Three Questions with MARILYN MANSON

How do you feel about the hysteria people create over you and your image? Does it bother you that some people pay more attention to your image as opposed to the music?

My goal is to try and reach the people who have their minds cracked open just a little bit, and I don't expect to reach the ones who don't. I enjoy watching them get pissed off, because part of what I do is to continue to piss them off. There's always two levels to what I do: one is the genuine message in the music, the other is scraping the surface of what's going to piss off conservative people.

You once said the world would be a better place if everyone stopped doing press. Do you think there will come a time where an artist can rely solely on the Internet as a means of communication?

It worked for me when I was making the album. I didn't do any interviews for almost a year, and it worked because there was no filtering or censoring. There was no rewording of things I'd said and trying to fit them into a headline for an agenda. The media is not as objective as people would like to think they are. It's silly that people think they can beleive everything the media says. I think that's where the revolution is to be found; on the Internet. I'm not sure if most artists would ever do that, because most of them aren't smart enough. I care about everything I do-- every interview, every photograph, every song, every show. They're all on an equal playing field because it all represents me. I wouldn't want myself to be represented in an interview any less than I would in a song. So the fact that I have control over that on the Internet is a very powerful thing.

I understand what you mean when you say that the media always has a certain agenda: everyone has an opinion about whatever or whoever it is they're writing about...

And that's okay! I mean, I'm a writer and that's where I come from, and I think people are always going to want to hear other people's opinions because it's hard for them to form their own.

--Tony Jenkins

Fashion Clip

Dani's Foundation will be hosting a fashion show and design competition to support awareness of children's cancer and research, July 14 at The Westin Hotel, Tabor Center. The competition will feature 11 designers (all under the age of 25), who will showcase innovative pieces from "funky to slinky" said Michelle Ashby, coordinator of the event.

"My daughter died two years ago from a rare form of cancer at the age of 19. She and her friends really liked fashion," Ashby said, "and this allows young people to become involved, participate and spread the word about their art."

The event called Journey To A Cure: Dani's Fabulous Odyssey, is the second Dani Foundation event, with last year's fundraiser being a rave theme.

The first prize for the design competition is a trip to New York to tour Polo's Ralph Lauren studio, and also to lunch and learn with Norma Kamali. Kamali, three-time winner of the prestigious Coty Fashion Award, sponsored the first prize after being contacted by Asby.

"I contacted her after reading about her in O Magazine. She does all this fantastic work with local kids in Manhattan in cut-and-sew design," Ashby said.

The Foundation's proceeds from the event and silent auction, will sponsor research on rare cancers in children. It will also help to raise funds for the families of children with cancer.

"When a child has cancer, the whole family has cancer," Ashby said. "I am not a scientist and can't find a cure for cancer, but I am a business woman, and I can do fundraising."

--Kity Ironton

For more information on Dani's Foundation call 303-825-0834, or for information on Norma Kamali and her programs go to www.omo-norma-kamali.com

Local Music

The Czars recently released a limited edition CD soundtrack for the independent film I'd Rather Be ... Gone. Four unreleased songs are included and feature original artwork. The Czars held their CD release party at the Gothic Theater a few weeks back with new local Latin-erotica band Tarantella. For more info, check www.velveteenrecords.com

Rubber Planet became the first rock band from Denver to top the mighty MP3.com music charts with "One More Day." More than a million songs circulate freely to the public on MP3.com, and this is a great accomplishment for the Denver rockers. All voting is by fan support, and Rubber Planet is grateful-- as a show of appreciation the band has made never-before-released "Salt" available for free download on their MP3.com site. Rubber Planet is scheduled to appear at The Soiled Dove on June 30 as part of the MP3.com Heineken Summer Tour Series.

If you are between ages 16 and 21, and were hoping to catch a few good concerts this summer, your chances improved greatly with the City Council's preliminary approval on June 11 to let music venues host all-age shows and serve alcohol. Although the ordinance passed nine to three, Councilwoman Deborah Ortega pushed through an amendment that will sunset the law in January 2002. To club owners, promoters, and concert-goers this is welcome news, but only a temporary solution to a problem that has no easy answers.

Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth is an advocate for keeping all-age venues up and running. "We have kids that don't have places to go," Wedgeworth said. "It seems kind of odd to me. Our young people can go to war at 18 and fight for their country, but they can't go out and listen to a band?" Wedgeworth also said there has to be a middle ground where all venues fit under the same umbrellas adding that the same licenses should apply to venues like the Ogden and the Fillmore as do the larger venues like the Pepsi Center.

On the other side of the fence, Denver Department Excise and Licenses director Helen Gonzales declined to comment on the Council's preliminary decision. Gonzales did say, however, that there is probably some middle ground to be found in all of this. "The only thing I want to ensure is that this is equal for everybody," Gonzales said about finding a system that will work for all venues. Gonzalez also said she wasn't convinced if alcohol was removed from the mix that venues such as The Ogden and Bluebird would suffer.

Wedgeworth disagrees. "It's a shame for the music community," she said, adding if kids aren't allowed to attend these shows, they will end up having more house parties and going to underground raves.

Tim Correa, owner of Aztlan Theater, recognizes the core issue in all of this. "They shouldn't have revoked the privilege in the first place. It was already under control. We exercise more control than the large venues. At the Pepsi Center or Coors Field, you can get a beer and drink it next to a 14-year-old. You can't do that at our venue. It's like working under two different laws."

Whatever the solution, it is a long way from being over.

--Judy B. and Matt Davis