The Tim “Napalm” Stegall Substack Interview: Michael Monroe, Part One
One of glam punk’s many founding fathers talks turning 60, the Demolition 23 reissue, his upcoming documentary, and reforming Hanoi Rocks for a hot minute.
Michael Monroe, born Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm in Helsinki, Finland on June 17, 1962, has a documentary due soon bearing the hilariously apt title The Best-Kept Secret In Rock & Roll. That shouldn’t be the case. Hanoi Rocks alone should have given him the keys to the universe. This obviously didn’t happen. He watched from the sidelines as his band languished and endless reams of Sunset Strip metal bands learned the wrong lessons from both the Hanois and New York Dolls. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d be ahead of his time.
The second – or was it the third(?!!) – was when Monroe and fellow ex-Hanoi Rocker Sami Yaffa formed a down-n-dirty punk band in early ‘90s NYC, Demolition 23. Stripping only a few layers of glam rock razzle dazzle off their past, since punk rock was basically ugly glam, they folded in extra helpings of everything they absorbed from the Ramones, Dead Boys and Johnny Thunders’ Heartbreakers. But they bucked the grunge trend, which was essentially punk mixed with ‘70s ‘lude metal, making labels reluctant to sign them. Two years later, as Monroe notes in this exclusive chat, popified punk became a chart commodity. Go figure….
Monroe was interviewed via Zoom last October 11th. He’s a true gent. Again, as with the Keith Morris interview, this conversation is Part One of a series.
You can listen to the album here, as you read this:
MICHAEL MONROE: Can you hear that echo? There’s a little bit of a delay. Maybe it’s in my head….
TIM: Well, we can record a duet of “Heartbreak Hotel” then.
MM: Yeah, but with longer delay, not slapback. [laughs]
TIM: Happy belated 60th birthday to you!
MM: Well, thank you! I feel good. I feel better than ever.
TIM: That’s good, man. You’re looking good.
MM: Thanks, man. Likewise.
TIM: We have a very dear mutual friend named Sami Yaffa.
MM: Yes, I saw the article you wrote. Very good. He’s my blood brother.
TIM: Absolutely. I mean, God! You guys have been playing music together since you were teenagers.
MM: That’s right. And he’s still with me.
TIM: He was with you through the album we are promoting today, Demolition 23.
MM: Demolition 23, right! Now remastered, out on vinyl for the very first time, and sounding better than ever. The CD artwork now also being redone, and out on all the digital platforms, whatever they are. It’s about time it came out. It’s been out of print for 28 years now, I think, since 1994.
TIM: Yeah, and it kinda in a way just snuck out, in its original release. [chuckles]
MM: Yeah. The band broke up before we got to do any serious touring. It came out on Music For Nations in Europe and Mercury Records in Japan, and it probably did the best in Japan. It never came out in the States officially. Little Steven was shopping for a deal for it, but everybody at all the labels said, “Hey, man. Punk is dead.” Then a year later, Green Day hits. So typically, we were ahead of our time – wrong place, wrong time.