June 23, 2025 • 21 mins
From the streets of New York to the heart of hardcore legend—Wired for Chaos dives deep with Harley Flanagan, founder of the Cro-Mags, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, bestselling author, and punk icon.
Join me on Amazing Women & Men of Power: Legends & Icons as we explore:
Catch the doc LIVE at these upcoming screening events: Los Angeles:
• June 25 – The Frida Cinema, Santa Ana, CA
• June 26 – American Cinematheque, Los Feliz 3, LA
• June 27–July 3 – Laemmle Glendale, LA Minneapolis: July 9 – Trylon Cinema
Boston: July 17 – Somerville Theatre
Join me on Amazing Women & Men of Power: Legends & Icons as we explore:
- His first gigs at CBGBs by age 11
- The rise of Cro-Mags and shaping a subculture
- His battle with trauma and triumph through martial arts
- The behind-the-scenes story of Wired for Chaos, his acclaimed doc
- His journey turning chaos into creative fuel
Catch the doc LIVE at these upcoming screening events: Los Angeles:
• June 25 – The Frida Cinema, Santa Ana, CA
• June 26 – American Cinematheque, Los Feliz 3, LA
• June 27–July 3 – Laemmle Glendale, LA Minneapolis: July 9 – Trylon Cinema
Boston: July 17 – Somerville Theatre
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
From banging on drums at Country, Blue, Cross and Blues
at just eleven years old, to building a legacy of defiance, discipline,
and raw power. Our guest today doesn't just make music, y'all,
he lives it. Welcome to amazing women and men of power,
legends and icons. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I'm your host,
(00:33):
Raven the talk show Maven and Today yesterday, we're rolling
out the virtual red carpet for a true musical warrior
and culture icon. I kid you not. He's the heartbeat,
yes of hardcore music. The founder. Oh my god, this
man is amazing. He's the founder of Cromag's black belt
in Brazilian Jujitsu, author of best selling memoir, and now
(00:56):
the focus of a raw and exposure a musky doctor
elementary Harley Flanton, Wired for Chaos. Now, let me tell
you this film is more than a documentary. It's a
declaration of survival, of truth, of transformation. The best part,
it's already a theater's rolling out nationwide. You can even
see it today in major screamings in New York City
(01:18):
today and Los Angeles in the next few days. Oh
my god, I'm so excited. You'll get a whole list
of where he's at in our show notes, so be
sure to look out for that. And guess what the
main star yet, Harley, He is here. He's just not
a survivor. He's a force, the living proof that chaos
doesn't break legends, it builds them. And it's time to
(01:40):
get happy, y'all because guess what he's with us right now?
I kid you not. So if you're stand to sit
down there, if you sit and stand up, because the
man is here, Harley Flanning, Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
That was Chaos doesn't break legends, that builds them.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Have me on your show.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Oh I'm so excited, Harley. I'm telling you Raven is
like a little kid bouncing in her Yeah yeah, yeah.
Now you started playing music in gritty, iconic venues like
Max Kansas City. Oh my god, I know Kansas City,
Stay Away from Swop Park remember that one? And Country
(02:22):
Bluegrass and Blues.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
At the age of eleven that was my original stomping grounds.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Oh really? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Well you know what? So I think you were about
to say, how did that happen so young?
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
You know my mom, I grew up in clubs and
I grew up at shows my whole life. And that's
just the culture I grew up in. And my mom
was always involved with music, and she was, you know,
back in the day, she was a stripper and the
whole thing. And I pretty much grew up in the
nitty gritty under you know, belly of New York. I
(02:59):
mean she she at fifteen was hanging out with people
like Andy Warhol and Allen Ginsberg and a lot of
She was one of like a I guess they used
to call them it girls at the factory back when
they were all doing that. She actually was the reason
that Warhol hooked up with Develovet underground because she was
part of that whole thing. So naturally, when I was born,
(03:22):
I was you know, she was young. I mean my
mom was like twenty when she had me or something.
