Johnny Marr interviewed by The A.V. Club

Great read-thanks. The 'water under the bridge' comment, and how he doesn't keep up with Morrissey's solo career, made me a little sad, though. There seemed to be a bit of wistfulness in this interview.
 
Last edited:
Noel Murray from The A.V. Club has spoken at length to Johnny Marr. The interview is online -

Johnny Marr has no negative thoughts about The Smiths, seriously - The A.V. Club

Excerpt:

AVC: There’s a documentary about The Clash, made when Joe Strummer was alive, in which he talks about all the little things that led to the breakup of The Clash, and how he wishes he could go back to that person he was in his 20s and say, “None of this matters. The addictions don’t matter. The personality conflicts don’t matter. You are in one of the greatest bands of all time. Don’t f*** it up.” Do have a similar feeling about the end of The Smiths? What’s your take on how and why everything fell apart?

JM: Well, I don’t think anything was f***ed up. I don’t have that kind of perspective at all. I think it’s sad that four guys who were so tight went through such bitterness, that was encouraged by the behavior of some members of the band. Obviously, it was very emotional. The band was incredibly dramatic, and I’m philosophical about that because I think without that dramatic element, some of the music wouldn’t sound the way it does. Not all, but some. I think the only regrettable thing is that as adults, only Andy and myself get together and give each other a hug and make fun of each other and like seeing each other. To be honest, it’s unfortunate that The Smiths don’t have the relationship where they can sit around and even get complaints out, or philosophize. That’s unfortunate for four adults who are always going to have a tie to each other. And unfortunately lots of water’s gone under the bridge, you know? But I can only speak for myself, and say that I don’t have any negative thoughts about the times back then or the times now, or the people in it. I just personally feel a sense of pride, and an incredible degree of luck. All I want to say about that, on behalf of the other three members of the group, is that we worked very, very hard and we really, really cared...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
what's he on about when he says he "just took off all of the silly stuff that was put on the records during the ’90s"?
 
JM: Well, I don’t think anything was f***ed up. I don’t have that kind of perspective at all. I think it’s sad that four guys who were so tight went through such bitterness, that was encouraged by the behavior of some members of the band. Obviously, it was very emotional. The band was incredibly dramatic, and I’m philosophical about that because I think without that dramatic element, some of the music wouldn’t sound the way it does. Not all, but some. I think the only regrettable thing is that as adults, only Andy and myself get together and give each other a hug and make fun of each other and like seeing each other. To be honest, it’s unfortunate that The Smiths don’t have the relationship where they can sit around and even get complaints out, or philosophize. That’s unfortunate for four adults who are always going to have a tie to each other. And unfortunately lots of water’s gone under the bridge, you know? But I can only speak for myself, and say that I don’t have any negative thoughts about the times back then or the times now, or the people in it. I just personally feel a sense of pride, and an incredible degree of luck. All I want to say about that, on behalf of the other three members of the group, is that we worked very, very hard and we really, really cared...

Yes Johnny you are quite the peacemaker as you once again distance yourself from holding any responsibility.
 
Is this man ever going to stop talking about The Smiths? Or stop blaming everything on Morrissey for two seconds? How entirely unsurprising that he doesn't elaborate on any of this 'water under the bridge' stuff - that's because he started it. Johnny Marr, as much if not more so than anyone else, encouraged "bitterness" between the band members post-split by spending most of the 1990s telling anyone in earshot what a sad, pathetic whiny old sack Morrissey was, what a nightmare he was to work with and how Bernard Sumner or Matt Johnson or someone equally mediocre was a better singer/writer/God knows what else. He burnt his bridges long ago; he continues to burn them with every cryptic wink and nod about 'The Big Bad Wolf' of The Smiths story, and I'm amazed that Morrissey still gives him the time of day. You bit the hand that fed and now you're paying for it, Johnny. Does he seriously wonder why Moz doesn't turn up at his door with wine and chocolates?
 
Never, then :(.

The A/V Club will cease asking Johnny Marr questions about The Smiths when you and I cease rushing to any site who asks him the questions. Let's not pretend we're innocent. I mean, it's like complaining about tabloids. Someone wants to hear Johnny Marr talk about The Smiths. Someone wants to believe Rupert Murdoch sodomized bat boy.
 
The A/V Club will cease asking Johnny Marr questions about The Smiths when you and I cease rushing to any site who asks him the questions. Let's not pretend we're innocent. I mean, it's like complaining about tabloids. Someone wants to hear Johnny Marr talk about The Smiths. Someone wants to believe Rupert Murdoch sodomized bat boy.

But do you think he has nothing else to talk about? Or that no-one would want to read it if it didn't mention The Smiths? I'd be willing to skim over anything involving Johnny Marr because I'm a fan, and I always have that hope that he might say something new or at least slightly different from things he's said a thousand times before. He's nowhere near as one-dimensional as these endless Smiths interviews make him out to be, but you'd never know it. Maybe the journalists and the media portray him that way because that's what the public remember him for and that's what will sell copies, sure - but no-one is forcing him to sit and repeat all this stuff. He could just tell them politely that Smiths questions are pointless now and make them a no-go, like Moz did all those years ago. Without that, he'll be trapped in his own past forever, giving the same interviews in twenty years as he is today.
 
