By Brian A. Gnatt

Daily Music Editor

Sipping a cup of coffee at Ann Arbor's own Fleetwood Diner seems like an everyday experience. But when the person sitting across the white Formica table is one of America's most popular old-school punk rock icons, the hot java seems to taste just a little bit richer.

John Doe, frontman of the legendary mid '70s punk band X rocked the Blind Pig recently. This trip brought Doe through town with his new side project, the John Doe Thing, which has been opening shows for Juliana Hatfield on her latest U.S. club and theater tour.

During his brief stop in Ann Arbor, Doe had a chance to sit down and chat about life, politics, and his ability to stand the test of time over a cup of the Fleetwood's black coffee.

On his second solo album "Kissingsohard," Doe said he wanted to grasp the opportunity to record a number of his songs he had been writing over the years. "I had a bunch of songs Smokey Hormel and I had played together for four years, doing mostly acoustic shows in California," Doe said. "I had songs and an opportunity, and it worked out with the scheduling."

Along with Hormel (the Blasters) on guitar, bassist Brad Houser (Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians), drummer Joey Waronker (Beck, Walt Mink) and Doe on vocals, the band's diverse talents work well in their punk-roots-rock music.

But while "Kissingsohard" proves Doe is anything but an old has-been punker from the past, he said X is the only Los Angeles-based band of their era that is still around today. "We're the only band who kept working, and I don't know why," Doe said as he produced a blue Drum tobacco pouch and began to roll himself a cigarette.

"I guess people didn't have enough stamina, in Darby's case (Darby Crash of the Germs) he definitely didn't have enough stamina, because he died," Doe said. You laugh about it now because it's been 15 years, but that was very sad, a very hard part of our life, him dying and everything.

"I don't know, we had some creative juice, or some stupidity not to quit," he continued. "Especially nowadays, I wonder about people's motives for playing music. I think there's a return to the attitude that you get into music to get a hit song and to be a big shot, and if it doesn't work out, you better go back to Dad's hardware store, or go back to school, or get Mom and Dad to find you a job. "

Doe said that it's the "Do It Yourself" attitude and mindset of his generation's punk rock that separates the `70s and `80s punk from that of today's major-label mall punk. "If a lot of new bands didn't have the success and didn't have the audience available and all the network it takes to have a band and tour across the country, I wonder if they would be into going through the hardship that came along with that," Doe said.

"You used to play in Los Angeles and New York, and that was it," he said. "We drove in 1978 from Los Angeles to play four gigs in New York and then drove home. It wasn't until we had toured and a bunch of other bands started up in Texas and in Georgia and later on in Minneapolis. SST started, and people started touring constantly. I think the Minutemen and Black Flag did a great deal for that, and that began to set up a network of college radio stations before record companies had college radio departments.

"So that network was just built slowly with the Replacements and Husker Du and us, but by no means was us. It was everybody, and I think that's a big part of what punk rock was, which was you had to help each other out," Doe remarked.

But with punk becoming a gigantic moneymaker for major record labels, Doe said he feels that the generic, ripped-off sound of many current bands is deplorable. "It's really annoying to hear someone that obviously is taking influences from something that was popular six months ago, and making a song similar enough to that so it's targeted to get on the same radio stations as that song got on and it does," Doe said. "And everyone goes, `Wow man, this is cool.' Then why not listen to the other songs? But I don't question motives. I hope that the reason people start playing music is to express themselves and not to make money.

"I think it's too bad somehow the media is doing a job to deny people of their culture, so that they don't even know who X was, or who the Ramones were, Patti Smith was or Iggy Pop," Doe said. "I mean I'm talking about someone who is 17 or 18 years old, and has 20 CDs where every record is Smashing Pumpkins. They probably don't know where any of that shit came from, or where tattoos came from, who started making tattoos, and who started jumping off stages and they should, because it's part of their culture. I guess that's up to people like me to spread the word. Stage diving started with Tony Alva and his skateboard crowd, and they would jump on stage and spin around and miss everything. They wouldn't even touch a beer on the stage. Now you see it on Pepsi commercials. It's very strange. Makes you wonder what year it is. Now I've noticed there's a resurgence of slam dancing and pogoing instead of crowd surfing. Give it a fucking rest, man. What year is this? 1981?"

Politics has always been a very important issue with X, from their early political anthems of anti-establishment to Doe's complaints and political theories today. "Things are getting to the point where you have to be at least aware if you're not directly involved," he said. "Hopefully the awareness will bring more involvement. I think both the political parties are pretty fucked up. I think most of the country is based on lies, and I think the corporations are proving to everyone and people are becoming aware that they are in control. I think that was really obvious by the NAFTA and GATT treaties being passed, being initiated by the Republican party and George Bush and being passed to the Clinton administration.

"I think Clinton is definitely the lesser of two evils, because at least he's trying to maintain the social programs that are in place. I'm hopeful, but I don't think corporations allow major parties to do what they know is right. I don't know if Republicans do know what's right, but I think they know what's right for them, I think `them' as opposed to the `us.'"

But for the present and the future, opening up for the youngens like Juliana Hatfield might seem a little strange, but Doe is simply happy to be able to be alive in the music industry and to still be relevant today.

"I'd rather play to a different audience to be part of the present and possibly the future than to play for the same audience or an older audience that is being convinced that this is still OK," he said. "I think Juliana had a little bit of a problem at first like `I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy.' But you know, she's one of us. She could have been in a band in LA in 1978. She's an artist. She's looking for something. She's not complacent and doing just what she knows she can succeed at. She's really pushing tempos and melodies and really looking for stuff. That's the sign of someone who will continue to grow and make good stuff."