Originally published in Beat Motel issue 9
1) What would you be doing if you weren’t doing this interview?
Working on tour preparation. I’m a control freak and I’m terrible at delegating, so I end up being knee deep in show contracts for April on a
Monday night. Rock and Roll.
2) What were your main reasons for leaving Million Dead?
Uh, basically the band split up, it wasn’t so much that I left. We had some serious disagreements as a group and decided to go our separate ways. Sorry that sounds vague, but our reasons were basically personal and therefore private.
3) I have been told by various friends that you have done more than your fair share of house gigs do you have any interesting stories? Yeah, I did a whole bunch of gigs like that, and there are plenty of stories. The most enjoyable house show I did was in Northampton; I arrived to discover that the veue was closed down and the promoter I’d been in touch with was basically a con-man. Met a local guy, Adam, who said he lived nearby and had a spacious living room, so we got everyone round to his, put a poster up on the old venue and ended up with about
50 people crammed in there. Heaps of fun.
4) What are your views on the current punk scene?
I know very little about any current punk scene. Is there one?
5) If you were a politician what would you change?
I could give some trite sweeping answer about how it all needs to be torn down, but to be honest right now, if I was in power, I’d stop the ID card scheme and scrap PFI, which I think is one of the biggest scams this country has ever seen. And I’d renationalize the railways.
6) Who would appear in your dream car crash?
Um, as in who would I like to see die in a crash? Jeremy fucking Paxman.
7) In Million Dead I read that your policy was “Think Black flag” Does this still apply?
Very much so. Last year I had the Black Flag bars logo tattooed onto my wrist. That band laid a blueprint for how to be as a musician that still
informs what I do.
8) What would be your response to Jim Goad’s belief that punk is for those who have enough time and money to act poor?
Hm, I can see his point, a lot of the time ‘punk’ is just that. I could argue back, but at the end of the day it’s just a fucking word really, I think enough man hours have been wasted arguing over what it means already. Anyway, it’s not punk to care about what ‘punk’ means, haha.
9) The big debate; What does selling out mean to you?
Selling out to me is doing things for the wrong reason, for dishonest reasons. I make music for its own sake, rather than for money or to please anyone else. Having said that though, some people do make music for money or for others, and as long as they’re up front about it, what business is it of mine to give them shit? At the end of the day the only people who use the term “selling out” with any degree of seriousness generally still live with their parents and haven’t got a clue about the
realities of this world. On the (very few) occasions where someone has levelled the accusation at me, it just makes me laugh.
10) What would be the chances of seeing Frank Turner appear on pop idol?
Hahaha, very small. Not least because I’d lose miserably.
Interview by Pip
Last Updated on March 5, 2023
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