So I was just there with her all the time,
you know. And I didn't really grow up around too
many kids. I grew up around mostly adults, you know. Therefore,
I lived a pretty wild life because, as we all know,
(03:44):
you know, the music world and the art world and
stuff are not exactly normal adults for that matter. I mean,
everybody's everybody's on drugs, everybody is messed up, and you know,
everybody's the lifestyle is a lot of debauchery, you know.
I mean this is face. Everybody's screwing underage people and
everybody's high. So this world I grew up in, which
(04:06):
you know, as we know, doesn't you know, always work
out well. I mean I was literally playing in clubs
when I was eight nine years old. I had my
first record came out when I was ten or eleven.
So I mean there's not too many people in the
music business who've been doing it since as early an
age as myself. You know, I really have to think
(04:28):
about people like Michael Jackson and stuff like that. There's
not a lot of people who before they had even
came close to puberty were already on stage performing in
adult night clubs. You know, we're not talking about children
the School of Rock. We're not at like, you know,
the school Talent Show. We're talking about you know, there's
(04:51):
adults getting high. You know, people are shooting drugs, people
are getting blow jobs under tables, and I'm you know,
so it was real. It was nitty. It was gritty
and kind of shitty, you know. So it's like, you know,
when you're twelve you should not be having sex with
women in their twenties, you know.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, yeah, oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Fifteen, you should not be shooting meth. You shouldn't already
have been dropping LSD by the time you're twelve. So yeah, so.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
That's a lot. Yeah, yeah, that's a lot. I'm just
curious when you look back at where you are now,
you know, and where you came from, what comes to
your mind if you had to describe it in one sentence,
what comes to your mind?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Well, the first word that came to my mind just
now was compassion, because it would be really easy. And
I guess I did hold a lot of resentment towards
my mother growing up, I'm sure, but I've also come
to accept that she was very young and coming up
in a time when, you know, as much as people
(06:04):
like to glorify the sixties and people are very nostalgic
and people like to you know, ah, there was a
lot of things that were also not too cool. You know,
people were got a lot of young people. Sure, there
was a revolution going on as far as you know,
eye opening awareness and you know, civil rights. A lot
(06:27):
of great things were happening, you know, people, you know,
women's liberations, so many cool things.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I lived that time. I know.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
The flip side of this and correctly wrong, because you know,
it's not really empowerment when you're actually being kind of
like tricked by not just your own naivety, but by
the people around you who are kind of taking advantage.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I'm all had young and she was getting you know,
she was basically, you know, not to sound like a dick,
but she was kind of, you know, getting passed around
by a lot of older dudes. Yeah, because that was
just like the culture of the time, you know, free love,
and you know, people had this notion. I had this
argument with a friend of mine the other day. It
was friends with a lot of hookers and strippers, and
(07:15):
he's like, you know, yeah, pussy power, you know, And
I'm like, yeah, well, you know it's that's you know,
I'm sorry, but you're actually just doing a job. You're
actually working, and what you're doing is you're actually this
person is not You're not empowered. This person is looking
at you like a piece of meat, like you're just
like they're actually having filthy, fucked up thoughts and you're
(07:37):
just the victim of their fantasies. I'm sorry. You know,
there was like a lot of things that people thought
was empowerment. I feel like they were kind of getting
played out.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Yeah, she you know, she was.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
A stripper early in her life because that was like normal,
you know, And she was working in the massage parlors
and everything on the deuce and all that, you know,
and she thought she was on top of her game.
And in a lot of ways. You know, Look, I
understand when you poor people have to do what poor
people got to do in order to do it, but
they have to do so people make decisions and choices
that aren't necessarily always you know, maybe if you had
(08:13):
other choices, you would, But due to the culture of
the sixties, she thought all this stuff was cool and
it's not. And I'm sorry, you know, Like you know,
she was. My parents were really I grew up watching
everybody getting high. My dad was junkie. He was in
jail for most of my childhood. I didn't know the
man and and my mom made a lot of mistakes.
