Rob Rotten Interview
I call him Thursday afternoon (2/16/06). I've seen him at a lot of events but frankly his tattoos and piercings scared me off. By telephone I'm more calm.
James DiGiorgio writes me: "File under 'looks are deceiving.' Rob's one of the nicest guys in the biz."
Luke: "When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?"
Rob: "I wanted to do porn, dude. Since I was eleven. I never thought I'd be a [porn star]. I thought I could just aspire to be a camera guy. Then it all just fell in my lap thanks to Jim Powers."
Luke: "What kind of crowd did you hang out with in highschool?"
Rob: "I dropped out of highschool in my freshman year. I made it about three weeks. I just went straight to work for a cement company, operating heavy machinery. I got crushed by a cement mixer. I moved to a rock quarry. I drove heavy machinery. [Something] got blown up and I got hurt there too. It was a blasting accident. The dynamite blasting caps went off prematurely. I was 17.
"I was in the hospital for a while. Then I got into the Local 6 electrical union in San Francisco. I still do that.
"I got into porn six years ago, when I was 18. It's been awesome, dude. It's allowed me to make really cool movies that I don't think anyone else in their right mind would put up money for.
"I've been tied into the music industry since I was young, being in bands and being around bands. That's become a huge part of my porn stuff.
"I've never wanted to do porn like the Vivid stuff. I never watched porn to yank one out. I watched porn to laugh at it, like JM's and Jim Powers' stuff.
"As soon as I got in the business and got a few scenes under my belt, I said to Jim, 'Let's do a movie together.' We did Little Runaways together, a punk rock movie."
Luke: "How did you get into the porn industry?"
Rob: "I was filming a friend's band in LA. I talked to another guy who was filming a friend's band. He said he shot porn. I said, 'Dude, put me in a movie.' That's how it happened. I did good. I got put in five scenes that week.
"It's been fun and also a nightmare.
"I was shocked when I got in how corporate it was and how professional people were. The great thing about it is to be able to express yourself. I don't shoot normal porn. I don't shoot alt-porn because 'alt-porn' is tranny porn. I shoot different stuff. It was an uphill battle for a long time to convince companies that this is where the market's gone.
"I was shut down by Vivid four years ago. I was shut down by Larry Flynt four years ago. All these people were like, 'Why don't you do a movie for us?' Then they said, 'This is too much of a risk. We can't have music and chicks that don't belong.'
"Hustler was interesting. They dragged it out for a year. Since then the hatchet's been buried."
Luke: "How has it affected your life to work in porn?"
Rob: "I've been able to meet a lot of rad people and do a lot of cool things. I've been trying to bring things into porn because porn by itself is ridiculous. But when you bring in different aspects, all of a sudden it has this spark.
"Wadi from The Exploiters, we're good friends now. That dude was my idol when I was a kid. Now we're talking to each other on the phone and bulls---ing and stuff.
"I'm making movies that I want to see.
"I didn't start this punk rock in porn movement. I didn't start zombie movies in porn. For a lot of these people who are coming out now and saying they're starting this, that's bulls---. If you want to give someone credit for starting something, I'd give it to Jim Powers. He had all these great punk bands in movies in the early nineties."
Luke: "How has it affected your relationships with women?"
Rob: "When I came into porn, I met my ex-girlfriend (Rachel Rotten?) and we performed together for over a year-and-a-half. I don't think the business had anything to do with me breaking off with her other than the fact that I was just bored. That was going to happen sooner or later regardless. I have no complaints. I think all those shmucks, those male performers who whine and bitch that 'I can never get a girlfriend because I'm in porn.' No, no, no. You can't get a girlfriend [because you're a loser]. You should be thankful you're in porn. You'd never have a girlfriend anyway.
"I have no problem getting girlfriends and getting what I want in life."
Luke: "How did your family react to your getting into porn?"
Rob: "My old man thought it was great. My mom was like, 'As long as you're making money and being safe.' My cousin (Jack Ryan) was a gay performer for years. He's retired now."
Luke: "Are your parents hippies?"
Rob: "No. I hate to admit this but they're total Republicans."
Luke: "What about all the piercings and tattoos? Why did you get those?"
Rob: "Piercings. I don't know. That was probably a big mistake. Now I've got holes in my face and [the piercings] won't come out. If I take out my lip piercings, and drink beer, the beer will run down my face. I'm f----- on that end so I'm just leaving those in. Tattoos. I've always liked them. I'm a collector. I get tattooed by numerous people. I don't tell them what to do. I just let them do whatever they want.
"It's gotten me so much s--- in the porn business, it's hilarious. I love reading, 'The scene was great but Rob Rottens tattoos were so distracting.' Don't look at me. Look at my dick."
Luke: "You're going to school at night."
Rob: "I'm still in the electrical union. I'm still an apprentice. This is my last semester before I'm considered a 'journeyman.' It's a five-year program. I've kept up my back-up career. It's a fulltime job. Porn is part-time. I know how things can turn on you. One minute you are the hottest thing in the business. The next minute you can't get anyone to talk to you."
Luke: "How did you choose the name Rob Rotten?"
Rob: "I've had the nickname 'Robbie Rotten' since second grade.
"I've been shooting this new girl line Scurvy Girls for Metro. I fly in a lot of girls from around the country. This chick Regan Reese went on a website that was a porn star name generator and it spat out that name."
Rob plugs his forthcoming Metro movies including F--- The System, which comes with a 12-band CD sampler. Then comes Porn of the Dead, "a full-on zombie movie that's been in and out of everyone's office and attorneys. People were too afraid to release it. They finally made a couple of changes. It will be released at the end of March. It's crazy. We went through 12 gallons of fake blood, fake hearts, fake intestines, dicks bitten off, fingers bitten off. All def-metal soundtrack.
"The VCA contract release that was sent around to everyone. I want to make clear that I am not a contract director for Metro or for VCA or for anyone. I'm shooting one movie for VCA. I don't know if that justifies signing a deal."