Suicide Girl Loves Life; an Interview with Samantha Humphreys aka James Suicide

GirlieGirl Army recently had a chance to chat with our friend Samantha Humphreys (a.k.a James Suicide of the legendary Suicide Girls) about her life as a writer, graphic designer, glamazon, vegan straight edger, yogi, and tattooed goddess. Samantha answered her Q’s from the home she shares with her man, actor/ musician Hal Sparks, and a funny dog named Barbara Walters. She is warm, kind, opinionated (in the best of ways) – and someone we’d want on our side in a girl fight or intellectual sparring any day of the week. Meet the dually named lady who shakes what Obama gave her.

Photo Courtesy of Dale May

GGA: You do SO much, how do you keep it all in check? What are all your gigs, and which part of you does each of the gigs fulfill?

SH: Honestly, I feel like I could still do more. A little goes a long way in my life and I feel like I still have room to do way more. Right now, I’m working on freelance (graphic/ web) design, modeling for SuicideGirls.com and writing a book about positive thinking for young people. I still welcome more work and challenges from all of my avenues; all of those things are an odd and fulfilling mix of vanity, creativity, and a sense of service. Right now I wouldn’t have it any other way.

GGA: Tell us about your upcoming book! We are, obvs, so excited to read anything that comes out of your creative and intricate mind. What’s it about and when and where can we expect to see it?

SH: I have no idea when to expect it to be out – the sooner the better obviously, but right now its a book on positive thinking for young people. It includes a lot of what I have to say, a lot of what others have to say, and a lot of sass! I’m still looking for publishers too -wink/wink to anyone who is reading this interview.

GGA: A lot of our readers think XXX stands for corner store porn, can you explain what the Straight Edge Lifestyle is, and why and how you came to it? How has it enriched your life?

SH: Straight Edge is something that’s very important to me – it’s my culture. I came to it when I was about 19 years old, through going to punk rock shows, and have never looked back. In a nutshell, it can be described as me choosing to live a drug free, alcohol free lifestyle. But what makes it “Straight Edge” is that it is paired with a specific music scene- hardcore punk rock- which is where it originated. Often times Straight Edge can be paired with Vegetarianism or Veganism (as it is in my case), but isn’t exclusively about that. Straight Edge has really been very important in the past 6 years of my life, and is a choice that I will continue to make for the rest of my life, every day.

GGA: What frightens you? What emboldens and inspires you?

SH: What frightens me? Probably the idea of today’s administration of the US continuing to function as it has for the past 8 years, for the next 4. The people of America are seriously going to have a situation on their hands if that happens – in my opinion. What emboldens and inspires me is that life is what I make it, and that is true for every single person.

GGA: As an artist, how does being vegan inform your work, writing, photography, et all?

SH: Being vegan has affected many areas of my life. It certainly has taught me to think in other ways, outside the box and a bit more critically of things. It has taught me to look beyond what is presented to me and about the origins of things, be it food, or any product, how did it get to me? It has really brought me outside of my little American bubble.

Courtesy of Tattoo Life Magazine/ Samantha Humphreys

GGA: You have spent quite some time in India at an Ashram. Tell us a bit about it. I know you were there for a while, how did you acclimate back into life in the States?

SH: You know its funny, I didn’t even think about reverse culture shock until it happened. I was on an ashram for 4 weeks in southern India and then I spent another little chunk of time traveling around India. It definitely became the norm for me. When i got home, it was Christmas time, so Americanism was in full swing (consumerism and all that), so it was pretty nutsto go from one extreme to another.

GGA: What is your favorite food to cook at home? Does your man ever cook for you? And if so, please train ours.

SH: I used to cook way more often than i do now. I used to make this awesome vegan pasta primavera all the time…I need to make that soon! I also have quite the reputation for vegan calzones. yum. My man cooks for me when I ask him to, he has this amazing stir fry recipe that’s only in his head, so when I ask, he will make that. But usually, we are both so busy, that we end up going to Real Food Daily (in Los Angeles) more often than not.

GGA: Use your favorite Golden Girl to come up with an analogy about your own life:

SH: HAHHAHA! I love the Golden Girls so much; I only wish that I’ll have as many awesome friends as they did at that stage of my life. I would have to say that being a combination of all 4 of the Golden Girls would have to be the best possible way to live life. A little bit of a slut like Blanche (knowing how to work your femininity), A bit of a smart ass like Dorothy (educated and not afraid to use it), Compassionate and loving like Rose, and totally devoted to your family like Sofia (with a kick ass sense of humor). The Golden Girls (all in one) make the perfect female!

GGA: What is currently your favorite piece of clothing, and why?

SH: I think my favorite at this present moment would have to be a little lingerie type slip that I’m sure is supposed to be worn to bed, but I have been wearing over jeans. Love that thing.

GGA: Anything else you want to share?

I will just say a little about the upcoming election. Lately I have been so surprised at how many people are afraid to vote for Barak Obama – not because they don’t like what he stands for, not because his middle name is Hussein, or because he is black, but because they are afraid he will be assassinated. And what I want to get out to everyone is PLEASE don’t vote out of fear. Vote out of hope for the good people of our country. Vote for the future of your children, and vote for YOUR future. One vote really does matter because if too many people think their votes don’t count, we will be missing an important demographic. So educate yourself about the candidates; and please please, vote out of hope for what direction you think our country should go in.

GGA: Well said. We make no bones about our love/crush on Obama. Speaking of crushes, we are a big fan of nudity here at GirlieGirl Army Headquarters. How do you respond to puritans who say using your nudity (in your modeling for PETA and Suicide Girls) is letting yourself be objectified? Tell us about some of the wonderful things being a part of Suicide Girls has brought into your life.

SH: I like nudity too. But it’s funny, I’m not really an exhibitionist at all – I just love to take pretty pictures and I love the community of awesome people Suicidegirls has brought me. I have done a ton of projects (beyond modeling) with them (two of the bigger ones I still cant even talk about publicly, but you’ll find out about soon enough), but I think the best opportunity that that website has brought to me is the simple opportunity to meet some amazing, intelligent, driven women to share my life with.

GGA: What is your ideal career path?

SH: To write my book and have it be wildly insanely popular – but most importantly HELPFUL to young people. Then to write a few follow ups, have it become a lifestyle brand, cash out, and go help farm animals and help to decrease Malaria in Africa by distributing mosquito nets with and for the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, in between bouts of traveling with my family and laying on the beach. Sound good?

GGA: Sounds perfect. Where can people learn all about you, and get all up in your bizniz?

SH: Well, they can check out my modeling on Suicidegirls.com. If you are interested in my freelance design work- check out my personal website: www.samanthahumphreys.com, but for some real lurking you can find me on myspace and facebook as well.

Tags: James Suicide, Samantha Humphreys, Suicide Girls