘well, that Ted’s got some wild opinions.’ It’s an opinion that a good person has the right to defend themselves? That is bizarre dialog and that’s political correctness in its most offensive and laughable condition.

Ted Nugent Concert Photos, Indianapolis, St. Paul

MusicPix: In keeping with politics, you chose not to run for Governor of Michigan in ’06 so that you and your family would be ‘better fortified’ to run in 2010 if you choose to run. Explain what you mean by being better fortified?

Ted: I’ve had quite a Lewis & Clark experience the first 57 years…[giggling] My American adventure, my American dream-cup runneth over. I have really had a riot. A grand time. I’ve had a wonderful human rollercoaster. 57 years- the highest of imaginable highs and some very painful lows. As I approach my 57th birthday and when this decision to run for Governor of Michigan, when I clearly see the remedies for all of the ills in Michigan, I really believe that and I would be more than happy to pin point each and every one of them. But at this juncture in time, as my youngest son Rocco is entering as a sophomore in high school- he’s fifteen years old. My oldest boy Toby has got a child, I’m a grandfather for young Jack, and my oldest daughter Star, has three children for me to grandfather and my daughter Sasha is getting married here shortly. And my wife Shemane, has been incredibly patient and tolerant with my ‘wanderlust, my wonder-lust, my rock and roll jihad of touring with 100 concerts a year, and I realized that it can all be summarized thusly…why I decided to not run for Governor in ’06: Never in my life have I ever had anyone say to me, ‘Hey Ted.. What are you doin’ this week?” And I’ve never been able to say, ‘ah nothin’, what do you want to do?’ I’ve never been able to say that. And though I have prioritized super-duper quality time with my family and we have a loving and full and peaceful yet dynamic American family dream, I would love to see an open calendar and to see what it’s like to say to any one of my family members or my buddies, when they ask me what I’m doin’ next week. I want to see what it’s like to say “Nothing…what do you want to do?” [laughs] So that’s where that decision came from. I just got off the greatest tour of my life in 2005 with Mick Brown and Barry Sparks and an amazing commando crew of technicians and musical lovers from Doug Banker Management to Linda Peterson my Assistant, my daughter Sasha and my family worked so hard on this tour, is the most musically and American and dreaming, positive tour of my life. The brutality and ferocious primal scream that Barry and Mick created every night, and the relationship that I had with many many record breaking audiences in 2005, defying the typical career of a musician in this world in a genre and in a style…the success of the overall smile and laughter factor is just unprecedented and that’s really saying something because in the smile and laughter category, I don’t think I have a close second. But I decided that the mobility factor in ’05 really demanded even more to do as Governor and I need a few years of less, and maybe even nothing to do for extended periods of time so that I could be a better father, better grandfather, better husband and quite honestly for my own health. I really believe that I need more spiritual, outdoor, conservation, back-to-the-earth time and so I’m dedicating more and more of that all the time. I find the more I spend time doing that kind of stuff, the more fortified my family is…the more relaxed and more energized we are, the more intense the love that we share is in a more peaceful non-hectic environment, I find that the job for me in 2005 and beyond.

MusicPix: I applaud you for that decision. As a mother, knowing the demands that our jobs have on us, it’s nice to be able to just take time. You’ve had a great run and to now be able to dedicate some of that real time is honorable.

Ted: Have you ever done it? I know it’s hard but this time, I’m just going to do it. Experiment with it. I know that it’s going to be extremely fulfilling for us. That’s where the term fortification comes…once again, I know that each of us has a duty to be the best that we can be as individuals so that we can be a better parent, a neighbor, a spouse, and American and that includes activism. That includes the responsibilities of an ‘experimentuer’ in self-government. I know that the more fortified and energized and focused I am, even better Governor, the better politician I would make…even if I decide to just be an activist, a ‘street-governor’ so to speak, I will be more effective in that function. The more I take a 57 year breather so to speak…it’s already having great affect on me and my family. We’re all going to St. Barts for my daughter Sasha’s wedding and there’s an air of calmness that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before except when I’m in my tree stand with my bow and arrow.

MusicPix: That leads into my next question…now that you have adult children, children that are leaving the nest, and a teenager and assuming they are into music and knowing that discipline is a keystone value in your family, how have you monitored what they watch and listen to?