(08:37):
And I think that because of the I'm going to
call it brainwashing. Because of the brainwasher, I see that,
you know, she didn't feel worthy unless men were looking
at her with some sort of sexual desire, you know,
as a stripper. I always felt bad for her because
once she aged out, she was still looking for validation
(08:57):
from young men to feel fleet, you know. She and
even at an older age, she was doing dominance and
shit like that. And you know, this is back when
I was strung out on drugs. So I'm like looking
in the back of the newspaper and I have I
see my girlfriend on one page doing dominance and my
mom on a different pit.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
On a different page. Wow, I'm like, damn.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Like, really, you need to put your damn Toto in
the back of the Village voice for goddamn sake. You know.
So this is real life stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
This is what made you say you know, this is
what you want to do. You want to get your
story out, you know, because that's a hard thing to do.
A lot of people think, Okay, the book came out,
and everybody has their different thoughts about it or the
play or the film like yours comes out. But that's
a hard decision to make. When you agree to say, okay,
(09:48):
I'm just going to be raw and real, come from
my heart and put it out there.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
I got to tell you two things real quick. For first,
of all, I started working on the book because I
was really like, I did not think I was going
to make it. It was like the book was going
to be called the longest suicide note ever written, because
it was basically the documentation of all of that chaos
to the point of where I crashed and burned, which
(10:14):
is where I was pretty much felt like I was.
So I knew as a musician, I'm like, look, I've
already put out some fairly important or significant albums in
the genre of music that I play. I knew if
I if I died, if I oweded or got hit
by a truck, I knew somebody write something, and I
knew that it would be a bogus story. There would
(10:37):
be serving whatever story they were trying to tell, it
would probably not be accurate, and it would probably be
somebody who trying to pitch their version of not just
my life, but of reality, right you know. So I said, man,
I've better write this down before something happens, because otherwise
it's not going to be true people or they're not
(10:58):
going to know what I went through, not going to
understand art writing it down, and I didn't obviously, and
eventually I wound up meeting the woman that I married,
and she started editing the book with me, and we
were actually both in relationships, long relationships that were literally
(11:21):
starting to come a part of the scenes around that time,
So we knew each other for a while before we
actually like became intimate, you know, And she helped edit
the book, and despite knowing all this stuff, she married me. Anyway,
(11:44):
what's love got to do with everything? You know? And
the movie happened? You know, she believed that should should
be a movie, and she got it into her head.
That's why it actually turned into a film, because she
pursued this and she's relentless.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
God, what's her name? What's your wife's name? Laura flannagain?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
You rock girl?
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Yeah, the woman behind the man?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Huh oh rights a strong woman. You know anybody Yeah,
anybody who doesn't is a coward.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Oh I love that. Oh my goodness, your story. You
know what? We have got to go see the film
that's all to it.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
In La next week.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
We just know, I know, well know San Diego? Is
it La next week? Yeah? Yeah, next week, I believe.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
So we're going.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
I think it's the twenty fifth. I'm in La. So
I am definitely going to make it appoint me and.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
My husband to my wife.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Oh that would be nice.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Okay, we'll have to bring a copy for you.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
We'll have to figure that out. I want to be
you got you talked me into it for sure. Now
I got just a couple of minutes, I'm gonna I know,
you got so much of your story and I want
to hear more. We're probably gonna have to have you
back on the show. Well, I want to get to
a little bit of your music industry. Because you built
legacy in multiple worlds, punk, martial arts and writing. What's
(13:09):
the thread that ties it all together for you, Harley?
Speaker 2 (13:13):
It's the creative soul. You know.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
I love that creative soul and I've.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Been blessed that I had the opportunity to express it.
You know, maybe I wasn't, you know, given the regular
standard opportunities in life, but I was given to express myself.
And for whatever reason, you know, all the emotion and
and the hardship that I went through and even and
the passion that went into my music, it seems to
(13:39):
have meant a lot to other people, which is you know,
that's a significant contribution, because you know, music changes lives,
and if it does, I've given anybody hope or strength
when they needed it, then then I was put here
for a reason.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
That's why I said at the beginning, if you heard me,
you don't just make music, you live it. You know,
it's from the soul for sure. Now, your documentary Wired
for Chaos opened actually on June fifteenth. It's here, well,
it's in New York now, and it continues with big
theatrical runs like I think today's New York City Roxy
(14:18):
Cinema in June twenty fifth, the Freedom Cinema in Santa Ana, California.
