Razorlight Interviews Thread

Posted February 26, 200817 yr

Razorlight and their Golden Touch
When Razorlight came crashing onto the scene in 2004 with their debut offering Up All Night they brought with them a good old fashioned rock ‘n’ swagger that hadn’t been seen in a long, long time. Mouthy Frontman Johnny Borrell’s self proclamations of genius has probably entertained and perplexed in equal measure. After all how many, with only one album to their name, would have the balls to even dare suggest they’re better than the legendary songsmith Bob Dylan?

In a recent tabloid friendly rant Johnny told the world to "F*ck the Kooks" no doubt provocated by their singer Luke Pritchard labelling the Anglo-Swedish combo ‘contrived’. Luke then hit back by dedicating the hit song Naïve to him. “I’m sure they’re lovely guys,” says Bjorn diplomatically. "I think that Mr Pritchard seems to have a very strange idea about how our band works though”.

Disputes and controversial gobbyness aside, it's time to put money where the mouth is as they prepare to unleash their self-titled follow up. So how confident are they about album number two?

“I’m extremely excited but slightly terrified. It’s kinda like showing your baby to the world and you hope people are going to like it," admits the guitarist. Ultimately it’s your baby and you’re proud of it, no matter if it gets completely panned in the reviews and everyone thinks it’s a piece of f*cking sh*t. Obviously it’ll hurt me because it’s very personal to me the album, but I’ll still love it and I’ll still think we could not have made a better album”.

Whilst the likes of Keane felt the pressure of the recording a follow up to a hugely successful debut nearly breaking up in the process, Bjorn says it was nothing like that for the London based quartet.

“It was quite painless because all the outside pressure went away, because we all thought f*cking hell this sounds great. You hear all these horror stories about recording the second album, that it’s very difficult, that it’s make or break and all this sort of stuff but it was easy for us,” he recalls. “We never stopped writing since the first album so we had all this stuff that we wanted to put together and play as a band and we didn’t do that while we were on tour. We just shacked up in a rehearsal space for three months and just put the entire thing together and wrote some new songs and sorted everything out. We recorded it in four months”.

One track that provided a challenge was America. As Bjorn explains: “We spent loads of time on it and did loads of retakes and in the end we just had to give all of it away to someone else, someone external and said, ‘look, we don’t know what to do with this any more, but we really like the demo’. Basically what this person did was take the original demo that we recorded ourselves one day in a studio in November, and added some things onto it after that. It’s funny that we spent so much time on it and it the end it was basically the demo we recorded in one day ourselves!”

At the time of speaking to Bjorn the band were preparing for yet another major Hyde Park gig, or as he puts it: ”It’s our annual July 2nd Hyde Park outing. We’ll do one every year!” Their last outing at the Park was 2005’s extravaganza that was Live 8. Watched by an audience of three billion, it was ambitious project that involved putting on 8 concerts simultaneously around the world. The idea was to draw people’s attention to the G 8 Summit which had put the issue of third world poverty on the agenda for their meeting in Gleneagles. “I think it had some impact. The whole point was to try to do something, and I think it did bring it to the public’s attention. Something good definitely came out of it,” insists Bjorn. “That was the whole point, to try and do something rather than just sit back and think ‘we can’t, it’s not going to change a f*cking thing’. People signed the petition. I don’t have any figures to hand, but it was on the political agenda more”.

It was Bjorn, who first teamed up with Johnny back in 2002 to form Razorlight. They would then be joined by bassist Carl Dalemo, an old friend of Bjorn’s from back in their native Sweden, and drummer Christian Smith-Pancorvo, who would later be replaced by Andy Burrows.

Despite any dramas that might have occurred in their four years together Bjorn says that he has “absolutely not” thought about leaving the band. “No matter what little personal arguments there are, it’s like a marriage with four people in it and its’ really strange. You have arguments, you fall out, and then you start getting along again and I know no matter how bad it’s been we’ve always made good music together. That is the healing power of music that we do stick together despite how much we argue. It’s all trivial if you compare it to the fact that we are actually a great band!”

The rise to the top has been pretty quick for Razorlight, but what achievement is the guitarist most proud of? “I this it’s this album that we’ve just made,” says Bjorn. “I’m insanely proud of it and I keep thinking that if we break up in the near future without recording anything else, I think that I’d actually be happy with that”

February 29, 200817 yr

Quality idea, im sure there's plenty of classic interviews on the web :lol:

March 2, 200817 yr

Something on your mind?

Group therapy has helped Metallica and R.E.M. So Sean O'Connell took a leading psychiatrist to meet Razorlight and find out if the fractious four can stand the pressure of success.

Sunday March 20, 2005

Observer Music Monthly

The strip-lit dirty-yellow dining room is scarcely glamorous and nor is the atmosphere backstage at the Birmingham NEC particularly hospitable. Johnny Borrell, Razorlight's diminutive but big-mouthed frontman, is not best pleased. 'Everybody wants to get inside my head,' he says in a petulant cockney bark. 'I don't know the f*** why - I'm a hundred different people all the time. We're about the music and anything else is nobody's business.'

The proposal had been straightforward enough and agreed, at least in principle, weeks ago: for OMM's sake, Razorlight would undergo group therapy with 56-year-old Dr Brian Wells, a London-based psychiatrist who has worked with Michael Jackson, AC/DC and Foreigner as well as other rock greats he is prevented from naming.

Already a band with a reputation for being a touch awkward, thanks to 24-year-old Borrell's burgeoning ego, Razorlight appeared perfect candidates for psychological fine-tuning - a process which would see them emulate groups including Aerosmith, R.E.M. and Metallica. This plan draws its inspiration from the Metallica film Some Kind of Monster, which documented the band's two-year relationship with 66-year-old 'performance enhancement coach' Phil Towle, who charged $40,000 a month to teach the group 'how to connect and not be afraid to love each other'.

In saving Metallica from a messy split, the jumper-clad shrink also turned a spotlight on the therapy culture that has grown up around the music industry. Every big band worth its salt is prepared to pay upwards of $250 an hour for the services of a 'lifestyle minder'. 'We are going through a culture shift,' says Towle, who is working on establishing a 'genius conservation network' to prevent artists 'flaming out' prematurely. 'Throwing something into a swimming pool makes for excitement, it's a quick fix. But it doesn't feel good a couple of minutes later. We are getting to a point where we are more interested in fulfilment than instant gratification.'

Nancy Sobel, a Los Angeles-based psychologist who has worked with M¿tley Cr¿e and members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, says: 'A lot of newer bands use the fact they've got a psychologist coming in as a sign of success - a sign that they've made it.' She will be hired by management companies to give young acts a 'psycho-education' on the hazards of the music industry. 'It's like a cool thing.'

The flame-haired Sobel frequently goes on tour with her clients to provide support - dealing with infighting, drug or alcohol problems and neglected girlfriends - as well as organising horse riding, surfing or the odd afternoon on an assault course. 'I know it sounds kind of goofy compared to an evening spent in a strip club, but it's more fun than sitting in a room and talking about how you feel.' Kurt Cobain is one of many artists to have been interested in Nancy's services. He left a message on her answer phone the week before he died saying he'd like to see her and would call back. Unfortunately, he never did.

Back in the court of Razorlight, Johnny Borrell listens closely while all this is related, eyeing Brian Wells suspiciously. Despite being widely hailed as one of this country's most exciting new prospects, the band's relationship with the media is at an all-time low after an off-the-record remark made by Borrell about Michael Parkinson being 'so sycophantic' appeared in print. As Parky had effectively broken the band to the Tesco CD-buying masses by giving them a spot on his talk show last September, no one was best pleased.

Nor is Johnny well disposed towards OMM. It seems that Paul Morley's recent description of the band - 'what would happen if 1993 Radiohead vomited up 2004 Busted' - has been taken to heart. 'Your magazine doesn't even like us,' Borrell yaps. 'Why should we bother with this?' We persist nonetheless - or rather, Wells does, as OMM is asked to leave the room. Returning half an hour later, it's clear that more than 25 years of dealing with creative egos has served him well - Borrell is almost smiling.

Perhaps Wells's rock star credentials have impressed the singer. He is, after all, almost certainly the only psychiatrist in the world to have had a number one hit record. 'Paper Party' soared to the top of the Hong Kong charts in 1976 when he was working as an obstetrician there, after grateful new parents started ringing Radio Hong Kong to request airplay for his unreleased song. He also spent many an hour with Nick Drake while they were at Cambridge together. ('He was smoking dope and going to Andy Warhol movies; I was doing medicine and running a mobile disco,' he recalls. 'I used to get him to show me his guitar tunings. His dad gave me his guitar at the funeral.')

Indeed, it's probably fair to say that there is still a chart-topping rock star lurking within Wells. When we meet earlier in the day at his office close to Harley Street, he apologises at least six times for wearing something so calamitously uncool as a pinstripe suit ('the patients expect it'). He is good company: as we drive up to the NEC, he plays his recently completed rock opera on the car stereo - a Tommy meets Oliver! tale about a photographer falling for a model - and talks excitedly about how each scene will run.

He is cautious, however, about giving too much away about himself. After graduating from Cambridge he worked in hospitals around the world - including a stint with the Red Cross in Cambodia - before becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol in the late 1970s. On returning to Britain he got clean and helped to establish the substance misuse service at London's Maudsley hospital and then moved into private practice. Whatever the reason for Borrell's eventual smile when OMM returns he gets up, thanks Wells, and says he will go and discuss the situation with the rest of the band. We sit on our plastic school chairs and wait.

To understand where band therapy culture began, you need to take a trip to the comfy green sofas of Dr Lou Cox's office in Manhattan. Aerosmith parked themselves here in 1985 when their managers realised something had to be done before the band killed themselves. 'It was a baptism of fire,' Cox recalls with a mischievous smile that cuts through his austere appearance. In his mid-fifties and dressed almost entirely in black, he reclines gently in his armchair, legs crossed, hands rigidly animated, maintaining eye contact at all times.

'It was a pioneering thing to do. The prevailing attitude was definitely, "f*** all this talking, let's go make music, f*** people and do drugs".' Once Aerosmith had been through rehab, Cox devised an 'ego and communication training workshop', subsequently used by Bon Jovi and R.E.M. The process is broadly the same each time, with Cox running through a three-day programme interviewing each band member on the first day, teaching them how to communicate without resorting to violence on the second and encouraging personal and group feedback on the third.

