I’d have perhaps paid more attention if I had known that I’d still be doing this after all these years.
Music should be an accessible thing. Not something where you have to train for many years and become a virtuoso before you are allowed to make a noise.
Punk was a great way of seizing the initiative back. Before punk, there were lots of people who thought they were alone.
Seeing the Sex Pistols I realized someone else thought the same way. It was different to what was around at the time. It was the excitement that they generated and the fun that they were having doing it doing it.
Everything was crazy about that time. It was exciting because it was so new, there were no rules saying this is what you had to do. The punk spirit was about doing what you wanted to do.
We got our start by organizing a gig for the Sex Pistols. We put on their first gig in Manchester and then, when they came back, our band was ready to play alongside them.
I never get tired of playing “Ever fallen in love.” It’s one of my favorites anyway, so I don’t mind people asking. It’s really fun to play and the reaction it gets from the audience is really special. It’s something that everyone shares—a celebration of collective misery.
My background shaped me a lot because it drives what my music is about. It would be different if I was black and from New Orleans.
We all have the same drives and needs and passions. I write more about the internal world than the external world. While people’s external worlds are all different, their internal worlds tend to be the same.
Admitting I was bisexual has made my life easier. It cleared the air. The songs that I write don’t relate to a specific gender, so I guess they can relate to more people.
Labels are good for viewing things at a distance. But up close, labels are too hard to stick.
We play intelligent pop music. It’s not pop like Barbie Girl pop. Our music deals with things that happen to people.
Trying to make sense of everyday life inspires me. It’s overheard conversations that make you think. The line “ever fallen in love” actually comes from the musical Guys n’ Dolls. I heard the actress say it and I thought I’m going to write a song.
Every song is an experiment, a journey. You have an idea what you think it’s going to be like, but it’s only by doing it that you find out how it’s going to turn out. So by the time you’ve finished recording a song, it ends up being completely different.
I tend to write in bursts. I might have things in the back of my mind, but when it needs to be done, the deadline makes you make decisions.
There are more bands during a recession because people are finding it much harder to get work. Before it was difficult to get someone to commit because they had a good day job. Hopefully, it will mean something good comes out of it. A whole a load of new bands who love doing it just for the music.
The reason punk was possible was because there were a lot of people who were unemployed at the time. We had the time and a passion to make things happen.
Touring is always an adventure. There’s always new things and new people to experience. I tend to just stay at home when I am on what you would call a holiday.
To enjoy what I am doing is my biggest achievement. It’s hard sometimes, the traveling is one of the worst parts. But once you get where you are going to play, then the excitement starts. The gig is always fun.
Hypocrisy makes me angry, people who are mean spirited and stupid.
It is possible to play punk when you’re over 25. It must be, because I’m still doing it, and I’ve been doing it for 29 years.
Very little changes when you get older. There are a few things that I wish I had known when I was 18 that I know now. But inside, I still feel like I’m 18.
