Johnny Marr interview from the current issue of UNCUT

Uncleskinny

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Ben Marshall Meets Johnny Marr

It's the Modest Mouse guitarist! Who we ask about a Smiths' reunion, obviously.

Uncut - "Why did you want to pursue a career in music?"

JM - "Foremost, it was my love of records. But it was also about wanting to break away. I got into music to prove wrong the idea that anyone from Manchester would be some insensitive, macho idiot. Growing up on the biggest council estate in Europe, as I did, you get used to seeing violent confrontation. I saw pop culture as a way out of that, and a way into expressing myself and reinventing myself.”


Uncut - “Did you ever envy Morrissey his position as frontman?”

JM - “I was happy just being The Smiths' guitarist. I was more than content being part of the gang. I'm good at being in a gang. But there's also something about it that I find stifling. I've always liked the idea of doing something and then moving on.”


Uncut - “What was the appeal of joining Modest Mouse?”

JM - “I'm playing with this band for the same reason that I've played with any band. I believed in them and wanted to make music with them. When people look at everything I've done since The Smiths, it can be confusing because they're looking at it from the point of view of a career trajectory. It really pisses me off when I see myself described as a 'session musician'. I'm nothing of the sort. I'm a musician who plays with his friends and/or people who have presented me with an interesting musical proposition.”


Uncut - “What's the greatest record ever made?”

JM - “Without hesitation, I can say 'Gimme Shelter' by The Rolling Stones. Everything about it. The ghostly falsettos at the start, the guitar riff, the guitar solo, Merry Clayton's vocal performance...the whole voodoo vibe. So that's my favourite record. In terms of a favourite song, I'd have to say Dylan's 'Visions of Johanna'.


Uncut - “Do you have any blind spots when it comes to music?”

JM - “I've never been able to get Queen. I could never stand the operatic basis of their music. I tend to have a blind spot to enormous rock productions or preposterously overblown piano music. That would include all the Jim Steinman/Meat Loaf stuff and everything that evokes the image of a bearded man standing on a mountain top. Don't even get me started on Janis Joplin. When she starts singing, it might as well be Marge Simpson”


Uncut - “How would you summarise your feelings about fame?”

JM - “The other members of The Smiths seemed happy to cultivate it when it came along with our first hit singles. I felt a bit differently, I never felt the need to be loved by an audience. The idea of being an influence on other musicians was the ultimate prize. The adulation side of things never meant much to me. Though I did get a big buzz when I first realised that people wanted to look like me, dress like me.”

Uncut - “Sgt Pepper or Pet Sounds?”

JM - “It has to be Pet Sounds. For a long time I had a big blind spot with the Beach Boys. I couldn't get past those terrible stripey shirts, the beards, and the big bellies. But I've come round to Pet Sounds in a big way. For me, Pepper is ridiculously overcooked in terms of its conceptions and production. It just doesn't compare.”


Uncut - “How did you feel in 1992 when the NME accused Morrissey of flirting with a highly dubious form of nationalism?”

JM - “I was out of the country with Electronic when all that was going on. I only got to hear about it second-hand. Maybe I missed out on the intensity of the controversy. As far as I can make out, it boiled down to him draping a Union Jack around his body at a gig. Having been around Morrissey in The Smiths when there was genuine controversy about the Moors Murderers and Margaret Thatcher, the Union Jack thing didn't seem like a big deal to me.”


Uncut - “Madchester could not have happened without The Smiths. Discuss.”

JM - “There might be some truth in that. The Smiths had been a band who were about exclusion and isolation. When we broke up and got out of the way, that really accelerated the idea of inclusion, where anybody could join the party. Without The Smiths around, the path became a little clearer.”


Uncut - “How would you describe the legacy of Manchester?”

JM - “Some great music came out of it and inspired other great music. But it depresses me to walk through Manchester on a Saturday night these days to see young monsters puking in the gutter. Maybe they imagine they're furthering the spirit of the city in 1987, but they're way off the mark. Madchester wasn't about being a yob.”


Uncut - “Assume I have a suitcase and there's $500 million inside it. You can walk out of the room with it right now. The only catch is that, in doing so, A Chinese person will fall of his bicycle in Peking and die. Do you pick up the suitcase?”

JM - “Absolutely not. I'm far too virtuous. My position is that I'd feel the same way about taking the life of a Chinese as a Chinese should feel and hopefully does feel about taking the life of a Tibetan.”


Uncut - “Finally, what are the chances of The Smiths reforming?”

JM - “Approximately nil. I still hang out with Morrissey from time to time and we talk about many things, but that subject never comes up. We might have discussed it in the months following the split. But there'd be no good reason to discuss it now. All our lives have moved on. In postive and interesting ways, I'd like to think.”


In addition to the interview, there is a sidebar with a few facts:

1 – On the Italian leg of the Meat Is Murder tour, Ben Marshall helped Johnny and Morrissey to buy some sunglasses. “I still have those, best pair of Ray-Bans ever”, remembers Marr.

2 – Johnny has given several guitars to his friend, Noel Gallagher.

3 – Johnny enjoyed his first US no 1 with Modest Mouse in March this year. Prior to that he had a Top 40 in the US singles chart with Electronic's single “Getting Away With It”.

4 – Johnny was approached by Nottingham Forest and had trials with Manchester City: “I've always suspected that City didn't follow up because I was the only player who turned up wearing eyeliner.”


In the current glut of Marr interviews, I like this one most.

Peter
 
Thanks as always, Peter!

“I still hang out with Morrissey from time to time and we talk about many things...”

Uh-huh. Only adds to my belief that Marr likes to mess around with journalists.
 
Thanks. Interesting. Really sounds like him.
 
Thanx for posting this Mr. Uncle
:)

This paragraph was my favorite part of the interview.... made me laugh so hard :p

Uncut - “Do you have any blind spots when it comes to music?”

JM - “I've never been able to get Queen. I could never stand the operatic basis of their music. I tend to have a blind spot to enormous rock productions or preposterously overblown piano music. That would include all the Jim Steinman/Meat Loaf stuff and everything that evokes the image of a bearded man standing on a mountain top. Don't even get me started on Janis Joplin. When she starts singing, it might as well be Marge Simpson”
 
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