It's 8am in New York, but Butthole Surfers frontman Gibby Haynes is already hyper. His Texan gurgle rattles down a crackly phone line, his conversation peppered with guffaws. One of the great American punk showmen, he seeps charisma and charm, with more than a light dusting of insanity. He digresses, tells tall tales, and confides dark secrets. We're meant to be talking about the album he's releasing with his new band, His Problem. Instead, we get onto the subject of pyromania.

So can you give me some tips for creating a good onstage fire?

Just use alcohol and you can set anything on fire.

What's the oddest thing you've set on fire?

David Yow from The Jesus Lizard.

Was he onstage with you at the time?

No, he was in the front seat of a car with his arm around his girlfriend. He was driving the car. I was on the back seat and you know that bit on the back of your elbow that when you straighten your arm out is all wrinkled? That's the part I set on fire. With a lighter. And you know if you pinch it right now you can't even feel it? We smelt it before he felt it. Bwaahahaa. So evil. He never forgave me.

What's the most satisfying fire you've lit?

It was also my most recent one, at the Fuji festival in Japan. I do this thing with a cymbal where I turn it upside down, fill it with lighter fluid. And I noticed it was mounted improperly cos a new roadie did it. So I was like, well, we don't have much of a show so I'm just gonna light the stage on fire. So there was a 15ft2 area in flames. I had to pour beer on my jeans and my legs so I wouldn't get burned. Then the little-bitty Japanese stagehands started freaking on me, trying to put it out. They creeped from the side I wasn't looking at, and I'd look at them and say, "Back off over there." Then they would creep from the opposite way.

How long did the fire go on for?

About 10 seconds or so. One of the stagehands came near and I had lit my hand. I touched this guy on the top of his head and just briefly his hair caught fire. Mwwwahhahaaa! Just a real quick fire. If you ever do it, it's like you've got alcohol on your hand and you don't feel any pain for a while. Right when you light it, if you touch someone a little bit of flame will stick to them. It'll freak them out but it won't hurt them.

I'll try it.

But make sure you do it with alcohol. Either drinking or rubbing alcohol but don't use lighter fluid. Lighter fluid will not go out. Once you light oil there's no turning back.

Gibby Haynes And His Problem is out now on Surf Dog/Cargo