“I’m driven by the ones who get me
Inspired by the ones who don’t”
From “Force To Be Reckoned With” by Cherie Currie
Cherie Currie is an archetype – a living symbol of a free spirit wild child.
Currie was the fire-breathing lead singer of The Runaways, the hard-rocking band that spawned classic songs such as “Cherry Bomb.” The Runaways were an all-female teenage band in the late 1970’s that included fellow rock icons Joan Jett and Lita Ford and seemingly embodied rebellious confrontation. The name of the band itself was a parent’s worst nightmare – and an ominous threat to anyone who abused or ignored their child. They defied every sexist stereotype that women couldn’t rock. And they shined a light on the hypocrisy of society’s simultaneous condemnation of and fascination with female sexuality. They took on every taboo, embraced it, turned it into a symbol of empowerment and punched us in the face with it.
Currie’s musical legacy continues in the 2020 digital release of her album Blvds of Splendor on Joan Jett’s label, Blackheart Records — featuring performances by Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins, Duff McKagan, Slash and Matt Sorum, among others. And Currie’s creativity has not been contained to music – she has explored acting, drawing and chainsaw wood carving — which I initially assumed was an art form invented specifically because regular painting or sculpting wasn’t bad*ss enough for Currie.
The enduring power of The Runaways became further evident to me when my wife, Hardcore Humanism co-founder Aylin Bumin, and I were preparing to interview Currie for the Hardcore Humanism Podcast. We decided to watch the 2010 movie The Runaways in which Dakota Fanning portrays Currie and Kristen Stewart plays Joan Jett. As we were watching a scene in which The Runaways initially form and are running in the street together – thrilled at their newly formed musical creation and freedom to start touring – my wife, who at the age of 50 has never expressed interest in playing in a band, jumped up and said, “I want to do that!” I will now live out my days perpetually in fear that a van will pull up in front of our house and my wife will jump into it with her friends and tour the world.
From where does Currie harness that power? How has that infectious, rebellious and creative spirit endured decades later? Well, according to Currie, it is very simply the trust and faith she has in her “inner voice.” Our inner voice is that part of us deep down where we integrate and assimilate all of the information about a certain person, issue or situation and make a decision. It has a mystical vibe to it, like the rock and roll version of The Force. If we can tap into it and harness it, it can help us connect to ourselves and with others.
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Currie’s experience with her inner voice began at an early age when she came to believe that the energy within all of us lives on after death. “I believe that you can’t kill energy … it just can’t be destroyed … I think we come back,” Currie told me. “I think I realized that when I was four years old when my aunt had died and my mother took us to the funeral home to see her in the casket. My mom lifted me up and I looked down and I said, ‘We don’t die’ … I knew it. I knew it at four years old. And my mother said, ‘Well, we will, we do.’
I said, ‘Well, no, we really don’t.’”
As time went on, her strong belief in the energy within us grew into believing that energy connected people as well. In Currie’s case, it was most notable in her relationship with her twin sister, Marie. “I think that I’ve always had that kind of a sixth sense … I’m a twin … I think I was 10 and I was sitting in the living room with my grandmother … I stood up and I said … ‘Marie’s hurt her head,’” Currie recalled. “I went running out of the house down the street … Marie tripped and went headfirst into a brick wall and cracked her skull. She almost died. But I knew it. I knew it happened, right when it happened.”
Currie also believes that the energy within us helps in decision-making. “There is a connection. We all have a connection,” she explained. “We have the ability to be able to judge people … We have a feeling about people. We know when there’s a dangerous situation, that voice is telling us don’t get in that car … Don’t do this. Don’t do that. Go left, go right …
“You have to believe that that is guiding you.”
Currie has found that listening to her inner voice has been crucial in understanding when she should pursue an art form. For example, Currie credits seeing a David Bowie concert with igniting her interest in being a singer and compares listening to her inner voice to being willing to receive a gift. “Honestly, you have to believe when you have that feeling. You have to believe,” Currie said. “I wouldn’t have known that I wanted to be on a stage until I saw David Bowie … There’s so many things that are gifts that are given to us.”
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She describes a similar experience when she later decided to become a chainsaw wood carving artist. “Even becoming a chainsaw artist … I just happened to pass these guys on this side of the road … and I was on the back of a motorcycle and you know … I just saw them. We whizzed by, but I couldn’t get it out of my head,” Currie described. “Every morning I got up, this voice kept saying you have to go back … So, when I went back and I walked into this gallery … stunning pieces of artwork. And this voice said, you can do this.” Even as Currie is in the process of creating art she feels her inner voice guiding her. “I don’t ever believe I’m doing it alone. I always think that there is some energy … something else there guiding me.”
Currie continues to tap into the energy that connects her to others and guides her along her path. She explained how her work with former Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum eventually led them to work together on Blvds of Splendor. Currie was asked to open a concert for Joan Jett and Sorum agreed to be part of her backing band. “We walked on that stage and we killed it. I mean, it was a magical night. And then he turned to me afterwards, he goes, ‘We need to make a record.’ And I just laughed. I never expected to make another record … I’ve never expected this movie to happen either. That’s for sure. I thought The Runaways were all but forgotten,” Currie described. “Now we have to look at the fact that sometimes when we’re lost, someone is brought in to your life that’s going to bring you back to that path. And that was Matt Sorum … It was Matt that got me back to loving what I’ve always loved doing.”
Currie implores people to listen to their inner voice in their life, even if others do not support a given path. “Never ask someone else’s opinion. Because they have their path and you have your path. You can’t walk that path with somebody else. You can’t because it’s not their path,” Currie explained. “I realized when I wanted to be a chainsaw carver that everybody was going to tell me not to do it, especially my family out of fear that I was going to get hurt … You know, we all are born with a purpose … It isn’t my sister’s purpose or my neighbor’s purpose.” Rather, we should listen to and trust our inner voice. “That’s all we have to do. It’s very easy. It doesn’t take money. It doesn’t take any work,” she said. “You know, just follow that voice. And if you have conviction, follow that conviction, as long as it’s coming from a good place, you know?
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As for my wife’s inner voice telling her to do what Currie and The Runaways did? “If she wants to do it, she should do it. It’s very easy to make that happen,” Currie said. “And if she has a need for it, I tell her please, please move forward with that feeling.
“Because it will give her great happiness.”
Photo credit: Robert Sebree
