It’s been a long time since L.A. spat out a solid rock band. Not since 1987, to be exact – the year Guns ‘n’ Roses released their debut album Appetite For Destruction.  Hoping to redeem the city’s music scene is Poets & Pornstars, a long-haired, leather-clad cock-sure rock act that describes themselves as “L.A.’s favorite band.” True enough, for the past three years, P & P have played packed shows at pretty much every venue in L.A. And last February, they opened for Bon Jovi, playing for 15,000 screaming, adoring fans at The Anaheim Pond. “We hate to blow our own horns, but we fucking ROCKED it,” wrote frontman Hal Ozsan on the band’s MySpace blog. Here, Hal and his bassist Sally Hope (a Joan Jett lookalike who’s getting a masters in Sociology at USC) disclose what rocks their worlds. Apparently, AC/DC, Linda Lovelace, and a pair of Juicy bellbottom jeans do the trick..

Describe Your Music:
Down and dirty, sweaty, three-chord rock-and-roll deliciousness. Music to fuck to, thrill with, and be thrilled to.

Name Some Influences:
AC/DC, The Stones, T-Rex, Early GNR, Aerosmith. But there’s a few curve balls in there too 

3 Jukebox Favorites:
“Sweet Child O’Mine” by GNR is probably the greatest jukebox number of all time. Pump the air with your fist, scream your heart out, punch your locker in adolescent angst awesomeness.
“I Love Rock and Roll” by Joan Jett
Anything by AC/DC. Anything at all. 

Beer of Choice:
Sally: Bass
Hal: Amstel
Tom: Pacifico
Dave: Anything
Randy: Beer?! Jack Daniels. Neat. 

Bar of Choice:
Whichever one pays us the most to come play at it. :-) But generally, we love The Viper Room and The Roxy, and Club Roc in Costa Mesa.

Favorite Poets:
Sally: Poe, Eminem and Hal Ozsan. 
Hal: Aww, thank you Sal. You have exquisite taste.
I’d say, Byron. Rochester. Coleridge. Poe…I would like to add that Eminem and Roger Waters will be remembered in the annals of literary history as the greatest poets of our age.

Favorite Pornstars:
Sally: Linda Lovelace because she’s the OG
Hal: Christy Canyon, the ultimate rack and the dirtiest smirk in the universe. 

Most Extravagant Purchase:
Sally: A vintage BMW convertible
Hal: A 1981 Corvette Stingray. Black. T-Tops. Huge hairy balls. 

What You’re Wearing Right Now:
Sally: I’m in a wife-beater, Fruit of the Loom I think, American Apparel shorts, and a cowboy hat.
Hal: I’m wearing Sally’s Juicy bell-bottom jeans that I have “borrowed” and will never give back. A generic black tank-top. Fake snakeskin cowboy boots by nobody in particular.

Favorite Clothing Store in L.A:
Hal: Wasteland on Melrose. And Sally’s closet.
Sally: I like to be creative with clothes and make stuff, so I’m a huge fan of thrift stores.  I love the Salvation Army in Glendale. 

Who You’d Like To Tour With:
Velvet Revolver, Aerosmith, Stones, Black Crowes… and U2 because those cats seem cool as fuck.

When You’re Actually Planning On Touring:
Tour TBA.  Stay tuned.

A Favorite Lyric You’ve Written:
Sally: Hal’s lyric: “Live like you dream and dream for a living.”
Hal: The next line in that song: “…you’ll be blessed like a saint and damned like a villain.”

Something You’d Like Everyone To Know About You:
You better watch out because WE’RE COMING TO GET YOU!!!!!

Get It:

Poets & Pornstars’ self-titled album, $10, cdbaby.com

For more on the band: poetsandpornstars.com and myspace.com/poetspornstars