May 9, 2025 • 32 mins
On a special bonus episode of In Service Of Billy Idol joins Steve Baltin for a one-on-one chat about Idil's excellent new album, his upcoming tour and documentary, being a grandfather, the early days of punk and much more.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hey, it's Steve bogs In and welcome to a special
Friday edition of In Service Up, where I sit down
for an unbelievable conversation with the iconic Billy Idol. I
love this talk so much about being a grandfather, about
the roots of punk rock, about how he never thought
he would be here, about so much more. This was
an amazing conversation with a truly iconic guy. Thanks so much.
(00:41):
You are having a hell of a year. First off,
you know, it's really funny because I was thinking about this.
I've thought to so many people who have been inducted
or nominated for the Rock Hall, and you know, they
look at it as like a kind of a midway
point rather than you know, what seems like a career legacy.
And it's funny that you're nomine this year and he
made one of the best fucking albums of your career.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah, I mean, it's kind of fantastic timing. If we
do get in, me and Steve Stevens are being inducted together,
that's that's that's fantastic. Yeah, if we do get in,
I mean, yeah, it's We've got a really great album
and I think it's would really be a great celebration.
I enjoyed Ozzie's induction solo, and I really enjoyed being
part of it. It was a great night. You know,
(01:25):
there's so many people I saw that I know, and
there's so many I met a million people I didn't know,
a Jelly Roll or whoever, playing with Wolfgang van Halen
and stuff and just hanging out and it was a
great night. And yeah, it just my motorcycle has been
in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for like
five years, so I might as well be. You know.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Yeah, it's funny since I was going to start with
the album, but let's talk about it for a second.
If you do get inducted, who would you want to
be part of your jam? You know, it's funny because
Billy Morrison's a friend and I reached out to him
about something in June and he said that, you know,
it's going to be a tour with you in Europe.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yes, we did. We're definitely. We're playing around the States
and in Europe as well this summer. Yes, yeah, I
don't know. I hadn't really thought about that. Obviously. We
worked with Andrew Watt with the Ossie Induction. I haven't
quite got to thinking about what we would who would
play with, But there are a number of other great people.
(02:24):
I mean Simon kirk and of Bad Company, he's a
great drummer.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
So yeah, well no, but just because you mentioned a
Wolfgang who I now you know and it's it's like,
that's part of the fun about it is these dream
combinations that you would never play with.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah, I mean it could be fantastic. That's it's a
welsherr oyster. I think we could pull together some great people,
you know.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Well, the fun thing about the Rock Hall as well,
course is that you know, it's such a disparate group
as always. I mean this year it's like you know,
I mean, and I don't remember everybody's nominated. I'm not
gonna lie. I'm not personally a Fish fan and not
a Mariah fan. But you know, sound Garden and I mean,
if both the Oasis and Black Crows get it, you'd
have a hell of a memorable night.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, that's right, that's right, Sound Garden, white Stripes, Yeah,
it could be fantastic. I mean, you have Jack White
gets and we could all be playing together. It could
be incredible. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Well, as I said, it's funny timing because this album
is so wonderful. And what I really love about this
record is the vulnerability of the lyrics. It feels like
it's a big step for you in terms of you know,
like I mean, there's just where you open up so much.
Like for example, I suck with titles because I've listened
(03:46):
to everything all the way through. But there was the
fourth song that blew me away, and it's oh no,
it's uh, which one was it? I love John Wayne.
That's actually my favorite on the record. But like People
I Love, for example, where you talk about letting down
people you love and were you surprised by some of
the writing on this record, Well.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Yeah, exactly. It's something like People I Love, you know,
like you didn't just telling my parents I'm leaving university
and joining a punk rock group. You know what, they
didn't even know what a punk rock group. He saw
their you know, or their dreams for me just were
those cartoons. You know, we're like going to pieces in
front of you, you know, so you knew you're kind
(04:27):
of like really upsetting them, but you had to do
what you loved, you know, And then yeah, just doing
this job, you're just not always there, you know, when
there's people when people have like like a graduation or
it couldn't be at my daughter's graduation, you know, so
I sent a card, you know, congratulations. But yeah, yeah,
it's just like that. This job is a bit like that.
(04:48):
You just sort of rips you away from family at times,
and so you kind of hurt sometimes the people you love.
So it was great though. That was the thing. We
were making the documentary during the coronavirus, which is going
to come out quite soon, around the time of the album,
so I was kind of bouncing off what we were
talking about, you know, my life and the documentary. So
(05:09):
it's easy to sort of bounce off that and make
the album you know, very much about you know, different
facets of my life and talk about but not spell
out your life, talk about it in imagery and kind
of give you sort of vignettes or feelings about what
my life was like rather than spell it out, you know,
(05:30):
and the album sort of is my life in you know,
seventy seven is the punk rop days. Too Much Fun
is coming to America, and then John Wayne and Wildside
are sort of realizing about human relationships and you know,
dealing with growing up or whatever, and then I'm Your
(05:52):
Hero is about having grandchildren and sort of seeing that
they sort of see you, they know you now, they
don't know your backstory and in a way they sort
of they love Granddad and stuff like that, and so
you get to talk about all these different things, sort
of a I've got sort of one foot in the past,
one foot in today, and one foot in the future
(06:13):
on this album in a way lyrically.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah, well, I asked, like I said, if some of
it surprised you, and because I'm a big believer in
writing being subconscious and it kind of comes from you know,
I've talked with everyone from Mike Stoler to you know,
Billy's so armstrong, to everyone about you know, how you
have these kind of antenna up and you know, music
writing is almost like channeling. So sometimes you go back
and like Nick Cave, who I'm sure you've known for years,
(06:39):
says that you know, you could be on stage a
year and a half later. You'll be like, Oh, that's
what that means. So are there things that were so
revealing in this record that surprised you in a good way?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Well, yeah, I suppose, Yeah, I didn't really realize how
you know how much making the documentary was was making
me read praised my life because I suppose, well I'm
sixty nine, so you find you are at this sort
of advantage point where you can really see your life
and then actually doing the documentary the same time, sort
of getting it spelled out, actually going back and revisiting
(07:13):
like the way the Roxy, where we started this punk
rock club in London, the Roxy, because there was this
unofficial band and all the punk rock groups, the Sex
Pistols had broken up the Marquee Club, so a lot
of the clubs let's have an unofficial ban, so we
started our own club, the Roxy, and they going back
and thinking about things like that, you kind of go wow,
(07:36):
you know, because that was a bit of a dream
to have a club that we start and then we
could rehearse there and play in it. And of course
the first night that we put on people at the
club there was the clash the Heartbreakers and Generation X
and it was just a killer night, you know, and
sort of you sort of dreamt up your life really
in a way, and that's what the album's kind of
talking about, kind of like the Aborigines in Australia, we're
(07:58):
kind of dreaming up. We dreamt up the landscape and
there it was, you know, there was the landscape we
were dreaming up because we never thought with punk rocket
is going to go mega. You know, we just thought
it's going to last six months, maybe a year, maybe
two years, and then it went kaboom in England. You
could never imagined that. So we're doing this. We were
doing this purely for the love. That was the thing,
(08:19):
and I think it paid off. It paid off in spades,
and that kind of says a lot to me about
why you should do things in life. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
No, it's funny though that you say you were dreaming
that because I mentioned Nick and he said something very
interesting to me. He said that as a writer, you
always write what it is you're longing for. And Shnead O'Connor,
who I got the interview several times before she passed,
who I was a huge fan of, she said that
for her writing was so powerful you had to be
(08:47):
careful because you conjure up what it was you were
writing about. So when you look back on it, does
it seem in a way not surprising that you here
are here at the rock and Roll of fame, having
dreams up this amazing life, and you couldn't have imagined.
