by Sara Castillo

Whether you love to hate them or hate to love them, The Germs inspire extreme (and sometimes visceral) reactions from everyone who hears them. Known for their raucous shows, the Germs line-up included (now Foo Fighter) Pat Smear, Lorna Doon, Don Bowles, and the late, great Darby Crash. For a short time the band even included Go-Go?s pop princess Belinda Carlisle. Noisy, odd and almost always obnoxious, The Germs made a name for themselves in the L.A. punk scene and are considered by many to be the absent parents of hardcore, and front man Darby Crash it?s whining, bratty, man-child poster boy. Extreme in every way, Crash has achieved god-like status among tons of fans of the late '70s L.A. scene.

The Germs are tough, their fans are tough, so it seems only fitting that Roger Grossman?s cinematic ode to the band and their scene, What We Do Is Secret, turned out to be a laborious ten-year project. At the 2008 Philadelphia Film Festival we caught up with Shane West, who plays the doomed Darby Crash, and he let us in on a few of the film?s secrets...

This film is completely different from your past work. How?d you get involved?

I had a meeting with Roger Grossman--the director--and we had some drinks and kind of talked about the scene.

Was it something that you knew about?

I had been raised with a lot of this music and music is something I?ve always been interested in. I was a little unfamiliar with the LA punk scene. I was more familiar with the New York and British punk scenes because that?s what my parents listened to when I was born. So it?s kind of what I heard growing up. I realized how passionate he was about the project, and he could see how passionate I was about playing such an iconic character.

What was it like to work on a film that is a 10-year labor of love?

You almost defined it right there. It was a lot of work, but it wouldn?t have been as special if we didn?t care for it as much. And the love that went into it was completely surprising. It was down to everything from the crew to the producers to the financiers to the PAs. If it wasn?t for everyone?s passion then it never would have been made.

Germs fans are a tough bunch. Has the response to the film been good so far?

Yeah they are very, very tough. I?ve figured that one out over the years. You know everyone has their opinion so I?m sure there have been some negative responses, but everything I?ve heard has been overwhelmingly positive.

Was it a challenge to learn all the songs? What about working with Pat Smear?

It wasn?t like, ?Oh wow, I?m working with Pat!? at the beginning, because I was coming from the perspective of having to get the work done and trying to be as real as we could with me and Bijou (Phillips), Noah (Segan) and Rick (Gonzales) as the ?Baby Germs? (as Pat called us.) By the time I actually started playing with the band all that pretense of ?Oh I?m working with this amazing guitar player!? and ?Oh I?m friends with this guy?,? it kind of never happened because I never really allowed that to happen. We all just became friends.

When you were making the movie, did you ever think that you?d start playing with and later touring with The Germs?

I didn?t even consider it as an option, as I?m sure none of the fans did. It became a thing where we became such a family on set. At the rap party, ?The Baby Germs? played four or five songs to just prove that we could do it and then the real Germs came up on stage (and they hadn?t played in almost twenty-five years at that point) and I got to sing. Pat, Lorna and Don had such a great time that they wanted to give it a try. There was no way I was going to say "no" to that. We played a couple of shows to see how it would go and then we just kept playing.

So, during the research you did for this character, is there anything you found out about Darby Crash that surprised you?

My biggest surprise was that, you know, he?s a big David Bowie fan, especially the Ziggy Stardust album. I used to listen to it throughout the project, every time I went to bed. It starts with ?Five Years? and for some reason every morning when I would wake up, ?Five Years? was playing. I realized that he kind of took the meaning of that song literally and applied it to himself and his five-year plan. He was such a Bowie Fan--that?s how he got started in music at all.

You?ve completely immersed yourself in this project. What part has meant the most to you as an actor? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

The more embarrassing stuff was at the beginning (as it would be for anyone trying to invent themselves). He went through a phase where he called himself Bobby Pyn rather than Darby Crash and those outfits were a little more embarrassing. I have to escape out of the first fifteen minutes of the film.

Every scene was so much fun. It was like ?How do we make this perfect?? The most fun was the performances because that was something I knew I could do. The acting, and the voice and the mannerisms was something a little more scary.

What did you do to prepare for that?

Well, I had my teeth altered. They added onto them. It was about a two and a half hour process. They heated this glue, poured it on my teeth and then they chipped it away to make them look like his teeth. There was an option to put in a piece and take it off, but I wanted to be as real as I could without actually taking a rock to my teeth (which is what happened when Darby was a kid). So I put that on and that?s how I was going to live. If I went out to dinner, I went out like that. The most fun was when I went out to a club with my friends that had nothing to do with The Germs and looked at the reactions I got.

And then there was the wardrobe and fitting into the tight jeans that they wore. You know, it?s worse than what hipsters wear now--it was some tight, tight stuff. I had to wear jeans with safety pins all over them and no underwear, because you really can?t fit underwear in those pants. So you have pricks hitting you all over the place and you?re worried about the crotch area. So, you know, it?s assault of a thousand pricks. Assault of a Thousand Pricks! That?s part two.

So I think the next film you having coming out is a re-envisioned version of Hitchcock?s The Lodger?

Well, I?m not sure actually. I did a film called Stone House which is a war/horror film. I liken it to The Thing, except in Afghanistan rather than Antarctica. An Invasion of the Body Snatchers kind of thing. After that I did The Lodger which is a remake of a Hitchcock film, which most people haven?t seen, including myself--I couldn?t eve find it.

But, it?s like a really cool take on Seven, with the grizzled detective and the rookie cop. It?s all based on the Jack the Ripper murders, which are starting again and they?re trying to figure out if it?s truly Jack the Ripper or a copycat (since they never really found him). But I?m not sure when it will come out, probably around the same time this film comes out.

You guys have been having a tough time finding distribution?

I?m always looking to Roger on this... We?ve finally found distribution and we have a theatrical release in August and we?re really excited about it. That?s why I want to blurt it out and say everything! But, I?m trying to keep it under wraps.

So, finally, what?s your biggest fear?

My biggest fear I just conquered about forty-eight hours ago.

Going to Philadelphia?

Yeah, I hate this place! No, just kidding. I like Philadelphia. [Laughs.]

Look for What We Do is Secret in theaters August 2008!