Then that's when you come to Los Angeles after this.
So my question is, what's it been like seeing your
life all the extreme.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
It's it's been a trip, I'll tell you. It's you know,
most people don't get to see their life flash before
their eyes until they're on their deathbed, you know. And
here on my whole life flash before my eyes continuously
and in front of an audience. So it's kind of
like I feel like I got a new Lesaan life,
you know, like I feel like that was my life
(14:56):
and now I'm free. You know.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Yeah, it kind of like Paddy La Belle, I got
a new attitude.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
And I got to do everything, and you know, just
to put perspective. It premiered on Father's Day and I
was there with my eldest son watching the story of
my life. And then I realized, I like, I just
landed at JFK that morning. I had a show in
Germany the night before. I was exhausted. Right, my wife
(15:23):
whispers in my ear. You realize today is the ten
year anniversaries. It's past. So I'm like sitting there watching
my life story. Yeah, my eldest son, my Father's Day,
and I'm like, wow, my mom would be so like
it just overwhelmed me.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Yeah yeah, well, you know, we don't know, but it
was just a beautiful thing that she was on the
day she left here.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I am my story is being told. It was almost
like the torch being handed. You know.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
I just got chills from that. Seriously, Oh my goodness.
I know she said it was just amazing. If you
could talk to your mom right now, just take a moment,
what would you say to her?
Speaker 2 (16:15):
I love you, mom?
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Mmm mmmmmm. You talked about compassion, and we well, in
these todays times, we really need more compassion, We really
need more love. And more forgiveness, you know, because all
of us go through our journey for wherever we had
to go through the journey at that time. You know,
(16:39):
I'm like, I had to hold some things back to
with my mom. But but then you know, you get
past that because you want the rest of your life
not holding a grudge, you know. So I want to
launde you for that because I know, I know that
wasn't easy our times. Almost at the end. Now we
got to have you back okay.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Again. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Yeah. The film features heavy hitters, Oh my god, like
flea iced Tea, Henry Rollins and Michael Imperially. Who do
you feel captured your journey?
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Well, you know, Sasha Jenkins really added a lot to
this film. He just passed away. Actually a few people
involved with this film have recently departed it, so it's
it's heavy too.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
You know.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Sasha was a big, very important, influential cat in the
hip hop world, in the rock world. He put a
lot of magazines and journalists, you know, and and Boordain.
You know, these there's some real powerful people in this film.
And when you get respect from people like that, you know,
(17:50):
no matter how small or insignificant you might feel all
of a sudden. Yeah, it validates your m you know,
val that you're suffering and your survival.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Sometimes that's all we get, is that validation? Right, Sometimes
that's all we get.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah, Sometimes that's all it takes, is Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Absolutely, that's even a better way to look at it.
Sometimes that's all it takes. Now, your story touches on pain, hardly, survival, music,
martial arts, PTSD, and healing. If there's one thing, and
this will be my final question, unfortunately, if this is
one thing that you hope your audience will walk away
(18:36):
with it, what would be.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Love wins?
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Love wins? Oh my god, you're amazing. You're amazing. I'm
my husband, colleague and I We're going to come and
see that we are and I can't wait to meet
this Lori Lee flannikin too. I want to remind the
listeners and the viewers to catch it in theaters actually
(19:06):
today in New York City today June twentieth. If you're
listening to it, Roxy Cinema, Los Angeles area on June
twenty fifth, that's what it is. Harley at the Freedom
Cinema also in Santa Ana, and visit Wired for Chaos
dot com for more screenings and exclusive content. When you
(19:27):
watch our post and then our show notes, will be
sure to put a list of those. It's a long list,
so definitely go. He's a busy man. He booked them
busy okay.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
And those of you do not have it in theaters
near you. August eighth, I believe we're going to be
having a pay per view events, So if you go
to the website, you'll be able to find all that
info and hopefully you'll check it out and enjoy it.