It's funny, as you mentioned the first night playing with
the class. Of course they've been in the rock hall
for years sex Pistols as well, but you know, so
(09:11):
many of your friends have gone on to like, you know,
the success, and in a way though you had more
commercial success than all of them.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I went to school with you know, Susie and Steve
Severing in the Benshes, you know, so we kind of
we were all, you know, nineteen seventy three, seventy four,
you know, we were talking about what we wanted to do,
and we were following this scene and the scene in
the States, so it was going on in CBGB's you know,
and then we're kind of digging David Bowie and people
(09:43):
like that, and we wanted to sort of be part
of this music revolution we were seeing, and so I
knew and then watching us both kind of get somewhere
and really love and create a style. You know, we
created definite sort of styles for oursel elves and all
of that. You couldn't have imagined all that. So it
(10:04):
was just so exciting to do that and then end
up spending your life doing that. It's been really fantastic,
and it's sort of been able to talk about all
that on this album and then even doing an album
that's satisfying album at this stage of your life. I
could never have imagined that, you know, it could never
have imagined sitting here today being excited about music and
(10:24):
giving a damn and still caring and loving it, really
loving what we do. It's it's, it's, it's it's. It
was a life I, like I say, and dreamed into it.
There was a door. I saw the door opening, and
we were sort of bored with what was going on.
There was a massive depression in England at the time.
You know, America was depressed, so if America's depressed, you
(10:47):
know Europe's really fucked, and England was just going tearing
itself apart. Not so different from what's going on today
in America. Actually in england's always a bit of a microcosm.
So in a way you're able to talk about all
that and with this album look back on the vista
of your life. The documentary sort of helping to sort
(11:08):
of realize realize, well, at this vantage point I've never had.
Even when I wrote my book, I wasn't quite at
this vantage point where you can really see what happened,
and you're a little bit divorced from that person too.
You're still him, but you're not the young guy anymore.
You can see yourself what you are struggling with.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
You know what's so funny you say that because I'm
just editing while in between interviews today. I'm editing a
piece with Heart who are touring for their fiftieth anniversary,
and I literally was just talking about that with Nancy Wilson.
You know, you have a whole life, like you say,
you have grandchildren, so you are a totally different person
than the person who wrote White Wedding and Rebel yelloww
(11:48):
Jenitor did Generation Next songs. In a way, you can
almost look at those as a fan. So when you
think about touring in a way as the kind of
bunder of visit those songs because it's a different person.
You had a whole life since then.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yeah, but there's also there's yeah, there's touchstone things and
the songs that don't get old. That's the you know,
White Wedding, Rebel Yell. To answer myself, I don't know
what it is. They just don't get old. And to
perform them. They don't get boring. I mean, I've done
I can't think how many times I done Rebel Yell.
It's like a million fucking times. But it's always fresh.
(12:24):
I don't know how. I don't know. How is it
still fresh? Deeve, you know it's like that. How is
it still fresh? It's because I don't know. There's something.
There was something intrinsic built into it at the time
we made it that doesn't get old. It's just it's
like it's alive. It we really cared at the time,
something about Keith Forcey did an incredible job and working
(12:45):
with us and helping us as musicians to get somewhere
or come to terms with writing songs. And I don't know.
And then just I, me and Steve have had a
long time working together where we're still excited. We give
each other room and we don't crowd each other, and
all of that sort of kept the bond as strong,
(13:06):
you know, and they keep firing each other up. It's
I couldn't imagine any of that.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
I imagine though, part of it. And I've talked with
a lot of bands about this as well. You know,
you say it's still fresh. Part of it probably is
there are people still coming to see you for the
first time. So even though you played rebell Yell many times,
you feed off an audience that's like fourteen years old
that you know. One of my favorite music stories, and
I have a billion music stories, is years ago, of course,
(13:34):
when I ran into you at a John Varvados party,
and this was like early two thousands, where I told
you my six year old nephew wanted an autograph and
you were so flattered you wrote one and we couldn't
even figure out how he found your stuff, and it
was through my cousin's iPod his parents. But you know,
so though you have those kids who are like six
years old, ten years old, who weren't alive at that
(13:55):
time and now come to see you and they're like,
holy fuck, we're seeing Billy Idol.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
That's the thing. I'm glad the songs don't get old,
because that's it. You know, you're very aware that some
people might be coming for the first time, so you
need to do those classic songs. So we're always going
to be doing those songs and mixing in this new
album in amongst the old stuff, and it's going to
be really exciting because, like I say, the old stuff
(14:20):
holds up and the new stuff strong, and I think
these gigs should be killer. I mean, I can't imagine
why not, you know.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Yeah, like I said, I loved a new record, there's
songs from the album that you're particularly excited.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
To deal well, seventy seven should be fun and people
I love, I would think that they all kind of
it's really me with a three piece the album. It's, yeah,
the first time in a way since we always had
tons of keyboards on Billie Idol in the eighties and
nineties and stuff, but this record is primarily Steve Stevens
(14:56):
has a little bit of celest on I'm Your Hero
or something, but there's no like keyboard pads or anything.