Ted: I’ll answer that question specifically but then I’ll answer in a much more impacting overview because one of the most driving forces in a human’s life, particularly at that teenage time, is to pursue escape and individualism out from underneath the watchful eye of parenting. And the child always pursues that earlier than the parent wants them to, or at least earlier than the responsible parent would want them to. That brings us to probably the most important outline regarding my response and that is that Shemane and I take our parenting as the quintessential duty for our time here on earth. We hover, we almost suffocate our children with monitoring, love, affection, guidance, nurturing and discipline…the key word being discipline. We can’t be there all the time, but we believe that from almost conception, the parenting throttle begins to function. Certainly with Shemane it did and certainly with me it did. Rocco is a perfect example. His ethical integrity, intelligent choice making powers have already been determined by the time he may have alone time with music, movies, sex, drugs, rock and roll…inferior human beings, criminal type human beings-all that’s out there and our discipline with all our children…if you met Star, Sasha, Toby and Rocco, you would see perfect human beings in that they’re healthy, because they know that’s their responsibility. They don’t eat junk food-none of them touch drugs, alcohol, or tobacco for the most part…regarding alcohol, everybody likes a beer once in a while or a glass of wine every once in awhile, but again in intelligent moderation. And you will see children that are polite, courteous, a higher level of awareness of their surroundings so that they can make choices and even choices prior to being exposed to dangerous conditions or people, because they made choices to avoid those negativities. Even at 15, to hear my son Rocco speak and comment about drinking and driving…comment on vandalism…comment about nasty people, dirty people, rude people, gives Shemane and I just wonderful confidence, almost supreme confidence, that we have already disciplined and guided him like we have our other children and hopefully ourselves, to make those decisions incrementally each day- each minute of the day- so as to avoid conditions and choices and environments and people that already have a negative lien to them. Now qualifying all that is, would he listen to some Rap and Hip-Hop that I can’t stomach- that has just foul, nasty, criminal negative content? Sure. There’s something about that defiance factor that I’ve already touched on that attracts all young people as they are looking for the precipice of just how far they can go. But again, I am so confident that he has been steered on a moral compass of true north throughout his life, that even with that kind of lyrical, negative spirit in conditions of environments, neighborhoods, people, music, movies, videos, games, etc. etc… He is so fortified that none of those things will have any impact on him because he is in charge already. I believe that that’s the biggest problem when there’s criminal, vulgar, negative, dangerous movies, music, videogames or anything, is that that the children that make the wrong decision went into those dangerous environments ill-prepared because there’s an epidemic, even a pandemic, of failed parenting across this country right now. I watch them everyday. I am in constant, borderline harping contact, with my children. And certainly Rocco. We make it a point to have our dinner together everyday and we don’t just take cursory response to the question of what was your day like, what did you do at school, what did you do with the guys, how was basketball practice…what did you do at the party…we really probe. I guess often times, I tell school assemblages when I do my D.A.R.E. presentation, and I play The Star Spangled Banner, or do a benefit for a children’s charity, and I do a lot of speaking engagements now and I use a cute little phrase, ‘Ozzie got high and Ozzie’s brain dead, I went huntin’ and I’m still Ted.’ And I clarify that poison, in the name of trendiness, will destroy your life. Whereas my hunting choice, being grounded-that’s what hunting really is, the ultimately is. I’m in touch with the good Mother Earth…and how she provides me with sustenance, medicine, clothing, and shelter and fuel…quality of life-air, soil, and water… they ultimately come from wild hunting grounds. There’s a lesson in accountability, a higher level of awareness as it will serve you to that higher quality of life. And my children have heard me harp on this non-stop as well as Shemane because she’s athletic, she’s a nutritionist, she’s metaphysical, she’s a very spiritual person and it’s the environment that we hone in our home and our activities together, that influence our children so much more powerfully. With the proper guidance, music will be inconsequential…a movie will be inconsequential. My children will go, ‘yea, there’s a lot of naked people, a lot of sex, and a lot of violence.’ IT’S A MOVIE! And it’s wild and I’m glad it’s just a movie because I would never even enter such a domain, so I can be entertained by that. If you’ve guided your children properly, all other influences will be inconsequential and non-influential. In the absence of decent parenting and hard core discipline, then silly transparent veneer elements of the human species will in fact, have an effect. And that’s where political correctness once again, has encouraged and rewarded such irresponsible behavior-from the clean needle exchange program, to the methadone joke, to the pouring of money to AIDS instead of telling people to conduct themselves in such a way to not get AIDS…I could go on… Obesity? Having your stomach stapled instead of just doing the right thing about how you feed your sacred temple. Do I need to continue here? (out of breath)

Ted Nugent Concert Photos, Indianapolis, St. Paul

MusicPix: I got ya…I got ya… But in keeping with the political agenda and talking currently about what’s happening with the Bush administration….What is your impression regarding the response to Katrina?