And you might think I'm out of my mind. You
might appreciate you. You might think I'm a total reasoning
share it. Thank you all for you know, thank you
(20:04):
for those of you who have appreciated my music throughout
my life. Thank you for letting my music into your life.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Oh Harley, thank you for doing all that you do.
Thank you for being real raw and you know, just
stepping out and leaving your story or not leaving you
staying here for a long time. You're putting the story
out there.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
You're putting it out there.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
You're taking control of what your legacy is going to
be and what the true story is. And we want
to applaud you. Thank you so much. Can't wait to
meet Laura Lee tell A Raven said Hi okay, and everyone,
don't forget to check it out. Go to wife or
chaos dot com. There he is the one and only,
(20:47):
legendary Harley Fannikin
From banging on drums at Country, Blue, Cross and Blues
at just eleven years old, to building a legacy of defiance, discipline,
and raw power. Our guest today doesn't just make music, y'all,
he lives it. Welcome to amazing women and men of power,
legends and icons. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I'm your host,
(00:33):
Raven the talk show Maven and Today yesterday, we're rolling
out the virtual red carpet for a true musical warrior
and culture icon. I kid you not. He's the heartbeat,
yes of hardcore music. The founder. Oh my god, this
man is amazing. He's the founder of Cromag's black belt
in Brazilian Jujitsu, author of best selling memoir, and now
(00:56):
the focus of a raw and exposure a musky doctor
elementary Harley Flanton, Wired for Chaos. Now, let me tell
you this film is more than a documentary. It's a
declaration of survival, of truth, of transformation. The best part,
it's already a theater's rolling out nationwide. You can even
see it today in major screamings in New York City
(01:18):
today and Los Angeles in the next few days. Oh
my god, I'm so excited. You'll get a whole list
of where he's at in our show notes, so be
sure to look out for that. And guess what the
main star yet, Harley, He is here. He's just not
a survivor. He's a force, the living proof that chaos
doesn't break legends, it builds them. And it's time to
(01:40):
get happy, y'all because guess what he's with us right now?
I kid you not. So if you're stand to sit
down there, if you sit and stand up, because the
man is here, Harley Flanning, Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
That was Chaos doesn't break legends, that builds them.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Have me on your show.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Oh I'm so excited, Harley. I'm telling you Raven is
like a little kid bouncing in her Yeah yeah, yeah.
Now you started playing music in gritty, iconic venues like
Max Kansas City. Oh my god, I know Kansas City,
Stay Away from Swop Park remember that one? And Country
(02:22):
Bluegrass and Blues.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
At the age of eleven that was my original stomping grounds.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Oh really? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Well you know what? So I think you were about
to say, how did that happen so young?
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
You know my mom, I grew up in clubs and
I grew up at shows my whole life. And that's
just the culture I grew up in. And my mom
was always involved with music, and she was, you know,
back in the day, she was a stripper and the
whole thing. And I pretty much grew up in the
nitty gritty under you know, belly of New York. I
(02:59):
mean she she at fifteen was hanging out with people
like Andy Warhol and Allen Ginsberg and a lot of
She was one of like a I guess they used
to call them it girls at the factory back when
they were all doing that. She actually was the reason
that Warhol hooked up with Develovet underground because she was
part of that whole thing. So naturally, when I was born,
(03:22):
I was you know, she was young. I mean my
mom was like twenty when she had me or something.
So I was just there with her all the time,
you know. And I didn't really grow up around too
many kids. I grew up around mostly adults, you know. Therefore,
I lived a pretty wild life because, as we all know,
(03:44):
you know, the music world and the art world and
stuff are not exactly normal adults for that matter. I mean,
everybody's everybody's on drugs, everybody is messed up, and you know,
everybody's the lifestyle is a lot of debauchery, you know.
I mean this is face. Everybody's screwing underage people and
everybody's high. So this world I grew up in, which
(04:06):
you know, as we know, doesn't you know, always work
out well. I mean I was literally playing in clubs
when I was eight nine years old. I had my
first record came out when I was ten or eleven.