So it really is me Steve Stephens, bass player, Chris
Cheney and Josh Frees on drums, and so it's like,
really is a little band. That's what we always wanted,
me and Steve, even though it's billy either, we always
(15:16):
wanted a band sound, and that's what we had on
Rebel Yell. I think that's what we've got on Dream
Into It. We've got very much a band sound because
it's basically that band throughout the album, and yeah, it's
mainly it's mainly Steve Stephens guitars doing everything.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Some great moments on this record. But you know, as well,
you also have some big name vocalists. How will you
recapture those on the tour, because, like I said, I
fucking love John Wayne, you know, with Alison Moss Art,
who's amazing.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Yeah, it came out really fantastic. I mean, well, obviously
we're going to tour with Jones Jon Jet so we
can do Wildside with her. But I'm hoping that at
some point we'll get to do seventy seven with Avril
Levine and and Alison. At some points hopefully we could
all somehow be somewhere where we can do do the
songs because they're just fantastic. They've really really added an
(16:10):
element to them that went beyond what we would thinking
of originally, so it really came They really came great.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
It's funny though, that you say the documentary influenced so much,
because that was one of the you know, silver linings
of COVID. I talked to so many people who you know,
normally as an artist, you never look back, there's not time.
You always were a record tour, record tour, you know,
and like, for example, I was remember talking with Tony
Yaomi about doing a fourteenth anniversary of Having in Hell,
(16:38):
which they never would have done, but it's like buck,
dude on board, I may as well, you know, go back.
So for you, as you were doing the documentary, were
the things that, you know, really surprised you because you're like,
I haven't thought about this, and so long you have documentaries,
it's back to now you're like thinking when like I
just saw the becoming the Blood Zeppelin documentary and the
sly Stone documentary is amazing, you know, and here you're
(17:00):
seeing stuff with people who are like when they're freaking
six years old.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, yeah, that was the thing about
the documentary. It really did. Yeah, the coronavirus is what
Actually it really aided the documentary because obviously we weren't
going to take six years to make a documentary. It's
just getting stopped because of the coronaviruve. I was lucky
(17:27):
I caught my mother before she died. She died in
twenty twenty. We got her in nineteen ninety and twenty
ninety nine. But yeah, I mean that was the thing,
and then because we lived with it, we were able
to watch it and then go, oh, it's missing this,
it's missing that, and put those elements in. And so
I think, actually, funny enough, the coronavirus aided the documentary
(17:51):
because because we live with it, and then we did
a very similar thing with the album. We finished the album,
but then we lived with it for a good six months,
and in that six months sort of improved it. We
put a different drama on, we put Josh Freese on,
and then Josh Frees and Chris Cheney play together. So
that's where the band thing just really it really cemented
(18:12):
the band feel. So he kind of just both things.
The documentary in the album, you know, benefited from giving
them the time they needed to kind of bring them
to the fruition, you know, to where they're really well,
I think, really good instead of just all right, you know.
(18:32):
So that's what I'm hoping that people will be just
as excited about the documentary as this album because they're
kind of doing a similar thing.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Well, for you, what were some of the things that
emerged that you're like, Okay, I haven't thought about that
and forever, you know, and I mean, were there you know,
musical bands you thought of, or like childhood memories or
things that like again, because you typically don't have time
to look back.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Yeah, no you don't. And luckily enough, there's a lot
of people that I know are still alive or just
Steve Jones and stuff like that, so they can be
in the documentary or Dup mccagan and stuff. We're all
still going strong or still performing. In fact, that's the
amazing thing. We're all out here performing. It's incredible. You know,
(19:30):
if they're alive, they're performing somewhere, which is that's kind
of incredible. But yeah, I mean, yeah, just just thinking
about your life, just you know, quantifying it and trying
to you know, trying to sort of come to terms
with it all and that it all happened and that
somehow it's worked itself out and that we're sort of
(19:53):
finishing strong is good. I think in a way, we're
finishing strong with this music, not that it's over or anything.
I think we're going to go on and make more music.
But you know, if this was the last album, it
wouldn't be the end of the world. It's a strong record,
that's a good record.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
But it's funny what you say about the you know,
the documentary and everything working itself out because like you said,
with music and especially when you get as successful as
you did. And you know, we talked last time aout
the fact he almost died in a motorcycle accident. You
had so many you know, experiences, sometimes it's hard to
come back from that. But like the sly Stone documentary,
I don't know if you saw that. One of the
(20:29):
best things about it is, you know, boy man, no
one had a fucking harder life than sly And it
talks about the fact at the end he just gets
to be this normal black guy who now his kids
really love and for you how specialistic to think, like,
you know, what's really cool thinking about it. This documentary
(20:49):
will serve as something where your grandkids can see, Okay,
this is who grandpa was and this is who.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
He is now. Yes, I'll find out what a nutcase
I was. Yes, that's it, And if there's anything going
on in them, they'll go that's where we got it from,
that that nut crazy madmen. But but yeah, I followed
my dream somehow and it worked. I mean, I don't know,
I don't know if that's if that's most people don't
(21:17):
do the thing they love. That's the thing that's sad
a little bit. Now I got to do the thing
I loved. I got to do live a kind of
a dream, funny, sweaty, smelly dream. But it was fantastic,
you know, covered in sexual fluids, I don't know, but
it was fantastic, you know.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
But it's so funny, you said, Madman. But at the
same time, they, like you said, they know you as grandpa,
and it's like that's a cool thing. Like I remember
talking with Patty Smith about it, you know, and it's
like Patty Smith is a huge fucking rock star to
the rest of the world. So they're kids. She's like
just doing laundry and it doesn't matter how big you
are to your kids. Like your kids, you're not cool.
(21:58):
And so you know, in a way that your grandkids
get to see this because they weren't there for it,
it's such a coolf testament to the fact that like, okay, yeah,
so they'll see this whole other side of you, but
they'll still know you as you know, not about it,
but grandpa.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
That's right. They kind of know the real you. They
know William Broad, you know, the sort of know William
Broad who can become who is Billy Idol as well?
But yeah, there really know William Broad really, which is fantastic. Really,
that's that's nice. It's I've really enjoyed it. You know,
it's been great so far. I mean, one day they're
obviously gonna they're not going to want to talk to Granddad.
(22:38):
I know that's going to happen, But right now it's
it's lovely.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
It's interesting that you said William Brode. Are William Brod
and Billy idel two different people?
Speaker 2 (22:49):
No, no, no, it's all with the same person. It's
just I suppose just Billy idolers with a slightly more
outgoing easy side will in Broad cancer with a history
book and read it, you know, and just be off.
But the same it's all the same person, you know,
(23:10):
It's just it's just my sort of stage persona. I
suppose it's Billy Idle in a way.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
I was gonna say so many for so many artists, like.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
You know, my avatar.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Yeah, like I like, for example, Brian Wilson, you know,
had a hard time communicating with people, but was a
musical genius. So for a lot of people, music is
the way they communicate with the world. Has that been
the case for you?
