Features
GLEN MATLOCK
CASH FROM CHAOS
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20 years ago they paved the way for every kid with leather jacket a cheap guitar and a fistful of rock n' roll fantasies. You either got it or you didn't, and if you did it changed your life for good. Things indeed would never be the same again. News of the SEX PISTOLS reunion has divided opinion almost as much as it did when they first exploded on the scene overthrowing the old order in one foul swoop before careering out of control, thus creating a seemingly unassailable myth as twentieth century Iconoclasts. Many have intellectualized, theorized and argued about how Important the SEX PISTOLS really were, who did what to whom, and why?. What the PISTOLS created has become the blueprint for just about everything since. Their Influence genuinely Incalculable. The last time the SEX PISTOLS played in public was at the WINTERLAND, San Francisco on the 14th January 1978. With the announcement of live shows scheduled for Glasgow and London in July are they flogging a dead horse or walking it like they've always talked it? They never cared much for public opinion then, so why should they now?. As well as rejoining the PISTOLS, original bass player GLEN MATLOCK has just released his first solo record, the somewhat cryptically titled “Who's He Think He Is When He's At Home?”.The most obvious question is why has it taken so long and is there any connection whatsoever with the timing to highlight his solo record under the PISTOLS reunion banner etc. |
FIRST UP FOR DISCUSSION IS THE NEW RECORD ITSELF "This is my first solo album I'm quite pleased with it, It rocks out a bit and there's some good songs on it and the singing Is alright which Is a surprise for me, I've had this hang up over the years of trying to find a great singer. There's not that many great singers around I've found out. I thought I've got all these songs what am I going to do with them, so I decided I may as well sing them myself, so the album is the end result of that". WAS THE TIMING OF THE RELEASE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE PISTOLS REFORMING, OR IS THAT JUST A COINCIDENCE?. "It's total sods law really, I started doing the album last June or something. I wasn't in a mad rush to get it done. I finished around November but by the time all the other bits and pieces were done, contracts and what are we gonna do with the sleeve etc.. It ended up being this year and we only decided on the PISTOLS thing right at the beginning of this year, so all that has come about very quickly. So they just happen to be happening at the same time. lt wasn't by design, it really is sods law because I spent a long time trying to get a solo album out and now, as It turns out I'm not even going to be In the country when it's released". DO YOU THINK THE SEX PISTOLS REUNION WILL ULTIMATELY DETRACT ATTENTION AWAY FROM THE ALBUM THEN? "I don't know, its a difficult thing really, people are gonna pick upon my contribution to THE SEX PISTOLS, which is maybe more the poppier side of things, that's something that's been laid upon me and I don't disagree with that. I think that is an achievement In Itself. So people who dig that are hopefully gonna check my album out. The one's who want PUBLIC IMAGE nuttiness aren't gonna get that from me. THE PISTOLS fans seem divided into two camps and I'm the leader of one of them". WHAT ABOUT YOUR BOOK 'I WAS A TEENAGE SEX PISTOL' I BELIEVE ITS ABOUT TO BE RE-ISSUED IN TIME FOR THE REUNION? 'Yeah, its about to be re-released, I suppose you could say that's a real 'cash in' kind of thing, but hey I I'm not the only one doing that, JOHN'S doing it as well and why not? I'm entitled, on top of that, I'm quite pleased with the book. I read it recently to see if I wanted to amend anything and I didn't. I can't change it for what might happen In the future, no one knows what's gonna happen In the future with this tour". DO YOU THINK THE REUNION IS GOING TO CHANGE PEOPLE'S PERCEPTIONS OF THINGS, CHANGE WHATEVER IT IS THAT THE MYTH IS SUPPOSED TO BE? "The thing is, at the press conference we did, somebody said, "it's been the best part of 20 years, what's changed? Nothing has changed; its what has come up in the meantime that's been so fucking good. The whole thing about England was there was various youth movements coming about because kids had a load of fucking bottle and they wanted to do something with their lives and try and change the status quo. Now people are afraid to say anything and stick their neck out In anything whatsoever. ln the last 20 years we've had the new romantics and the acid house / rave scene, which to me Is not much better than the disco scene of the early seventies and what else have we had? nothing, Its pathetic". SO WHAT YOUR SAYING IS YOU DON'T CARE ONE WAY OR ANOTHER WHAT PEOPLE'S OPINIONS ON THE MATTER ARE, DO YOU SEE