Stephen Perkins (Jane's Addiction) / Casey Niccoli

BY MATT MUNOZCalifornian staff writer

mmunoz@bakersfield.com

Timing has always been onthe side of Jane’s Addiction.Beginning with their arrival

in the mid-’80s against the back-drop of Hollywood’s glam metalscene, they bridged the gap as analternative for those seeking inten-sified chaos as punk rock began toloosen its grip.

In both their sound and image,the group embodied the state ofthe city’s burgeoning alt-rockmovement with a combination ofpsychedelic flash and gothicartistry reflective of the dark urbanunderbelly of downtown LosAngeles. Singer Perry Farrell, gui-tarist Dave Navarro, drummerStephen Perkins and bassist EricAvery were able to bring the inten-sity of their live show to the studio,producing a trio of the era’s mosticonic recordings before abruptlycalling quits in 1991.

After a few years apart to pursueother endeavors (Farrell andPerkins formed Pornos for Pyroswhile Avery and Navarro formedDeconstruction), the group hasremained close for a series ofextended reunions, new record-ings and tours, including their lat-est, which comes to the Fox onTuesday.

Drummer Stephen Perkins, 45,said the group’s guiding principlestoday are the same as always,which is why the bandmates haveremained close through the years.

“You don’t do it for the money,”he said during a phone interview

from his home in Southern Cali-fornia. “You know, Jane’s Addic-tion breaks up, people offer us alot to stay together. We can’t. Ifwe’re gonna fake it, it’s not real.”

Jane’s Addiction came of age ata time when commercial radio rel-egated anything “cutting edge” tolate night, and videos too hot forMTV were censored, as was thecase with many of the band’sshort-form videos, including“Mountain Song.” There’s also theissue of sustaining a music careerin the digital age, somethingPerkins said he’s adapted to.

“Nowadays the business is justso different. I mean, people arejust giving music away. It’s almostinsulting to charge people to buyit. There’s almost no reason forpeople to buy it, so what do youdo? You put on a great show, andthere’s no way to replace that. Ofcourse, everyone films your showwith a phone and puts it onYouTube, two hours after you geton stage. We’ve always had per-formances, but the work is thatyou can still do it and still be rele-vant.”

Jane’s Addiction sprang fromthe ashes of Farrell’s original band,Psi Com, an experimental quartetthat saw brief success in theunderground. The band wasnamed in honor of Farrell’s house-

Eye StreetEditor Jennifer Self | Phone 395-7434 | email jself@bakersfield.com

Addicted to their art LA alt-rock icons comedown mountain to Fox

20 The Bakersfield Californian Thursday, October 18, 2012

She’s known as the “Classic Girl,”written about in the Jane’s Addic-tion song of the same name and

seen in countless images from the band’searly years. But what many fans don’tknow is that Casey Niccoli also happensto be from Bakersfield.

Niccoli dated Perry Farrell from 1982 to’93, and through those years witnessed

first-hand the evolution of Jane’s Addic-tion as both girlfriend and creative muse.Currently living a quiet existence in LosAngeles, the reclusive Niccoli is reticentabout looking back on her years aroundthe band.

“I’m actually trying to be more open toit,” said Niccoli, who attended HighlandHigh, during a recent phone interview.“You know, I’m a little older now, a lot oftime has passed. I’m secure. I alwayswanted the band to play my hometown,and here we are 20-something years later

and I have nothing to do with it.”Niccoli’s current lifestyle as a working

mother is a far cry from the wild rock lifeshe led alongside Farrell, whom she metin Hollywood a few years after followingher then-boyfriend from Bakersfield tothe big city.

“I was 18, and I really wanted to move,”she recalled. “L.A. was so exciting to me. Ihad $250 to my name, packed up my carand moved to L.A. I felt like I belongedhere. I got into the punk scene, and three

Jane’s muse wasn’t Jane; it was CaseyBakersfield native reflects on herlong romance with Perry Farrell

IndexScary for Charity ...................................... 2221st annual Fall Home Show .................... 23Arts Alive.................................................. 24K.C. Museum Halloween events.............. 25The Lowdown with Matt Munoz.............. 26Scott Cox .................................................. 27Spook Out Cancer.................................... 28Calendar .............................................. 31-33

Please see BAND / 29

Please see NICCOLI / 30

PHOTO COURTESY OF JANE’S ADDICTION

Jane’s Addiction appears Tuesday at the Fox Theater. Pictured above from left: Stephen Perkins,Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROS.

Casey Niccoli of Bakersfield and singer PerryFarrell are shown in a scene from the Jane’sAddiction video “Classic Girl.”

30 The Bakersfield Californian Thursday, October 18, 2012

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or four years later I met Perry. Myboyfriend’s band played a benefitshow with Psi Com (Farrell’s formerband). I just showed up, and I wasimmediately just mesmerized, fell inlove, I wanted to have his babies, andI just couldn’t stop talking about him.I was obsessed at that point.”

Niccoli and Farrell began dating ayear later.

“His style was a lot more extremethan when he was in Jane’s Addiction.Very artistic, spiritual, a different vibethat kind of reflected what he wasinto at the time.”

Niccoli described Farrell’s creativemindset at the time prior to the for-mation of Jane’s as that of an ambi-tious visionary running on all cylin-ders.

“Perry was and still is, I’m sure, justa very inspired, very driven person.He really put his ideas into motion.He was fearless in the way heapproached his art. He didn’t reallythink about what people were gonnathink or how people were going toaccept it. It was kind of somethingthat happened. I’m very shy, private.He used to tell me, ‘You make a terri-ble celebrity,’ because I didn’t kind offit the bill.”

Niccoli’s relationship with Farrellwould heavily influence the band’svisual aesthetic: She was the modelfor the conjoined twins on the iconiccover of the album “Nothing’s Shock-ing,” and she was featured in thevideo for “Mountain Song” and thecontroversial short film “Gift,” amongothers.

But perhaps Niccoli’s biggest claimto fame was as the object of Farrell’saffection in the music video for thesong “Classic Girl,” from the group’salbum “Ritual de lo Habitual.”

“We just had a magical connection.

I just believed in him so much. Hewas so talented and so unique. Hewas a graphic artist when I met him.We both had day jobs. I would haveloved him just as much had he notbeen in a band. We just clicked.”

Niccoli, who is considering writinga book on her life’s adventures,hasn’t spoken with Farrell since theirbreakup but shared a few friendlywords with guitarist Dave Navarroduring a book signing in Los Angeles.

“It’s always going to be a part of mylife. I get tagged with videos on Face-

book. I take it with a sense of humor.I’m not looking to score off it. It’s niceto be liked; it feels good.”

Though she visits Bakersfield regu-larly to see family and friends, Niccolihas no plans to attend Tuesday’sshow.

“Perry’s got a new life and a rela-tionship where he really honors hiswife. I respect that, don’t try to con-tact him and leave him alone. I wish Icould just be a face in the crowd andbe like everyone else. Maybe oneday.”

NICCOLI: CONTINUED FROM 20

PHOTO COURTESY OF CASEY NICCOLI

Casey Niccoli, the muse of Perry Farrell in the early days of Jane’s Addic-tion, is a working mom who lives in Los Angeles, but she frequently visitsfamily and friends in Bakersfield.