Ted: Regarding Katrina, I believe that Mother Nature is a bitch but we all still love her and we should all know that..and I suppose if you’re busy spending your welfare checks and any money you might get on bling-bling and alcohol and drugs and clothing, and obviously way too much rotten food, then of course you can’t afford a pick up truck because you probably ate two of them! And not knowing that things aren’t always peachy keen is an example of abandonment for responsible lifestyles. That those, in the final analysis, the victims of natural catastrophes in most instances, and I believe in many instances during Katrina and all of the other ones… that those who are ill-prepared, have no one to look for the responsibility than in their own mirror. Not ignoring that accidents happen and natural catastrophes can catch anybody off guard. But the sheer numbers of buffoonish people in the Katrina instance particularly, was an example of where political correctness has created such a guaranteed safety net for people with the welfare programs and no societal, family, neighborhood, or government scolding or prodding to make people conduct themselves in a responsible fashion. You’ve gotta have transportation before you have bling-bling, cell phones, and fashion and obviously, enough food so that you look like a beached sperm whale. And this may sound real harsh, but it’s not near as harsh as people who stand around just squawking and whining like soulless, spineless, heartless, dependants. That’s the curse of the liberals. That’s the curse of the democrats for the most part. Again the Ted Kennedy’s, and the Barbara Boxer’s, the Dianne Feinstein’s of the world, and the democrats in general- they have actually created an atmosphere where dependency has become desirable and people actually brag about being dependant. And dependency is virtual soullessness unless of course, you are child with leukemia, or cystic fibrosis, etc, etc. and you had no hand in your dependant condition. But meanwhile, truly tragic cases of children with diseases are further complicated because there’s so many able bodied people who are draining the system dry, that are just a member of the blood sucker cult. I don’t blame George W. Bush or FEMA one bit for what happened in Katrina. I blame the individuals who ignored warnings, who lived a lifestyle that caused them to be virtually ill-prepared for anything. You can go right up the ladder to the Mayor…you can go right up to the families and the neighborhoods that get a kick out of slovenly ape like behavior. And then that goes right to the Governor, who didn’t utilize any of the systems and the programs that were already in place. And then you can go up to FEMA and you can go up to the government, but I just as soon see a smaller role from government and that people were encouraged to be ruggedly individual and intelligently prepared. Certainly, I’m just a guitar player and what happened to them is inconceivable happening to the Nugent family because we think about historical occurrences and how they can reoccur and how you should be prepared for them.

MusicPix: So to recap your comments: Natural disasters are a fact of life and it’s up to the individual to deal with it and as far as the administration is concerned, it’s not really an issue of the timeliness of the response. In your opinion, they don’t need to respond at all…it’s a totally an individual thing?

Ted: I believe the role of the government should be one of assistance and not babysitting. The warnings were there. First of all, New Orleans, I mean the warning was there around 1820. So come on, what kind of idiot builds his home in a flood plane between enormous bodies of water with a dike system that every year a warning comes out that it’s inadequate?

MusicPix: OK. So how do you feel about the feel about rebuilding the coastline as it relates to protecting both people and wildlife from hurricanes?

Ted: My number one concern is people. Wildlife will always take care of themselves if people would just get the hell out of their way. But I don’t believe that the government should have anything to do with rebuilding a dangerous environment for people’s habitation. I don’t believe that when the hurricanes, and the weather conditions that pummel the coast lines, whether it’s Long Island or the Carolina’s, I don’t believe that the government or people should be even allowed to live under those conditions where every year their house gets wiped out and somebody’s got to pay to rebuild there. You just don’t live there. That’s irresponsible and once again, that’s looking to government to be your babysitter and your big brother and that’s just irresponsible, illogical, and I believe unacceptable. If you choose to live in dangerous condition after your house has already been destroyed, well you’re on your own pal. No, I don’t believe it should be rebuilt. I believe that we should let nature take its course and learn from nature and get the hell out of places where there are avalanches, and floods, and dangerous hurricane conditions and that shouldn’t be where people live.