So I mean there's not too many people in the
music business who've been doing it since as early an
age as myself. You know, I really have to think
(04:28):
about people like Michael Jackson and stuff like that. There's
not a lot of people who before they had even
came close to puberty were already on stage performing in
adult night clubs. You know, we're not talking about children
the School of Rock. We're not at like, you know,
the school Talent Show. We're talking about you know, there's
(04:51):
adults getting high. You know, people are shooting drugs, people
are getting blow jobs under tables, and I'm you know,
so it was real. It was nitty. It was gritty
and kind of shitty, you know. So it's like, you know,
when you're twelve you should not be having sex with
women in their twenties, you know.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, yeah, oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Fifteen, you should not be shooting meth. You shouldn't already
have been dropping LSD by the time you're twelve. So yeah, so.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
That's a lot. Yeah, yeah, that's a lot. I'm just
curious when you look back at where you are now,
you know, and where you came from, what comes to
your mind if you had to describe it in one sentence,
what comes to your mind?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Well, the first word that came to my mind just
now was compassion, because it would be really easy. And
I guess I did hold a lot of resentment towards
my mother growing up, I'm sure, but I've also come
to accept that she was very young and coming up
in a time when, you know, as much as people
(06:04):
like to glorify the sixties and people are very nostalgic
and people like to you know, ah, there was a
lot of things that were also not too cool. You know,
people were got a lot of young people. Sure, there
was a revolution going on as far as you know,
eye opening awareness and you know, civil rights. A lot
(06:27):
of great things were happening, you know, people, you know,
women's liberations, so many cool things.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I lived that time. I know.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
The flip side of this and correctly wrong, because you know,
it's not really empowerment when you're actually being kind of
like tricked by not just your own naivety, but by
the people around you who are kind of taking advantage.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I'm all had young and she was getting you know,
she was basically, you know, not to sound like a dick,
but she was kind of, you know, getting passed around
by a lot of older dudes. Yeah, because that was
just like the culture of the time, you know, free love,
and you know, people had this notion. I had this
argument with a friend of mine the other day. It
was friends with a lot of hookers and strippers, and
(07:15):
he's like, you know, yeah, pussy power, you know, And
I'm like, yeah, well, you know it's that's you know,
I'm sorry, but you're actually just doing a job. You're
actually working, and what you're doing is you're actually this
person is not You're not empowered. This person is looking
at you like a piece of meat, like you're just
like they're actually having filthy, fucked up thoughts and you're
(07:37):
just the victim of their fantasies. I'm sorry. You know,
there was like a lot of things that people thought
was empowerment. I feel like they were kind of getting
played out.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Yeah, she you know, she was.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
A stripper early in her life because that was like normal,
you know, And she was working in the massage parlors
and everything on the deuce and all that, you know,
and she thought she was on top of her game.
And in a lot of ways. You know, Look, I
understand when you poor people have to do what poor
people got to do in order to do it, but
they have to do so people make decisions and choices
that aren't necessarily always you know, maybe if you had
(08:13):
other choices, you would, But due to the culture of
the sixties, she thought all this stuff was cool and
it's not. And I'm sorry, you know, Like you know,
she was. My parents were really I grew up watching
everybody getting high. My dad was junkie. He was in
jail for most of my childhood. I didn't know the
man and and my mom made a lot of mistakes.
(08:37):
And I think that because of the I'm going to
call it brainwashing. Because of the brainwasher, I see that,
you know, she didn't feel worthy unless men were looking
at her with some sort of sexual desire, you know,
as a stripper. I always felt bad for her because
once she aged out, she was still looking for validation
(08:57):
from young men to feel fleet, you know. She and
even at an older age, she was doing dominance and
shit like that. And you know, this is back when
I was strung out on drugs. So I'm like looking
in the back of the newspaper and I have I
see my girlfriend on one page doing dominance and my
mom on a different pit.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
On a different page. Wow, I'm like, damn.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Like, really, you need to put your damn Toto in
the back of the Village voice for goddamn sake. You know.
So this is real life stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
This is what made you say you know, this is
what you want to do. You want to get your
story out, you know, because that's a hard thing to do.
