He's got more than 4 million Facebook fans, which is fewer than Katy Perry, but a few more than many a struggling artist. Being part of smash hit TV and movie series Jackass, as well as his many other projects, has got a lot to do with that. Though Bam Margera isn't known only for Jackass and Viva La Bam. Before all that began, he was a professional skateboarder with a passion for making videos of himself and his mates doing stupid stuff. Easy to see how things started off for this enterprising, talented, and just plain unstoppable man from West Chester, Pennsylvania.
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And he also has a band.
Returning to Australia with his outfit F___kface Unstoppable, Margera has gathered a talented crew to help bring his punk rock plans to fruition. This includes brother Jess Margera (CKY, Viking Skull), Waldie (Viking Skull) and the legendary Andy McCoy from '80s hair metal pioneers Hanoi Rocks.
"That's crazy, that dude is a f__king legend," Margera says about having McCoy, who also played for Iggy Pop, in his band. McCoy has been Margera's hero since forever: "I had a Hanoi Rocks album when I was 12 or something. So for that dude to be in my band is pretty great."
Worth the ticket price alone, apparently McCoy couldn't rehearse with F__kface Unstoppable in the United States on account of being banned from the country, meaning they had to stop off in Finland to get some rehearsals in before starting the tour.
Logistics aside, Margera is stoked to have such a solid group of musicians on board. "I'm lucky, the guys in my band kick ass. I've got to work harder because a lot of people are sceptical about a guy on TV that is in a band now. So I've got to make sure it's awesome," he says.
With the music sorted out, ensuring his performance is top-notch is a lot like skateboarding, Margera says. "You just keep doing it until it gets better and better and better. When I first started out I was just kind of having fun with it, but we did the record in Iceland and I felt really good about it. I wanted to step up the game."
According to Margera, the band has been "going crazy" touring Europe and the United States. And they have been getting into playing festivals, something that Margera is getting plenty of joy from. "It's cool because it's like a huge crowd and a lot of people don't necessarily know your band, so you have to impress them. That's the fun in it. You've got 30 minutes or whatever it is to convert them," he says.
Known for hare-brained antics and the crazy world he has made for himself, Margera says there is sure to be plenty of mayhem at the F__kface Unstoppable show. With plenty of nakedness and tasering of his drummer's nether regions going on at previous shows, "It's me, there's gonna be some Jackass involved," he says. "But you're going to get a good ass rock'n'roll show on top of it."
Speaking of Jackass, Margera has been talking with the crew about making a fourth movie in the series. But until then fans will have to satisfy themselves with his latest, yet to be released movie I Needed Time to Stay Useless.
"It's been a long time in the making because I just keep getting awesome footage from tours that we're doing," he says. "Hopefully it's not a three-hour movie by the time I'm done."
BAM MARGERA'S F––KFACE UNSTOPPABLE
With: Foreign Kings and Urge to Kill
When: May 6, 8pm
Where: ANU Bar, Acton
Tickets: $35 + bf frommoshtix.com.au
