Do you have a partner now?

I used to, I have a couple of them. Lately, I prefer to work with the wife or girlfriend or boyfriend. I have yet to cast a gay man, but I look forward to it someday. It's just better to do it with their partner: Everybody's happy, they're good to each other. It's not really the most sexy of processes. Especially my role, trying to mix that perfect batch of alginate.

I was wondering if it ever felt sexy for you. It seems like it would be too clinical.

It is, and it should be. I really need to stay focused on getting that alginate mold just right, so the negative impression is perfect, all the veins are captured. So I have to leave all the sexiness up to the partner.

What was it like casting Jimi Hendrix?

Casting Jimi was too unreal -- I just couldn't believe it was me and my girlfriends who made it up to his hotel room, against all the other groupie competition. He was a casting dream. When his pubes got stuck in the mold because I didn't lube them enough, he didn't freak out at all. Just very patiently fucked the mold while he waited for me to pull out one pube at a time.

How did you end up with Keith Moon's pant leg, but no plaster cast of him?

I met Keith Moon in the early formative days of the Plaster Casters when we were just trotting around our kit from hotel room to room without knowing exactly how to cast dick. Keith Moon, always up for something new and different, was willing to let us experiment on him. When I needed an apron, he very obligingly ripped off one of his pant legs and handed it over! I use it to this very day, and have never washed off all the alginates crusted over it, and never will.

What about Wayne Kramer of the MC5, why did you only get his tip?

Wayne Kramer and [band mate] Dennis Thompson wanted to be cast simultaneously. I'd brought along only one proper container for one dick at a time, so I thought I'd use the actual alginates can for Wayne to dip his dick in. Much to Wayne's disadvantage, I'm afraid. Most of the alginates set prematurely before all of his dick could penetrate and all I captured was the head. I want the world to know that Wayne had more inches to offer and it just got fucked up. Sorry, Wayne!

Did you ever cast Zappa?

I never cast Frank Zappa because in real life he was a normal family man with the reputations of his wife and children to consider. Casting was never his thing, but he sure was qualified to be in my collection!

Are there any rock legends you regret not casting in their heyday? The Beatles, the Stones, Iggy Pop, Led Zep, Ray Davies?

Too many dicks that got away to mention! Sure, the Beatles, Stones, Iggy and Ray Davies. Especially Brian Jones. And Serge Gainsbourg.

Who is the last person that you've cast?

Well, my youngest baby -- I call them my sweet babies -- his name is Bill Dolan of 5ive Style. He's the guitarist.

How did that casting go?

We got there, I'll put it that way. It was a little rough at first. I'm finding that I like to have enough alginates to cast them once and have them see what it feels like to try and stay hard in a cold mold. A lot of times they might lose their hard-ons, so I'm perfectly willing to do them again.

Is there any secret for staying hard while you're in this cold substance?

If I knew that, I'd know the secret to life! I sometimes just tell them to "think hard" -- it's easier said than done. It's really tricky because the dick is submerged in the mold and direct stimulation cannot be applied. So it's really up to the talents of the partner, the bond that those people have with each other.

You stopped doing this for a while in the '70s. Why?

It was a combination of things. The sexual revolution had died down and it wasn't trendy to have casual sex with strangers and people were getting married, and I was working a straight job -- it was hard to do this during the middle of the night. The music wasn't really thrilling me that much at the time. I wasn't really into the hard rock, I was busy collecting Glenn Miller and Fats Waller and Bing Crosby music. But I didn't intentionally retire. I wasn't avoiding it, but all the right circumstances just weren't there for several years.

When did you start up again?

In the late '70s, I think I successfully made a cast of Ivan of the Flying Karamazov Brothers; he was in town for a few days, and everything was right. But, again, I never intentionally retired, it was more of a timing thing.

Now that you don't have a day job, do you think you will do more casts?

Yeah, I have more time, I can stay up as late as I want to. I have made a couple lately. I'm trying to be really picky, too, so it's not like every month. Sometimes a year goes by, sometimes it's a few months, sometimes a few weeks.

Does today's rock 'n' roll still excite you the way it did when you were a teenager in the '60s?

I've been a little bit let down by the music coming out of Britain lately. I don't know, I have to research that a little more. I've been a little broke so I can't afford to buy imports. There are a few. I heard this band called Brassy; I just heard a single of theirs. There are others I'm sure I haven't been subjected to. It's really weird, but I think that Chicago is now the mecca for cool music.

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