Rikki Rockett : Rocker and Film-maker

"..sitting in a car or getting on your bike; its the same difference as watching the TV and actually living your life.." This could well be the opening sentence of a new film - 'Hooligan, motorcycling's outsider' - currently being put together by it's producer Rikki Rockett. Rockett is a genuine rock star, drummer with the band Poison, a group described by one critic as " the Sex Pistols meets Kiss on acid". Whatever the critics thought, it was certainly a lucrative combination, one that has enabled Poison to sell millions upon millions of albums in the US since the mid-80s.  Rikki has done well for himself and was able to fully indulge one of his youthful passions ; British motorbikes. In addition, given his inquisitive nature, the drummer launched himself wholeheartedly into his new world, recording the various meets & rides on film -mostly in California - with the idea of making a documentary.  Cafe Rider magazine went to meet this rock adonis - bleached hair and thickset frame that has seen years of rock n roll excess - at his house located in the desert north of Los Angeles. Action !

How long have you been into bikes?

I started riding when I was about 10 or 11 years old, little Yamaha 60s. I'm orginally from Pennsylvania and I was able to spend all my time riding my bikes around - into the ground in fact. Above all else my principal memory is my first ride on a British bike - I was 11 when a neighbour took me for a ride on his Bonneville. I was shit scared but very excited at the same time. It all started for me that day. I wanted to ride a Bonenville on the highway. Then I got into drums and I wanted to become a drummer above all else. All my dough and spare time went into drumming.

What was your first real bike?

We started Poison in Pennsylvania, then in 1984 we moved to California. I was able to buy my first bike in 1987. It was a Sportster - there weren't really any British bikes around at that time. And I was into all the Harley heritage, the history behind my bike. Yet at the same time I felt that there was something missing. I just wasn't interested in the Harley-Davidson culture. It was all too chrome and money orientated - 'look at me, I'm a biker' kinda thing. So I sold the Sportster. In 1998 I bought a new Bonneville and it was a real nostalgia trip, like going back to being 11 years old.

You also own a Commando?

There were a lot of Truimphs were I was living, some BSA too. Naturally I wanted to get a Norton. I sold the Bonneville to actor Nicholas Cage and bought myself a Commando. It was like discovering a whole new world - like listening to Led Zep for the first time. Riding the Commando I immediately found myself in a different world, with a cool group of people - people with whom I could identify.

What do you mean exactly?

Whether they ride old bikes, European bikes, cafe racers, all these people share a different way of life and have different values. They're not into our consumer society and only own things that have some sort of history. In America people are first and foremost consumers, but this life-style is not for me, even though I'm a 'rock star' who in theory could have just about anything I want. I choose to live in the desert, a long way from Hollywood. I prefer too to do all my work on my bikes myself.

You've set up a bike club, the Brit Iron Rebels. Why was that?

I was looking for people who could help me with some info and I came across a group of twenty guys on an internet forum called New Bonneville Triumph, then another one, the Norton Rider Collection. As I was going back and forth between the two I thought it would be simpler to simply set up a forum that brought the two together. That's how B.I.R was born, a virtual club where the people are open, where we all ride classic bikes etc. The club now has 74 members in six countries. We ride together regularly, even if I have to do 80 miles just to get out of the desert here. We're not into cruising, just sitting in the saddle and waiting for something to happen.

How did you get the idea for the film?

About a year ago we started to talk about filming some of our road trips, burn them on a DVD. As I was having a lot of fun, we decided to do a documentary. I went to lots of different festivals and discovered a real culture just looking around me. If a kid wears a leather jacket there's an instant conenction with this under-culture, a kind of pop culture if you will. Its very cool and in a sense represents freedom for many. There are lots of interesting characters, like Long John who lost a leg in a crash on his Bonneville and who 23 years later had a prothesis fitted and now rides with a wooden leg. His story shows how strong the link is between man and machine. These bikes are not just mechanical objects or simple vehicles. They represent more than that to people who ride; they're a fundamental part of their lives, the cornerstone if you like of their freedom to act as individuals. There are hundreds of people like this, I'm meeting more of them all of the time.

When will we be able to see the film?

I filmed some 60 hours of footage up to now. I need to get it down to a fifty minute film. Very difficult to do, especially as there's a lot of pressure: I'm trying to portray people the best way I can, without really knowing if I can do it. There are still one or two events that I need to get on camera but I hope to have it finished in about eight weeks.

Where will we be able to see it?

I want to do a proper film, not some Discovery-style made-for-TV program. I want people who know nothing about bikes to appreciate this film- incidentally its not a film about bikes, but about people who like bikes  and the world that exists around this passion. It deals only with the kind of bikes people have in their garages, not with $ 100,000 choppers. You can't buy the life-style we enjoy. To answer the question, if I can't sell the film then it simply won't have been good enough.

What music will be on the soundtrack?

Most of it will be American rockabilly. I hope to produce a record with the groups I've met doing the film.

Why the title 'hooligan' ?

If I'd called the film 'Rocker' I doubt whether the audience would really have understood the theme. Hooligan is an 17th century Irish word. Most of the people I've met have two bikes in fact - one which they ride every day..and another one that only comes out from time to time and which is of course ridden way too fast. A sort of 'hooligan' bike if you will. When I suggested this title for the film the action was very favourable - after all we are outsiders.