Auf den Spuren von Iron John: die rituellen Exorzismen des Jackie Leven

Early German-language interview profile from the time of “Forbidden Songs of the Dying West” (1995), written by Doebeling, long-standing Leven champion at the German Rolling Stone, after a visit to Argyll at Loch Feochan. The text begins with cultural criticism of the nineties music business, which Leven shares “meaningfully”, and describes him physically (short trousers, white knee socks, sturdy footwear; at 45 “gnarled like an old oak”). Leven explains why he moved to the west coast: the people there are straightforward and have Irish blood, whereas the Scandinavian-Protestant east coast of his origins suits him less (self-statement). He presents himself and keyboard player James Hallawell as Celts (Fife and the “Kingdom of Cornwall” respectively). Doebeling recounts the personal catastrophes up to addiction, the independent heroin withdrawal and the founding of the CORE Trust, as well as Leven's role in Robert Bly's men's movement; Leven tells of wilderness weekends with a hundred men, poetry, drumming and stories. Doebeling ironically declines an invitation to take part. At the end he praises Doll by Doll as a band “between all stools” and the new double album as a near-perfect realisation of Leven's vision, much more fully worked out than its predecessor. The whisky “Leven's Lament” is also mentioned. Tone: ironic and detached towards the men's esotericism, full of admiration for the music.