MusicPix: Talking about where people choose to reside. You’ve been a longtime resident of Concord, Michigan and you’ve recently become a resident of Texas. Why Texas?

Ted: First of all, I’ve got a lot of friends here in Texas…it is a great republic. There’s incredible hunting here. We originally came here under health alert conditions in that our home in Michigan was destroyed by this damn toxic stachybotrys black mold. And our family became quite sick, and especially Shemane had to go to a special clinic in Dallas for an extended period of time. And because she was in Texas and we couldn’t return to our poisoned home in Michigan, we decided to look at the school opportunities for Rocco and we found what we thought would be a real good school in Crawford. So we examined the area. We happened to have a lot of friends in this area. The hunting is terrific. The increased sunshine was highly desirable for Shemane and Rocco and we just made a decision that even though temporarily, we would locate ourselves here and we’ve been quite happy here.

Ted Nugent at a book signing at the Rib America Festival, Indianapolis

MusicPix: Black Mold…that’s a really serious thing. How long did it take you to figure it out?

Ted: The symptoms become real general…the fatigue-the migraine headaches…and I began to get these symptoms myself-almost like an electric buzzing of the flesh because of the horrible reaction your immune system has to this stachybotrys mold. But she was there constantly there for twelve years. I was only there half as much of the time and it turned out that the stachybotrys had metastasized right through the framework behind the headboard of the bed- the east end of our home, right behind her head as she slept there every night. I discovered after a few years too, that I virtually couldn’t sleep in that bedroom and it was a beautiful home on a beautiful lake, a custom bed and everything was perfect. But as soon as we left, we could sleep. Her headaches went away and we started to put one and one together and even though the scientific and medical community couldn’t help us one bit…through her diligent research and just the cause and effect calculations based upon our personal experiences, we determined that that bedroom was toxic. Even the first environmental test didn’t prove anything but we had a specialist come in and we opened up the framework and saw the black goo everywhere. The poor girl was exposed to it for twelve years as it grew behind there. So she did a certain flushing and cleansing system done in a special clinic to revitalize her immune system. It really knocked me on my ass too. Thank God, while Rocco was growing up, he was in the far west end of the house were it had not reached. It could have been much worse.

It can cause permanent brain damage and all kinds of physiological catastrophes really. We’re quite thankful. And again, we do so much work with charities with children who do have terminal diseases that we just thank God everyday that we have our health and that we are smart enough to discover the system by which we can retain our health and regain our health. We’re doing quite fine now.

MusicPix: Switching gears a little bit… Your new reality show sounds like a hoot! “Wanted: Ted or Alive”- to be aired later this year on Outdoor Life Network- where you help city slickers get in touch with nature. Give us a: 30 spot for the new reality show according to Uncle Ted…

Ted: Well basically, it’s 2005 boys and girls and its time to get back to the good Mother Earth and realize that quality of life comes from quality air, soil, and water. And that doesn’t come from malls or highways or kiosks. It comes from spirit of the wild- hunting, fishing, and trapping ground. All life comes from death. It’s about responsible, intelligent and honest relationship with the productivity of the good Mother Earth. When you throw a switch to turn on a light or the heat or whatever convenience you may choose, someone is starting a huge, black, billowing bulldozer to dig a hole in the ground so that you can conveniently throw that switch…It’s time to man up, spine up, and start being more honest with your relationship with the tooth, fang, and claw reality of the good Mother Earth. I want to see you kill it and grill it! And nobody gets out of here alive until they admit it!

Musicpix: With that kind of commercial, I’m sure that you’re going to have great ratings.

Ted: I’m probably going to win black-redneck of the year again…cause I’m so soulful and goofy. It was a wonderful, wonderful experience. Jay and Tony (the producers) did a great job. The contestants were everything a guy could want because they came in in denial with the political correct baggage. And by the time I was done with ‘em…not really I was done with ‘em…but by the time they got back to the good Mother Earth, they had epiphanies, each and every one of them and they all parroted, not Ted Nugent’s opinion, but the truth about man’s honest relationship with nature and it was just beautiful and it was hysterical throughout, so I expect it to be just a hoot.

MusicPix: We’ll tune in… Keying in on something you said earlier…about being black and soulful…I read where one of your heroes is Rosa Parks. Who are a few others?

