10 things Ray Bradbury and musician Nikki Sixx have in common: #3 - Hate the Internet

#3. Both SF&F author Ray Bradbury and Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx hate the Internet.

Ray Bradbury was quoted in a June 2009 article in The New York Times as saying: “The Internet is a big distraction. Yahoo called me eight weeks ago. They wanted to put a book of mine on Yahoo! You know what I told them? ‘To hell with you. To hell with you and to hell with the Internet.’ It’s distracting. It’s meaningless; it’s not real. It’s in the air somewhere.”

Nikki Sixx was quoted in a July 2009 interview on The Wall Street Journal’s blog Speakeasy as saying: “I’m so over the Internet, Twitter is ridiculous and there’s too much info out there. Celebrities, movie stars and rock stars are losing their mystique. We want to control as much as we can of what’s getting out there about us so that people who come are blown away. The other day I went to a movie with some friends and they were like, ‘Let’s look it up on the Internet and see what people are saying’ and I was like ‘Man that’s messed up.’ Since when is Joe in Poughkeepsie or Sue in Roanoke deciding when something is a great show?”

Sixx took issue with The Wall Street Journal interview and issued this response via the Internet: "This is nothing new, but check this clown out. I did an interview with The Wall Street Journal. You would think they would be smart enough not to hire a stupid writer for such a reputable newspaper. I agreed to do the interview because it was supposed to be a piece on 'the business of Crüe Fest 2' and I'm really proud of what we've created and the way we are able to offer a full-day rock experience for the fans for the price of one Mötley show. Nonetheless, he kept asking lame question after lame question, I keep directing him to what we're doing right now and what the interview was really about, which at that moment was about working on a huge production, top to bottom, putting together a huge festival for rock fans and making sure all 10 bands on tour were happy and getting what they needed. I also told him we're trying to keep details of the production we were about to launch quiet so opening night is just that for the fans, like opening a X-mas present.

Somehow, the interview got into talking about Twitter and I explain to him my thoughts and OVERexposure through TOO much info on the net… Of course, he turns it around that 'I hate the Internet' and you just scratch your head and wonder, why would a guy do that? Worse, why would The Wall Street Journal hire someone with such a small brain?…

Mötley was one of the first to use the internet to get information to fans, using downloads (free and paid for) to get our music around the world, to offer exclusive content to our fans, etc, etc… Before music players became popular, we were the first band to endorse one called Real Player (which became Rhapsody), so it doesn't sound like we hate the Internet… But we do hate doing press with people who twist the story to make a gossipy headline to make themselves look like they have the inside track at the expense of the fans and the artist.

The essence of the point I was making (as I spoke on my iPhone with all of its new cool apps) is that there are elements of the Internet that I think are not cool -- like why do people need to know where someone is at the moment or what they are thinking that second -- on Twitter.

I'm off to go do emails and to get this up on my MySpace page (strange for a guy who The Wall Street Journal says 'hates the Internet').

I wanted to check in and let you know that we had a blast last night in Camden and look forward to seeing all of you, at the shows or on the Internet… Hahhaha…"

Pictured: Nikki Sixx gives the finger, presumably to The Wall Street Journal.

Previous entries on the Ray Bradbury-Nikki Sixx 10 list:

#10. Both are Angelenos who once palled around with a motley crew doing crazy things

#9. Neither attended college

#8. Both are intimately familiar with Playboy magazine

#7. Both created an illustrated man

#6. Both have exploded on stage

#5. Both have had their lives impacted by a horrible car accident

#4. Both are stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame