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| | I recently sat down with Frank Turner for an interview when he was touring across Canada with the Gaslight Anthem.
How has touring with the Gaslight Anthem been treating you?
It’s been good, I’ve toured with them lots before. I’m on a bus this tour too, which makes everything easy and comfortable. The shows have been cool. I’ve been coming to places I’ve never been before, like Winnipeg for example. I’ve been having a really good time.
How would you compare the crowds to those in the UK?
It’s been great. The main difference is just that my bearings are better in the UK because I’ve been touring there longer. I started out in that country as opposed to Canada and the USA. But people have been really receptive and I’ve been making new friends every night.
You’re opening the entire show too. Which song of yours do you think best represents what you’re all about?
A heartbreaking question. I don’t know, off the top of my head I’m going to pick “The Road.”
I’m guessing you really played 24 shows in 24 hours for the music video?
Yeah, we actually did it and it was one of the most hellishly awful experiences in my entire life. It was fun in the end and I’m glad we did it because it made for a great video but after awhile, I just did not want to do it anymore, you know what I mean? But the live show was fun and a lot of cool people came out.
Moving back, has anything memorable happened on this tour during the last little while?
Yeah. I’ve been to Eastern Canada before, like Quebec and Toronto, but this is my first time in Western Canada. Vancouver was fun but I got absolutely destroyed and I succeeded in falling over and ripping out half of my knee whilst trying to find the tour bus. So that was pretty memorable, I left my knee in Vancouver. (Laughs) But you know, it’s been fun, it’s been interesting. I was really, really excited about coming to Winnipeg because Propagandhi and the Weakerthans are from there. Even though I won’t be seeing those guys, it’s still cool to see the place where they’re from.
Speaking of the Weakerthans, you signed with their label Epitaph. I’m assuming that was huge honour for you.
Yeah, it was really cool. It just came out of the blue. We didn’t approach them, we being my label in the UK, they just approached us, which is like a dream come true. They just called me up and said ‘We want to sign you’ and I said ‘That’s cool.’ I’m very happy so far, it’s cool to be on the same label as the Weakerthans and also Nick Cave and others for sure.
You were on CNN recently too, what was the experience like?
It was pretty weird, but cool. The guy does lots of the music stuff for CNN, we hung out for a day and he was very nice. It’s funny, a friend of mine called me up and was like ‘What the? What were you doing on CNN?’ It certainly spread the word.
What made you choose the Kerbdog song for Memoria: A Tribute to the Alternative 90’s?
They’re kind of like a band’s band, if you know what I mean? They weren’t really all that successful but they still had an influence on some people. I think that they put out one of the best albums in the 90’s, it was absolutely amazing, somewhere between Nirvana and Rival Schools. The cover was certainly a lot of fun to do.
I was going through previous interviews and I read one where you compare punk rock to Catholicism. I thought that was an interesting statement.
Yeah, just because I think that it’s something that sort of invades your life. When you get into it when you’re younger and grow up with it, it’s kind of there no matter what you’re doing or where you go.
It sticks with you for life?
Yeah, they’ll probably get married to a Black Flag song or something like that. I feel like you can take the boy out of punk rock, but you can’t take punk rock out of the boy. And also, the other reason why I think it’s a good comparison is because there is a little bit of conflicting emotions sometimes, between the concept of punk rock and the people who make up the punk rock community. They can be total dicks on occasion. Like people back lashing against Gaslight for example because they did a song alongside Bruce Springsteen. I’m just like ‘What is your fucking problem?’ I think people in the punk rock community can be in a hurry to be bitchy and I think that’s a very unattractive quality in my eyes. But you know, punk rock has still given me most of what I think and believe about the world, so I’m not going to bang it up too much.
How old were you when you discovered it?
I started listening to punk when I was 13 or 14, around then. I got into metal first, but then I ended up into punk rock.
In “Try This At Home” off of your latest record Poetry of the Deed you wrote “There’s no such thing as rock stars.” Is that one of the main aspects that really appealed to you first?
Yeah. The first hardcore show I went to, I went to see Agnostic Front. Before that I only went to see Foo Fighters play to 2000 people. There were only 500 kids at this show but the thing that blew me away at that show which I will carry with me until the day I die was when the band was done playing. They just walked off stage into the crowd. The idea that people who were standing next to me were onstage earlier that night just totally blew my mind. It just totally made me fall in love with the idea straight away. It’s like, I want to talk to people about life and interact with people and you can do that at shows. That’s so important to me and I think that is one of the best things I’ve gotten out of punk rock.
Some people were asking about that downloading blog you posted and want to know how you feel about people who don’t use downloading as a “free lunch?” Like, they’ll download it, but if they like it, they’ll buy it right away?
The first thing I’ll say is that I’m not really familiar with the world of downloading. I don’t know, but part of me is still slightly cynical that people do it and they don’t buy the records afterwards.
Some people do though.
That’s cool. The thing that I think didn’t come across strongly enough in that blog is that the ways we talk about music, share music, discover music and everything is completely changing and that’s not a bad thing. I think we will reach a point where recorded music is essentially free but if that is going to happen, the other things have to change as well. That blog was not about how things are forever, it was just about how they are at this exact moment, you know what I mean? I don’t really want to call people out but I travel around every day and it gets very frustrating when you get kids who have downloaded the album for free, they try to get on the guest list and then they come up and ask if they can have some free merch and all this kind of shit. It’s like, this is my life, you know? This is what I do for a living. And also within that, I’m not swimming in cash. I only get paid $200 for the show tonight, some of which goes to taxes. Plus I’ve got to pay for my flight, the gas for the bus, all this kind of shit. I don’t make much money doing what I do. I don’t care about that, I’m not complaining about that, but it’s amazing to me the number of people who think I’m some kind of millionaire because they saw a video on TV or heard a song on the radio. I’m not rich, I’m never going to get rich doing what I do, and I don’t want to get rich at what I do. It’s just protecting the small income that I have isn’t unreasonable. It breaks my heart when people just take and don’t give. But the good thing is I think many people don’t do that. I pay to go to shows, I buy albums that I like and I think most people do too. That’s great and I think the change will work itself out eventually but some people don’t want to fucking contribute to something that they’re taking a lot out of.
Aside from that issue, a lot of people wanted to know about Million Dead. Do you ever miss playing “angrier” music?
Sometimes yes and I have thought pretty hard about doing other projects, in particular with Ben Dawson, who was the drummer for Million Dead. I’d really like to play with him again. I think the first problem is just that I don’t really have any time. At the moment I’m planning on touring all over until October next year so when I’m going to sit down and start recording heavier songs depends on that. I guess the other thing too is like hardcore, angry, heavy hardcore, can be some of the best music in the world. But if you’re not sincere with it, it very quickly turns into some of the worst music in the world, you know? There’s nothing worse than a band who’s shouting and doesn’t really mean it. And so I feel that if you’re going to play that type of music, you have to fucking mean it and I’m not as angry as I was when I was 21. I don’t know, we’ll see. I’ve got all of these excellent hardcore band names that I want to use up.
So if you did, you’d be starting an entirely new band? There is no hope for a Million Dead reunion?
No, that’s history. I’m sad to say, but it’s not going to happen.
Lastly, Poetry of the Deed came out pretty quickly after Love, Ire & Song. Are you already thinking about new material?
Yeah, I’m writing like crazy at the moment. I actually have this idea where for the next record I might just do traditional English songs. I don’t know about Canada, but American people know songs like “We Shall Overcome” stuff like that. Nobody in England knows that, I didn’t until I researched it. It’s a great song. I’ve been going through that sort of stuff listening to ballads and picking out ones I like. I think it would be really fun to do an album traditionally but either way, there will be another album soon enough. |
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Displaying posts 1 - 15 of 17. |
12:18 PM on 10/11/09 | Frank Turner is amazing. He seems like such an honest stand-up guy and has something that seems to be missing from a lot of artists today. Can't wait to see him on Thursday. | | |
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12:26 PM on 10/11/09 | I love Frank, what a hero.
Great interview! | | |
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12:46 PM on 10/11/09 | May your music break my ear drums | | |
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01:50 PM on 10/11/09 | Gutted that the is no hope for a Million Dead reunion. They were amazing live and their albums are awesome.
Frank's solo work is also incredible. Top bloke. | | |
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02:14 PM on 10/11/09 | To the east! To the east! The road beneath my feet. To the west! To the west! Well, I haven't got there yet. | | |
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02:53 PM on 10/11/09 | i'm pretty sure Million Dead's drummer was Ben Dawson not Ben Sherman. | | |
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02:55 PM on 10/11/09 | seriously, this guy is just incredible. his music always puts me in such a better mood. | | |
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02:55 PM on 10/11/09 | I want to see this guy live so bad. He is friends with Look Mexico so I am hoping they can get him at one of their hometown shows. I still do not get how he can tour so much and still put out new good albums so fast. | | |
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04:17 PM on 10/11/09 | i'm pretty sure Million Dead's drummer was Ben Dawson not Ben Sherman. |
Fixed. There are parts of this interview that I had to contact him about after the fact because I couldn't 100% understand what he was saying on my voice recorder. I feel awful that I STILL made a mistake after all that. But I just sent it over again and he said "looks ace" so I'm hoping that is the case now finally... Thanks for the catch! | | |
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04:46 PM on 10/11/09 | Good Interview. I can't stop spinning Poetry of the Deed, great album. | | |
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04:46 PM on 10/11/09 | these are not just mountains Frank is a super nice guy...on his US tour he stayed out by his merch and talked with fans for the whole show. He told me, "I hope our paths cross again soon." Me too! | | |
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06:04 PM on 10/11/09 | Solid interview. Super, super stoked on the new record! This guy needs to blow up, stat. | | |
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