Speaker 2 (23:36):
So, yeah, I think in lots of ways that's true. Yeah,
I think that's very true that through music we got
to really talk about how we felt, which we couldn't
probably explain exactly verbally. But with songs and the feelings
you can the fact you can when you're writing a song,
you always get it when something's good, you get a
(23:57):
new feeling you know it's something good, or you get
it ooh, something good about that. And so it's probably
is connecting somewhere with you inside intellectually, spiritually that you
can't even quantify. You don't even know really why. It's
just but it's something very human and you're sort of
(24:18):
discovering all that and it's it's it's an exciting it's
exciting thing to find out you can do, you know,
and you know it's something you know other people, other
artists could do, and you weren't sure if you could
do that really, but to find out in your own way,
that's the other thing. You do it in your own way.
You know, you're not trying to do it like somebody else.
(24:40):
You're doing it how you can do it.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
So when you look back on it. Are you surprised
by how you did it in a way like like
you say, you never would imagine doing it to this point,
or maybe are you more surprised by the fact that
you know you're just doing it in your way? You're
this shy guy who could see with the history book,
and then all of a sudden, you're on the fucking
have a rolling stone, You're in and out of Soundler movie.
You know, you're headlining stadiums like all this are you
(25:05):
when you look back? Is there that amazement of like,
how the hell did this manage to connect with the
whole world? Not in a bad way, but just in
a way of like, as an artist, you can never
predict that.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Yeah, it's one of those things, you know, just going
on stage or whatever. There was Yeah, you you had
you know, you obviously had to overcome a lot of
you know, getting used to people looking at watching you
or something. But that was the great thing about punk.
It's sort of it just threw you in the deep end,
(25:39):
you know it, because like we had to go from
like we're just kind of you know, playing the guitar
for fun and then but fuck you could be on stage.
I mean, I was already in a group at university,
you know, and stuff like that. So I was already
playing in front of people. And you soon got used
to that. You just got used to it. You just
knew you had to give yourself time to grow or something.
(26:03):
You just had to not worry too much, and you
just had to go for it, really and just you know,
realize that, you know that you've got a long way
to go before you're any good, but you just had
to like go, But these are the steps I have
to take to get to get good, you know. And
if it took being in the cafeteria at the university
(26:25):
on a Friday night playing sixties numbers because that you
knew nobody was going to play punk rock songs around here,
but they might play the Animals. They might play them's
Gloria because I liked horses. I liked her doing Gloria,
you know. And then you just just carry that on,
and you just went on and you just just sort
of punk rock gated the sort of impetus as well
(26:46):
to sort of throw yourself into the deep end.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Yeah, the Animals were such an underranded band, such a
fucking great band. So now I'm curious and I know
we're gonna have to arapp up in a minute, but
you know, you mentioned like carrying on and you know,
still having that excitement, and you know that like I
think of like an Now, I'm like Dilden Time out
of Mind or lou Reed New York. I'm a huge
som Weights fan, or like Nick cave Is making the
(27:12):
best music of his career. Are there people that inspire
you because of the way they've been able to evolve
their career? And of course look good Bowie. I mean
he literally made an album on his deathbed that was
fucking brilliant.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Yeah exactly, I mean, yeah, there you go. He was.
He was like a beacon of light to us in
the seventies, late sixties, seventies. He just was, you know,
and yeah, I mean, I mean yeah super Yeah. We
produced that that Stooge's Raw Power album, I mean that
field punk rock. I mean, we were listening to That's
(27:46):
why I was listening to University. I was listening. I
felt like I had the future in that album and
that Raw Power album, you know, and the MC five too.
MC five. I saw the MC five in nineteen sixty
nine in amongst a bunch of other hippie bands, and
they were so they just had this groove that the
other bands didn't have. They just had this commitment that
(28:07):
these other in that still dancing. I talk about selling
my soul, and it's not to the devil or something.
It's to the commitment to this music we believed in.
And that's what I've sold my soul to. Because I
saw someone started to say he's holding soul to no.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
No.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I just talked about to the to the rock and roll,
to the music, to this idea of joining this music
revolution that we had super grown up. We'd grown up
with the you know, the sixties music. We look the
only place you could look back to was the fifties
to Little Richard and Elvis's son sides and all of
that was fueling us. And then the punk rock movement
with the Velvet Underground. And I love Lou Reed. I
(28:48):
just it was a massive Lou Reed fan. And I
saw its Take No Prisoners tour at the bottom line
and everything, and I loved Tom Waits. I saw the
great Tom Waits content even a few years go as
a Nick Cave. It did some of the choir out
here just at the Henry Fond there is a tiny
little bit as funny. It's one of the best gigs
I've ever seen. So you see these people sort of
(29:10):
they carried on, they didn't sort of let they didn't.
They carried on hooker by crook, And that's that's what
you have to do.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Jame is the brand that allows you to do good.
And I love that quote so much. And you know,
giving back is in music. It's such a broad thing
because simply giving people a musical escape is giving back,
giving people that you know, refuge that you're talking about,
you know, So for you, what is giving back mean
to you? And how how do you appreciate, you know,
(29:41):
being in service of through music?
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Well, for instance, what's great is you get to combined
with other artists you really you know, love and care about,
or that you listen to when you were young, and
like we're going to do this show with Steve Stills
and h Young, New Young cat Power for Autism. You know,
(30:05):
here there's the Greek Theater that things like that, where
you can you can you use your music in service
of is fantastic, you know. And obviously we're going to
when we play the Forum, We're gonna there's the ticket money,
some of it will go to the l a fire.
So fact you can sort of use your your music
that way too, join with other artists and make a
(30:29):
statement or help people who who need help or whatever
for a good call, especially in the sort of political
crimeate we're in at the moment, you know, where you
don't know if people are going to get help that
they need. So it's great we can join together and
that that's another thing you couldn't have imagined, you know,
just I couldn't have imagined playing with Atlusteve's Deals on
(30:49):
the same stage. It's been fantastic, you know.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Yeah, I've been to that benefit many times. It's a
wonderful event. Or was there anything? What do you hope
people take from this record when they hear it, because again,
it's such a reflective record, and I really again I
love the vulnerability in it.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
I think that's what life's worth. It that you know,
there's it's worth coming to grips with life and struggling
through difficult times because look, you know, you you can
be at this stage of your life really doing something great.
It's just at times you've got to struggle through those moments.
The great thing about for us is. We can sing
(31:29):
about that, we can sing about struggling through those moments,
the breakthroughs we had. That's what's great. We're very lucky
in that way. But that's what you've got to do.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
I think, or anything you want to add it didn't
ask you about.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Oh, I don't know anything else. I think I think,
I said, Steve, I hope.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
So yeah, its great.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Come to me soon about ten minutes after we finished that.
I should have said I should I get it.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
I missed that right. You always find me, Joe always
knows how to teach me. Oh man, thanks so much.
