Q&A with Mickey Avalon

Mickey Avalon (Credit: Katy Winn / Getty Images)

Stop me if you've heard this one -- an L.A.-born-and-bred guy has a rough time of it. His paternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors, his father was into heroin and his mother sold weed. Eventually he hits the same snags his dad ran into. He's since been a drug dealer. An Orthodox Jew. A junkie. A hustler. And he's hung out with Paris Hilton.

He's Mickey Avalon -- and you can call him Mr. Right.

Avalon, who's on Interscope Records, is finishing up his second album and getting ready to perform at the Metromix Launch Party Dec. 18 at the Vogue. We caught up with a surprisingly nice Avalon (not at all the hardened rapper we expected) in anticipation of his visit:

Avalon tells his story in typical L.A.-pacing -- fast -- with a vaguely Borscht Belt lilt.

What have you been up to?

Well, we just went on a little tour. That was just about three weeks and so that was fun. I'm just finishing up this record, which hasn't taken me that long. (According to his manager, Avalon's yet-unnamed record should be finished mid-January .) I'm just kind of impatient to go. I got hooked up with this kind of big-shot producer named Dr. Luke. I thought we were going to use the songs as demos. We didn't really do that, we ended up doing new songs.

I would say sonically, it's different, but that's about it. It's all the same stuff. My life hasn't changed so much. I have a little money, but I don't own a house or anything like that.

How did people respond when you first came on the scene?

I worked at a pizza shop and we would just hand out the CDs. And everyone I handed them to liked it.

I lived in a halfway house and my friend Simon (Rex, AKA Dirt Nasty), he would hand out the CDs (the CDs were wrapped with the porn and massage ads section of a local weekly. The same CD was later released as a self-titled album on Interscope). I didn't know he was handing them out. Then I got a manager. Then I got a publishing deal, which, it's not the worst thing or the best thing -- I had no, no, no, money and no place to live. If you have a job and a little bit of money -- I wouldn't take one of those kind of deals, because they're just kind of buying your future. All the computer stuff started happening, so you could like get your music out there. And now I'm here. I'm on a major record label.

How much of your rapping is you and how much of it is a character?

Well, with writing songs and with performing, just to keep things entertaining, you might add extra salt or extra sugar into something. It's not from left field or anything. If I went on stage and sat on a chair, it might not be so fun. It works for Bruce Springsteen but maybe not for me.

You never performed on stage before you started rapping in 2005. How did you get used to it?

There are some kids that, like, tap dance for their parents. My mom signed me up for karate once -- and we had to do tests to get our yellow belts. I did it and my pants fell down and I was in my Underoos -- I wore underwear back then. My mom was embarrassed for me, but I pulled up my pants with my left hand and kicked this kid in the face.

I'm shy, but it kind of just comes out in a different way. I don't want that to ruin my life or stop me from trying. I'd rather try it, get hurt, but still, I can deal with those consequences more than not try anything.

How old is your daughter now?

She just turned 12. We just had our birthdays in Hawaii together. She talked me into getting her an iPhone. She can't really help me like on Myspace or anything. I don't need her reading from some kid who's like a year older than her, "Hey, I'll suck your dick."

What do you miss about L.A. when you're gone?

You can get food pretty much anytime. It's easy to not know what day it is, what time it is. Not necessarily that people are smarter here, but there's a speed here. Even the lackadaisical people ... still, there's kind of like a rhythm. I'm severely paranoid of police everywhere. The police here, I pretty much know the drill a little bit more. You know the reputation our LAPD has.

We have a photo of you -- in our archives -- of you licking a girl's face. How common is that?

I don't really recall licking anyone's face. I know I've had my face licked a lot.

What is one thing about you that people totally don't expect? Like, do you like to look at puppy dog pictures on cuteoverload.com in your downtime?

I think probably that could be my demeanor. Without being schizophrenic, everyone has different roles for different things. People think I'm going to jump on the table and be a freak and then I'm normal. I think that I'm a normal guy.

Indy.com Presents Metromix launch party

Who: Mickey Avalon, Hum V and DJ Indiana Jones

When: 8 p.m. Dec. 18

Tickets: $12 in advance (available at the Vogue box office, Ticketmaster or Karma Records stores), $15 at the door