Thereafter they are encouraged to have a meeting at least once a month to discuss their relationship and work on their problems. 'Let's say you bring down a lick for a song,' Cox explains, 'and someone else says "that sucks" - which is how a lot of bands talk to each other - by doing that people start to close down, creativity ebbs away, things become less spontaneous and people start to feel angry. But if they can learn to talk about why they feel hurt, or what scares them in the process of creating, they can start to reconnect.

What I do in the workshop is get people to feel a little bit safer with what I call their soft spot. 'One guy can say, "When you did this the other day it really f***ed things up, and it f***ed things up in this specific way and if you did it this way I think it would have been better". And if they don't get defensive - which takes a lot of work to achieve - it's like, "I didn't understand that's how you felt. Why didn't you tell me?" And then they can start problem solving rather than finger pointing. It's about identifying the barriers to communication.'

To be sure, none of this is the stuff of rock'n'roll legend - but spare a thought for the poor artists. Metallica guitarist Kurt Hammett is certainly aware of the pressures created by the way in which fans live vicariously through their actions. 'I think most people in rock bands have arrested development,' he said last year. 'You're able to start drinking whenever you want, and you can play shows drunk, and you can get offstage and continue to be drunk, and people love it. They toast their glasses to an artist who's drunk and breaking things and screaming and wrestling in the middle of a restaurant. Things like that happened to us, and people cheered.'

An 'ego management proramme' sounds like something Razorlight could benefit from. Formed two years ago, their journey from playing to 200 people in Camden pubs to selling out two huge shows at Alexandra Palace at the end of their current tour has been far from smooth, and original drummer Christian Smith-Pancorvo quit last May because of 'lifestyle incompatibility' issues. Borrell, for his part, is renowned for openly commenting on his fellow band members' perceived shortcomings, claiming that if he had to take a taxi with guitarist Bj¿rn Agren for a journey of more than three hours the band would cease to exist; condemning bassist Carl Dalemo for 'not living his life the right way'; and claiming that 'bits of [our album] aren't what I want because [the band] weren't capable of making it that way'.

There is also his pretentiousness and arrogance ('If you're comparing our debuts, [bob] Dylan's making chips and I'm drinking champagne,' he has said), plus the fact that he usually travels separately from the rest of the band and normally represents them on his own in interviews. It therefore seems legitimate to ask (as one magazine headline did recently): can Razorlight survive 2005? Dear reader, we did try to find out.

After an hour of waiting, Wells heads into the band's dressing room, and - careful to avoid breaking any patient confidentiality - regales Razorlight with tales of AC/DC's blister problems; the internal strife which followed the success of Foreigner's 'I Want to Know What Love Is'; and eating curry with Yes (an anecdote that ends with the punchline, 'So the waiter gives them the note saying, "I know I am only a poor Indian waiter from the Punjab but I'd really like to f*** the arses off you two!"').

After an hour of this cool uncle shtick a compromise is reached. They refuse group therapy, but each band member will talk with Wells one-on-one and discuss what life feels like in Razorlight. A magnolia dressing room is procured, the lights are dimmed, and they begin. And what did we learn? A surprising amount. Far from a series of troubled individuals on the verge of collapse, what emerges is a fairly tightly-knit, hungry unit happy to ride out the journey together.

Shaggy-haired drummer Andy Burrows had actually been considering going to talk to a therapist prior to today. 'Not because I'm f***ed up,' he says. 'It's just nice to chill out and talk about stuff.' He emerges as the most genuinely enthusiastic and grounded of the group, still not quite having come to terms with the fact that he isn't earning £70 a week teaching drums and shopping for food on his credit card. He cried when he saw himself on TV for the first time, has a steady girlfriend and intends to consult his dad on all investment decisions.

Kurt Cobain lookalike bassist Carl Dalemo is more of a worry. A touch drunk, he lacks the excited enthusiasm of Burrows. 'I drink too much,' he says when the issue is raised. 'I think our schedule has made me drink more. If I drink three beers when I play a gig it's not the end of the world, but if I drink five before and after...' 'You're going to end up with cirrhosis of the liver,' Wells interjects. 'Yeah. My liver is a little bit of a worry.' 'We can check out your liver function tests sometime.' 'That would be cool.'

Although he doesn't say as much, there is also the sense that Dalemo isn't entirely happy with how money is dealt with within the band - they are each, apart from Borrell, given a regular wage. Does Dalemo mind that Borrell will probably earn much more than him if the band's rise continues? 'It's not probably, it's definitely,' he says. 'It's just the way it is. If someone writes all the chords, melody and lyrics he can take 100 per cent if he wants to. But he'd be a total arsehole.'

Next up is crop-haired guitarist Agren, who is by far the most open and articulate. He talks at length about his need to find time away from the others when they are on the road. He reveals his admiration for Borrell ('He's so good at what he does') but also a sense of the tensions involved. 'It's not like we're bestest friends in the world,' he says. 'We are four individuals ... sometimes it feels like four freaks, because we each have our own idiosyncrasies. There was a lot of resentment to start with because there would be interviews and we'd not even be mentioned, and sometimes I feel like a marionette on stage because Johnny will decide to finish a song and we all have to stop.

But what I've come to realise this last year is that I would not be comfortable in his role. I'm really glad that we've got him.' How does he feel when Borrell says 'sometimes I can't even bear to look at them', referring to the rest of the band? 'I think that probably happens to all four of us. We don't think the same, we don't like exactly the same music, but it works.'

And what of Borrell? Tellingly, when the session starts, he takes the chair in the centre of the room in which Wells sat for the three previous interviews. The next 40 minutes consists of Borrell mumbling into his trainers and picking at his fingers, huddled up foetal-like on the chair, either trotting out one-word answers or ramblings about 'having nothing but the stage' before coming to a sudden halt.

'I try to explain to people that I do write all the lyrics,' he says. 'I do write all the melodies and I do write all the songs but it's not Johnny Borrell, it's Razorlight and Razorlight is Johnny Borrell but Razorlight is something else as well ...' Does he argue with the others? 'The Swedes are very reserved. I was screaming at Bjorn and Carl that they shouldn't be so pragmatic about how they view music and instead of shouting back at me Bjorn came up 10 minutes later and said: "What does pragmatic mean?"'

We call it a day and the next morning Wells delivers his professional verdict. 'I think within a year, if they maintain their current pace, the cracks will start to appear,' he says. 'They are exhausted. If I was to give them advice right now it would be advice they wouldn't heed at this point because they are too young: the stuff that grandads tell you - get a pension plan, get a financial adviser, think about the future. 'I think Carl probably drinks too much. As far as Johnny is concerned ... he is an individual within the band. I think he said: "I am Razorlight but Razorlight is the glue that surrounds me". And that's how I see those guys and I think they are cool with it. They are not ready for a therapist yet on the road yet - maybe in two years' time.'

· Razorlight play Alexandra Palace, London on 23 and 24 March

Jung at heart: Do's and don't for bands:

DO:

· Make communication a priority. Take time to establish goals: who are we? Where are we going? How are we getting there? What's the time frame?

· Plan/problem solve/debrief

· Be willing to compromise/negotiate/compliment/stroke

· Know who will have the final vote. A band is not always a democracy. Include ‘family’ and keep them involved

· Confront the fear. Performance anxiety can be overcome

· Be specific with suggestions

· Recruit a good team: manager/lawyer/accountant

· Balance your life. Stress is caused by imbalance

· Learn the business. Remember: music is not just an art form

· Stay healthy

DON'T

· Gossip

· Make impulsive decisions

· Have to win every time. It won’t be perfect all the time

· Name call or label

· Forget how or where you began

· Overlook/neglect/mistreat the little guy

· Give up too soon

March 2, 200817 yr

Beginning To See The Light

Razorlight bring their brand of art-punk to Staffordshire as they kick off their 2004 UK tour. Matt Lee caught up with bass player Carl Dalemo, before they hit the road…

"We'll always remember Stoke - especially our first show there in 2002. There was only about 10 people to see us support the Jeevahs. After just a few minutes they started chanting and hurling abuse at us. We got off stage after only 5 songs, told the promoter to give us the 50 quid he owed us, and got out as fast as we could."

They say first impressions last, and if that is the case, it's quite a surprise that Razorlight keep coming back here. Suckers for punishment? Not so - says bass player Carl Dalemo.

"When we came back to the Sugarmill in May it was really good. We were frightened before the gig because of past experiences but that made us play a better show, I reckon."

Maybe it's that 'fear factor' that's led the band (completed by frontman Johnny Borrell, guitarist Bjorn Agren, drummer Andy Burrows) to kickstart their next UK tour back in Staffordshire, albeit at Keele University. The band are continuing to pedal long-player "Up all night", which rocketed up the album chart following the success of single, "Golden Touch", which has cemented itself as this years art-punk anthem (alongside Franz Ferdinands "Take Me Out".)

"It's hard for us to tell how other people see that song, cos obviously we've played it a million times now. It seems like it's gone through quite well, but I like Vice better. We'll wait and see if people greet that one in the same way as Golden Touch."

Ah, yes, "Vice" - with it's "L-O-V-E. I'll see you later" chorus mantra which is already burning itself onto our indie subconscious. Released on the 13th September it's set to propel the band back up the charts, and following a victorious performance at the Reading/Leeds festival, into centre stage.

The strawberry blond, skinny base player is currently relaxing in South London, after the hectic weekend split between Berkshire and Yorkshire ("We did Jo Whiley on Radio 1, before playing in the afternoon - it was all 'go'"). The fourpiece were given a leg up to the main stage, filling the gap left by The Vines who pulled out while singer Craig Nicholls recovers from 'physical and mental exhaustion'. Carl says it was a great opportunity for them.

"Reading and Leeds was one of the biggest festival gigs we've done in the UK. It's definitely the best rock guitar music festival you can get here, and being promoted to the main stage allowed us to play in front of hundreds of people we might not have previously reached."

And that's the draw of the band - their energetic live show has won them an army of new fans. As with the sweaty, beer sodden, tops off, mid-afternoon sunshine, rawk'n'roll strut-fest that was their Leeds performance, they're enjoying every minute.

