Rockpile 1999

Ask the 23-year-old son of a famous 50-something, single-word-monikered, um, diva and a musician whose name defines half of the industry's most timeless acts, and the stories of his childhood are sure to be filled with all the debauchery and excess of a Hollywood script. Picture the prodigal son popping in and out of the public's ever-cynical eye, being forever linked to the bright lights of his celebrity soaked lineage.

Meet Elijah Blue, none other than the sole offspring of Cher and Gregg Allman. Though, he'll admit to being given his first guitar by Kiss' Gene Simmons (Cher was dating Simmons at the time), the decadence and gluttony seem to end where the intrigue begins.

"I grew up all over New England," admits Blue. "Private school. I guess that's what rich people do with their kids, right? I wasn't one to really have much to do with my home life. I just kind of made my life wherever I was, whether that was Connecticut, Maine, L.A., New York or wherever."

With his education and childhood trappings lingering, Blue has set his sights on infiltrating mass culture with his new Los Angeles-based, Goth-pop outfit, Deadsy. "There's a very childlike aura about this band," he says. "Living in this child's world is pretty much a carryover from the the surrealist fantasyland of prep school."

Fact is, Blue is Deadsy--aside from the fact he would like to now be publicly known as P. Exeter Blue I. Unlike other attention-hungry musicians, it appears to be an apparent act of independence to make the band stand on its own merits.

"I write all the lyrics and most all of the songs, but I throw my boys a little bit of publishing here and there," Blue says in reference to Deadsy's Sire Records debut, Commencement, due later this month. His "boys" are Dr. Nner (synthesizers), Alec Pure (drums), and Craig (bass and horror).

"I play most of the instruments in studio, too, but as for playing live, we'll be a complete band," says Blue.

Orgy's Jay Gordon, Duran Duran's John Taylor and guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen also joined Blue in the studio. For reciprocity's sake, Blue can be found lending his creative audacity to Orgy, Sugar Ray and Coal Chamber, though his matchmaking highlight has to be a duet of "Crimson And Clover" for the "Walking on the Moon" soundtrack with his mum. 

Other projects aside, Commencement evokes images of Type O Negative running amok in Tron with a huge budget and a more vibrant imagination. It includes an array of ambiguous yet magical metaphors ("Well beyond the mortal plane/Lies the place where one's life can be exchanged/No more conscience/No more pain/The now, the past, the future stay the same"), as well as a disturbing stroll through the mind of a pedophile. With respect to "She Likes Big Words" and "The Mansion World," Blue and company's crunchy remake of the Sweet anthem, "Fox On The Run," stands out above the rest.

"It's one of the kick-ass songs of all time," emphasizes Blue, now ablaze with conviction at the mention of his album. "It's so funny, but I thought I'd follow the cliché of breaking with a cover and to me, "Fox..." is the ultimate pop song. Not pop like cheesy, everyone's-gonna-get-it, Goo Goo Dolls shit. But pop as a great all-around song. Since most of the album is so strange and obscure, I thought there should be a few songs on the record that are accessible, like "Fox..." or "She Likes...," without straying too far from the vision of this band. Well, put it this way--I wanted to do something that would be a fuckin' commodity and just end up disgustingly huge."