IT AS A CASE OF ITS YOUR MUSIC AND YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU LIKE WITH IT REGARDLESS? "No, what I'm saying is, that as people getting on a bit more we've still got loads more bottle than a lot of people around who are supposed to have all the bottle. So perhaps we can be some kind of yardstick again. The music ours to do what we like with. Another thing though Is there's a lot of bands who write some really good songs and they get to play them, we never really had a chance to do that. I actually feel chuffed with myself playing 'Anarchy In The UK' with a huge fucking rig with loads of people there, which we never did I. The most people I ever played to with the band was probably about 500 at the very most". TALKING OF BOOKS, HAVE YOU READ LYDON'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY? (NO IRISH, NO BLACKS, NO DOGS.) "I haven't actually, I did get asked to review it for VOX magazine which appealed to me, to be paid to read it, but I thought If I say I like It, It's gonna look like I'm buttering up John, and If I say I hate it, it will look like sour grapes. So I couldn't win really". ITS A GOOD READ, YOU SEEM TO BE ONE OF THE FEW FOLK WHO ARE NOT IN IT THOUGH. "That's simple he didn't ask me". WHAT ABOUT ”'ENGLANDS DREAMING” BY JON SAVAGE, THE SO-CALLED DEFINITIVE WORK ON PUNK AND THE PISTOLS, HAVE YOU READ IT? "Umm "England’s Dreaming". It’s a bit weighty and I don't think factually it’s very true. l mean, there are things he said about me which we actually sat down and spoke about, and he decided he knew better than me about what the actual occurrence of things were, which is bollocks so if he's done that with everyone in the book then its a bit off the mark.” DO YOU THINK THEN THAT PEOPLE HAVE INTELLECTUALISED TOO MUCH ABOUT THE MYTH OF THE SEX PISTOLS? "I was talking to PAUL (COOK) about it, I did actually write a review of England’s Dreaming' for VOX and I wrote a long piece bout it and said everything that was good about it, then in the past couple of paragraphs I put in a qualifying bit explaining what was wrong with it. Somehow they lost that page, so Jon Savage thought I'd written him this glowing review, which I suppose I did really, but I didn't mean it to be like that. Anyway PAUL said he read it and the first three or four chapters don't even mention the SEX PISTOLS, which seems to be about the size of it really. It was interesting, all that stuff about King Mob and all that, but they had nothing to do with us at all". I THINK WHAT PEOPLE WILL SAY, IS THAT PLAYING TO 10,000 PEOPLE WILL LOSE THE 'ROMANTICISM ' OF WHAT THE SEX PISTOLS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT. "Your not going to be able to satisfy everyone whatever you do, so you might as well satisfy yourself and that's what we always did, we never did anything for anybody else. We were always self centered about It because If you listen to everybody else you never do fuck all". AFTER ALL THE FUSS OVER THE REUNION, WHAT'S THE NEXT STEP? "I'd like to go back and do some work on my own stuff, I'm always doing a bit of playing with other people anyway". I HEARD A QUOTE I THINK FROM JOHN LYDON THAT YOU WEREN'T GOING TO REHEARSE FOR THIS TOUR, YOU WERE GOING TO JUST TURN UP AND PLAY, IS THAT TRUE? "Who knows?. We might do it all over in the States then again, he might not turn up, he's strange JOHN. It’s a lead singer’s prerogative though isn’t it? you know, a girl must be able to change her mind and all that". HOW DID IT FEEL AT THE PRESS CONFERENCE, ALL BEING IN THE SAME ROOM AGAIN AFTER 20 YEARS, WAS IT AT ALL STRANGE? "Not really, I just thought when all the press came out afterwards, it was surprising that they hadn't got anything better to write about, that's what struck me the amount of column Inches we got. But then on the other hand they haven't got anything better to write about have they?” At that point Glen rather pointedly asked me what I think to his new record, It being on In the background, I haven't been paying much attention having been involved in the conversation etc... somewhat limply reply that "It seems to have big guitars and I usually like music with big guitars" "Yeah" he says "The thing I'm pleased with is that I've got a couple of young kids playing on it, on guitar and drums, then I got a couple of the old school in STEVE NEW, (former RICH KID associate) and DERWOOD ANDREWS (from WESTWORLD, formerly of GENERATION X) and there's some really good guitar playing on it, well that's what I think anyway. I'll be doing some gigs at the end of the month, once round the country type of thing". Idle chit chat ensues before I give Glen the chance to give the Scottish record buying public his state of the nation address, to which he idly replies, "Buy my album, it's brilliant", short and to the point at least. Go on take a gamble and spend some of that filthy lucre.
JUNE 1996 |