Don’t it make your
black eye blue

>> Being battered, divorced and dumped
by his label brings out the best in Jason
Stollsteimer of the Von Bondies

ROCK ’EM, SOCK ’EM: The Von Bondies

By JOHNSON CUMMINS

The last time the Mirror checked in with the Von Bondies, in 2004, the Detroit quartet were still licking their wounds after the White Stripes’ singer/guitarist Jack White savagely pummeled the Von Bondies’ singer/guitarist Jason Stollsteimer at the Magic Stick bar in Detroit. At the time, bassist Carrie Smith (who would leave the group later that year) was sent in to do damage control, offering her “no comments” to the tabloids and gossips (like—ahem—the Mirror) while Stollsteimer kept it on the D.L.

It’s now been almost four years to the day since the pudgy Zorro of garage rock gave Stollsteimer that shiner. Only now can Stollsteimer finally sit back and crack a grin about the indie-rock brouhaha the fisticuffs unleashed. Judging by his referral to White with the endearing pet name “shithead,” it seems he’s not ready to make nice just yet.

“Actually everybody calls him ‘shithead’ in Detroit,” says Stollsteimer. “That’s why he bought a million-dollar house and then had to move a month later. People hate him here with a passion. Most people think that kind of publicity would’ve helped us, but it killed us because the only press we got was people making fun of us. It really did kill the idea of touring for three years, and killed me inside for a little bit. It took me a while until I could talk about it, but I can laugh about it now. What can I say, the guy’s just an asshole and he dresses like Michael Jackson.”

Eventually, the Von Bondies sold a moderate 200,000 copies of 2004’s Pawn Shoppe Heart, sales largely spurred by Showcase’s Rescue Me picking their single “C’mon C’mon” as its theme song. Barely a year after its release, Stollsteimer was already burned out from the media fallout and grueling tour schedule. He hid away in domesticity but continued writing at a furious pace.

After a three-year hiatus from the stage, Stollsteimer seems to be bursting at the seams, judging by his rapid-fire verbosity. When I talk to him, he is mere moments away from finally returning to the stage in his old stompin’ ground Ann Arbor, Michigan, and couldn’t be happier—or angrier.

“I’ve just got a divorce and it’s probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me. When you get divorced, you don’t just get angry but you feel betrayed, frustrated and a whole bunch of other emotions that really energize you. I guess that just makes for a more honest show. I don’t think I could perform a lot of these new songs if it wasn’t for the divorce. ”

Stollsteimer has definitely cleaned house, with the dissolution of his 13-year relationship mirrored by his parting ways with his former label Sire, and only drummer Don Blum left from the last record. The Von Bondies sell their current EP, Love, Hate and Then There’s You, through their MySpace page and at shows, and have a full-length in the can, ready to go. “The only pressure I feel now is having to write really good songs that will keep people coming out to the shows—but that’s all I ever really wanted.”

With SSM and Freer at Petit
Campus tonight, Thursday,
Jan. 17, 8 p.m., $13.50