Ted Nugent Says Hunting and Making Music ‘Enhance Each Other’
Ted Nugent talked up the experience of killing a buck then proceeding to his studio to make music, saying the two actions were enhancements of each other.
He also described Keith Richards as his “nemesis” and Tom Morello as his “blood brother” in a discussion about appreciating artists who don’t agree with his way of life and politics.
In a new interview with Guitar World Nugent revealed that, hours before the conversation took place, he’d spent several hours waiting in a tree before he saw the buck emerging from a swamp and shot it “right through the fucking heart” with an arrow. Asked what that had to do with guitar playing, he said: “The two worlds really enhance each other. Because I come out of that tree and I walk into the studio, I take my boots off, and… there’s a guitar! I grab that motherfucker and fire happens! … I bring the primal goo into the studio. You know, the primal goo can be figurative. But with me it’s literal. Because I was just cleaning the primal goo off that swamp donkey’s hooves!”
The outspoken guitarist – who makes a point of stating that he’s never used drugs – was asked whether he appreciated other artists who didn’t share his values. “Stop and think of this: Who should be my nemesis?” he said. “I suppose Keith Richards, because he’s basically a walking, talking, living, breathing repository of chemical warfare. But I love the guy with every ounce of my being. I love everything about Keith Richards, and I don’t care if he’s been a substance abuser all his life. I pray that he would stop, and I’m happy that he’s still alive and that he can form sentences. And I pray and I suspect and believe he has a wonderfully loving relationship with his family and friends. But regardless of any of that, he still makes unbelievably meaningful music.”
Asked if there was someone “more overtly political” who he admired, Nugent replied: “You know who my genuine American blood brother is? Tom Morello. Wayne Kramer, too. I love these guys. These are my friends. At least I hope they’re my friends. I think they’re my friends! I think they would tell you I’m they’re friend. And we couldn’t be more opposite politically.”
He’s previously discussed his absence from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, describing it as “disrespectful.” Asked again by Guitar World why he’d never been inducted, he responded with a laugh: “Oh, because I murder innocent animals.” He continued: “I think the biggest one is because I’m really militantly anti-substance abuse, and I think everybody on the board abuses substances. That’s what I think. But when it comes to music, I dismiss all political considerations, ideology considerations, race considerations, ethnic considerations, sexual confusion… whatever is different than me that has no bearing on my love of music.”
Nugent will kick off his 2019 The Music Made Me Do It Again tour on July 19 at The Rose in Pasadena, Calif. You can get complete show and ticket information at his official website.