Back by popular demand, Merle Allin, musician and brother of infamous punk legend GG Allin, returned for a followup interview with Soft White Underbelly in which he describes his brother’s gradual descent into shocking, unrestrained debauchery in great detail, including the first time he sh*t on stage, which would become a notorious part of his filth- and violence-filled act.
“If my brother had decided to clean up his act and actually play the game, he could’ve been someone,” Merle told photographer Mark Laita, who created Soft White Underbelly to document those on the fringes of society. “I’m not saying he isn’t someone, because he definitely is. He’s a f–cking legend. But he could’ve been commercially successful because he really was a master songwriter. … If he had chose to go more mainstream, he could’ve done good thing. … I mean that first Jabbers record is power-pop rock and roll. It’s a f–cking really great record, and it’s really not that foul.”
Merle originally appeared on Soft White Underbelly along with his friend Steve to discuss their serial killer memorabilia collection. The Murder Junkies bassist returned for a second, solo interview at the behest of fans who wanted to hear more about life growing up with GG Allin.
Merle offers unprecedented insight into his brother’s life and career, from seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, which inspired both boys to aspire to a career in music, to defecating on stage and attacking fans. He describes how the two brothers grew up poor in New Hampshire with a domineering father who gave GG the name Jesus Christ Allin after naming his first child after himself (his mother would later change his name before sending him off to school). He began his music career as a drummer before deciding he wanted to be a frontman, which is when he adopted the name GG.
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Merle describes how GG and The Murder Junkies would play shows here and there without really planning full tours. He tells of how once they were invited to play at a VFW club in Peoria, IL by a fan and musician named Bloody Mess. The show would take an unsanitary turn when GG decided to defecate on stage and go full two G’s no cup mid-set. The spontaneous creation would become an infamous part of GG’s shocking if pioneering performances, during which he would also assault audience members and cut himself.
“A GG Allin audience was your best friend before the show and your worst nightmare after the show because it wouldn’t matter how many beers you had with somebody before the show and how great everything was, when GG hit that stage, he became a psycho. He became another f–cking animal. you could be cheering him on one minute, and have a f–cking fist in your f–cking head the next,” Merle reflected.
“GG made a lot of enemies during shows. There were many times where we would get in the van and get chased outta town. Our tires would get slashed, our f–cking windows would get broken, which after a week in the same van with my brother after defecating on stage over and over, we were pretty happy to get a new van, let me tell you that. And that happened usually two or three times a tour. I think Hertz finally decided to stop renting to us.”
According to Merle, GG didn’t start out so outrageous but developed an envelope-pushing persona that would prove to be his downfall.
“I feel that my poor brother got trapped in his own… insanity maybe? Because he always seemed to have to push the envelope a little more,” Merle said. “Once you have that kind of persona, people expect things of you, [and then] you have to take it to another level.”
GG would ultimately die in 1993 of a heroin overdose after a particularly chaotic performance that ended with the crazed rocker leading a violent mob into the streets of New York City after just three songs.
Watch the full interview with GG Allin’s brother Merle Allin below.
Soft White Underbelly – Merle Allin Interview
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