How's the tour going with Frank at the moment?
It's going really well. The crowds are amazing, the vibe is really good, and we're all getting on really well. My band took two or three shows to really get into the swing of it, we also drove up to Aberdeen to do an extra show first, which was a really long way to go. We had a great gig in Aberdeen but we'd basically been on the road for four nights and fifteen hundred miles before we joined Frank's tour. So, it felt at the beginning that we were a bit knackered, compared to the vibe of everyone else. Then by the end of the first night, we'd all got into the swing of it and it's really good.
Does Frank still do a cover of The Huntsman?
No, but I've only played it once on this tour, in a way I'd like to play it but it's not fair on the band we've only got thirty or thirty five minutes and if I were to jam a solo one in half way through, then the band would lose all their energy on stage. We're really enjoying rockin' out and being a band. I've played it a couple of time, where it was right at the beginning, and If we had a set where it was 45 minutes it would end up at the end, but it's just not feasible.
You released the new album Capital in March is there any new material on the horizon?
I was supposed to finish demoing all my new songs before I went on tour, and I didn't finish them. I've got a lot of songs written, some of them I'm very excited about, and they're not about anything.
I was going to say the London trilogy is done and dusted now.
It is, yeah, so the new songs are very much more just songs. I'm going to demo all of them as well as I can, and it's more than thirty songs, just in a garage band and acoustic way and then make a decision about what the album is going to be. There two options are, one is just to make an album that is not themed, for the first time ever, I've never done that before and just choose the very best songs and stick them on an album. And then the other option would be to do that, and maybe save up all the political ones and maybe do a sequel to 'Nine Red Songs' soon after it. So if the label are interested I'd offer them a proper album, and then perhaps nine months later they could do the next 'Nine Red Songs', maybe 'Nine green Songs' or....
You're nearly always on the road, do you ever get much chance to get back to Brighton and the Mrs?
Funnily enough I get quite a lot of time at home, because when I'm not on the road I am at home the whole time. So I might spend a couple of months, or even sometimes three months away, but then I'll have another two or three months at home which is great. it isn't particularly ideal because my Mrs is working really hard during the week, so we don't see enough of each other. I think as you get older, that side of touring gets much harder, I've missed her loads more on this tour than maybe the last two tour. Even though that goes against what one might imagine would happen in a long term relationship where you would expect to miss each other less. But for me the opposite has happened, this time around, and I've actually really struggled on this tour, with just missing home and getting a bit grumpy.
Will you do the whole tour before you get to spend some time at home?
Basically, as soon as the band tour finishes, Frank and me go to Ireland. then I get a few days at home, and then we're doing Europe together as two solo acts. so it's really going to be early December before I get a significant time at home, and then we'll have Christmas, and then back to the States in the new year.
How would you describe you music at the moment, because Capital bounces all over the place?
Yeah, I would describe my music as bouncing all over the place. I don't know I'm loving having a rock band, I'm loving playing with the line-up I've got. Jen who is playing guitar with me is pretty much my favourite guitarist in the world, she's a shining guitarist, and that makes my life a lot easier as a musician, it means I can just chill out and sing a bit.
All those musical styles, you must have quite a record collection at home.
Yeah I do actually, I'm an absolute music freak.
So what's your top five albums, presumably you have vinyl?
I don't have actually, my wife has a huge vinyl collection. But I don't have. I don't have all that many CDs left, because I got so excited when ipods first happened that I did the ridiculously stupid thing that some people did of, putting a load of my music onto my mac and then selling the CDs or giving them to people. Then, once you start realising the difference in quality, or your ipod crashes, or something else goes wrong you realise you've lost half your favourite music. So' I've been really stupid there, I'm not a particular vinyl festishist, although I have some vinyl.
I think we were all conned with CD being a better quality than vinyl.
I would agree there, there's a warmer sound, but I wonder if because so many studios are set up in a certain way to just heighten digital bandwidth, so the top and the bottom are really crisp. That, that original quality of vinyl has been lost to history. The fact that people would go in and record on two inch reel on beautiful microphones, and make it sound as good as they could like that, and then master it after that, tends to have been lost.
Do you think that that's unlikely to come back again?
Yeah, I did four acoustic versions of songs from Capital for an Xtra Mile Recordings compilation CD and I did them on 2 inch reel live, and I'm so proud of them. I much prefer at least three of them to the album versions, they're not the same, they're just stripped down and I really love that kind of warmth, I've missed that.
So what are your top five albums?
What ever? That's an incredibly tough question. I'm being heckled by Frank. (Frank: I'm not heckling I'm trying to help). He's holding up Bruce Springsteen, Springsteen's massively in there.
Frank's a Springsteen fan as well isn't he? When I interviewed him, he mentioned Springsteen.
