From Chad Bowar,
Everyone knows Bam Margera from his appearances in the Jackass movies along with the Jackass TV series, Viva La Bam, Bam’s Unholy Union and his many commercial endorsements. What you may not know is that Margera is a huge music fan who has directed several music videos by artists like CKY, HIM and Clutch. He also started the record company Filthy Note Records and their first signing was the Swedish band Vains Of Jenna, who toured with Poison and Ratt this summer. In addition he hosts a weekly radio show on Sirius and plays a lot of new metal music. Margera put out a Viva La Bands compilation CD out a couple years ago, and now returns with a new compilation and an accompanying Viva La Bands concert tour. Margera is a busy guy, and I managed to get a few minutes of his time to talk about the new CD and tour and his many other projects.

Chad Bowar: The first Viva La Bands compilation in 2005 must have done well since you’re releasing another one now.
Bam Margera: Yes, I’m hoping to do it once a year. We also have a tour with Vains Of Jenna, CKY, Gwar and Cradle Of Filth. Hopefully it will escalate into 8 bands next year, and maybe snowball into something as big as the Warped Tour.

Festivals like Ozzfest and Warped have been around for a long time. Maybe it’s time for some new blood.
Exactly. I was doing the Warped Tour when I was 16. It’s just not cool to say that you’re doing that anymore.

How involved are you in selecting the bands and songs for the CD?
I have full control. The best part about it is that I’m not trying to make money off it. I just want to let people know that these bands exist and they are good. You don’t have to go to FM radio to listen to this garbage that the labels are paying to play all day long.

You also included your project Gnarkill as the last track on the CD.
There’s a guy that freestyles, and my friend was playing the piano. He never even heard the song before and went for it. It’s not really a Gnarkill song, it’s just a funny little ending to the CD.

Instead of using all songs from existing albums, you managed to get some bands to write new songs specifically for this CD.
Yes. Children Of Bodom, In Flames, Clutch and Bloodhound Gang wrote new songs and CKY did a remix.

Viva La Bands Volume 2 also comes with a DVD. What type of material is on it?
We did 45 episodes of Viva La Bam, and MTV loves to overshoot things to be safe, and when they edit it they use as much storyline as they can. But they forget to use most of the funny stuff. We made a one hour compilation of all the funny stuff that hadn’t been shown, whether it was because we needed too much story or it was too gnarly for MTV. We put it together and it’s a really entertaining DVD.

Was there anybody that you couldn’t get for this CD that you would like to put on a future compilation?
Cradle Of Filth is the headlining band on this tour, but Roadrunner for some reason pulled out at the last minute. That kinda bums me out, because all it would have done is good for Cradle Of Filth.

Did you start the record company just to sign Vains Of Jenna, or did you find them after it was started?
I started the label because of Vains Of Jenna. I heard them and wanted to help them out and promote it. But why promote it for some other label? I might as well just start my own. We started Filthy Note and have about three bands on there now. One is a side project from my brother’s band CKY. He collaborated with Neal Fallon from Clutch and Jim from Fireball Ministry and they started a band called Company Man. I’m going to be putting that out. We also have a band from England called Viking Skull. And of course we released Vains Of Jenna and this compilation, so we have 4 CDs that came out or are coming out.

You’ve also directed a lot of music videos.
I direct a lot of music videos because I have my own movie camera, dolly, crane, lighting and editing equipment. So when I do a music video for a band that I like I don’t charge them for labor. All they have to pay for is film and processing. So they make out like bandits.

Will you be playing those videos before the concerts?
Yeah, I’ll be playing some videos along with clips from my movie Minghags which will be out in November. We just had a sneak preview in Westchester for friends and family. It takes a while for the ratings board to check it out and make their decisions and that won’t happen for a while, so that’s when it will be out.

Give us a preview of the movie.
A friend of mine in the movie makes an invention called the Garbage Juicer, where you can mash up trash of any kind and it spits out delicious grapefruit juice. A businessman steals the invention and claims it as his own and then we spend the whole movie trying to get it back. It’s a really funny slapstick comedy.

Are you still doing the Sirius radio show from your house every week?
Yes, I’m up to my 300th episode now. It’s basically one hour where I talk about how the week went and I play about 5 songs from Scandinavian bands and bands that nobody has heard of. You’ll never hear me play Metallica “One,” even though that’s a fabulous song. Everybody’s already heard it. I want people to hear new music.

Your latest TV show was Bam’s Unholy Union, which showed the months leading up to your wedding with Missy. Was there a different crowd watching this show than usually watch your other projects like Jackass and Viva La Bam?
Yes. A lot of soccer moms started tuning in, which is fine with me. They can relate to Missy, and they all favor her instead of me. It’s cool to know that a lot of older people that wouldn’t watch Jackass are getting into it.

Do you have any other TV projects coming up?
We just filmed Jackass 2.5, which will be coming out in December. After that I have three movies lined up, so I’m going to be booked for about the next two years.

Did your dad Phil keep off the weight he lost on Celebrity Fit Club?
He put it back on again. I think he likes being fat, and that’s the way it’s going to go.

But all the sea of sadness in my blood

Surges, and ebbing, leaves my lips morose,

Salt with the memory of the bitter flood.

In vain your hand glides my faint bosom o'er,

That which you seek, beloved, is desecrate

By woman's tooth and talon; ah, no more

Seek in me for a heart which those dogs ate.

It is a ruin where the jackals rest,

And rend and tear and glut themselves and slay--

A perfume swims about your naked breast!

Beauty, hard scourge of spirits, have your way!

With flame-like eyes that at bright feasts have flared

Burn up these tatters that the beasts have spared!