That's a pleasure to talk to you. And congratulations on
the record. It's fucking amazing. Jeez man, thank you the
fuck on the wrong call too,
Hey, it's Steve bogs In and welcome to a special
Friday edition of In Service Up, where I sit down
for an unbelievable conversation with the iconic Billy Idol. I
love this talk so much about being a grandfather, about
the roots of punk rock, about how he never thought
he would be here, about so much more. This was
an amazing conversation with a truly iconic guy. Thanks so much.
(00:41):
You are having a hell of a year. First off,
you know, it's really funny because I was thinking about this.
I've thought to so many people who have been inducted
or nominated for the Rock Hall, and you know, they
look at it as like a kind of a midway
point rather than you know, what seems like a career legacy.
And it's funny that you're nomine this year and he
made one of the best fucking albums of your career.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah, I mean, it's kind of fantastic timing. If we
do get in, me and Steve Stevens are being inducted together,
that's that's that's fantastic. Yeah, if we do get in,
I mean, yeah, it's We've got a really great album
and I think it's would really be a great celebration.
I enjoyed Ozzie's induction solo, and I really enjoyed being
part of it. It was a great night. You know,
(01:25):
there's so many people I saw that I know, and
there's so many I met a million people I didn't know,
a Jelly Roll or whoever, playing with Wolfgang van Halen
and stuff and just hanging out and it was a
great night. And yeah, it just my motorcycle has been
in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for like
five years, so I might as well be. You know.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Yeah, it's funny since I was going to start with
the album, but let's talk about it for a second.
If you do get inducted, who would you want to
be part of your jam? You know, it's funny because
Billy Morrison's a friend and I reached out to him
about something in June and he said that, you know,
it's going to be a tour with you in Europe.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Yes, we did. We're definitely. We're playing around the States
and in Europe as well this summer. Yes, yeah, I
don't know. I hadn't really thought about that. Obviously. We
worked with Andrew Watt with the Ossie Induction. I haven't
quite got to thinking about what we would who would
play with, But there are a number of other great people.
(02:24):
I mean Simon kirk and of Bad Company, he's a
great drummer.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
So yeah, well no, but just because you mentioned a
Wolfgang who I now you know and it's it's like,
that's part of the fun about it is these dream
combinations that you would never play with.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah, I mean it could be fantastic. That's it's a
welsherr oyster. I think we could pull together some great people,
you know.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Well, the fun thing about the Rock Hall as well,
course is that you know, it's such a disparate group
as always. I mean this year it's like you know,
I mean, and I don't remember everybody's nominated. I'm not
gonna lie. I'm not personally a Fish fan and not
a Mariah fan. But you know, sound Garden and I mean,
if both the Oasis and Black Crows get it, you'd
have a hell of a memorable night.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, that's right, that's right, Sound Garden, white Stripes, Yeah,
it could be fantastic. I mean, you have Jack White
gets and we could all be playing together. It could
be incredible. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Well, as I said, it's funny timing because this album
is so wonderful. And what I really love about this
record is the vulnerability of the lyrics. It feels like
it's a big step for you in terms of you know,
like I mean, there's just where you open up so much.
Like for example, I suck with titles because I've listened
(03:46):
to everything all the way through. But there was the
fourth song that blew me away, and it's oh no,
it's uh, which one was it? I love John Wayne.
That's actually my favorite on the record. But like People
I Love, for example, where you talk about letting down
people you love and were you surprised by some of
the writing on this record, Well.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Yeah, exactly. It's something like People I Love, you know,
like you didn't just telling my parents I'm leaving university
and joining a punk rock group. You know what, they
didn't even know what a punk rock group. He saw
their you know, or their dreams for me just were
those cartoons. You know, we're like going to pieces in
front of you, you know, so you knew you're kind
(04:27):
of like really upsetting them, but you had to do
what you loved, you know, And then yeah, just doing
this job, you're just not always there, you know, when
there's people when people have like like a graduation or
it couldn't be at my daughter's graduation, you know, so
I sent a card, you know, congratulations. But yeah, yeah,
it's just like that. This job is a bit like that.
(04:48):
You just sort of rips you away from family at times,
and so you kind of hurt sometimes the people you love.
So it was great though. That was the thing. We
were making the documentary during the coronavirus, which is going
to come out quite soon, around the time of the album,
so I was kind of bouncing off what we were
talking about, you know, my life and the documentary. So
(05:09):
it's easy to sort of bounce off that and make
the album you know, very much about you know, different
facets of my life and talk about but not spell
out your life, talk about it in imagery and kind
of give you sort of vignettes or feelings about what
my life was like rather than spell it out, you know,
(05:30):
and the album sort of is my life in you know,
seventy seven is the punk rop days. Too Much Fun
is coming to America, and then John Wayne and Wildside
are sort of realizing about human relationships and you know,
dealing with growing up or whatever, and then I'm Your
(05:52):
Hero is about having grandchildren and sort of seeing that
they sort of see you, they know you now, they
don't know your backstory and in a way they sort
of they love Granddad and stuff like that, and so
you get to talk about all these different things, sort
of a I've got sort of one foot in the past,
one foot in today, and one foot in the future
(06:13):
on this album in a way lyrically.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah, well, I asked, like I said, if some of
it surprised you, and because I'm a big believer in
writing being subconscious and it kind of comes from you know,
I've talked with everyone from Mike Stoler to you know,
Billy's so armstrong, to everyone about you know, how you
have these kind of antenna up and you know, music
writing is almost like channeling. So sometimes you go back
and like Nick Cave, who I'm sure you've known for years,
(06:39):
says that you know, you could be on stage a
year and a half later. You'll be like, Oh, that's
what that means. So are there things that were so
revealing in this record that surprised you in a good way?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Well, yeah, I suppose, Yeah, I didn't really realize how
you know how much making the documentary was was making
me read praised my life because I suppose, well I'm
sixty nine, so you find you are at this sort
of advantage point where you can really see your life
and then actually doing the documentary the same time, sort
of getting it spelled out, actually going back and revisiting
(07:13):
like the way the Roxy, where we started this punk
rock club in London, the Roxy, because there was this
unofficial band and all the punk rock groups, the Sex
Pistols had broken up the Marquee Club, so a lot
of the clubs let's have an unofficial ban, so we
started our own club, the Roxy, and they going back
and thinking about things like that, you kind of go wow,
(07:36):
you know, because that was a bit of a dream
to have a club that we start and then we
could rehearse there and play in it. And of course
the first night that we put on people at the
club there was the clash the Heartbreakers and Generation X
and it was just a killer night, you know, and
sort of you sort of dreamt up your life really
in a way, and that's what the album's kind of
talking about, kind of like the Aborigines in Australia, we're
(07:58):
kind of dreaming up. We dreamt up the landscape and
there it was, you know, there was the landscape we
were dreaming up because we never thought with punk rocket
is going to go mega. You know, we just thought
it's going to last six months, maybe a year, maybe
two years, and then it went kaboom in England. You
could never imagined that. So we're doing this. We were
doing this purely for the love. That was the thing,
(08:19):
and I think it paid off. It paid off in spades,
and that kind of says a lot to me about
why you should do things in life. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
No, it's funny though that you say you were dreaming
that because I mentioned Nick and he said something very
interesting to me. He said that as a writer, you
always write what it is you're longing for. And Shnead O'Connor,
who I got the interview several times before she passed,
who I was a huge fan of, she said that
for her writing was so powerful you had to be
(08:47):
careful because you conjure up what it was you were
writing about. So when you look back on it, does
it seem in a way not surprising that you here
are here at the rock and Roll of fame, having
dreams up this amazing life, and you couldn't have imagined.