Ted: Muhammad Ali certainly and Charlton Heston, Davy Crockett…those are the kind of people…Lewis & Clark certainly. Those are the kind of people that were courageous in their stands, in their defiance of bad policy, and supposition and ‘status-quoness.’ I like people who stand up and get it on. I think what Charlton Heston did in the Hollywood community was one of the all-time greatest, courageous moves I’ve ever witnessed. Certainly, Davy Crockett going to the Alamo to stop the Mexicans destroying America like they’ve done to Mexico-not the Mexican people, but the Mexican tyrants. I like that. I like that Rosa Parks as a young black girl just said that this policy is absolutely unacceptable and I will not conform, I will not comply. I love that. I just love that. When good people stand up and refuse to accept negativity or bad policy and that’s what I try to dedicate my life to.

MusicPix: Earlier this year (coincidentally on April Fool’s Day) you won a lawsuit against the Muskegon Summer Celebration for canceling a show in 2003. Now that you’ve had a few months to reflect on the Muskegon controversy, do you think that you’ll become more cautious regarding what you say publicly? Although you just told me that you really appreciate those who stand up for themselves…But given your personal history, do you think that you’ll ever rein it in a little bit?

Ted: No, not a prayer. As a matter of fact, I’m sharpening my horns as we speak. No, I’m not out to negotiate with political correctness. I’m out to burn it, I’m out to chop it down, I’m going to melt it. I like to think that political correctness and denial is like the emperor of Japan thinking he’s going to take over America. I would recommend when you face that kind of evil, you melt them. That’s what I am going to do to my enemies. I will melt them. Then I will smear their remains and anyone else, who is inclined to try to take on freedom, and liberty, and goodness again. I think now more than ever, we have got to be strong…we need to get a spine…we’ve got to be warriors. I will not back down and I will not allow certain people to say a word, and then try to tell me that I’m not allowed to say it! It’s unbelievable. It’s unacceptable. It’s illogical and I will fix it!

MusicPix: Alright…now on to music. Craveman was your last release in 2002. Do you have plans for anything new?

Ted: Hell Yes! I’ve got so many songs bursting out of me right now it’s like an eruption. Again, because of what Barry Sparks and Mick Brown provide is the rhythm, the ThunderGodz from Funkbrother Hell, the music has a life of it’s own. I’ve written a huge batch of new songs-these guitar themed songs and guitar lines that just drive me as wild as the first time I tried to play Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry back in the 50’s. I’ve got a song called ‘Bridge over Troubled Daughters’ that is just so intense it’s frightening. I’ve got a song that celebrates the graduation from FUNK U, I graduated from Funk University so I’ve gotta a song called, ‘FUNK U.’ I’ve got a song called ‘Girl Scout Cookies’ that is just an absolute riot…it is just a grinding, grinding girl scout cookie shoot celebration. I’ve got a song called ‘Broadside.’ I’ve got a song called ‘Crowbar.’ I’ve got so many new songs that I’m just dying to get into the studio and record them. Especially Mick and Barry, they put such a ferocity to my music…

MusicPix: But hey? You’re not supposed to be doing anything next year. How are you going to do that?

Ted: I don’t know when I’m going to be able to do this but see that’s the beauty of technology these days…I can have Mick and Barry come in and I can stay right at home and we can record a record and I won’t miss any licks. I know I have to capture this music and I will. It’s just a force that you can’t stop. It’s a force to reckon with and I never ever try to bridle it.

MusicPix: We look forward to hearing it.

MusicPix: I’ve always admired the set of your live show with the bunkers. I wondered where the inspiration came from and if it has a settling affect on your spirit when performing?

Ted: All of the above. I was blessed with an award here, just a couple of years back, prior to Toby Keith and I went to Iraq and Afghanistan. I’ve always been pro-military. I know that war is the answer. War is when good people try to stop evil and anybody that doesn’t understand that, or would contest that, is either on LSD or just retarded. I know that this experiment in self government has been paid for, and fertilized with the blood of warriors forever… my Dad was one of them. I don’t know, even in my creative state, whether I could adequately show appreciation for the sacrifice and the death and the torture and the mayhem they had to put up with-with the Nazis, and the Japs, and the brutal forces of evil that the good warriors of the United States military has fought in our lifetime. I was told by an agent, I forget the gentleman’s name, and this was right after the Damn Yankee’s Tour in 1993, that I was the number one artist requested by the military to perform at military bases and operations. And that is to me, the greatest team, the greatest blood brothers, the greatest friends to have, are guys who literally go into harms way to stop evil and secure the American dream for US citizens. I decided to show more visibility and not just on occasion, acknowledge or celebrate or thank the military, but to turn my stage show into a celebration. I think everywhere I go it will turn into a militant something…ha-ha. I might as well make the whole stage look like a bunker. And the fact that I bring in machine guns to cities like Boston and Chicago where they are illegal, makes me extremely proud.