"Definitely. Playing live is the best thing with this job. It's real fun to play our songs for an hour, it's just a total release. And now people like our stuff I think it's going to be great and I'm really looking forward to the next tour.

"We're then going over to America in November for 3 weeks - we really want things to happen there, and we're aiming for Japan too. There's not enough time to be in all those different places at once - we're going to be well busy over the next year. And we've also started thinking about writing songs the new record already!"

The band have never been modest about their ambitions, (frontman Johnny Borrell previously stating they wanted "to be the best band in the world"), but in music's 'build 'em up, knock 'em down' culture, are they not afraid of a backlash?

"In the beginning we just rehearsed and played 1 gig a month and no-one knew about us, so obviously we didn't have any expectations from anyone. Now we need to prove we're good enough to be where we are, and to raise it another level. That's what we all want to do.

"We're living for the moment, but I don't think any of us are scared to be knocked down. As long as we like what we do and we're true to ourselves it's hard for people to really knock you down. You can't be in the spotlight forever - but then again you never know."

Razorlight play Keele University on 28th September 2004

March 2, 200817 yr

Exciting, Thrilling, Confusing?

Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell spills about how their first American

tour is going.

Interview by Amanda Van West, photos by Nancy Elser

?Hey girl, get on the dancefloor/And rip it up, yeah/That?s what it?s

there for!? commanded Johnny Borrell, the frontman for new U.K. sensation

Razorlight, as they launched into ?Rip It Up? from their recently released

album ?Up All Night?. The crowd happily obliged. Razorlight tore through

an exhilarating hour-long set, and lived up to the hype that they have

received in the U.K. Guitarist Bjorn Agren and bass player Carl Dalemo

jumped around all over stage, throwing in some scissor kicks for good

measure. Drummer Andy Burrows, who joined the band when original drummer

Christian Smith-Pancorvo left due to health problems, banged and beat his

drums with high, youthful energy. But it was Borrell who stole the show

that night. Borrell spat out his lyrics with a feverish intensity,

sometimes even throwing his guitar and knocking over his mic stand. He

climbed up various amplifiers, eventually climbing up the tallest one and

grabbing onto the ceiling rafters, all the while still singing perfectly,

not missing one word. Borrell jumped off the amplifier and back onto the

stage in one fluid motion, like some kind of wild jungle cat. At one point

he grabbed a chair and stood on top of it proclaiming, ?There! Now I feel

like I?m on a real stage [the Popscene stage is only about a foot high]!

Can everybody see me?? He was met with rabid cheering from the crowd, and

received even more cheering (mostly from the women in the crowd) when he

stripped off his shirt and ran around on stage like Iggy Pop.

All of Borrell?s onstage antics were caught on tape by the BBC, who were

there filming for their popular music show Top of the Pops. Razorlight

ended their set by playing two extra songs that were not written on the

setlist, ?Up All Night? (which Borrell stated, ?this is for all the

sixteen year-olds who were kept up all night because their friends were in

the other room shooting up heroin?) and ?In the City?, a song that starts

out very bluesy, but then turns into a completely trashy, Clash-like punk

song. They put the excitement back in rock and roll, and proved that music

today is as alive as can be.

After their show, I got the chance to interview Johnny Borrell and ask him

all about their first American tour. I expected him to be very intense and

to have an attitude, but he turned out to be incredibly polite and

soft-spoken. We sat down out back and I asked him how the tour was going

so far.

Johnny Borrell: Um?it?s been a bit exciting, thrilling, confusing,

disorientating, um, overwhelming, (laughs) boring?yeah, I think I?m quite

proud of doing it, you know?

Amanda Van West: What was the most exciting part so far?

JB: A lot of things, I mean, um, getting out of Manhattan because we had

been running around there for a bit.

VW: You guys have played there before, right?

JB: Yep, we?ve played there before, meeting up with people we haven?t

seen. It?s been a good time?getting lost in Brooklyn on my own at four in

the morning, which was fun. Getting outside of New York for the first time

was great. Gosh, um, we?ve been all over, seen lots of things. Seen lots

of baseball stadiums. Loads of places. Getting into San Francisco was

amazing. It was really exciting. I?ve always wanted to come here.

VW: What did you expect of San Francisco, the crowd, the city?

JB: Well, I didn?t know what I expected because it?s kind of been at the

back of my mind. I don?t know why, because I?ve been to New York and I?ve

been to L.A. I actually quite liked L.A, which everybody doesn?t

understand. I actually liked it more than New York in a way. Yeah, you

know, and then, um, I got to San Francisco and thought, ?Ah yes! f***ing

San Francisco! It?s f***ing brilliant, innit? It?s gorgeous. Yeah, and the

weather?s great, and it?s a very beautiful city. It feels like you?ve got

all the good things that you?ve got in America, but none of the $h!t

things, and you?ve got stuff that nowhere else has got.

VW: How are the crowds in the U.S., as opposed to the crowds in the U.K.?

JB: Well, in the U.K. we?ve got 5 or 6,000 people in the crowd.

VW: Was it a big shock to you coming here and playing on a twelve inch stage?

JB: Well, no because it was only a year ago that we were playing shows

like this in England. It?s a different kind of gig. I think for a gig like

tonight you have to really be really, really on it to do it, you know? And

I was almost not on it. I had a quite busy day today, running around doing

lots of stuff. But I enjoyed it.

VW: What have you been doing on the tour bus for fun?

JB: I?ve been watching a lot of films. I?m obsessed with Werner Herzog and

Klaus Kinski, they?re German filmmakers and I?m absolutely obsessed with

?em. I?ve been watching loads of DVDs that I?ve bought since I?ve been in

America. I?ve got a little laptop that I watch them on, so I?m quite happy

with that. And I?ve been doing some writing, a little bit, as well.

VW: As far as songwriting goes, what inspires you to write?

JB: Every experience. Usually, usually, to be honest, it?s intense

emotions, innit? But, you know, generally when the wheels fall off and

you?re looking and you?re talking to yourself and going, ?I don?t even

know how I can bloody do this any more.? You can?t understand your life or

why you?re living it. You know, you tumble into that depression. That?s

usually when you have to?there?s nothing else for it?so you write your way

out of it really, and that?s when you really start looking at your life

and trying to write about it. Trying to write as honestly as you can. It?s

just the way you write. Sometimes you write to?sometimes you?re writing to

really say something you really need to say. Sometimes you?re writing

to?sometimes you write for the wrong reasons. Sometimes you write just to

prove you can write or ?cause you?re bored, or ?cause you feel like you

have to write. And I?ve done that all before, you know, but hopefully I?m

getting to a point where I don?t have to just write when I feel like I

have to.

VW: You?ve been compared to the greats such as The Jam, The Kinks, and

Gang of Four. How do you feel about that?

JB: That?s great. I?ve got a big box that I fill with comparisons and I

stick ?em in there and forget about it (laughs). I like what Mick Rock

said. He said, ?A little bit Iggy, a little Mick Jagger, but a lot of

Johnny Borrell.?

VW: You?ve just turned 24 recently. How does it feel to be this young in

this industry? Is it hard or a lot of fun?

JB: It?s both, you know. It?s hard stacking shelves in a supermarket

because you don?t get any reward. Of course doing a gig every night is

hard. To talk about yourself is hard. All this is hard. But at least in

this job you do get a pay off when you walk onstage for a second encore

and you go, ?wow?, you know?

VW: Some of us inside were saying how agile you are (laughs). Have you

always been so agile, or did you have to work at it?

JB: (laughs) Well, in Chicago I wasn?t wearing these jeans (points to

pants). I was wearing these Dior trousers that were so f***ing tight that

I couldn?t even f***ing move my legs past here (raises leg slightly). It

was really quite embarrassing.

VW: (laughs) Was that one of your most embarrassing moments on tour?

JB: Um, well I never get embarrassed on stage. Never. Never, because if

you fall right on your ass it doesn?t matter. I?ve fallen over onstage

numerous times, and you always just kind of go, ?oh well? and get back up.

VW: So your album was recently released in the U.S. on October 26th. You

guys are huge in the U.K., so how do you plan on breaking ground in the

U.S? Do you plan on gigging more?

JB: Yeah, I mean, you don?t really want to spend the rest of your life in

a van killing yourself every night for 60 people. The next sixth months

we?re gonna be here. Might give it a good crack.

VW: I think after this tour your band will receive more press.

JB: Well, I hope in January it?ll be good. Actually, when I think about my

band, I try to compare my band to other bands. You start to compare it to

the great bands that resisted like The Stones, The Beatles, and you get

quite depressed. And then you start to compare it to the other bands that

were around and you think, ?wow it?s just like that.?

VW: Yeah, I think out of a lot of bands out there today, you guys are one

of the greatest. And after seeing you live, it definitely made an impact.

JB: Well, all we want is to get better and better.

VW: It?s really excellent so far. Thank you.

JB: Cool, it?s great.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Razorlight's debut record "Up All Night" is available through their

website or your local record store. Look for a followup tour in North

America in the new year. In the meantime you can find some tunes on

razorlight.co.uk.

March 2, 200817 yr

Razorlight are undoubtedly poised to take the world by storm. So, as

their moon rises in the east, X-Ray followed the best new band in Britain

from one-man-and-a-dog gigs in Camden to Tokyo and Osaka’s Summer Sonic

Festival.

“I want to go and meet girls,” proclaims Razorlight vocalist Johnny

Borrell, sallying out of his dressing room at the Summer Sonic Festival,

Osaka. His success, within seconds of stepping outside, is spectacular,

if not quite what he had in mind: Borrell is mobbed by literally hundreds

of girls. This is a very Japanese form of mobbing, however: these girls

are not snipping his hair or trying to kiss him – they’re keeping polite

physical distance, snapping photos of him with identical flip-top mobile

phones, frantically bowing (a Japanese formality) and cooing “kawai”

(“cute”). What’s also peculiarly Japanese about this incident is that

it’s highly probable these girls aren’t sure exactly who they’re mobbing

(they will do the same to bassist Carl Dalemo later), just that they look

like they’re a) Western, B) in a band and c) stars in the making.

Japan’s music industry is in complete agreement with the latter point.

While the London four-piece have yet to release a note in the country,

they’ve been added to Japan’s Summer Sonic bill alongside The Datsuns and

The Strokes, been interviewed by MTV Japan and both the country’s biggest

rock magazines. Rightly so. Coming together around songwriter Borrell,

drummer schoolfriend Christian Smith-Pancorvo and Swedish ex-pat pals

Björn Ågren (guitar) and Carl Dalemo (bass), this is a band that amassed a

maddened London following in mere months. A band that impressed Xfm’s

John Kennedy so much he junked radio convention and played their demos on

his show repeatedly. A band that got signed to Mercury for a quarter of a

million. A band, what’s more, that have inspired Steve Lillywhite, the

Managing Director of said label, to clear his production schedule (sorry

David Bowie, sorry Macy Gray) to work on their album. They’ve barely been

in existence a year.

If you’ve heard the chugging guitar charge of debut single ‘Rock’n’Roll

Lies’ you’ll be getting the picture: English vocals chiming with New York

guitars, charm cut with cheesewire. Imminent second single – the

rifftastic one-two punch of ‘Rip It Up’ – will colour that picture in.

The album – out next year – will blow it up to saturated 3D widescreen.

For this, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, is the best new band in

Britain.

It’s a day earlier, 6:30am in Tokyo. Unbelievably Razorlight have a

soundcheck in an hour, and they’re playing at 10am. Festivals start early

in Japan, and as the bus pulls up to the Chiba Marine Stadium there are

already hundreds of fans queuing outside. The band look a bit awed, and

jetlagged, but Borrell says he’s feeling “fit as a fiddle. A fiddle

that’s waiting to be plucked. Then stroked. Then plucked. Then stroked

again.”

Borrell’s enthusiasm is infectious: second song into the soundcheck, Red

Indian-coiffed drummer Christian Smith Pancorvo (think Joseph of the Nez

Perce), blonde-banged bassist Carl Dalemo, dapper guitarist Björn Ågren

and Borrell himself all have their tops off. Shortly afterwards, Borrell

is spotted weaving past various Kings Of Leon in a crowded backstage café,

still topless and clutching a hairdryer. Attention-seeking, you realise,

is so natural to these guys they don’t even realise they’re doing it.

“It’s taking nine Japanese people to find me a socket,” says Johnny,

waving his hairdryer unselfconsciously. “I’m just worried someone’s lost

their job over it”

Carl is having similar problems. “I can’t play unless I’m a bit drunk,”

he declares: “I need beer!” Japanese minions are again urgently

despatched. Westerners want beer: run, run! Suddenly though, there’s a

deafening roar. It’s 9am, the doors have opened and thousands of Japanese

kids are literally sprinting into the arena, screaming fit to burst.

To the power of ten, this will be the biggest crowd Razorlight have ever

played to. Hair now blow-dried to immaculate disarray, Johnny takes the

band aside and advises, “let’s not be overawed: we’re going to be playing

bigger places than this – and headlining them!”

Indeed, Razorlight’s self-assurance is astonishing. They’re a Western

inferno in the blazing Tokyo sun. Opener ‘Rip It Up’ immediately gets the

crowd clapping along, but the best thing is how much new material this

band has: the Dexy-ish ‘Make Up Your Own Mind’, the soulful bounce of

‘Golden Touch’ and the U2-esque ‘Up All Night’ – mellower, more complex

songs that round out the adrenaline bursts of the singles. This is a band

that not only isn’t going to dry up on our hopes, they’ve got life beyond

any ‘new rock revival’. They’ve also got energy to burn: Bjorn leaps

around like he’s on springs, Christian rushes down the front to chuck

tshirts into the crowd, while Johnny ends the show swaying precariously on

the lip of the stage, howling into his mic.

Afterwards, the band cheerily wanders the site: in the main hall there’s a

Kabuki theatre, noodle stalls galore and a film of a naked Japanese woman

rolling around in the dirt. Later the band are interviewed on a red vinyl

couch, surrounded by garish girl doll superheroes, one of whom is armed

with a hypodermic. It’s all very Japan.

Curiously, the landscape is not. Having collected a now-reeling Carl, as

we bus-fly to Osaka that afternoon for the festival’s second leg,

everything looks oddly American. Wide streets. Neon strips. Malls.

McDonalds. High rises. Primary colours. Johnny gazes out of the window

and says, “So this is America? Well, f*** the stars and stripes is all I

can say!” He’s been saving that one up.

Johnny Borrell is a very self-aware young man. When we first arrive he

grins and says “ah, it’s the enemy!” He’s quoting Almost Famous, Cameron

Crowe’s movie about a journalist tagging along with a touring band. On

the bus to Osaka, noticing me earwigging, he says “write that [salacious

comment] and I’ll f***ing do you!” Then he grins, and quotes the film

again: “Write what you like – just make us look cool!”

Johnny is used to people wanting to help him. The nakedness of his need –

for love, for adulation, for fame – certainly brings out an – ahem! –

maternal response in women. Even as we adjourn to a noodle hut in the

toytown neon ugliness of Osaka, he casually picks up a couple of girls on

the way. He gets them to order for us. Gives them passes to the festival

and then sends them home, faces beaming.

Razorlight may be a new band, but Borrell has been beavering away for

years. Born in 1980 to middle class parents, Johnny went to (public)

school with Smith and members of The Libertines. But even taking into

account a penchant for self-mythologising, he has lived a far from

sheltered life. At 16 he had an affair with his 34-year-old French

teacher. And before long the couple were dabbling in some pretty serious

narcotics, along with half his crowd.

“In London, when you’re a kid, it’s easier to get drugs than to get into

pubs,” he says with typical matter-of-fact romanticism. “Everything’s

available. By the time your 17, you’ve tried the lot.”

There have been some casualties in his gang along the way: drug

casualties, mental casualties, life casualties, one of his friends having

been put away for murdering another. But mostly it’s been an adventure –

Johnny wandering around the city with nothing but a guitar, a battered

notebook and a bag of dirty laundry. He’d play an acoustic gig in a pub

here, crash on his future manager’s floor there, dep for the Libertines on

bass here, get looked after by girls everywhere else. They’d provide him

with a bed. Wash the clothes. Cook him dinner. Give him money for a taxi

back to his manager’s.

And he needs looking after, because Johnny, simultaneously knowing and

innocent – is always losing things. His bag. His lyric book (after leaving

it in a taxi he found it in a dustbin hours later). His mind. One night,

on Ketamine, he felt the whole room slither down the building, then slide

down the road into Camden rock venue the Dublin Castle. Hell, even his

hallucinations live the rock’n’roll dream.

But despite the little-boy-lost demeanour, Borrell is a do-er not a

dreamer. As The Libertines started to go places, Borrell hung out and

observed. He says they wrote

‘The Boy Looked At Johnny’ about him, but you put that down to

self-mythologising. And an ongoing reluctance to give Patti Smith credit

(the line is hers, as is the riff and structure of Razorlight set-closer

‘In The City’). Borrell watched carefully as the Libs let partying take

precedence, screwing up their arrangements, production and songs. You know

that Johnny will ensure none of this will happen with Razorlight.

It’s another disorientatingly early start (6am) but everyone is in fine –

if mildly deranged – fettle. No one’s had more than four hours sleep for

four nights. In the dressing room the band does an impromptu a capella

‘Rip It Up’, trying not to giggle. During soundcheck they improvise an

entirely new tune, Johnny making up lyrics on the spot. Today his T-shirt

reads “Reach Out and f*** Someone”.

It’s another excellent performance. Another new song, ‘To The Sea’, is a

mid-tempo breezer with blistering Television-esque guitar from Borrell.

This morning they also roll out another newie, ‘Get It And Go’ which could

be a hit, if it weren’t for lyrics like, “First time you’re there really

gets you up/Second time’s all right but it’s just not enough/Shoots

through your veins, tears all your nerves apart”.

Later on, while Johnny and Carl are being mobbed, we join Christian to

watch Hot Hot Heat. “Last night I had a dream that I was dead,” he says,

“and it reminded me of Ketamine. You get this thing where you think

you’re dead but you’re fine about it.” Those days are gone: now he

doesn’t drink or take drugs. “I’m an addictive personality,” he shrugs.

We’re packing to leave, but we have two problems: Johnny and Carl. Johnny

doesn’t want to go. Or for the roadie to take his guitar. He has an idea

for a song. He wants to meet girls. Within seconds, he’s asleep on the

couch, cradling his guitar to his chest. His manager leaves him to it:

“Johnny always makes it home. He’s got an incredible survival instinct.

And if he loses it, well, there’ll be a girl along to rescue him in a

while.”

Carl is another matter. He’s loudly insisting he wants to see Blink 182.

Oh, and he needs more beer. His eyes are now drooping as much as his ¾

length trousers – leer and underpants his dominant features. Before we

can stop him, he’s barging into Blink 182’s dressing room, attempting to

steal their beer and telling them how much he loves them. “f*** off outta

here, we’re onstage in two minutes,” they tell him amiably.

The bouncers that flank Blink onstage are rather less amiable.

Obliviously, Carl takes it in turn to p*** them off, flitting from one

side of the stage to the other, whipping another beer from the icebox on

each occasion. Dancing wildly, he keeps knocking into the bouncers,

spilling his beer on them, ignoring their increasingly threatening demands

to “step back”. He grins, filled with unfounded confidence in his charm.

Eventually, for his own safety, we drag him away.

Now, however, comes The Slump. Carl has effectively to be carried out of

the venue. Japanese kids look utterly bemused at the sight and people fall

over themselves to find us a taxi, nodding madly.

Carl is asleep within minutes and has, upon arrival at the hotel, to be

carried to his and Bjorn’s room, retching loudly.

Bjorn is already tucked up in bed, beatifically asleep. He admits he gets

a bit hacked off with the amount of attention Johnny and Carl get.

Thing is: neither little-boy-lost nor beer monster, Bjorn’s just too

well-behaved. He’s the one who wont get too pissed, f*** up on his

timing, disappear or stay out all night. He will play mean guitar licks

and come up with killer tunes. Being ‘the rock’ isn’t the most glamorous

of roles, but it’s a necessary one. He deserves his sleep.

It’s Razorlight’s last night in Japan. We’re back in downtown Tokyo. We’ve

dined on noodles, seaweed and skewered meats in a stylish restaurant. Now

we’re in a bar in sight of the city’s Blade Runner skyscape, all huge

flickering neon adverts, techno tickertape and teeming hordes of people.

Hordes who never jostle each other or express the slightest irritation –

the height of bad manners in Japan. It’s why the suicide rate is high:

better to be dead than reveal negative feelings in public.

“I love all this politeness, all the bowing,” says Johnny. “When I get

back to London, I’m going to keep it for as long as I can!”

“I dunno, I’m getting a stiff neck,” mumbles Carl through a killer hangover.

Johnny’s getting emotional about leaving. “It’s like watching a girl

walking out on you slowly and there’s nothing you can do,” he says.

Bjorn, himself given to fruity metaphors says, “It’s quite unfulfilling –

like getting a nibble of a huge bowl of delicious food..”

What are they going to miss – Japan itself, or just being mobbed like

rockstars?

“Attentions a terrible drug,” says Johnny. “We’ve gorged on it and now

it’s gone.” He looks morose. “Tomorrow I’ll be back in Finsbury Park”.

But they soon perk up. Back in London they will, after all, be recording

their first album with a top producer in a swanky studio. And anyway,

they’ve got the whole night ahead of them. The city’s after-hours bars are

calling. Johnny wants to meet some girls.

Toby Manning

March 2, 200817 yr

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y79/angelpiejan/johnny_interview.jpg

March 2, 200817 yr

Razorlight

Johnny Borrell's unwavering confidence is perhaps the one thing that's kept his head level throughout the last 12 months of madness. Those sycophantic pieces early on in Razorlight's career didn't faze him because he knew that the band were strong enough to outlast any press hype, similarly the barrage of criticism from the haters was brushed off for the same reason. Designer Magazine caught up with Johnny to explore the confidence and self-criticism.

Q: Leading up the release of the new single "Vice" you been running the Vice line where fans can ring up and have a chat.

A: It's always been there you see. The Vice Line was my phone number when I recorded the song and when I started singing, it sort of stuck in the lyric. It was quite cool, because in the early days I had it on my chest on the frontcover of the NME and I had it in the song and I think people had to do a bit of thinking to know to ring it. Now the NME have printed it and i'd imagine the record company have put it on the press release for the single.

I don't know how much of a success it is at the moment. I can only take about 50 messages a day because it only saves 50 messages a day. I check them every evening when I go through it. But I think there's a lot more people than that ringing because if I take out all 50 messages in the morning, if I was to go back in a couple of hours it's full again. There's a guy actually who's been leaving me some songs, I think he's quite young and they're wicked.

People get quite surprised when I ring back because i'm just like "Alright, what's happening". I don't go into that separation between stars and fans. People are just people and when you lose sight of that you're in trouble.

Q: Bands are becoming less concerned with being stars, they are breaking the barriers down

A: Liars, they're all liars. They all want to be f**king stars. You wouldn't do it otherwise, yer know what I mean. Only very exceptional people don't care about it or maybe they're just the people who think there stars in their head.

Q: From when you started making waves a year ago till now how has it been overcoming the critics. As well as all the praise that was heaped on you by the likes of the NME, at the time some people really truly hated you with a passion.

A: I didn't seem like we were hated at the time. I wasn't aware of it because nobody had the guts to say it to my face. On the Hope Of The States Tour I read reviews - at least 70-80% were positive reviews and the other 20% were just idiotic reviews. You've got to bear in mind when a band is like a year old you're going to have $h!t gigs, especially when you're doing your first tour.

It's a strange thing with the support tours actually because we learnt a lot on them. The strange thing is that after every support tour we did we ended up moving up to the venues that were the same size of the bands we were supporting, if you see what I mean. It's a strange trend that's carrying on because it happened with the Bellrays, The Hope Of The States, The Raveonettes and now it's happening with Suede as well which is pretty mind-blowing.

Q: You've always had this confidence from the beginning. Where does that confidence come from?

A: I wouldn't be doing it otherwise. I'd be wasting everyone's time. I'm not really going to turn up and say "I don't think the band are very good, but you might like em". I think the band are really good. It kills me cos I spend every day trying to make the band better and sometimes I look at it and I think we're awful, we're a joke band and we could get better in so many way. But that's like taking a lot for granted, I know we're a good band. I think we're proving that we are continually getting better.

Q: Going back to what you were saying before about how sometimes you sit down and think about this band and how much you can make it better. How much time do you actually spend theorizing about last nights gig?

A: I do it quite a bit, but not all the time. We were just in Belgium and Holland and we did one in Belgium and it was the best gig i've ever done in terms of myself. There were not many people that were at the main stage of the festival, nobody knew who the f**k we were and it was so refreshing to play to people that just didn't know who we were. It was just the f**king best gig I've done. I knew that whatever Johnny Borrell is capable of in 2004 he'd done 100 percent of it that night. But it's a varied life I lead. Sometimes we sit around and say we can do that there or that there cos you just want to keep it evolving. You're always searching to make it better otherwise you're just turning up and putting the hours in.

Q: In interviews you do come across as really confident. But I guess there are times when you're on your own and you really are quite self critical?

A: I'm incredibly confident of certain things I know to be true. I'm not making any great claims here. I'm not making any great claims when I say that the album we made is full of great songs. I'm confident that a lot of bands around, their albums are full of average songs. And there's bands out there that have songs that are better than ours. But in terms of being self critical, you've gotta be. That's the reason that people write and work. If you're not self critical you don't push on, you don't evolve, you don't go anywhere. If you don't sit down and say "i'm f**king useless and i've never written a note that's any good at all, this is f**king bollocks" then where is the drive to write the next one. It's not like I sit at home playing "Golden Touch" with a big jug full of money with my royalties going happy days happy days.

We don't do things the easy way. How easy do you think it would it be Razorlight now? We've done this album now. We could re-release "Stumble And Fall", 10000 people bought that single and there's 150,000 people who've got the album so far. We could re-release it, sell it to an advert, cos they offer you f**king loads of money for stuff like that, and it could be a massive hit. Plenty of bands would do that. Since the albums come out i've just been sat down trying to write the next song because I know that every song on the next record has to p*** on "Golden Touch" and p*** on "Vice", which are my favourite tracks off that album.

Q: One of the thing that stands out on the album is the fact that you strip the songs back to the basics. There's a lot of space on the record and there's nothing in there that doesn't need to be in there

A: That's me and Bjorn a lot. Bjorn had that idea, not so much in the depth of the record like how many guitars you've got going at once, but in terms of the arrangements of the songs and how long they last. I like music with corners. I like to be able to pick everything out. I couldn't make a record that's otherwise....actually that's $h!t, I could make a record that's otherwise...but I agree with you on the sound of Razorlight. Music is an art and like any art you have to have light and shade and make the corners and build tension and explode. It's like performing, dancing, painting anything - you can't just $h!t all over a canvas.

Q: Razorlight is seen very much as your band. How important are Bjorn and the other members to the band in terms of the sound of Razorlight?

A: Erm. Obviously it wouldn't be Razorlight without the songs, but the songs wouldn't be Razorlight without the rest of the boys. I don't know how to describe it. I write the songs, then I bring them in and basically as a band we work out how to play them. But when we're working out how to play them as a band it comes down to me a lot of the time. The reason the line up was as it was then was I believed in everybody's instinctive thought of what they should play.

Q: What has Andy added to the band? Do you feel it's a more complete band?

A: Andy is just good. Christian is a wannabe and always will be and he wasn't even that wannabe towards the end.

Q: You were talking about the new songs you're writing. You're trying to better the last album. How are they taking shape at the moment? Have you got any new songs ready?

A: I don't really want to talk about it to be honest. It's all in the system production and if you start talking about things before they've happened it's the biggest jinx you can do. I can't allow myself to talk about it.

Q: A lot of people have exhausted the story behind the screenplay you've wrote called "This Man". I guess when you're on tour though you do find yourself writing short stories and passages

A: People keep asking me about this script, but i'm making much better progress with writing prose at the moment. I don't know whether i'll put it out. I'm more just writing it for myself. One day i'm going to be forty years old or older and you don't really want to be getting up there on stage. The important thing though is not to preconceive things and do whatever adds some meaning to your time.

Q: Finally you're doing the Make Trade Fair Gig on September 14th. How important is for you to do these events and give something back?

A: When you start thinking about our society in any detail and apply any clarity of thought to the actual structure that we like in it's a f**king terrible world and a f**king horrible place. In fact you, me and everyone that reads this thing is to a great degree sanctioning basically a slave culture in the fact that the west only exists by exploiting poor countries. If somebody says to me do you want to do a gig to help out towards something like that in anyway, of course I'll do it.

**********

"Vice" is out September 13th and tour throughout October

Razorlight support the Manic Street Preachers in December

March 2, 200817 yr

INTERVIEW

Interview: Razorlight Frontman Johnny Borrell Looks Back and Ahead

Written by A.L. Harper

Published September 10, 2006

See also:

» CD Review - The Hazard County Girls - Divine Armor

» Music Review: Los Lobos -The Town And The City

» A Lazy Indie Junkie’s Outdated Review Of The 2006 MTV VMAs

page 1 | 2

Then, to add insult to injury, Johnny’s favourite one-of-a-kind guitar was stolen after the flight from England to New York. But they performed their new single “America” for Letterman anyway. A song about which Johnny – a very prolific songwriter – says, “I was sitting in Columbus, Ohio, and it just came into my head. Just like that, completely, fully formed.”

Razorlight’s new self-titled album and the much anticipated follow-up to Up All Night has been getting much critical acclaim and is a fabulous, emotionally compelling work. And what is Johnny hoping Razorlight will accomplish? “To create a place in the world that belongs to Razorlight. That is Razorlight’s. A place we can be without comparisons.”

This is no doubt as a result of those who, with their debut album Up All Night, accused Razorlight of being unoriginal and lacking any imagination. They have been accused by many critics of borrowing heavily from other bands, notably The Strokes. Up All Night polarized popular opinion. Q Magazine wrote, “As with the other great British debut of 2004 so far, by Franz Ferdinand, Up All Night ripples with cocksure sangfroid and a barely contained sexual fever.” But in a review of the same album CokeMachineGlow said, “Razorlight is nearly everything wrong with rock and roll today.”

And what was Johnny’s answer when I asked him how he felt about being called, in effect, a clone? He just laughed quite heartily and said, “Well, what do you think I feel?” He went on to say, “As a musician, all that stuff isn’t really a big deal because you know every other band that has ever been, has gone through exactly the same thing from the very beginning. That’s just the way it goes.”

Razorlight is available on Amazon.com now just by clicking the link above. If you would like to listen to Razorlight you can visit their MySpace space. Or you can go to the Razorlight website.

March 2, 200817 yr

Nice one :o

March 2, 200817 yr

want anymore?

March 4, 200817 yr

Author

Yes please. Thanks JanJan :thumbup:

March 4, 200817 yr

Subject:

RAZORLIGHT INTERVIEW 1/12

An ornate candle lit pub in a run down area of Kings Cross, with Chas &

Dave playing on the Jukebox. Not a bad place to meet up for a chat with

the frontman of the most exciting new band around at the moment. Just dont

mind the Libertine hanging around in the background. It's time to fall in

love with the band that will, without a doubt, dominate the next year and

beyond in music.

Interview by Kirsty W.

YSOS: If we can start with the history of the band - where it all started.

I know you have been various incarnations, but how did Razorlight come

about?

Johnny: Just depends where you start because we have been together for 8

months, so it was just an extension of what we were doing before and it

was just a question of finding the right people.

YSOS: So are you the only existing member from the previous line-ups?

J: Yeah because I’ve been...I mean, Razorlight didn’t exist before

everyone else was in it. Everyone was doing their own thing, I guess. But

Razorlight happened when Carl joined the group and that was the last piece

of the jigsaw so, you know, it's just getting the right people in, you

know what I mean? I’ve known Christian from absolutely years ago and I

always wanted to be in a band with him and I think he always wanted to be

in a band with me, but it just never happened so I knew him when he was

playing in Stony Sleep and I know his brother 'cause I used to play bass

in Serafin as well. Bjorn I met almost a year ago now and just...

YSOS: So where did you come across Carl then?

J: Carl is a friend of Bjorn’s – they come from the same little town. He

told me he had this friend who was looking to be in a band, but that

wouldn’t be right for the band cos - I shouldn’t say this... I only heard

one story about him that he had been kicked out of the Garage at a Guided

By Voices gigs and he was so f***in' upset 'cause he had been waiting

months and years to see them and he got thrown out before they even

started playing and they played for 2 hours and played like every song, so

he tried to break in and he climbed on the roof and... I don’t know how he

got there. But he reckons there was a skylight and he was kind of looking

down it. But he didn’t get in. So I sort of heard that and went to meet

him.

YSOS: With that kind of story you would want to meet the person??

J: Yeah absolutely, but I knew I wanted Carl in the band before I even met

him and I knew I wanted Christian because I always liked the way he plays

and Bjorn told me that he had a friend and it was just something about the

way he said it. And it is working so far.

YSOS: How did things go from there?

J: So we just got into the studio. We got a warehouse in Clapton and we

all made a decision and kind of made a pact with ourselves that we were

just going to do it. Work at it and make it happen. I think we had 5 songs

when Christian joined and now we’ve got at least 20. It’s been like a

dream really.

YSOS: So all the practice comes together and...

J: Yeah, I think it is not obvious. I mean it takes 3 minutes to play a

song and it can take a minute to write it, I mean you just get a verse and

chorus and there you are, but it probably takes you without realising

about 2 years to do it, because you take in everything and it will come

out in different forms and stuff like that.

YSOS: Two years ago you wouldn’t have imagined you would be here at the

moment?

J: I was just walking down off Horleigh Crescent where there is a little

shortcut and it's the first time I've walked down that street in 3 or 4

years or something like that, and I just suddenly realised that I

remembered walking down that street about 3 years ago thinking about where

I wanted to be and what I wanted to do and it is exactly where I am now! I

just want to have a really good band and write really good songs.

YSOS: So where do you see it all going from now?

J: Well, I think we are going to make a great album. I heard the demos for

it the other day and that was sort of the first time that you can consume

your own thing, and I was so blown away by it and it was one of the first

moments I had when I was really, really proud. So, you know, I hope we

make a really good album and I hope you like I it. I reckon you will, I

hope everyone does.

YSOS: I’ve liked what I’ve heard so far.

J: There are so many good songs. I mean we did 20 tracks for the album –

so there is only going to be 12 on it or something like that.

YSOS: So it’s already recorded or have you just recorded the demo at the

moment?

J: No we’ve just recorded demos, and we will start recording it properly

in a few weeks or something and... I think people will put it on for when

they go out, and when they go to bed and when they are making love. I just

think it will be wicked!

YSOS: Have you got any plans for the first release?

J: 28th July.

YSOS: "Rock-n-roll Lies"?

J: Yeah. With "In the City" and another b side.

YSOS: It seems a shame to lose "In the City" on a b-side though.

J: John was just saying that to me.

YSOS: It is too much of a... sorry!

J: Do you want a job? Do you wanna be A & R?

YSOS: It is too good a song to lose as a b-side.

J: The first single is 1,000 copies so I am sure we will sell it out.

YSOS: Is it going to be just a vinyl release?

J: Cd and some vinyl. I’m sure we will sell it out straight away and there

is always a Xmas release. I mean, we could put it out again. I mean I

wrote the song and I wrote it in two ways, but part of it was to be a

great live song you know and it’s worked. We’ve never done a gig without

anyone saying “oh we love that song”. The good thing now is that more are

saying it about other songs as well.

YSOS: It’s the one that everyone goes away singing though. It’s the one

that sits in your head.

J: I get "To the Sea" in my head. I wake up in the morning and I’m just

like... but I love that song. If I could live in any song I would live in

"To The Sea".

YSOS: So where do you see it all going from now?

J: Well, I think we are going to make a great album. I heard the demos for

it the other day and that was sort of the first time that you can consume

your own thing, and I was so blown away by it and it was one of the first

moments I had when I was really, really proud. So, you know, I hope we

make a really good album and I hope you like I it. I reckon you will, I

hope everyone does.

YSOS: I’ve liked what I’ve heard so far.

J: There are so many good songs. I mean we did 20 tracks for the album –

so there is only going to be 12 on it or something like that.

YSOS: So it’s already recorded or have you just recorded the demo at the

moment?

J: No we’ve just recorded demos, and we will start recording it properly

in a few weeks or something and... I think people will put it on for when

they go out, and when they go to bed and when they are making love. I just

think it will be wicked!

YSOS: Have you got any plans for the first release?

J: 28th July.

YSOS: "Rock-n-roll Lies"?

J: Yeah. With "In the City" and another b side.

YSOS: It seems a shame to lose "In the City" on a b-side though.

J: John was just saying that to me.

YSOS: It is too much of a... sorry!

J: Do you want a job? Do you wanna be A & R?

YSOS: It is too good a song to lose as a b-side.

J: The first single is 1,000 copies so I am sure we will sell it out.

YSOS: Is it going to be just a vinyl release?

J: Cd and some vinyl. I’m sure we will sell it out straight away and there

is always a Xmas release. I mean, we could put it out again. I mean I

wrote the song and I wrote it in two ways, but part of it was to be a

great live song you know and it’s worked. We’ve never done a gig without

anyone saying “oh we love that song”. The good thing now is that more are

saying it about other songs as well.

YSOS: It’s the one that everyone goes away singing though. It’s the one

that sits in your head.

J: I get "To the Sea" in my head. I wake up in the morning and I’m just

like... but I love that song. If I could live in any song I would live in

"To The Sea".

YSOS: It has been said that you are a band that have a New York versus a

London sound. Would you agree with that?

J: Well they are both good things so that’s good. I mean I’ve never been

to New York and I don’t sound like I come from New York so...

YSOS: Are you from London?

J: Yep.

YSOS: So do you see London as a big influence on your music?

J: Yeah, it’s got to be. There is not a song on the album that is about

anywhere else or about anything else. Not at all – not that there is

anything specific.

YSOS: So what do you think of the constant comparisons you get to Television?

J: I am sort of flattered and amazed because Television wrote great pop

songs and I think the heart of this band is... just put Carl in the room

and put on "Here Comes the Summer" and I just, you know, that’s the heart

of the band, do you know what I mean? There is not a song apart from "In

the City" and "Vice"... there's nothing over 4 minutes on the album and

most of the songs are either 2 minutes or not more than 3 minutes 20 and

it's like a meeting point of a lot of things and I think that balance is

really important and that's something that the band brings a lot –

especially Bjorn and Carl. It's kind of a frame for things to fit into and

I think what I do and what Christian does is kind of embellish it and go

off on tangents, but they hold it in a straight formula. I mean, "Marquee

Moon" is a brilliant album and it’s got 6 songs on it...or seven?

YSOS: It's 8.

J: Right. When did you last listen to it?

YSOS: About a week ago.

J: "Marquee Moon" always seems too fast when you are drunk.

YSOS: I’ve never listened to it drunk actually, it's not one of those

drunk albums. I can’t get my head around it.

J: You try and go to bed and put on "Marquee Moon" – it’s like that song

seems like they're playing it too fast. I mean, it's better than being

compared to Chas'N'Dave! There's something very poetic and non-specific

with his lyrics, whereas I think in our songs there is a story there in

every song.

YSOS: I think a lot of it’s the vocals they see a comparison in.

J: Yeah but he whines a lot more and I sing with an English accent and he

sings with an American accent. I mean maybe our larynxes are the same

size. I don’t really think there is much there.

YSOS: Have you got a label yet? I’ve heard that you have signed to Telstar.

J: We have a deal with Mercury and are signing it on Wednesday. There is

stuff in here that is absolutely hilarious…

YSOS: That is your evening reading?

J: It's 50 pages and I’ve read it all.

YSOS: Blimey, when did you get it?

J: Friday, I think. We didn’t do anything at the weekend.

YSOS: Is that the kind of label you wanted to go for?

J: I had no preconceptions at all. These were the people that we liked and

they seemed to understand us. I think they understand it a lot further

than the first album in terms of support.

YSOS: So where do you get the inspiration for your lyrics?

J: I am trying to think of a specific example so that I can answer you

properly. It's a funny thing sometimes because if you write a set of

chords and a melody you could conceivably sing any words over it and they

should work but they don’t. There's only a certain sound and type of

syllables that work. So sometimes it will be that I just hear a sound in

my head and I will match 2 or 3 words to it – the first couple of words,

you know and then you just tell a story from there. You are always talking

to someone, you know, there is always someone or something that you are

talking to, whether it’s yourself or somebody else or an idea of somebody

or anything. With "To the Sea" I just thought of a day away and I went and

I said “where are we going to go?” so you just start saying “where do we

go?” But the thing is, I write constantly, so they are never just empty

words, do you know what I mean, you always say things at least on two

levels. I just wrote a song the other day with about 500 words in it or

something – it’s called "Dear Peter" and it’s to a lot of people. It’s to

friends of mine called Peter, it’s to St Peter, it’s about anything and

you just write stuff like and, I don’t know, it has a certain magic.

YSOS: Do you always want to tell a story with your lyrics then?

J: Otherwise what are you doing? Like, say something like “I am the

Walrus” by The Beatles, I mean what is he saying? It's a whole load of

junk. I don’t think you can do that convincingly until you can do it the

other way and I think if I... sometimes you deliberately try to confuse

people and you mislead them by putting a word here or there, but you know

what you are saying and what it means to you. Or sometimes even you don’t

and you figure it out after a while. Otherwise you are just putting words

together you know and it all gets boring to everybody. Have we got any

songs that aren’t about anything? Why would you want to write a song that

isn’t about something?

YSOS: Do you mind that people are going to be analysing your songs in

certain ways or take away their own meanings from them?

J: No, because I’ve done it with a million – there's at least a thousand

songs out there that are talking completely about me and my life to me and

so that’s just the way it is. That is something you have no control over.

It’s not your thing to tell people to think of it that way or another.

YSOS: Do you write for yourself or do you write these songs wanting them

to get out to as many people as possible?

J: Lyrically I write completely for myself. I think it is impossible to

sit down and say “I want to tell these people this about myself” and then

write a song cos it’s going to be false. If you write to somebody or to

yourself it kind of takes care of it.

YSOS: Do you write as a band or do you get an idea in your head and take

it back to them?

J: Most of the songs I've written on my own, but they wouldn’t be the

songs without the band. The input of the band is so important. Done with

the wrong musicians it just wouldn’t be right. Everyone in the band has

got a good sense of song-writing which is really important, which is

something I looked for in everybody when we were working out who was going

to be in the band and who wasn’t. I mean, sometimes Bjorn will write

chords and I’ll sing over that or somebody else will write chords and I’ll

sing over that They have all a sense of how to make a song work. What was

the question?

YSOS: Whether you write separately from the band or with the band?

J: I do write separately from the band, I mean non-stop. I can’t sit down

on my own for more than 20 minutes without having to write, I just do it.

YSOS: It's a constant thing for you?

J: Yeah.

YSOS: It must be confusing to have all this stuff going round in your head

all at once. How do you keep track of it all?

J: I think the scourge of my life is my ansafone 'cause the moment I get

an idea I call up my phone and put it on the ansafone but the f***ing

thing only saves your ansafone messages for a day so you have to call up

every day and keep saving it, right. Which is kind of good cos it keeps

you honest - I think John Lennon used to say - or McCartney or one of them

- “if it's good enough you will remember it” and that’s very true, but it

is good to have it down. Yeah, so this f***ing thing keeps deleting my

songs and then they are gone! But it is easy enough, you know what I mean,

because what you’re thinking, your thoughts on the day and what you said

in the song that you wrote the night before are not very far apart. And

they don’t have to be.

YSOS: It must be frustrating to lose that melody in your head.

J: Yeah, but none of the best music you will ever make anyone will ever

hear apart from you. I mean, you go into the studio, you put down 15 songs

for an album, the chances are you are going to get the best take of one

song only once in that session. And it is weird when you think about the

great albums, the albums you love and you think something you really like

is all about performance, you know, and you can think that maybe you did

it better the take before the one that went down. That’s just how it is.

Some of the most beautiful things you do will be walking down the street

just singing to yourself. We are in a good position because we can

interpret the songs and we can do them and that is better than most. There

is never any chance to get everything out.

YSOS: So who have you got lined up to do the album? Is there anyone who

you would really like to do it?

J: This guy called John Fortiss who produced the Toe Rag demos.

YSOS: Would you like to go back to Toe Rag?

J: No. Not for the album. It is a really great place, Liam was great and

everything but it just sounds a little bit too 60’s. That’s what it is

there for; you can’t do anything about it.

YSOS: What kind of sound do you want to get on the album then?

J: I don’t know. I can’t say it in words, you know, I can’t describe the

sound.

YSOS: What do you think about the attention you are already getting as a

band? Things have gone pretty mad the past couple of months.

J: It’s fantastic.

YSOS: In comparison to how things were in December and how they are now,

things have changed a hell of a lot.

J: That’s always the way though. It’s not anybody’s fault, but they have

never heard anything so how are they going to like it. There are things

out there in the public eye that nobody likes but there are plenty of

things out there that people like but don’t get any recognition and it’s

not their fault and it’s not the people’s fault 'cause how are they going

to know about it. There is probably a band playing right now that either

you or me would absolutely fall in love with and we have never even

f***ing heard of them.

YSOS: What kind of bands have you seen lately that deserve that kind of

attention?

J: There is a band called Go Rimbaud that are absolutely fantastic. They

kind of remind me of the Pixies – not sound-wise but, there’s a point –

why don’t we get compared to the Pixies?

YSOS: Why don’t you?

J: Yeah. Well the Pixies are an incredible band.

YSOS: They are an amazing band but they are not something that I would

automatically associate...

J: Yeah, probably not. But Go Rambo are just an incredible band actually.

I am producing their debut ep.

YSOS: Is that going to be released on any particular label?

J: It will probably be circulated by hand, unless we can find someway of

getting it out. But if having amazing songs and being a great band equals

success, then they will be successful.

YSOS: Where do you want to go from here? Where do you intend to play next

and how do you want to get Razorlight heard by even more people?

J: I don’t know when the next gig is? I always think that gigs should be

like... if there is any way you can make them more than going to a scummy,

f***ing venue. I mean you would want to do it in a massive f***ing room...

YSOS: Where would your ideal venue be?

J: The abandoned Fire Station on Kingsland Road. We would put backlights

on the stage in blue so you feel like you are underwater.

YSOS: Sounds amazing.

J: Yeah well we did a gig like that at this squat and it was absolutely

amazing apart from the fact that the PA was about “that big”. It wasn’t

that small, but Christian plays really hard – he hits the drums harder

than anyone in the world so it’s like you can never hear the vocals 'cause

everything has come up so much. So apart from that it was the greatest gig

ever. There is some film of it – we were all really stoned as well – I

think it was the only gig we ever did where we were stoned and it was

incredible it was like we were f***ing underwater. But he would hit the

snare and I would hear it 3 seconds later, but because we were so

rehearsed we were still playing in time. I want to play some big venues as

well – do some good supports and stuff.

YSOS: Is that what you want to do for your first tour, kind of a support

slot?

J: You can’t have any expectations. I mean, you can’t decide these things

because it’s like if you have expectations and say I want the gig to go

like this, I think you will be disappointed. You have just got to find the

space and the moment your chance comes you just take it and run with it.

There should be one in June and I think we will be touring in July.

YSOS: It’s been pretty manic at the last couple of your gigs seeing Steve

Lamacq wondering around and all the high & mighty from the NME at the last

Barfly gig. How does it feel to have those kinds of people coming to see

the band?

J: It doesn’t feel any different to anybody else. It’s not like a halo

that you get to wear when you are starting to be liked by the NME.

YSOS: They are just ordinary people. Most of them like music less than the

rest of us.

J: Absolutely, but then wouldn’t you if you had to f***ing sift through

100 tapes every day! It’s a $h!t job to have if you like music. Music

journalism is going to be f***ing awful job to have. It’s good that you

get to hang around with bands and get free tickets, but then free tickets

are not a good thing anyway. You know when you get a free ticket into a

gig or a free pass and you go through the guest list entrance it's f***ing

rubbish its like “oh whatever” but if you f***ing buy it 2 weeks or 2

months in advance you are like f***ing ready.

YSOS: You have already built up quite a fan base. Is it something that you

appreciate that you have got already?

J: Absolutely. It’s weird to relate because you know the feeling of loving

a band and I haven’t really come to terms with it that anyone could love

this band.

YSOS: There are a lot them – all the kids down the front already know all

the words!

J: That’s weird. I was saying to the band that we are never going to hear

ourselves singing "In the City" ever again, and apart from in rehearsals

we get a real... it couldn’t really get any better could it??

YSOS: Something I thought was really amusing is that people are already

bootlegging Razorlight merchandise.

J: Oh right. What’s available?

YSOS: Badges at the moment.

J: Razorlight bandages would be better. Like what we were going to have is

promotional cigarettes and lighters so that you get a pack of Razor

lights. So we are going to go down Holloway Road and get a thousand

Marlborough Lights off of Ahmed and then we will make the packs ourselves.

John Hassell (Libertines): I’ve already seen the prototype.

J: Yeah he’s seen the prototype. There is a photo of the band on each side

and it says Razor lights with Marlborough Lights inside. We could have got

sponsorship off them…

JH: Do you think that would be good for your image – to support smoking?

J: Well it would just be like for our friends and family. We could have

got sponsorship off Camel but we just thought that would be the daftest

thing to do because tobacco companies are such arseholes. I would rather

support Ahmed down the Holloway Road who has got a wife and kid to feed

than f***ing the marketing executive at Camel. And we are doing

Razorlighters as well.

JH: You could have razors as well. Get really light with holes in the grip

so that it is like whoosh. No, I don’t think so, but Razorlights and

Razorlighters.

YSOS: Will it be Marlborough Lights that are Razorlights or anything else.