It's funny, as you mentioned the first night playing with
the class. Of course they've been in the rock hall
for years sex Pistols as well, but you know, so
(09:11):
many of your friends have gone on to like, you know,
the success, and in a way though you had more
commercial success than all of them.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I went to school with you know, Susie and Steve
Severing in the Benshes, you know, so we kind of
we were all, you know, nineteen seventy three, seventy four,
you know, we were talking about what we wanted to do,
and we were following this scene and the scene in
the States, so it was going on in CBGB's you know,
and then we're kind of digging David Bowie and people
(09:43):
like that, and we wanted to sort of be part
of this music revolution we were seeing, and so I
knew and then watching us both kind of get somewhere
and really love and create a style. You know, we
created definite sort of styles for oursel elves and all
of that. You couldn't have imagined all that. So it
(10:04):
was just so exciting to do that and then end
up spending your life doing that. It's been really fantastic,
and it's sort of been able to talk about all
that on this album and then even doing an album
that's satisfying album at this stage of your life. I
could never have imagined that, you know, it could never
have imagined sitting here today being excited about music and
(10:24):
giving a damn and still caring and loving it, really
loving what we do. It's it's, it's, it's it's. It
was a life I, like I say, and dreamed into it.
There was a door. I saw the door opening, and
we were sort of bored with what was going on.
There was a massive depression in England at the time.
You know, America was depressed, so if America's depressed, you
(10:47):
know Europe's really fucked, and England was just going tearing
itself apart. Not so different from what's going on today
in America. Actually in england's always a bit of a microcosm.
So in a way you're able to talk about all
that and with this album look back on the vista
of your life. The documentary sort of helping to sort
(11:08):
of realize realize, well, at this vantage point I've never had.
Even when I wrote my book, I wasn't quite at
this vantage point where you can really see what happened,
and you're a little bit divorced from that person too.
You're still him, but you're not the young guy anymore.
You can see yourself what you are struggling with.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
You know what's so funny you say that because I'm
just editing while in between interviews today. I'm editing a
piece with Heart who are touring for their fiftieth anniversary,
and I literally was just talking about that with Nancy Wilson.
You know, you have a whole life, like you say,
you have grandchildren, so you are a totally different person
than the person who wrote White Wedding and Rebel yelloww
(11:48):
Jenitor did Generation Next songs. In a way, you can
almost look at those as a fan. So when you
think about touring in a way as the kind of
bunder of visit those songs because it's a different person.
You had a whole life since then.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yeah, but there's also there's yeah, there's touchstone things and
the songs that don't get old. That's the you know,
White Wedding, Rebel Yell. To answer myself, I don't know
what it is. They just don't get old. And to
perform them. They don't get boring. I mean, I've done
I can't think how many times I done Rebel Yell.
It's like a million fucking times. But it's always fresh.
(12:24):
I don't know how. I don't know. How is it
still fresh? Deeve, you know it's like that. How is
it still fresh? It's because I don't know. There's something.
There was something intrinsic built into it at the time
we made it that doesn't get old. It's just it's
like it's alive. It we really cared at the time,
something about Keith Forcey did an incredible job and working
(12:45):
with us and helping us as musicians to get somewhere
or come to terms with writing songs. And I don't know.
And then just I, me and Steve have had a
long time working together where we're still excited. We give
each other room and we don't crowd each other, and
all of that sort of kept the bond as strong,
(13:06):
you know, and they keep firing each other up. It's
I couldn't imagine any of that.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
I imagine though, part of it. And I've talked with
a lot of bands about this as well. You know,
you say it's still fresh. Part of it probably is
there are people still coming to see you for the
first time. So even though you played rebell Yell many times,
you feed off an audience that's like fourteen years old
that you know. One of my favorite music stories, and
I have a billion music stories, is years ago, of course,
(13:34):
when I ran into you at a John Varvados party,
and this was like early two thousands, where I told
you my six year old nephew wanted an autograph and
you were so flattered you wrote one and we couldn't
even figure out how he found your stuff, and it
was through my cousin's iPod his parents. But you know,
so though you have those kids who are like six
years old, ten years old, who weren't alive at that
(13:55):
time and now come to see you and they're like,
holy fuck, we're seeing Billy Idol.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
That's the thing. I'm glad the songs don't get old,
because that's it. You know, you're very aware that some
people might be coming for the first time, so you
need to do those classic songs. So we're always going
to be doing those songs and mixing in this new
album in amongst the old stuff, and it's going to
be really exciting because, like I say, the old stuff
(14:20):
holds up and the new stuff strong, and I think
these gigs should be killer. I mean, I can't imagine
why not, you know.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Yeah, like I said, I loved a new record, there's
songs from the album that you're particularly excited.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
To deal well, seventy seven should be fun and people
I love, I would think that they all kind of
it's really me with a three piece the album. It's, yeah,
the first time in a way since we always had
tons of keyboards on Billie Idol in the eighties and
nineties and stuff, but this record is primarily Steve Stevens
(14:56):
has a little bit of celest on I'm Your Hero
or something, but there's no like keyboard pads or anything.
So it really is me Steve Stephens, bass player, Chris
Cheney and Josh Frees on drums, and so it's like,
really is a little band. That's what we always wanted,
me and Steve, even though it's billy either, we always
(15:16):
wanted a band sound, and that's what we had on
Rebel Yell. I think that's what we've got on Dream
Into It. We've got very much a band sound because
it's basically that band throughout the album, and yeah, it's
mainly it's mainly Steve Stephens guitars doing everything.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Some great moments on this record. But you know, as well,
you also have some big name vocalists. How will you
recapture those on the tour, because, like I said, I
fucking love John Wayne, you know, with Alison Moss Art,
who's amazing.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Yeah, it came out really fantastic. I mean, well, obviously
we're going to tour with Jones Jon Jet so we
can do Wildside with her. But I'm hoping that at
some point we'll get to do seventy seven with Avril
Levine and and Alison. At some points hopefully we could
all somehow be somewhere where we can do do the
songs because they're just fantastic. They've really really added an
(16:10):
element to them that went beyond what we would thinking
of originally, so it really came They really came great.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
It's funny though, that you say the documentary influenced so much,
because that was one of the you know, silver linings
of COVID. I talked to so many people who you know,
normally as an artist, you never look back, there's not time.