MusicPix: Back to politics. With aspirations of being in government yourself, being a radical whether left/right--right/wrong, part of being a governor is being a governor of all the people. So how would you balance taking care of those who may not fully agree with your viewpoints?

Ted: In the simple cases of extremism, for example, welfare would cease to exist for an able bodied person. For those who would be angry at me for that kind of policy, would just have to learn to live with it. I believe that on a human, on decency, on goodwill, on a logic level, I can explain myself and anyone with a modicum of intellect and historical knowledge, will come to see it my way or reduce their protests to the point where I can move policy forward anyhow. In my world, you can’t buy a permit to pollute. In Michigan right now, you can pollute as long as you have the paperwork. Now see, those two issues would sound like a left wing issue and a right wing issue. Where I come from, they are a human logic issue-where you just don’t crap in your own nest. And you don’t let people who are able bodied take from people who have had a tragic condition or an accident in their lives, who need help. I believe that I would be the first Governor that I’ve ever heard of…I know that Jesse Ventura did some of this and Schwarzenegger is doing some of this…even the Huckabee’s and the Pataki’s and the Thompson’s and the Engler’s and even Bill Richardson, down in New Mexico- a democrat, but a good friend-there is common ground but sometimes you have to scold your critics and explain and use historical and current event evidence to squash their squawking. I believe that I could do that every time and people that didn’t’ agree would find themselves in my paper trail.

MusicPix: If I’m not mistaken, you align yourself with the Republican Party and you demonstrate a very strong love and respect for the earth. I’m not saying that I agree, but the public persona and the Republican Party’s position regarding maintaining conservationism and endangered species is ‘industrialism moves forward’ and that seems very contrary to what you just said. Could you explain?

Ted: One the surface, it appears that my environmental extremism…another words…I want a clean environment. Extremely. Extremely clean as possible. That doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t allow drilling for oil in Anwar or certain off-shore shelvings. However, we have to go back to the origins of environmental catastrophes and that is, the abuse in the hands of the greedy. You wouldn’t be allowed to be greedy because first of all, any resources tapped from the United States of America would belong to the citizens of the United States of America. So boy, talk about throwing a wrench in the status-quo-works from hell! I’d really tip some people over…for example the forest that we cut in our National Parks and public ground…who in God’s name owns those trees? If it’s on a National forest, who owns that? Not a forest company, the American people own that. So, I would really shock both the left and the right, and I would demand fair play. I would demand justice and equality. Certainly, and entrepreneur is going to invest to go get that oil, or go get that coal, but the corporation 100% has got to be held accountable for environmental sanctity. The provisions would be in place to make sure if someone goes up and makes a mess and before any CEO gets a dime, the mess is cleaned up.

MusicPix: That would be a difference…a line drawn in the sand from say a Rush Limbaugh whose pet phrase is: ‘Environmentalist Wackos.’

