**From the September 1991 issue of Details

Q: What is your first musical memory? 

Ooh! "Johnny Remember Me," about a girl's boyfriend dying and 
his ghost coming back. I like those kinds of pop songs. 

Q: Do you think punk still affects you? 

Punk has become tabloid stuff now. It was a lot of people fighting 
back, a very positive thing. It's closed up again now, and we need 
something else like it. Not the same. I mean, it's boring when the 
Happy Mondays go to Brazil to be photographed with Ronnie 
Biggs. 
How pathetic! Even when the Pistols did it, Lydon had already 
left. 

Q: What's the most punk thing that you got up to this week? 

I whacked someone in the balls with a billiard cue. I didn't 
actually hit him, but he felt the wind as the stick passed by. I 
just wanted to see the look on his face. 

Q: Are the Banshees still mischievous? 

Yeah. But also sowing a few seeds of doubt. I like the idea of 
people wondering if we're serious. It's important that things 
aren't dished up on a plate, completely palatable. There needs to 
be some sort of danger. 

Q: Malcolm McLaren says that rock'n' roll is too good now, that it 
needs to be Satan's music again. 

Yeah. If you kick up stink, more people want to buy it. The people 
who object to bands like Public Enemy-these guys say, "I was into 
Elvis, good clean stuff." They've got short memories, you know. 
Elvis was banned from the waist down; his was the devil's music. I 
hate that with people. When they get older, they're so stupid! 
You've got musicians from the '70s saying bands now can't play. 
How fucking stupid! They lose sight of what it was like to be 
young, what things are like when you're excited. 

Q: What excites you about music now? 

Reinventing ourselves. Every album has a strong identity, a 
different personality, and a different look. I look different. 
It's not self-conscious, just boredom. Especially when shops had 
the "Siouxsie look." I thought, it's about time to change dear, 
The models are looking like you. 

Q: Do you ever get stage fright? 

On the initial gigs I felt I would throw up from nerves, but IÕd 
never eat anything, and it was a sort of false gagging. Once, 
though, I ate a meatball submarine when I was a carnivore, and 
that sort of ended up in the bass drum. 

Q: Your new LP is called Superstition. Do the Banshees have any? 

Well, we have to wear the right underwear, for starters! Silk or 
satin for live performances and cotton or paper for the studio. 
Q: Why did you write the song "Kiss Them for Me," about Jayne 
Mansfield? 

It's just a fantastic story. The arrival of someone in Hollywood 
and what she makes of herself, and then the quick, swift, tragic 
end. And her life before that was storybook stuff. 
There's this really odd story about how her father died. 
Apparently he was driving her somewhere and she told him a joke 
and he died laughing at the wheel. 

Q: She was decapitated in a car accident 

Yes. And her mansion, the Pink Palace, is haunted. After buying it,
Mama Cass choked to death. Ringo Starr bought the place, but pink
kept seeping through the walls. Finally, Engelbert Humperdinck
bought it and had it exorcised. He's still living there. 

Q: There are stories that Jayne was beaten up by her boyfriend. 

Yeah, and she had an abortion because she was raped by a gas-
station attendant when she was thirteen. Her tits got her into 
trouble very early on. 

Q: When you were a teenager, yours caused you some trouble, too. 

I used to ride the bus topless under a plastic raincoat and ask 
for a half-fare. I came from the suburbs and had great scorn for 
all the narrow-mindedness. Whenever I walked out all the neighbors 
would say, "Oh, it"s her again! You'll never guess what she's 
wearing this time!" And I hated that, but I did it despite that. 
It was some sort of compulsion. 

Q: A lot of your songs are about compulsion and madness. Why is 
that so interesting? 

I suppose because there's such a thin line between normal and 
certifiable. There's all kinds of madness lurking in everyone. But 
for most people there's something that prevents them from being 
overwhelmed by it. I don't know what kind of state I'd be in if I 
didn't have music. Quite likely raving mad. 

Q: Have you ever been to a headshrinker? 

No. I think when you start to pin it down it becomes another form 
of obsession in a way. I think it's another madness, it's vanity. 
I'd like to have seen R. D. Laing. He was just amazing. 
He had a great quote: "Life is a sexually transmitted disease with 
100 percent mortality." 

Q: What fascinates you about people? 