You always were a record tour, record tour, you know,
and like, for example, I was remember talking with Tony
Yaomi about doing a fourteenth anniversary of Having in Hell,
(16:38):
which they never would have done, but it's like buck,
dude on board, I may as well, you know, go back.
So for you, as you were doing the documentary, were
the things that, you know, really surprised you because you're like,
I haven't thought about this, and so long you have documentaries,
it's back to now you're like thinking when like I
just saw the becoming the Blood Zeppelin documentary and the
sly Stone documentary is amazing, you know, and here you're
(17:00):
seeing stuff with people who are like when they're freaking
six years old.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, yeah, that was the thing about
the documentary. It really did. Yeah, the coronavirus is what
Actually it really aided the documentary because obviously we weren't
going to take six years to make a documentary. It's
just getting stopped because of the coronaviruve. I was lucky
(17:27):
I caught my mother before she died. She died in
twenty twenty. We got her in nineteen ninety and twenty
ninety nine. But yeah, I mean that was the thing,
and then because we lived with it, we were able
to watch it and then go, oh, it's missing this,
it's missing that, and put those elements in. And so
I think, actually, funny enough, the coronavirus aided the documentary
(17:51):
because because we live with it, and then we did
a very similar thing with the album. We finished the album,
but then we lived with it for a good six months,
and in that six months sort of improved it. We
put a different drama on, we put Josh Freese on,
and then Josh Frees and Chris Cheney play together. So
that's where the band thing just really it really cemented
(18:12):
the band feel. So he kind of just both things.
The documentary in the album, you know, benefited from giving
them the time they needed to kind of bring them
to the fruition, you know, to where they're really well,
I think, really good instead of just all right, you know.
(18:32):
So that's what I'm hoping that people will be just
as excited about the documentary as this album because they're
kind of doing a similar thing.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Well, for you, what were some of the things that
emerged that you're like, Okay, I haven't thought about that
and forever, you know, and I mean, were there you know,
musical bands you thought of, or like childhood memories or
things that like again, because you typically don't have time
to look back.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Yeah, no you don't. And luckily enough, there's a lot
of people that I know are still alive or just
Steve Jones and stuff like that, so they can be
in the documentary or Dup mccagan and stuff. We're all
still going strong or still performing. In fact, that's the
amazing thing. We're all out here performing. It's incredible. You know,
(19:30):
if they're alive, they're performing somewhere, which is that's kind
of incredible. But yeah, I mean, yeah, just just thinking
about your life, just you know, quantifying it and trying
to you know, trying to sort of come to terms
with it all and that it all happened and that
somehow it's worked itself out and that we're sort of
(19:53):
finishing strong is good. I think in a way, we're
finishing strong with this music, not that it's over or anything.
I think we're going to go on and make more music.
But you know, if this was the last album, it
wouldn't be the end of the world. It's a strong record,
that's a good record.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
But it's funny what you say about the you know,
the documentary and everything working itself out because like you said,
with music and especially when you get as successful as
you did. And you know, we talked last time aout
the fact he almost died in a motorcycle accident. You
had so many you know, experiences, sometimes it's hard to
come back from that. But like the sly Stone documentary,
I don't know if you saw that. One of the
(20:29):
best things about it is, you know, boy man, no
one had a fucking harder life than sly And it
talks about the fact at the end he just gets
to be this normal black guy who now his kids
really love and for you how specialistic to think, like,
you know, what's really cool thinking about it. This documentary
(20:49):
will serve as something where your grandkids can see, Okay,
this is who grandpa was and this is who.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
He is now. Yes, I'll find out what a nutcase
I was. Yes, that's it, And if there's anything going
on in them, they'll go that's where we got it from,
that that nut crazy madmen. But but yeah, I followed
my dream somehow and it worked. I mean, I don't know,
I don't know if that's if that's most people don't
(21:17):
do the thing they love. That's the thing that's sad
a little bit. Now I got to do the thing
I loved. I got to do live a kind of
a dream, funny, sweaty, smelly dream. But it was fantastic,
you know, covered in sexual fluids, I don't know, but
it was fantastic, you know.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
But it's so funny, you said, Madman. But at the
same time, they, like you said, they know you as grandpa,
and it's like that's a cool thing. Like I remember
talking with Patty Smith about it, you know, and it's
like Patty Smith is a huge fucking rock star to
the rest of the world. So they're kids. She's like
just doing laundry and it doesn't matter how big you
are to your kids. Like your kids, you're not cool.
(21:58):
And so you know, in a way that your grandkids
get to see this because they weren't there for it,
it's such a coolf testament to the fact that like, okay, yeah,
so they'll see this whole other side of you, but
they'll still know you as you know, not about it,
but grandpa.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
That's right. They kind of know the real you. They
know William Broad, you know, the sort of know William
Broad who can become who is Billy Idol as well?
But yeah, there really know William Broad really, which is fantastic. Really,
that's that's nice. It's I've really enjoyed it. You know,
it's been great so far. I mean, one day they're
obviously gonna they're not going to want to talk to Granddad.
(22:38):
I know that's going to happen, But right now it's
it's lovely.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
It's interesting that you said William Brode. Are William Brod
and Billy idel two different people?
Speaker 2 (22:49):
No, no, no, it's all with the same person. It's
just I suppose just Billy idolers with a slightly more
outgoing easy side will in Broad cancer with a history
book and read it, you know, and just be off.
But the same it's all the same person, you know,
(23:10):
It's just it's just my sort of stage persona. I
suppose it's Billy Idle in a way.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
I was gonna say so many for so many artists, like.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
You know, my avatar.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Yeah, like I like, for example, Brian Wilson, you know,
had a hard time communicating with people, but was a
musical genius. So for a lot of people, music is
the way they communicate with the world. Has that been
the case for you?