Ted: Rush identifies the Greenpeacers and the Animal Rights and the Eco-Terrorists, they are Wackos. Again we all know, and this is a perfect example and since you mentioned Rush… I’m a big fan of Rush or I hate to use the work fan, I’m a big supporter of his for the most part. I think that he’s grossly underestimated man’s capability of hurting the environment. I think that the environmental wackos, which he has identified accurately, claims that we’re destroying the environment when we all know that Mount St. Helens did more tangible and recordable pollution in a week than mankind had done since the dawn of man. But that’s the kind of information that we have to get through to schools. There isn’t a program in schools, there is no such information or education available. So it’s easy to sound an alarm and create a Chicken Little condition in a society that is virtually clueless about real environmentalism and real pollution conditions. I really believe that the future of the environment is going to turn our history of pollution and abuse into a positive industry. But we’ve got to at some point, we’ve got to kick the conservation- this wise use- the recycling- the reduced use of resources where just water, just wood, the way we recycle plastics- the recycling of paper products, we might be at best living up to like 1% of what we are capable of. If everybody in America did what the Nugent family did, there would be no environmental problem because we plant trees, thousands of them every spring. Why can’t everybody do that? You can’t find in our trash- a plastic container or a glass container. We won’t do it. We won’t set it out for them to put in a landfill somewhere. We recycle, even in Texas where they are basically environmentally brain dead- there is no recycling of plastic containers or glass bottles, they just constantly throw into landfills. I find that just obnoxious, irresponsible and criminal. In Michigan at least, we had a deposit on all glass containers and cans and it cleaned up our environment substantially. So there are a million issues-a million considerations and I really believe that I have the answer for every one of them. No leader has ever scolded America for being such gluttons. The closest that it’s ever come is when Bush, (and I’m well aware of what happened in WWI and WWII…and the saving of string and rubber bands and tin and metals and the recycling orgy that erupted because of sheer demand in extreme emergency conditions)…but I’d like to think that what is typically an emergency condition where Bush said we should probably drive less, I believe that is how we should conduct ourselves constantly. The amount of resources that we could save if people would just start educating… I’m not talking about a government program. I’m talking about communities just insisting on more responsible use of containers and the bubble wrap and the styrofoam packaging material. I’ve got two big crates in my garage right now of styrofoam packaging material that I get with all the different equipment -from sporting goods and musical stuff and computers and stuff…I refuse to throw that out! I will find some shipping business here and I will take it back and give it to them so that they wouldn’t have to burn what they give out and go produce a bunch more. Just think if everybody did that? So I do have the answers. The thing is, I’m already doing it in my life so I know it works and if we could get that done universally, my God, we’d be the cleanest country, the cleanest environment…in many ways we already are. That’s why I don’t agree with the Kyoto Agreement whatsoever-how dare the world punish us when we’re not even in the top 20 abusers out there. There’s got to be leading by example. There’s got to be leadership intolerance for irresponsible environmental practices and policies and abuses. You need to get on a bully pulpit and go nuts about this all the time. I guarantee it. Go to www.tednugent.com and go to our Talkback. I guarantee, this goofy guitar player has inspired more people to plant trees than anybody!

MusicPix: Are you a guitar player who’s a politician or a politician who’s a guitar player?

Ted: First of all, I’m an American. I think that we’ve lost touch with the responsibility of a good American in this experiment of self government. Each of us, are a self. Each of American has a responsibility to be involved. You find these obnoxious policies and these illogical regulations, it’s because no citizen’s have had any voice whatsoever. They’ve been apathetic and silent and some bureaucrat somewhere behind a big desk, pressured constantly by big business and special interests, all of a sudden they’re the single determining factor. You go back to the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s when it was at it worst…that’s where all of these obnoxious, silly policies really took hold. My leadership role would be one of lead by example that I am involved. If you’re not involved, you are a rotten American.

MusicPix: Well Ted…there’s only one of you…

Ted: It is contagious though. I can’t tell you how many people that I’ve caused to re-examine and upgrade their diet, to get the poisons- the alcohol, the tobacco, the poison food out of their systems. I don’t consider myself a crusader… there’s other terms too… I just care. When I’ve got my buddies on a hunting trip and they’ve got a big turd in their lip because they chew tobacco and they want to be a bull rider when they grow up…you gotta be outta your mind! What is with that turd in you lip? And of course, they’ve got to carry a cup around with them so that they can spit it out. And I go, let me get some footage of this. Let me show it back to you later on and you tell me how proud you are of this. So, I’ve caused more people to quit smoking and chewing tobacco than anybody. I’ve even caused a couple of professional bull riders to quit riding bulls! The only thing dumber is Spanish people runnin’ with ’em… What I am is an alarm guy. I sound an alarm that there’s a more intelligent, responsible, higher quality of life available to each and every man, woman, and child in this nation if they would just admit the truth. Write it on a chalkboard in front of ‘em and the good stuff is what you do and the bad stuff, you just don’t do it! If it’s on the bad list, you can’t do it! (I’ve tried)...No, you must quit. It would be like telling Shemane, ‘Well, I tried to quit having affairs but…’ Hey, that ain’t good enough pal! You know what I mean? These guys who smoke and drink and eat like idiots…(I tried to stop…I tried to keep my kid to quit eating cookies) Are there cookies in your house? Don’t put cookies in your house!