A lot of people think, Okay, the book came out,
and everybody has their different thoughts about it or the
play or the film like yours comes out. But that's
a hard decision to make. When you agree to say, okay,
(09:48):
I'm just going to be raw and real, come from
my heart and put it out there.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
I got to tell you two things real quick. For first,
of all, I started working on the book because I
was really like, I did not think I was going
to make it. It was like the book was going
to be called the longest suicide note ever written, because
it was basically the documentation of all of that chaos
to the point of where I crashed and burned, which
(10:14):
is where I was pretty much felt like I was.
So I knew as a musician, I'm like, look, I've
already put out some fairly important or significant albums in
the genre of music that I play. I knew if
I if I died, if I oweded or got hit
by a truck, I knew somebody write something, and I
knew that it would be a bogus story. There would
(10:37):
be serving whatever story they were trying to tell, it
would probably not be accurate, and it would probably be
somebody who trying to pitch their version of not just
my life, but of reality, right you know. So I said, man,
I've better write this down before something happens, because otherwise
it's not going to be true people or they're not
(10:58):
going to know what I went through, not going to
understand art writing it down, and I didn't obviously, and
eventually I wound up meeting the woman that I married,
and she started editing the book with me, and we
were actually both in relationships, long relationships that were literally
(11:21):
starting to come a part of the scenes around that time,
So we knew each other for a while before we
actually like became intimate, you know, And she helped edit
the book, and despite knowing all this stuff, she married me. Anyway,
(11:44):
what's love got to do with everything? You know? And
the movie happened? You know, she believed that should should
be a movie, and she got it into her head.
That's why it actually turned into a film, because she
pursued this and she's relentless.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
God, what's her name? What's your wife's name? Laura flannagain?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
You rock girl?
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Yeah, the woman behind the man?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Huh oh rights a strong woman. You know anybody Yeah,
anybody who doesn't is a coward.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Oh I love that. Oh my goodness, your story. You
know what? We have got to go see the film
that's all to it.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
In La next week.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
We just know, I know, well know San Diego? Is
it La next week? Yeah? Yeah, next week, I believe.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
So we're going.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
I think it's the twenty fifth. I'm in La. So
I am definitely going to make it appoint me and.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
My husband to my wife.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Oh that would be nice.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Okay, we'll have to bring a copy for you.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
We'll have to figure that out. I want to be
you got you talked me into it for sure. Now
I got just a couple of minutes, I'm gonna I know,
you got so much of your story and I want
to hear more. We're probably gonna have to have you
back on the show. Well, I want to get to
a little bit of your music industry. Because you built
legacy in multiple worlds, punk, martial arts and writing. What's
(13:09):
the thread that ties it all together for you, Harley?
Speaker 2 (13:13):
It's the creative soul. You know.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
I love that creative soul and I've.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Been blessed that I had the opportunity to express it.
You know, maybe I wasn't, you know, given the regular
standard opportunities in life, but I was given to express myself.
And for whatever reason, you know, all the emotion and
and the hardship that I went through and even and
the passion that went into my music, it seems to
(13:39):
have meant a lot to other people, which is you know,
that's a significant contribution, because you know, music changes lives,
and if it does, I've given anybody hope or strength
when they needed it, then then I was put here
for a reason.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
That's why I said at the beginning, if you heard me,
you don't just make music, you live it. You know,
it's from the soul for sure. Now, your documentary Wired
for Chaos opened actually on June fifteenth. It's here, well,
it's in New York now, and it continues with big
theatrical runs like I think today's New York City Roxy
(14:18):
Cinema in June twenty fifth, the Freedom Cinema in Santa Ana, California.
Then that's when you come to Los Angeles after this.