Speaker 2 (23:36):
So, yeah, I think in lots of ways that's true. Yeah,
I think that's very true that through music we got
to really talk about how we felt, which we couldn't
probably explain exactly verbally. But with songs and the feelings
you can the fact you can when you're writing a song,
you always get it when something's good, you get a
(23:57):
new feeling you know it's something good, or you get
it ooh, something good about that. And so it's probably
is connecting somewhere with you inside intellectually, spiritually that you
can't even quantify. You don't even know really why. It's
just but it's something very human and you're sort of
(24:18):
discovering all that and it's it's it's an exciting it's
exciting thing to find out you can do, you know,
and you know it's something you know other people, other
artists could do, and you weren't sure if you could
do that really, but to find out in your own way,
that's the other thing. You do it in your own way.
You know, you're not trying to do it like somebody else.
(24:40):
You're doing it how you can do it.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
So when you look back on it. Are you surprised
by how you did it in a way like like
you say, you never would imagine doing it to this point,
or maybe are you more surprised by the fact that
you know you're just doing it in your way? You're
this shy guy who could see with the history book,
and then all of a sudden, you're on the fucking
have a rolling stone, You're in and out of Soundler movie.
You know, you're headlining stadiums like all this are you
(25:05):
when you look back? Is there that amazement of like,
how the hell did this manage to connect with the
whole world? Not in a bad way, but just in
a way of like, as an artist, you can never
predict that.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Yeah, it's one of those things, you know, just going
on stage or whatever. There was Yeah, you you had
you know, you obviously had to overcome a lot of
you know, getting used to people looking at watching you
or something. But that was the great thing about punk.
It's sort of it just threw you in the deep end,
(25:39):
you know it, because like we had to go from
like we're just kind of you know, playing the guitar
for fun and then but fuck you could be on stage.
I mean, I was already in a group at university,
you know, and stuff like that. So I was already
playing in front of people. And you soon got used
to that. You just got used to it. You just
knew you had to give yourself time to grow or something.
(26:03):
You just had to not worry too much, and you
just had to go for it, really and just you know,
realize that, you know that you've got a long way
to go before you're any good, but you just had
to like go, But these are the steps I have
to take to get to get good, you know. And
if it took being in the cafeteria at the university
(26:25):
on a Friday night playing sixties numbers because that you
knew nobody was going to play punk rock songs around here,
but they might play the Animals. They might play them's
Gloria because I liked horses. I liked her doing Gloria,
you know. And then you just just carry that on,
and you just went on and you just just sort
of punk rock gated the sort of impetus as well
(26:46):
to sort of throw yourself into the deep end.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Yeah, the Animals were such an underranded band, such a
fucking great band. So now I'm curious and I know
we're gonna have to arapp up in a minute, but
you know, you mentioned like carrying on and you know,
still having that excitement, and you know that like I
think of like an Now, I'm like Dilden Time out
of Mind or lou Reed New York. I'm a huge
som Weights fan, or like Nick cave Is making the
(27:12):
best music of his career. Are there people that inspire
you because of the way they've been able to evolve
their career? And of course look good Bowie. I mean
he literally made an album on his deathbed that was
fucking brilliant.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Yeah exactly, I mean, yeah, there you go. He was.
He was like a beacon of light to us in
the seventies, late sixties, seventies. He just was, you know,
and yeah, I mean, I mean yeah super Yeah. We
produced that that Stooge's Raw Power album, I mean that
field punk rock. I mean, we were listening to That's
(27:46):
why I was listening to University. I was listening. I
felt like I had the future in that album and
that Raw Power album, you know, and the MC five too.
MC five. I saw the MC five in nineteen sixty
nine in amongst a bunch of other hippie bands, and
they were so they just had this groove that the
other bands didn't have. They just had this commitment that
(28:07):
these other in that still dancing. I talk about selling
my soul, and it's not to the devil or something.
It's to the commitment to this music we believed in.
And that's what I've sold my soul to. Because I
saw someone started to say he's holding soul to no.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
No.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I just talked about to the to the rock and roll,
to the music, to this idea of joining this music
revolution that we had super grown up. We'd grown up
with the you know, the sixties music. We look the
only place you could look back to was the fifties
to Little Richard and Elvis's son sides and all of
that was fueling us. And then the punk rock movement
with the Velvet Underground. And I love Lou Reed. I
(28:48):
just it was a massive Lou Reed fan. And I
saw its Take No Prisoners tour at the bottom line
and everything, and I loved Tom Waits. I saw the
great Tom Waits content even a few years go as
a Nick Cave. It did some of the choir out
here just at the Henry Fond there is a tiny
little bit as funny. It's one of the best gigs
I've ever seen. So you see these people sort of
(29:10):
they carried on, they didn't sort of let they didn't.
They carried on hooker by crook, And that's that's what
you have to do.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Jame is the brand that allows you to do good.
And I love that quote so much. And you know,
giving back is in music. It's such a broad thing
because simply giving people a musical escape is giving back,
giving people that you know, refuge that you're talking about,
you know, So for you, what is giving back mean
to you? And how how do you appreciate, you know,
(29:41):
being in service of through music?
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Well, for instance, what's great is you get to combined
with other artists you really you know, love and care about,
or that you listen to when you were young, and
like we're going to do this show with Steve Stills
and h Young, New Young cat Power for Autism. You know,
(30:05):
here there's the Greek Theater that things like that, where
you can you can you use your music in service
of is fantastic, you know. And obviously we're going to
when we play the Forum, We're gonna there's the ticket money,
some of it will go to the l a fire.
So fact you can sort of use your your music
that way too, join with other artists and make a
(30:29):
statement or help people who who need help or whatever
for a good call, especially in the sort of political
crimeate we're in at the moment, you know, where you
don't know if people are going to get help that
they need. So it's great we can join together and
that that's another thing you couldn't have imagined, you know,
just I couldn't have imagined playing with Atlusteve's Deals on
(30:49):
the same stage. It's been fantastic, you know.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Yeah, I've been to that benefit many times. It's a
wonderful event. Or was there anything? What do you hope
people take from this record when they hear it, because again,
it's such a reflective record, and I really again I
love the vulnerability in it.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
I think that's what life's worth. It that you know,
there's it's worth coming to grips with life and struggling
through difficult times because look, you know, you you can
be at this stage of your life really doing something great.
It's just at times you've got to struggle through those moments.
The great thing about for us is. We can sing
(31:29):
about that, we can sing about struggling through those moments,
the breakthroughs we had. That's what's great. We're very lucky
in that way. But that's what you've got to do.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
I think, or anything you want to add it didn't
ask you about.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Oh, I don't know anything else. I think I think,
I said, Steve, I hope.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
So yeah, its great.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Come to me soon about ten minutes after we finished that.
I should have said I should I get it.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
I missed that right. You always find me, Joe always
knows how to teach me. Oh man, thanks so much.
That's a pleasure to talk to you. And congratulations on
the record. It's fucking amazing. Jeez man, thank you the
fuck on the wrong call too,
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