Is this man ever going to stop talking about The Smiths?

I posted a chance for anyone to ask him a question about anything recently, via this link .
The comments which followed were about pet names, masturbation, pictures of Noel Edmonds, gay sex and "Why did the Smiths brake up".
This criticism is a little misplaced surely?
 
I posted a chance for anyone to ask him a question about anything recently, via this link .
The comments which followed were about pet names, masturbation, pictures of Noel Edmonds, gay sex and "Why did the Smiths brake up".
The criticism is a little misplaced surely?

That's only based on the answers of a few flippant Solo-ers though, myself included. There might have been a fair few people on the 'kinder, gentler' forum :)rolleyes:) who had different questions to ask. I'm not sure fan questions and journalist questions should be measured against the same standard, though.
 
That's only based on the answers of a few flippant Solo-ers though, myself included. There might have been a fair few people on the 'kinder, gentler' forum :)rolleyes:) who had different questions to ask. I'm not sure fan questions and journalist questions should be measured against the same standard, though.

Therefore your criticism becomes invalid. You are arguing against/ despite your own standards
 
Is this man ever going to stop talking about The Smiths?

He recently spent a lot of time remastering The Smiths' recordings so that they could be reissued. The technical term is, I think, "marketing".
 
Therefore your criticism becomes invalid. You are arguing against/ despite your own standards

Er, what? If I met Johnny Marr and was asked to interview him, I wouldn't seriously ask him if he and Morrissey had pet names, for Christ's sake. In fact I'm not sure what I'd ask him, but it wouldn't involve The Smiths because I expect he's as bored of saying all that stuff as we are of hearing it - and after 25 years, I think he's exhausted everything there could ever be to discuss about that topic anyway. Every single, minute aspect of The Smiths has been dissected, analysed, criticised and re-evaluated over the years. What's left but the legacy, really? Most journalists aren't going to take that into consideration if they need to sell papers, of course - I just think Johnny (and fans like myself) might prefer it more if they did. He's said on several occasions that he wants the media to stop 'living in the past', but perhaps he doesn't help by facilitating them all the time.
 
Er, what? If I met Johnny Marr and was asked to interview him, I wouldn't seriously ask him if he and Morrissey had pet names, for Christ's sake. In fact I'm not sure what I'd ask him, but it wouldn't involve The Smiths because I expect he's as bored of saying all that stuff as we are of hearing it - and after 25 years, I think he's exhausted everything there could ever be to discuss about that topic anyway. Every single, minute aspect of The Smiths has been dissected, analysed, criticised and re-evaluated over the years. What's left but the legacy, really? Most journalists aren't going to take that into consideration if they need to sell papers, of course - I just think Johnny (and fans like myself) might prefer it more if they did. He's said on several occasions that he wants the media to stop 'living in the past', but perhaps he doesn't help by facilitating them all the time.

You still haven't offered an alternate question though, just massive anger and criticism. It's fine to be very angry and critical, but my point is that without an alternative it's difficult to reasonably object to journalists questions. You need a counter argument rather than an angry put-down to dismiss an interview which is based on an interviewee who has a specific and notable historic career zone such as The Smiths
 
You still haven't offered an alternate question though, just massive anger and criticism. It's fine to be very angry and critical, but my point is that without an alternative it's difficult to reasonably object to journalists questions. You need a counter argument rather than an angry put-down to dismiss an interview which is based on an interviewee who has a specific and notable historic career zone such as The Smiths

I'm not massively angry. You seem to be saying that because I'm not a journalist (and don't have a sheet of 15 questions ready-prepared for our hypothetical meeting), I can't object when journalists ask him the same Smiths-related nonsense over and over. It would be like Morrissey being endlessly questioned about celibacy and homosexuality - all it tells you is that the Press have run out of ideas. Now, someone earlier pointed out that the purpose of the AV Club interview is "marketing" and that's perfectly true, but this interview isn't an exception to the rule: almost every Marr interview is like this, follows that same line of questioning. As for the journalists, it's their job to dig deeper than the superficial, "Oh yeah, jingle-jangle Smiths guy" stuff in preparation for an interview, and at the same time gear the material towards the readership.

So if I had Marr at my disposal for a few hours, I'd say - right, you've got a new Healers album coming out, talk to me about that. I'd ask him what went wrong with the original incarnation back in 2003, and the real reasons why he shelved that project. I'd ask where this desire to be a "frontman" suddenly came from. I'd ask him what appealed to him in those years of being a sideman for other groups - the diversity/chance to meet new people/not having to shoulder responsibility when things went wrong? Did he take refuge in the session work so that he didn't have to get caught in the crossfire of inter-band arguments? Why exactly did he leave Modest Mouse? I'd ask him if he regretted any of his involvement in the 'Madchester scene' and that drug culture, I'd ask him if he regretted causing a rift with Morrissey through his blasé court defence, and I might weasel out his opinion on 'Vauxhall & I' and make him list his favourite vegan cheeses in descending order of preference. In other words, I'd ask ANYTHING other than Smiths questions. The minute he mentioned the first thing about Salford Van Hire and roadies on the phone and it all being a lot of pressure for a 23 year-old, I'd be out of there.
 

Trending Threads

Back
Top Bottom