My Interview with Frank Turner, or “Six Questions: This Ain’t No ‘Tiger Beat'”

I’ve never conducted an interview like this before, and I don’t exactly know quite what to say in this here introduction, except, maybe, to answer Frank Turner’s question to me: Tennessee, because it got me through the lowest point in my life to date. Very cathartic. 1372 Overton Park has my heart in a way the others don’t, though, because it’s mostly cheerful and fun and kinda dancey, and I’m at a point in my life where I’ve nothing but cause to be cheerful and fun and dancey.

My thanks and love to Frank Turner. What a truly awesome, gracious dude.

Here ya go, y’all.

Six Questions: This Ain’t No Tiger Beat

1) 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. 

2) 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. 

3) 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.

4) Now I’ma get old-school on you. In a previous conversation, you told me you played a show with Boysetsfire (“Red Eye, Islington, North London, November 1997 or 1998”), and they were one of your “favorite bands back then.” 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.

5) Your new album, “England Keep My Bones,” is brilliant, in my opinion. (Many are already calling it your masterpiece.) I pre-ordered it but couldn’t help myself from listening to it streaming on NME. 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 how 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 folkore 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 rulebook, 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.

6) Finally, and not to be presumptuous, but is there anything you’d like to ask or say to me, The Girl Behind Dear Ben Nichols? (I read an interview once where a guy did this, and I liked the idea.)

 Ha, uh, which is your favourite Lucero record? I think Overton Park is their best by a country mile.

[See the original posting of my interview with Frank Turner here along with several other posts written by me and submitted by readers. It is a Ben Nichols fan site.]