Yeah, we got Bruce Springsteen in common, I would say in terms of studio albums one of them would be 'the Live 75-85 Collection', but that's more than an album. so let's say 'The Wild the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle' by Bruce Springsteen, 'Painful' by Yo La Tengo, June Tabor's 'The Quiet Eye' folk album from 1999, if you want the finest living English female singer you've got June Tabor. Her, Jim O'Rourke maybe, Dinosaur Junior, favourite album would be 'Where You Been', lots of that kind of American rock college stuff, Robyn Hitchcock's 'Respect' the one with 'The Yip Song' on it, and produced by John Leckie.
Have you seen the film 'Storefront Hitchcock' shot by Jonathan Demme who did 'Silence Of The Lambs' and Talking Heads' 'Stop Making Sense' he's done this entire movie of Robyn Hitchcock playing and talking in a shop window in New York, and it's brilliant.
Frank Turner has just held up a piece of paper behind you with The Ting Tings written on it. I do have a sneaking love for The Ting Tings, but only because... because I'm an idiot. But yes, that's a brief run down of why I love music. Oh god, Keith Jarrett's 'Koln Concert' is definitely in the top five albums of all time. It's an improvised piano solo recital and it's among the most beautiful music ever made. One day, I will make my improvised Keith Jarrett piano album and the word will go nuts for me.
Are there more people coming to listen to you for the politics in your songs?
Less so now, certainly a couple of year's ago there was a massive increase in the kind of contingent that were enjoying the fact that I was doing overt politics. They're still around, but I think they've been a bit put off by the fact I've got loud and indie again, and what they want is some solo shows with some politics in. I do actually think that in a way 'Capital' is a more political album than 'Nine Red Songs' but it's so caught up in violence that people just don't clock it.
Do you think popular culture can really persuade people to get involved in politics?
I've thought a lot about this, because of 'Preaching To The Converted' which is a song I wrote that criticised that idea, and was quite cynical about it, a lot of people have said that even when you preach to the converted, what you are doing is reminding them of the fire they feel. So that inspires, them to go out and be more active. I'm a little more optimistic now about creativity and social changes. I don't think that a political song can stop a war, we damn well know that. 150,000 people need something to chant when they are going to march against the war, and even that many not stop the war but for the people whose scepticism has reached the point where they just go there is no point. Unfortunately, for them, I don't so much disagree with them as pity them, because they're the ones that get left behind when a social movement has a voice.
It's funny because with Frank he's so desperate at this point to not be perceived as a political singer, which he isn't. And even funnier, if anything, certainly fiscally he's right of centre, and then it's socially that he's a libertarian. Yet, because he once sang 'Thatcher Fucked The Kids' there's this whole movement of the hard left who would want to appropriate him. Whereas with me, I am far closer to being hard left and would be their ideal kind of singer, but because I do 'Preaching To The Converted' they don't want to get too close, because I am the guy that was rude about Billy Bragg. So, it's a real imbalance I think a lot of the organisers of that movement misjudged the culture they try to adopt. There's a lot of great political bands out there that get missed by the movement.
How do you rally those people who say 'I don't vote because all politicians are the same'?
Well you say you're wrong because. You have to have that argument one person at a time don't you, I could sit here and pontificate to you and try to explain why that's wrong. Frank and I did a joint interview the other day, and he finished it with as his closing line, the populist line "All politicians are wankers" and I actually couldn't disagree more.
If someone has decided to be a politician, at least fifty percent of the time, let's say, they're going to be sacrificing massive potential income, because they tend to be very talented, very mainstream hardcore people, who could be working in banking or working in private industry and earn a lot more than when the are being a politician. And many of those people are doing it because they want to change the world for the better. I don't think all politicians are wankers at all, and I think the people who go, "I'm not going to vote"... well actually I think it's difficult now, because my mum's considering not voting and she's voted every time, and she's a passionately political person.
Look at eight years ago in the United States, people would have said there's no point voting because the Republicans are going to get in, and the Democrats now are just wet. What came out of what we think of as slightly further left than the mainstream democrats is this now popular kind of almost celebrity hero that is going to become a president, I'm almost certain, and with a bit of luck will really improve things. Now that's all my optimism, but I didn't share that feeling with Blair, so I have this real sense of change.
You're quite passionate about America then...
I'm quite passionate about the current situation in America, and I'd almost say that's what we need in this country. We need a personality who can rally the masses, but has the views, and the strong infrastructure brain. We need someone very intelligent, very attractive, and of the left, and that would save the left. We haven't got that yet and therefore the left is in disarray, but it would just take one hot leftie in my opinion.
The other ridiculous thing is that we're about to be living in a socialist super state, and everyone's gone "Oh okay then, save us please socialism, because the banks have fucked it all up."
