I feel like there isn’t much I can say about Frank Turner that hasn’t already been said. Terms like “brilliant,” “hero,” and “funny,” to “bastard,” “hypocrite,” and “irreverent” get thrown around left and right. No matter what side of the camp you’re on, though, you’ve gotta admit he just plain gets to you. I was able to catch up with the beardy god, and we discussed Boysetsfire, Lucero, and the liberation that comes with making a fourth album, England Keep My Bones.
I saw in an interview that you were whiskey drunk during an entire tour, thanks to Ben Nichols. Drunk, rowdy boys? Sounds like a fucking blast and my idea of heaven. Tell me (if you can remember anything, haha), what is one of your favorite memories from that tour?
Without wanting to gush too much, the Social D/Lucero US tour we did at the end of last year was one of my favourite stretches of road ever. It was such a great group of people, good bands, good shows, good times. It was great to spend some more time with the Lucero boys and get to know them properly. And yes, a lot of Jameson was drunk—on the first day of the tour, John C. announced, “I ain’t drinkin any more! But then I ain’t drinkin any less neither!” That kind of set the tone for the rest of the run.
You participated in the Strummerville Spring Sessions this year. What was that experience like?
Great, I know the Strummerville crew very well, old friends, plus it was my 1000th show, so that was special as well.
A lot of your fans admire you and consider you a hero, and your songs “The Road,” “Reasons Not to Be an Idiot,” “Faithful Son,” “Photosynthesis,” and “Try This at Home” personally inspired me to change my life’s path/live my life for me. You seem to really live what you believe, and I, for one, respect that a great deal. What inspired you to follow your dreams, and what keeps you motivated in the face of hardships?
You know, a lot of people (myself included, sometimes) seem to expect there to be some great incident in my life which set me off down this frenetic path of activity, like surviving a plane crash or something, but there’s really no stories like that to tell. For some reason, I’m just very consumed by the knowledge that death is coming, and I need to do as much as I can before the fucker gets me.
Now Ima get old-school on you. In a previous conversation, you told me you played a show with Boysetsfire, and they were one of your “favorite bands back then” (circa 1997 or 1998). What about them struck a chord with you?
At age 16 or so, I was into hardcore, and I was into some emo stuff too, and I remember wondering if it was possible to get the two together in the same room. Then I got a copy of The Day The Sun Went Out, and it blew my head off, it remains one of my life-changer albums. The intensity was astounding to me, plus the combination of melody and aggression. At the show, my first proper one, my band (Kneejerk) sucked hard. But BSF were off the wall good.
Your new album, England Keep My Bones, is brilliant, in my opinion. (Many are already calling it your masterpiece.) One of the things I love about your music is its in-your-face-ness and irreverence for the conventional. You just plain aren’t afraid to say whatever the fuck you want, and you aren’t afraid to live your life however you want. Is this something you purposefully think about when you’re making a record, or is it just so ingrained in you, you simply don’t know any other way?
It’s ingrained, I guess. The other thing about this record which was liberating is that there’s a ton of expectation and folklore and cliche about what debut albums are like, and more of the same for second records. There’s less for third albums, and for fourth ones, well, there’s no rule book, no guidelines, and that meant I could just get on with making an album I think is good. I’m glad you like it, by the way.
(See the original posting of this interview on The Vinyl District. You can see other interviews by me here as well.)
