mINtSOUTH.com

mINtSOUTH's Rob Ball caught up with Frank Turner just before his set at Camp Bestival in Dorest.  He asked him about his new album 'Poetry of The Deed', the new single 'The Road', reminiced on growing up in Winchester and about his non stop touring.

"Poetry of the Deed comes from Mikhail Bakunin, a Russian Revolutionary,  who had a theory of ‘Propaganda of the Deed’ he said "we must spread our principles, not with words but with deeds, for this is the most popular, the most potent, and the most irresistible form of propaganda.' ... I do love my poetry, such as Dylan Thomas, but I feel it’s much more interesting to go out and be poetic, rather than spend your whole life writing it down..... Anyway, that’s the idea of the album.”

“I recorded it with my band this time round rather than doing everything separately, which I’ve done with first three albums.  But I got to a point now that I’m playing more and more with the band that I would record stuff and then teach it to the band, and I think our live versions of everything from the those three albums is far better than the recorded versions.  So we rehearsed for a month before going into the Studio.  We managed to record all the music is 5 days, which was INSANE!  Then we went to New York with Producer Alex Newport, who is a hero of mine, and finished off the record, which made me feel terribly international.”

Your new single The Road is out soon, and the video is based around your attempt to play 24 gigs in 24 hours, what gave you that idea, and how did you do?

“I wish I know, and I don’t know...”

“We did 8pm to 8pm, and when we got to about 11am, I really really wanted to die!  It felt like the worst idea I’ve ever had in my life”

So where were the gigs?

“Houses, Record Shops, a couple of normal gigs, Roofs, Gardens, anywhere... We had a gig on the hour every hour, all within Greater London, it really was quite gruelling.  The worst part was we finished the last gig, loads of my friends were there, we had a bit of a party, got three hours sleep, and then I had to get up to go to Gatwick to fly to Helsinki to play a Festival.  THAT was the worst day of my life!  Anyway, it seemed to be a cool idea that fits the song, and it fits my life.”

“I take my inspiration from bands like Black Flag and BB King, and I love the old Bluesmen, as they do like 350 shows a year because they’re working musicians, and I think there’s an honesty in that working class approach to being a musician.”

Looking at your list of gigs, it’s insane!

“It’s a lot, I always feel I can do more.  I get to the end of the year, and I count up the number of gigs I’ve done and I’m always disappointed. There’s always time for more gigs.  However, having said that my gig schedule currently runs through to October 2010, so be careful for what you wish for.”

You have a ‘homecoming’ gig in Winchester at the end of October this year, do you see Winchester as your home town?

“Yeah, yeah.. I grew up just outside, on the A32 in Meonstoke, I live there now as well.  Winchester was the town I used to go out in, when I was too young to get into pubs, we used to sit on the Buttercross drinking Special Brew that someone’s older brother had bought from the Off Licence, smoking joints in the Cathedral grounds, and sticky fumblings with teenage girls.  They’ve now banned drinking in the Cathedral grounds, what are teenagers supposed to do now?”

“The thing about that gig incidentally, I’m very pleased about this:  Growning up in Winchester, going past a certain size of band you’ve got to go to places like Southampton or Portsmouth to see the show, which is always an arse, as you’ve got to run around sorting out lifts or leaving to get the last train etc... And I thought, come on Portsmouth, come on Southampton, time for you to have a taste of my problems in life!   So we booked the gig at The Guildhall, which is also cool as my Mum used to pick me up from the steps at 10pm sharp on Friday nights.  I’ve just had this flood of emails from people in Portsmouth and Southampton saying ‘oh man, I’ve got to run around trying to get the last train home’.. well FEEL MY PAIN! This is my childhood right here.”

HA! I remember when I was a teenager, I always had to go to Southampton Guildhall, The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth Pyramids, The Joiners, etc... there was nothing really ever in Winchester.  But I think Winchester has really upped its game in the past few years and there are very good show’s at The Railway now, and also The Tower where you played last year.

“Yeah, I remember a few years ago when The Railway put a new PA and a stage in, and it got significantly better.  I used to go and see bands like Supernaught and Seasons End at The Railway, and I’ve been down to Roots night on Mondays”

Changing Country all together now, how was the tour with Offspring in the States?

“It was awesome, mental.. ‘Smash’ was the album of my childhood.  Plus I played all the shows solo to 5000+ audiences, which went down surprisingly well.  I love this cross over thing, once a punk always a punk, and no matter how hard you try and run away from it, it’s always there.  It’s a lifer!  I think last year I was the only person to play both the Cambridge Folk Festival, plus the punk stage at Reading & Leeds, we did the same set at both, and it made sense at both, which is great as I don’t like scenes, and I don’t like having just one slim demographic.”

“It’s not been announced yet, but it’s been confirmed, in November I’m back over there touring with Chuck Ragen who does ‘The Revival Tour’.  He was the singer in Hot Water Music, and he was one of the first Folk Singer goes punk thing, and I still maintain he’s the best as well, as with most guys who just play an acoustic guitar and shout, and play cock punk songs without the drums, he’s really engaged with traditional music styles.  He does this tour called ‘The Revival Tour’, I did a little bit of it last year, basically you have 4 guys with guitars and there’s a band who are onstage all night, and everyone swaps songs and do a few traditional numbers, it’s more a revue than a show really, there’s no ego in it at all, it’s all very sharing.  I guess the nearest equivalent over here would be ‘The River Rat Pack tour’.”

“I started this thing in my tour last October which I’m going to try and keep up, where everyone involved is up on stage at the end playing something, and it just makes everyone proud and have some fun as well.”

Your support acts, most of the time when you tour you have supports which you’ve chosen.

“Yeah, I’m a great stickler for that.  I do get emails from agents and record companies suggesting people, and I do listen to them, but in my mind, if I’m playing a headline show, then I’m providing an evening of entertainment, and I feel it would reflect badly on me to have shit support bands that I don’t like.  I don’t want to have to spend the entire tour skirting the issue of whether or not I enjoyed their set.   I’m looking forward to touring this year with Beans on Toast, who I go way back with, and Fake Problems, who I toured the States with... They’re going to blow your mind man!"

The Road is out on download only on 31st August, and then followed by the album on 7th September.

Frank plays Winchester Guildhall on 28th October, tickets are available from See Tickets.