Anyway back to the music, how do you go about your song writing process?
I carry a notebook at all times and then the ideas are fairly spontaneous, but they are very rarely complete songs they are usually about four lines, or a verse and half a chorus, or an idea for a chorus, or even an idea for a subject. so that gets slammed down in the notebook and then I have sessions to try and finish those, and I suspect that must be very similar for a lot of songwriters.
Being on the road with Frank do you find you have time to create stuff?
Do you know I have no idea if Frank is creating, I suspect he is not getting the chance because this is the tour where he's breaking through to a much more mainstream audience, and a huge amount is being demanded of him press and promo wise which wasn't last time I toured with him, and his audiences are much bigger, and the shows are rammed. so the guy is really busy, and I've not been creative either, I've not written anything this time.
Would you say being on the road is not a creative period?
I'd say if I was on the road on my own playing solo, it would be really creative, and I'd write a lot of songs while I was on the road, or at least come up with a lot of ideas. I also sight see if I'm playing solo, so I would have gone to loads of different local things. Whereas because we've got the band, everything takes up a lot more time, and we're a support band, so the time between our sound check and set is different, and also I'm getting to go on stage at the very end of Frank's set, so it's kind of a whole evening of stuff, and to be honest admin takes over.
Chris T-T turns to Frank and asks: Are you writing on this tour are you getting to write songs? Because I've surmised that you aren't because of business.
Frank: I'm writing words.
Chris T-T: So you are getting some words written. So, there you go he's way ahead of me, he is getting some words written.
Frank: I need to get my arse in gear, because that new song I keep playing in soundcheck we're going to play at The Scala, currently has one verse of lyrics.
Chris T-T: It is really interesting that Frank is, I'm surprised with the amount of promo and stuff.
Frank: But the thing is, and I know this is off topic for your interview, but with this tour I'm actually far less active than I was on the last tour because I've got more people around me.
Who influenced you in going down the path of being a musician?
Well Springsteen, I had piano lessons when I was a child, really young, and realised that I didn't like learning other people's piano music so I didn't do my practise enough. But loved improvising, so as I got better what I used to do was, I was supposed to practise piano for 45 minutes a day, and I would definitely play piano for 45 minutes a day so my mum and dad thought I was practising but I wasn't doing any of the music I was supposed to be doing, I was just going tinkle tinkle tinkle.
My German teacher did a school project and gave us a chance to record demos for a school band, and my band went and did that. We got to record our demos with John Parish who at the time was just beginning to work with Polly Harvey on 'Dry' and so he inspired me. I was always in bands at school, from a really early age, and always the one running the band, and always the one where other people would say, "I can't do this anymore, my mum says I can't do it." And always doing my own stuff, because I'm a control freak, I can't cope with learning covers because it stresses me out. I've done a few but it's always been a real heave process, I don't enjoy it instinctively.
My final question is, is there anybody up and coming that we should look out for?
I will mention my two band mates who have got bands. You've got to look out for Johnny my bassist runs The Drift Collective which is an indie/folk/psych/mad label and two of their acts he's in, Cottonmouth Rocks and Thirty Pound Of Bone, one is a rock band and one's a folk band, they're both duos. They are both fantastic. Then Jen, my guitarist has a band called Something Beginning With L, who are about to do their first record, and they are fantastic. We're sitting with Emily Barker (who was playing gentle guitar behind me throughout the interview) who is an Australian alt country folk Americana (Australiana) singer with one of the most luscious voices out there, and she is to die for, and she's got this really sexy all girl band (Red Clay Halo) as well and then they're brilliant.
Of other people I'd say my favourite new song writer is Tom Williams whose a guy in Tunbridge Wells, who has come through, and is somewhere between the kind of passionate English folk songs about real things thing and the kind of more Bright Eyes, esoteric, almost edging towards emo kind of stuff, and he gets that balance exactly right, he's really down to earth, and he has these great immediate songs, and a very English was about him, but he's got more of a kind a complexity of a Bright Eyes type thing. and, he's wonderful, his songs are wonderful, he's got a beautiful way about him, and he's like everything I ever wanted from Get Cape but far more immediate, and he won't get lost in anything, he's a poet.
I'm also really into James Yuill, and he's breaking big at the moment because he just got signed to Moshi Moshi, he does folktronica meets miserable anti-folk and he's a really talented guy as well.
And Sandra And The Memory Machine, we've got another Australian friend in London, she's a singer with a very unconventional backing line-up, so it's very percussive, and keyboardy and she plays a ukulele, and she's got a great voice as well. Maybe, it's something in the water down under.
Thanks for your time Chris and have a great gig.
article by: Scott Williams
photos by: Karen Williams
published: 10/11/2008 15:54
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