[**ROYAL TRUX**](https://www.royal-trux.net/product/royal-purple-fergadelic-royal-trux-satin-tour-jacket) jacket, [**LAMOUR SUPREME/MISHKA**](https://shop.mishkanyc.com/c/37,33,40,366,138,184,30,47,301,44,165,31,114,48,272,104,109,1061,395,479,111,112/tops) t-shirt, [**MNML**](https://mnml.la/collections/denim) jeans, [**VALENTINO**](https://www.valentino.com/en-us/women/shoes/boots) boots, [**GUCCI**](https://www.gucci.com/us/en/) bag, [**OPENING CEREMONY**](https://www.openingceremony.com) hat and talent’s own rings and bracelet.
What other cult noise rock band signs with Virgin records in the midst of the ‘90s alt-rock boom, retains 100% of their creative control, and then walks away with a quarter of a million dollars? Only Royal Trux. The duo of [Jennifer Herrema](https://www.instagram.com/therealjenniferherrema/?hl=da) and Neil Hagerty found their beginnings in Washington D.C. during the late ‘80s, after Hagerty’s brief stint with garage rock pioneers, Pussy Galore. But the subsequent drama surrounding their tumultuous relationship, with both drugs and each other, only distracts from the band’s fabled output, at once channeling the rock swagger of Exile on Main Street-era Stones, and mixing it with the swirling noise of Sun City Girls and U.S. Maple. This year saw their welcome return with the acclaimed _White Stuff_, with a cancelled tour thrown in due to Herrema’s brush with the law. None of this seems to have fazed Herrema, who continues her prolific music, fashion and design work, with no signs of slowing down. I spoke with her over Skype from Berlin, her in Huntington Beach, about the late, great David Berman, radio, fanny packs, and more. Herrema is confident and in high-spirits, genuinely excited to share everything she’s been working on.
**So, how are things? You’ve got a new EP out with Ariel Pink, and some upcoming shows.**
Everything’s great, taking care of my puppy, shit like that. We have this Royal Trux album coming out at the end of November. We’ve got the new EP and two shows in San Francisco that were supposed to be David Berman shows, but since he killed himself, now we’re playing them.
**I was actually going to bring up David, if that’s alright?**
Yeah. You know, I love David’s writing, we collaborated with him on some stuff on the _Thank You_ album. His book, _Actual Air_, is one of my favorites. I always read what he had to write, but I didn’t listen to his music that often, because I get too affected by constantly melancholy or dark stuff. I found out yesterday that he wrote the song, “We Are Real,” about him, Neil and I, and was told that the beginning of the song contains the directions to our old farmhouse in Virginia.
**Woah.**
I was like, ‘What?’ So I went and started reading the lyrics, and I was like, ‘Holy shit, this is about us!’ And those are the exact directions I gave to him back then. It’s crazy. He was a great dude, very up and down, troubled. He’d been writing me the past three months a bunch. It’s really sad. What I did notice is that when Cassie, his widow, invited me to Nashville for the burial and memorial, I got a photograph of the temple that the ceremony was going to be at. The logo of the temple is the purple mountains, from the _Purple Mountains_ album cover.
**Is Royal Trux going to tour again?**
I don’t think that we’re going to play as Royal Trux for a while now. I’m going to go back to doing Pink Bananas. Neil just finished another Howling Hex record.
**How did you start doing your radio show at Dublab? I think radio is such an important medium to authentically share music, and we are increasingly losing that.**
I’ve had this show for three years. Dublab is so cool. I love radio, too, but you’re right. I’ll go to the grocery store, and I’m listening to Post Malone. I’m coming out of the grocery store and I’m still listening to Post Malone. I like him, it’s just strange to me that mainstream radio chooses a handful of songs and keeps pumping them. I like the idea of alternative radio, people listening to old school mixtapes.
**Are you still doing any fashion or design work?**
I’m always looking for new stuff. I’m not a brand follower. I got the Gucci fanny pack because fanny packs are the number one thing I have always had throughout life. I was wondering when they were going to come back. I’ve also been obsessed with the stock market lately. I make it up as I go, but I’m doing pretty well.
**Royal Trux really fucked with rock ‘n roll. You deconstructed it and used it as a pastiche. What role do you see rock ‘n roll having today? Do you feel that there’s any of its energy or spirit still left?**
Stuff like Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees—people like that because it harkens back to a particular type of music that younger people are just discovering now, like an eighteen-year-old discovering glam rock or garage rock. I don’t really care if rock n’ roll is alive or not. You’ll see Future or Lil Nas X wearing an Iron Maiden t-shirt, or Kim Kardashian wearing a Crass crust punk leather jacket. I think it’s only a matter of time before people start going back and listening to music that’s in the studio with actual players and instruments again. But I like the stuff that’s not that, too. Royal Trux has got kind of a lot of stuff going on. It always seems like there’s something around the corner. I’m always like, gotta get it done, gotta get it done, gotta get it done.
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Photographed by [Dana Boulos](https://www.instagram.com/danaboulos/?hl=en)
Styled by [Janet Gomez](https://www.instagram.com/janetdgomez/?hl=en)
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