I like scars, actually; they're like tattoos. I always have to see 
people's scars. When I was a kid, I wanted a lot of scars because 
it would almost be living proof of something. There's always a story
behind them. I like it when people tell me stories: "Well, it was
long ago on a night I'll never forget. . . " 

Q: Tell me the story about the time you were electrocuted. 

Which time? The first was in Nuremberg. Terrible audience-I hate 
Germany. They had metal pillars holding up the roof, and I was 
using one of them as a prop. I sort of caressed it, and I started 
shaking as I got the electric currents. That was a good one. I 
think I kicked a roadie. Then after a show in El Paso, we ended up 
in this bar in Mexico drinking tequilas like everyone does, and 
this guy came around with electrodes attached to this car battery, 
and someone would grab the wires and he'd turn this dial and there 
was much screaming and they were making bets who could last.
 We ended up playing, and I went all the way to ten on the dial and 
won. 

Q: Is it true that Robert Smith took a sheep on tour when he was a 
Banshee? 

No, He had fantasies. He had a lamb for a while-but not on tour. 

Q: You're living in London at the moment. Are you happy? 

No! I hate having neighbors. Upstairs, downstairs, either side. I 
hate it! I love London, but I think you can get sucked up in this 
whirlpool of panic and distress, and I think, Oh, sod that. 
I like the South of France. 

Q: Do you think the Banshees are very English? 

Not especially. Someone like Morrissey is very English, very 
closety, very "just so." We're more European than "quirky 
English." How do you react to American culture? 
I'd never live in America. It's a great place to visit, and I love 
to drive in beautiful places like Denver and Phoenix, but, 
unfortunately, I think the people are very neurotic. I'm certainly 
not anti-American. Most of what has influenced us is American. 
You've got oddities like William Burroughs-there are a lot of 
misfits. 

Q: Do you watch much TV? 

I've been trying to keep up with Twin Peaks, but since Bob killed 
himself I've lost interest. I like The Simpsons. I think they're 
the best records in the charts-which is quite sad, really. I 
love Bart and Homer. 

Q: Are you frequently recognized? 

Yeah, but people often think I'm a clone. 

Q: So you still buy your own groceries? 

I do. But my husband [Banshees drummer Budgie] is the one who's 
kitchen-friendly. 

Q: You're married? Congratulations! Did the bride wear black? Or 
white? 

Neither. I had an Indian-print gown in yellow, cerise, and gold. 
Flowers in the hair and every thing. Some people around the band 
didn't even know we were going out-we've always 
been very discreet. That's how it should be. I hate people who start
 smooching in public in the middle of a conversation. 

Q: What do men want from women? 

In general? To be a foil or something. I think a lot of men are 
confused about women, and if they're decent they'll want to 
understand women and have them as friends. 

Q: Do you understand men? 

I'm quite fascinated by them. I think the bad ones think that men are 
this different sex. The ones that fight against what's feminine in 
them are the ones that are the problem. 

Q: Do you get along with gay men? 

Oh, yeah! Gay clubs were my first sanctuary as a teenager. I 
thought the music and clothes were much better. I remember I used 
to hate men back then. The worst thing about heterosexual clubs is
that they turn into an ugly scene-fights and getting hit on. 

Q: What's the most seductive smell in the world? 

Fresh coffee! It can get me in and out of bed. I 
hate the smell of shaving cream. 

Q: So how do you shave your legs? 

Wax. I used to wish I had really bushy under arms so I could get 
them trimmed into tarantula shapes. That was one thing that really 
annoyed my mother. I got more comments on  not shaving my 
underarms than on running around topless. I was thrilled about it. 

Q: Do you have any nicknames? 

I'm Miss Whiplash to the band, and the tabloids call me Satanic 
Siouxsie. 

Q: Are you afraid of dying? 

No, but IÕm quite afraid of pain. I'd be afraid if I 
was caught by the enemy and tortured. Because I probably wouldn't 
know anything and they'd think I was holding out. Ugh! 

Q: Do people think you're into S&M? 

I think people can be divided into sadists and masochists. And being 
a Gemini, . . 

Q: You like both sides of the equation? 

Well, yeah, but not to any real extremes. 

Q: Tying people up? 

Mmm. [laughs]That depends. 

Q: Who would you be now if you weren't Siouxsie Sioux? 

A masseuse. 
* Interview by Philip Hoare