"Sugar Town" was written in eight days, filmed in three weeks, and world premiered as the centerpiece film of the 1999 Sundance Film Festival a mere five months after shooting began. No development, no turnaround, no years of wondering if your project will ever be made and by whom. This is how independent films ought to be. Throw in a fantastic cast peppered with real live rock stars set against the ever-so-cool backdrop of the Los Angeles music scene and you get magic. Written and directed by Allison Anders and Kurt Voss, "Sugar Town" is an authentic look at the fame, failure, and frightening ambition in rock and roll today.

I sat down to talk to one of the "boys in the band", actor/musician Michael Des Barres. Des Barres, a prominent player in the outrageous rock scene of the seventies, was also the husband of notorious groupie Pamela Des Barres whose best-selling tome "I'm With the Band" captured those wild times for posterity. Now clean and sober and devoted to acting full time, Des Barres has had recurring roles on the series "Melrose Place", "Roseanne" and "MacGyver", and has acted in several independent films.

Venice: Since you must get offered a lot of rock star parts, why did you choose this movie?
Michael Des Barres: The problem with rock and roll projects is that they are so riddled with clichés. Every script I've ever read about a rock star pretty much sucks. I was offered one the other day about a drummer and his name was Skins. OK? I read another one where the character's name was Jack Daniels. So that's the level of rock'n'roll movies and none of them have worked because they're not about people. They're about what people assume rock and roll is, but "Sugar Town" is about people.

What do you think people assume rock and roll is?
Something they want to be part of. First of all, music is such an extraordinary thing because people can form allegiances, can fall in love to it, can have sex to it, can hike to it, it's such a part of our heartbeat. I think that, rightly or wrongly, rock and roll stars have become spokespeople, which is interesting, especially when someone asks Britney Spears what she thinks of Kosovo.

You played with John Taylor (of Duran Duran) and Power Station at Live Aid in 1985. Now you're playing the part of a musician in a band with him. What did you bring from your relationship with John to this role?
Nothing really. My life is so defined by rock'n'roll that the last thing I'm going to do is prepare to be a rock star. I mean, I don't have to think how a rock star would behave in this situation. It's like if I was a bullfighter and someone was to make a film about a bullfighter, then they would cast me. You don't need to think, and if you do, it can cause problems. It's better to just do it. My relationship with JT has nothing to do with this. This movie is interesting because of this arrogant guy Nick, who is asked for his autograph thinking it was for a girl and it's for her mom. It's about coming to terms with the fact that you're not this 23-year-old trapped in this isolated bubble of rock stardom where you can't change. You need young blood, sacrificed at the altar of rock stardom, to sustain yourself. It's almost vampiric. I don't feel like that anymore. I learned that lesson a long time ago. But it's wonderful that Allison (Anders) captured that. I go to all these young girls and then with Beverly (D'Angelo) I realize what a woman is and what a partner can be.

Speaking of Beverly D'Angelo, you were great together onscreen, especially in the bedroom scenes. Were they difficult?
Beverly is a superb actress and it's not hard to do good work with her. She's also an old friend of mine so kissing her was like kissing my sister or something. But we were into it. We learned a lot about each other during those scenes, and most of them were done in one take.

Did Allison and Kurt write the part of Nick especially for you?
Yes. Allison knew Pamela, and I met her during that time. I'd also worked with Kurt on a film. So I knew and liked them both. Kurt called me and said, "Look, do you want to do this project we're about to write? This is what it's about; do you want to be part of it?" And I said, "Absolutely, I'd love to be." Because I respect them both as filmmakers, and I love the other actors they chose to cast. Especially Rosanna Arquette, who I think is the greatest actress of her generation. I didn't get a chance to work with her in any of the scenes, but I'm a huge fan of hers. I think she predated all of the rock and roll actresses. She is so talented.

What is the best moment in "Sugar Town" for your character?
It's definitely the moment in the bar when the young girl asks Nick for his autograph and he assumes it's for her, and it's for her mother instead. Allison and Kurt had written a speech for me to say after that moment, but I told them, "I don't need to say a bloody thing here. I am speechless." And for somebody who is glib and seductive on that level and uses words to get young girls into bed, to be absolutely floored and to face what his life is, rather than what he thinks his life is, requires a silence rather than a speech. I didn't want to say anything.

Anything like that happen to you in real life?
Absolutely never. Are you crazy? (laughs) I don't put myself in those situations anymore. It's ludicrous. I don't need the blood of a virgin to sustain myself.

What is different about the young musicians coming up now in the nineties, as opposed to the scene when you first started playing?
I think the difference is that, when I started up, there was nothing that preceded it. The great bands were precedent setters. No one had their own planes. All of the stuff we went through in our day had never been done. The biggest difference today is that they can look back and see the history. Most of the good musicians now are aficionados of those days. It seems to me that the greatest artists are the ones that are the finest plagiarists; they know where to steal from and how to put it together. In those days, Zeppelin and those guys were stealing from the Mississippi Delta and the whole scene there. Nowadays, young bands are stealing from Led Zeppelin. So what Jimmy Page stole is now being stolen from Jimmy Page. And the one that is the most inventive thief is bound to be the most successful. But I would never deny the creativity of say, Kurt Cobain. He was certainly as brilliant and extraordinary as anyone who preceded him.