J: Probably just Marlborough Lights. It's weird, you spend like 10 years

smoking and you think that is time enough to cultivate a good brand that

says something about the man you are and then you walk into the shop and

say “ah, can I have 20 Marlborough lights please” and it's like what’s

that about. It’s what all the whores liked to smoke in 1940’s Paris.

YSOS: I thought they were the ones that come in a variety of colours?

J: Yeah. I hate that! It's like you wake up and you’re like “oh yeah I

wanna fag” and you're lying in bed and you get like a luminous yellow

thing!

YSOS: What do you think your place in the current music scene is?

J: How many good English bands are out there?

JH: 3. The Coral, The Libertines and Razorlight.

J: I’ve got a feeling that there will be a lot of good English bands. I

was saying this to someone the other day and they were saying “well, what

bands have you heard?” and I haven't necessarily heard any evidence, but

it’s impossible for it not to happen. Like last year was kind of exciting

because it was like suddenly there were all these bands coming over, you

know.

YSOS: It was the return of music with guitars...

J: Yeah and there were good bands to see every week, and that can’t not

have an effect on people. I don’t know, there are $h!t English bands. The

Beatings are good.

YSOS: A very good live band. A bit manic live, always good fun. You

supported them.

J: No I didn’t.

YSOS: Yes you did. I saw you and the Casanovas and The Beatings at The

Barfly a few months ago.

J: Like I said, I’ve never seen them live. If there is a band on after

you, I never watch them ever. Do you know what I mean? It’s just like,

you’ve done your gig and...

YSOS: You’re off home!

J: I wish.

JH: You’re straight down the golf course for a couple of rounds.

J: That’s not true. I never play golf.

JH: Don’t lie Johnny.

J: Carl reckons he is into golf though.

JH: Carlos?

J: No, our Carl. He said he played it once or twice. There is a golf

course next to our rehearsal studios.

YSOS: It’s never appealed to me as a sport, to be quite honest, it doesn’t

look that much fun.

J: We’ve got an amazing football team. Libertines V Razorlight football.

That would be awesome. Obviously Christian is South American, so he’s got

brilliant skills.

JH: Yeah, but I used to be in a football team.

J: Yeah, I know he’s f***ing good man, he’s deceptively good. Obviously I

am an amazing footballer and Carl's a 6’1” Swede, what can't you do?? And

Bjorn’d probably be a good goalie.

JH: Pete’s good.

J: Pete’s quite tasty. He’s got a header on him. And Carlos is f***ing

rubbish.

JH: Carlos is rubbish – he’s in goal.

J: You know there is always somebody who can’t throw. Bjorn is that and so

is Carlos.

JH: Sorry Carlos! “He throws just like a woman, yes he does” (sings to the

tune of Bob Dylan)

J: What’s Gazza like?

JH: I don’t know what he's like. He’s good at baseball.

J: He’s quite athletic isn’t he? He’s f***ing built!

JH: Gary would just go in for f***ing slide tackles.

J: He’s really got thigh muscles that bulge...

JH: He’s got massive biceps – I don’t know about his legs, but he has got

huge biceps.

YSOS: At next year’s Glastonbury you can have that as your football teams.

Libertines and Razorlight. It would be amusing to watch.

J: It would be good actually. We're not actually playing Glastonbury this

year. Are you?

JH: (Nods)

J: I know we're going to do Reading. Are you doing Reading?

JH: (Nods)

J: John’s my best mate. It’s like - f***ing hell we are both playing Reading!

YSOS: Are you playing on the same day?

J: I don’t know, it's still being sorted.

JH: I used to go to school with him in '97. He used to bully me.

J: John's a year younger than me and there was never any bullying. But we

weren’t really mates at school. It’s more like later on - it was just like

we spent about 3 years just f***ing around.

YSOS: Do you find it a help to be put in the Libertine bracket - to be

stuck in with The Beatings and the perception of a little group of you and

the Beatings and the Libertines and the Queens of Noize being this kind of

mad little family?

J: I’m very happy if people see us with the same telescope as the Queens

of Noize and The Libertines. I don’t know the Beatings. But The Libertines

have written such amazing songs, it’s like you couldn’t help but be proud.

And the Queens of Noize are so good at what they do and it’s weird because

4 years ago Mairead was putting on gigs at the 333 with The Libertines and

Johnny Borrell and there would be like a man and his dog there. It was a

challenge. It doesn’t matter what’s going on, at the core of things it is

always the same.

YSOS: Do you think it is easier for bands at the moment to get noticed

since everything kicked off last year with the resurgence of guitar music?

J: It’s a double-edged sword. If bands are in fashion, then there are

people looking at bands, but if bands are in fashion then there are more

bands. If you are good then you are going to make it, and if you are not

then it doesn’t make a difference.

YSOS: c**p bands will always get weeded out though.

J: Yeah. But they will get weeded out at times when bands are not in

fashion and get weeded out... I don’t know, I would like to think there

are more good bands around now than there were 2 years ago, but I don’t

necessarily think that’s true. YSOS: Do you think it is a more interesting

scene then it was two years ago? And a lot more inclusive than it was back

then. A couple of years ago gigs were depressing and really dull.

J: Yeah. A lot of people with beards and acoustic guitars.

YSOS: Music seems to have got its passion back.

J: Yeah. I mean, I found it hard to get noticed and so did that lot

(gestures to John Hassle of The Libertines). So maybe it is easier to get

noticed or perhaps we have just reached the point of being good enough.

You can always tell with people whether they have got it or they haven’t.

It’s like with a song you can tell within the first two notes whether it’s

got it or not and I think with people that you meet who are in bands you

can tell if they have got it straight away. Or maybe that they’ve got it

but just haven’t harnessed it yet.

YSOS: I know what you mean.

J: It’s like you see someone who is in a band and you know that they are

just never going to go anywhere or they are going to do it and you know

straight away.

YSOS: There are plenty of bands that make it that really shouldn’t!

J: Yeah, but nobody makes it who really shouldn’t!

YSOS: You would say that even of people who kind of end up being big

because they have gone on talent shows?

J: Pop music? How big are you going to be in pop music? You may be big,

but for how long? Pop singers don’t write their songs. Where is the money

coming from? Their money comes from working really hard, but making it is

measured by money. Their money comes from working really hard down the gym

looking good and whatever.

YSOS: In a certain stylised way?

J: Yeah. So it’s almost like manual labour. You put the hours in and you

get it. But they never last.

YSOS: Do you see Razorlight being around for a while?

J: Absolutely! If everyone has got the heart for it, presuming they do,

then you know… The thing that we care about is our talent and our songs

and working to be the best at what we do, and that is the only thing we

care about so it is a pretty healthy state of affairs.

YSOS: That’s the only way you should be as a band.

J: Hardly any bands are that way. It is so easy to get sidetracked. It

could easily go to your head that you hear someone singing your song or

saying your name or walking into a club and everyone looking at you and

things like that but, you know, nobody wants to be famous for being

famous.

YSOS: How do you stop it getting that way?

J: It’s just not your trip, it’s not your thing. The only way I am ever

happy is by doing something that I think is good. Nothing else comes

close. There are other ways of spending your time but nothing else comes

close. I push myself every second. We have written this album…I am writing

every day and trying to move beyond and get better than anything I’ve done

before. It is almost like everyday you wake up and you say “Right, what’s

the best song I’ve got? I am going to write 10 that are better” – I can’t

stop.

YSOS: When do you think the album will come out?

J: It’s not really up to us. It’s either going to be out before Christmas

or after Christmas – not the most specific answer is it? There’s a lot of

things to think about so we don’t want to rush the album but we don’t want

to leave it too long either. It gets on your nerves if there is a band

that is getting a lot of press for like 6 months without even having an

album out. It puts you off a bit because you want to get press for the

music, rather than for what you are. At the end of the day though, that is

only England and that is only the NME and you know, if the height of your

ambitions is to be good in the NME then your career is gonna die. It is a

big world. It is very easy, English people do it all the time, to think

this country is it. But it is just as valid for anybody out there, whether

they are in Japan or America or wherever, if they relate to your music.

YSOS: So you’re looking forward to conquering the world?

J: Absolutely!

YSOS: I have some stupid questions for you now. There is a section on the

website of band’s favourite songs and albums.

J: I’ve got a list of favourite songs…’End of the Day’ by The Kinks, ‘50

Ways to Leave Your Lover’ by Paul Simon, ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ by The

Beatles, ‘Death on the Stairs’ - when the Libertines played at the Astoria

I was practically weeping when ‘Death on the Stairs’ came on. I was

practically weeping – gearing up to have a good cry. I haven’t cried

probably since 1989 and I was gearing up for a really good sob, and then

someone came up to me and said “All right Johnny, how are you?” I should

say ‘Here Comes the Summer’ by The Undertones as well. I should also

say…Jesus this is so hard, there is that Bob Dylan song….he always gives

his songs daft names:- (sings) “Gypsy girl the hands of Harlem cannot hold

you to its heed. Your temperature is too hot for taming. Your flaming feet

are burning up the street”

YSOS: I know the one you mean, but I can’t place the title.

J: Who else have I left out? I am sure there is a really good song that

begins with M as well. ‘Apple Blossom’ by The White Stripes… (sings) “Hey

little apple blossom…”

JH: I hate that song.

J: No. It’s definitely in there.

JH: It’s rubbish. You could pick something better than the “$h!te Stripes”.

J: Whose interview is this? Who is this guy? That song is amazing. It is a

song Paul McCartney would have written.

JH: It’s a song that Paul McCartney rejected…

J: I had to put in one contemporary band or it would have been f***in’ Dad

Rock!

YSOS: You did you put in the Libertines.

: I sat at the piano and played ‘Death on the Stairs’ for about 3 hours

the other day actually. I was working out the guitar part on the piano –

it sounded so cheesy but it was fun.

YSOS: I can imagine it played on the piano actually.

J: Those chords are so classic, they just go clink a dink a dink duh da la

da…yeah that will do. What else, favourite albums? Nah, I don’t do albums.

YSOS: You don’t do albums? More a song person? It is hard to pin down an

entire thing…

J: The Beatles ‘White Album’ obviously, ELO ‘Greatest Hits’ – no!

‘Lipstick Rogue’ Elvis Costello – that’s a beautiful song. ‘I’m So Tired’

by The Beatles – that is probably the best song ever written. Is there one

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