So my question is, what's it been like seeing your
life all the extreme.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
It's it's been a trip, I'll tell you. It's you know,
most people don't get to see their life flash before
their eyes until they're on their deathbed, you know. And
here on my whole life flash before my eyes continuously
and in front of an audience. So it's kind of
like I feel like I got a new Lesaan life,
you know, like I feel like that was my life
(14:56):
and now I'm free. You know.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Yeah, it kind of like Paddy La Belle, I got
a new attitude.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
And I got to do everything, and you know, just
to put perspective. It premiered on Father's Day and I
was there with my eldest son watching the story of
my life. And then I realized, I like, I just
landed at JFK that morning. I had a show in
Germany the night before. I was exhausted. Right, my wife
(15:23):
whispers in my ear. You realize today is the ten
year anniversaries. It's past. So I'm like sitting there watching
my life story. Yeah, my eldest son, my Father's Day,
and I'm like, wow, my mom would be so like
it just overwhelmed me.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Yeah yeah, well, you know, we don't know, but it
was just a beautiful thing that she was on the
day she left here.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I am my story is being told. It was almost
like the torch being handed. You know.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
I just got chills from that. Seriously, Oh my goodness.
I know she said it was just amazing. If you
could talk to your mom right now, just take a moment,
what would you say to her?
Speaker 2 (16:15):
I love you, mom?
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Mmm mmmmmm. You talked about compassion, and we well, in
these todays times, we really need more compassion, We really
need more love. And more forgiveness, you know, because all
of us go through our journey for wherever we had
to go through the journey at that time. You know,
(16:39):
I'm like, I had to hold some things back to
with my mom. But but then you know, you get
past that because you want the rest of your life
not holding a grudge, you know. So I want to
launde you for that because I know, I know that
wasn't easy our times. Almost at the end. Now we
got to have you back okay.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Again. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Yeah. The film features heavy hitters, Oh my god, like
flea iced Tea, Henry Rollins and Michael Imperially. Who do
you feel captured your journey?
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Well, you know, Sasha Jenkins really added a lot to
this film. He just passed away. Actually a few people
involved with this film have recently departed it, so it's
it's heavy too.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
You know.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Sasha was a big, very important, influential cat in the
hip hop world, in the rock world. He put a
lot of magazines and journalists, you know, and and Boordain.
You know, these there's some real powerful people in this film.
And when you get respect from people like that, you know,
(17:50):
no matter how small or insignificant you might feel all
of a sudden. Yeah, it validates your m you know,
val that you're suffering and your survival.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Sometimes that's all we get, is that validation? Right, Sometimes
that's all we get.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah, Sometimes that's all it takes, is Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Absolutely, that's even a better way to look at it.
Sometimes that's all it takes. Now, your story touches on pain, hardly, survival, music,
martial arts, PTSD, and healing. If there's one thing, and
this will be my final question, unfortunately, if this is
one thing that you hope your audience will walk away
(18:36):
with it, what would be.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Love wins?
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Love wins? Oh my god, you're amazing. You're amazing. I'm
my husband, colleague and I We're going to come and
see that we are and I can't wait to meet
this Lori Lee flannikin too. I want to remind the
listeners and the viewers to catch it in theaters actually
(19:06):
today in New York City today June twentieth. If you're
listening to it, Roxy Cinema, Los Angeles area on June
twenty fifth, that's what it is. Harley at the Freedom
Cinema also in Santa Ana, and visit Wired for Chaos
dot com for more screenings and exclusive content. When you
(19:27):
watch our post and then our show notes, will be
sure to put a list of those. It's a long list,
so definitely go. He's a busy man. He booked them
busy okay.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
And those of you do not have it in theaters
near you. August eighth, I believe we're going to be
having a pay per view events, So if you go
to the website, you'll be able to find all that
info and hopefully you'll check it out and enjoy it.
And you might think I'm out of my mind. You
might appreciate you. You might think I'm a total reasoning
share it. Thank you all for you know, thank you
(20:04):
for those of you who have appreciated my music throughout
my life. Thank you for letting my music into your life.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
Oh Harley, thank you for doing all that you do.
Thank you for being real raw and you know, just
stepping out and leaving your story or not leaving you
staying here for a long time. You're putting the story
out there.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
You're putting it out there.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
You're taking control of what your legacy is going to
be and what the true story is. And we want
to applaud you. Thank you so much. Can't wait to
meet Laura Lee tell A Raven said Hi okay, and everyone,
don't forget to check it out. Go to wife or
chaos dot com. There he is the one and only,
(20:47):
legendary Harley Fannikin
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