What about the rock and roll lifestyle? What was different then?
Well, you couldn't die from fucking. So therefore, that is pretty major stuff. The freedom that one felt to do as much coke as you could get your hands on and fuck anybody and everybody was considered de rigeur. But now, of course, it's shunned as being Neanderthal behavior and potentially lethal. Drugs in those days weren't surrounded with the pain and suffering that we've since come to know as a result of the lifestyle. I mean, Grace Slick was not on VH1 confessing her sins. Young musicians can now see the toll that it has taken. I think the knowledge that young musicians today have is that they know the pitfalls and we didn't.

What about when Pamela's book, "I`m With the Band", came out? Did that cause any kind of conflict for you? Having to deal with issues from the past that you thought had been put away?
Well, my glib response would be that as long as the photos looked good and my name was spelled right, I didn't give a fuck. But the real answer is that I hate to delve into the past. It's beautiful and it's painful at the same time. I love Pamela and I think she's a phenomenal writer. And I never much cared what anyone thought of me; it's that old adage that you are as sick as your secrets. If you have things to hide, you're letting yourself in for a difficult time. I would rather that everyone knew everything than have to remember the lie. But I'm not ashamed of anything either. I've been through drug addiction and a real wild journey and I consider myself grateful for it. I don't regret a damn thing. Also, the book was her life, her story. So I couldn't say, "You can't say that". Because that isn't fair. But it was an interesting time for us, because we were drifting apart in our marriage when the book came out. But the book was not a catalyst for our break up. It was synonymous with the break up, but it wasn't the cause.

Was there a definitive moment in time when you decided to stop being a rock star and start focusing on an acting career?
I think after I played with Power Station in 1985, which was the epitome of rock stardom - the private jet, the three assistants, and all the privileges, all the outfits - it was enough already. As I got older, into my thirties, and I was bumping and grinding for that audience, which is sixteen years old, I thought that was a bit much. In a sense, I was cast as a rock star in Power Station. I replaced Robert Palmer, so it was an acting thing, also. I was playing the role of a rock star, and the constant touring, starting in 1972, never stopped. I mean, aside from Mick and Keith, who else has been on the road for thirty-five years? So, I quit and did "MacGyver" for the next six years. But, as a child, I was an actor. I did a part in "To Sir With Love" (1967) when I was very young, so it was quite a natural thing for me to move on in that direction.

You and Pamela have a son, Nick, who is twenty. Does he want to be a musician?
My son isn't really into rock and roll as a form of expression. He fell in love with Japanese culture when he was ten. Pamela took him to Japan on a trip, and, when he came home, we got him a tutor and he learned to speak Japanese. When he was fifteen, he was working for "Game Fan" which is a video game magazine, translating the Japanese games into English. He did this kind of work for four years, and then, three months ago, he came to me and said, "Dad, I want to act". So then I was faced with the dilemma of what to say. But he knows the rejection inherent in this choice; he's seen his mother and me go through such shit with self-doubt and disappointment, but there are the triumphs, too, and he knows this. He knows it's difficult but I do think he'll have a significant career as an actor. Acting or singing is really the same thing, isn't it? It's showing off for money.

What advice do you have for young musicians today?
I don't want to be seen as some paternalistic guy who gives advice. I have no advice to give. I'll approach young musicians because I love to go and see new bands. I think that today young musicians are so sophisticated that they know the games to be played. They know the machinations of the life. It's like how American audiences are more aware of box office receipts than some studio executives. The knowledge is so vast that they know how to manipulate the system.

If you could do anything next in your career, what would it be?
Well, I'm doing it. I've formed a production company with Rosanna Arquette, and we're going to do a number of things. One of which is a script I wrote about the Marquis De Sade, which I may or may not play, depending on who buys it. We have a rock and roll television show in development, also. I've been writing a lot of new songs lately. I'm not quite sure what I'll do with them, but I've felt the urge to write. I may do another solo album.

Doing an album is one way to still make music, but don't you miss getting all dressed up and doing the rock star thing onstage?
I still do that. Steve Jones, who I think is the greatest rock and roll guitarist ever, and I play in a pub, St. Stephen's Green on Wiltshire (in Santa Monica). We are called The Suspects and we play all the Iggy Pop stuff, The Dolls, T Rex, it's unbelievable. Pink hair, full makeup and all the gear, glitter, the whole thing. The audience loves it and it's fun. We know how to play that kind of music.

In the press notes, Kurt Voss says, "Fame is as addictive as heroin". Having once been an addict yourself, do you agree?
I'm addicted to everything. Fame, shoes, girls, cars, sushi. I'm an addictive guy. Fame is just one of the elements. Everybody I came up with is either dead or three hundred pounds. I've been really tenacious, and I love to work. I constantly need challenges. I'm not living in the past. I'm enjoying the present.

If there is any one truth to this movie, what is it?
That your dream could be your nightmare.