MusicPix: We have a series of questions that we ask every artist we interview called the MusicPix Six:

MusicPix: What is the first musical instrument you played and at what age?

Ted: I was probably about six years old and it was a beat up guitar that my Aunt Nancy (my Mother’s sister) brought off an airplane when she was a stewardess… it only had five strings on it. It was when Elvis Presley, the Ventures and bands like that were comin’ out. And the electric guitar, thank God for Les Paul, was obviously providing the dominant theme of the music- it was this new rock and roll. I remember trying to bash on that guitar trying to capture those Bo Diddley, Elvis Presley type songs when I was just a little boy and remember it like it was yesterday.

MusicPix: What artist/performer influenced you the most?

Ted: Boy, it would hard to nail it down but I’d have to say Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels before they changed their name from Billy Lee and the Rivieras to Mitch Ryder- my band opened up for them in 1960 and I watched a guitar player named Jimmy McCarty. Between Mitch and the way he throttled the soulfulness of the music, and the way Jimmy played the Gibson Byrdland guitar, that was probably the most influential experience I had. But I was in the eye of the musical storm…I mean what James Brown did for me and what The Ventures, and certainly Elvis’ music…it was all powerful music. And by the time the Beatles and the Stones came out, I was hopeless. But it was because of Mitch Ryder and his band. Earl Elliott, Johnny Badanjek on drums, and Jimmy McCarty on guitar- what they showed me- the intensity- the good rhythm and blues rock and roll music, remains my primary motivation every night when I go on stage.

MusicPix: If you weren’t in your current band, what band would you like to play in?

Ted: I’d love to play with the Rolling Stones. They still have such an emotion to their music... such a sassiness, it still turns me on as much now as it did in the beginning. That would be a riot for me to play with Keith Richards and Charlie Watts… it would just be a riot.

MusicPix: What are your 3 ‘desert island’ albums?

Ted: Wow that would be so tough. I know one of them would be James Brown, Live at the Apollo. Probably Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels- Great Hits and probably the Rolling Stones first album, England’s Newest Hit Makers.

MusicPix: Who do you think is the most over-rated in the music industry?

Ted: Bruce Springsteen. It’s a toss up between Brice Springsteen and Dave Matthews. They’re both great, but I don’t understand how people have become so enamored with them. Bruce is a good troubadour, he’s a good songsmith. Dave’s got a killer band. But in a real world, they’d both be playing clubs on college campuses- they’re just not that good. I think that Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band is better than Bruce. I think Dave Matthew’s band is better than Dave. Vastly, [the bands are] more talented that either of them. I think that somehow they struck a chord much like Phish or the Grateful Dead. I never really felt the authenticity of the artist to the degree to fill stadiums and why people are so moved by them.

MusicPix: What’s your ‘perfect world?’

Ted: Where I am right now. I got to fix my four-wheeler this morning with a crowbar….the thing literally rolled down a hill and smashed into a tree. If I am the master of anything, it’s the crowbar. I can fix anything with a crowbar or a large ball-peen hammer. I love getting up in the morning and running my trap lines everyday. I got up this morning with my son and my wife. I got Rocco ready for school. I packed my gear and came out here and went hunting. Only saw a couple of deer in the distance, but I was there when the sun rise caught the sky on fire and bird life came alive around me. I came back and trained my Labradors and I went and checked my trap lines. Killed a couple of raccoons. I’m going to skin ‘em here in a minute…I butchered a deer that Shemane shot the other day. I’m looking out over my lake right now where my dogs are waiting for me. I’m going to edit the Spirit of the Wild TV show with Jenny right now for a couple of hours and then go meet Shemane for brunch- actually be a late lunch now. This afternoon, I’m taking a little boy who has a brain tumor and I’m taking him hunting this afternoon. That’s all he wants to do is to go hunting with Uncle Ted. He sees my TV show and his father got a hold of me, so we’re going to take him out hunting. This is what I do everyday of my life and I’d blow up if my seams weren’t sealed properly. I’m so moved my the life God has blessed me with. It’s exactly what I want to do. And I will grab my guitar and beat the living snot out of it here soon. I just do all this stuff everyday.

I’m really looking forward to getting to Indianapolis-it’s always been a nice campfire for me. I guarantee it’s going to be a nice day.

By
Gwyn Tyme
W/Steve Mitchell