Flying the flag

Punk rocker, poet, writer, actor, traveller and raconteur, Henry Rollins is a modern day renaissance man. He is also an individual with something in rare supply these days - missionary zeal. He has passionate beliefs about the state of the world, and rages eloquently on what we can do to make it a better place.

Man-mountain Rollins may still be best known as the vocalist with Californian punk band Black Flag and for his incendiary work with his own Rollins Band. But, while still every inch the charismatic rock star, he claims to have found a calling beyond music - telling the truth.

"I'm a guy of medium intellect with a high school education who is interested in everything," he told the Guide, speaking from an apartment in Edinburgh, where he has played a string of festival gigs, ahead of this weekend's appearance at the Reading Festival and a show, this Thursday, at the Oxford Academy.

"This is what punk rock evolves into. I'm slaying myths, and saying 'we can win the day'."

Rollins's spoken word tours have switched on audiences around the world, who come to hear him "sticking it to the man" while railing against "warmongers and neo-conservatives" ... and challenging anyone willing to listen to reassess how they view the world around them.

"I don't beat my own chest, but I do bristle with anger when I go to Africa and see famine on a kid's face, knowing there's enough food in the world. And I can't keep quiet," he says.

So how are the shows going down over here?

"Great! The people who come along know what to expect - a big man with a microphone telling them where I've been and what happened. They hoot and holler and have a great time.

"Since the last tour I've been in South Africa, Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Burma. The world is an interesting place right now and there are lots of things to talk about."

One of his trips saw him on the streets of Pakistan when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. He defied advice not to go out, and, armed with just a camera and a bottle of water, spoke to people about their feelings.

It's a typical Rollins technique, which hasn't earned him fans among the US authorities.

"I walk around the streets and talk to people, but when I come back to America I get detained at the airport. In my passport I've got a lot of stamps saying 'Islamic Republic of...' and 'People's Republic of...' and they ask 'why do you go to these places?' They don't get it.

"I got a lot of grief going to Syria. That one really stuck in their craw. They say 'what's your angle?' and I have to say 'I'm not buying into your xenophobia, man."

Among his greatest fans are members of the US Army, Navy and Air Force, for whom he has been a regular performer, travelling to Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq, Honduras, and Egypt.

Or, he was. While still being a hit with the troops, his forceful views have rankled with their superiors.

"They dropped me like a hot potato last year," he explains.

"The troops I like very much. The troops don't start wars. They go where they're told. Having a beef with a soldier about war is like having a beef with a cop about the law. I like them and they like me. They are just going out and hoping they don't get blown up.

"But people like what I'm doing and what I'm saying. There is a profound lack of people in the media who are looking the Bush administration in the eye and saying 'you liars!" But I've been where our president fears to tread.

"Here you have pools of ignorance, but in America so many people don't have passports and won't travel. We are Britney Spears as a country - young and don't know so much."

A formidable figure, Rollins is supremely fit, and admits to working out at least five times a week - especially while on tour, saying he finds it easier keeping fit and focused.

He was an early advocate of the "straight edge" principle - shunning drugs, tobacco and alcohol. Even now he considers his body a temple. Or, at least, a fast car.

"You're born with a body like a Lamborghini, so you may as well treat it like a high-performance vehicle. Treat it well while everything else is going grey. It alleviates stress, your body absorbs nutrients better and you sleep better."

So has he turned his back on music?

"I'm 47 years of age," he says. "For me to go on stage, long-of-tooth and grey-of-scalp and sing songs would not do anything for me except prop up the franchise.

"I don't want to be Mick Jagger. I want to do something else, and go for some braver gear. I miss music horribly, but decided to grow a pair of balls and go into the world and do something!

"People don't want to see the graveyard man running round in a pantomime horse outfit. You should keep it real."

Henry Rollins performs at the Reading Festival this weekend, and the Oxford, Carling Academy on Thursday. Tickets from www.ticketweb.co.uk or call 0844 477 2000.