INTERVIEWS
Ross McGibbon has some questions for Jet Black, drummer with The Stranglers.
The last Stranglers gig I was at was the Men In Black tour. Any changes since then? :) JB: Loads. Global circumnavigation, three decades, twelve albums, thousands of gigs, a new face.... Baz Warne, phew! That enough? What's changed for you over the last few decades? And what's stayed the same? JB: Changed - the freedom to do and play pretty much what, when and where, we want. The early days were dogged and hampered by decisions and attitudes beyond our control. The same - the actual writing, recording and touring. Is song writing any different for you now? JB: In general terms, not much really. Each one comes together in its own particular way but as a rule it involves sifting through a number of ideas, what you might call song-lets, and then at a later date the band will get together and hone the ideas into 'songs' proper. Once in a while it could be on a boat, a train or a plane and someone might whistle a few notes which at some stage might evolve into a tune but that would not be what you would call the usual routine. Do you still enjoy gigging? JB: The actual gigs are always the one thing that for us, and probably most bands, are the prime enjoyment, the principal motivation, so yes. The rest of it, motorways, hotels, airports, rehearsal rooms and lousy food, are the downside, but that's just the way it is. How do you assemble a set-list that pleases the casual punter but doesn't bore you? JB: One can only compile a selection of the tunes you have created over the years. In our case, the body of work from which a set-list is culled is now so vast that the notion of boredom doesn't arise. In any case we are too preoccupied on stage to accommodate any notion of languor. How would you describe your recent new material? JB: Great! What's the formula for your longevity as a band? JB: Attitude......I can't put a name to him (Calvin Coolidge – Googling Ed), but an intuitive American once said, "THE SECRET OF SUCCESS: Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. TALENT WILL NOT: Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. GENIUS WILL NOT: Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. EDUCATION WILL NOT: The world is full of educated derelicts. PERSISTENCE AND DETERMINATION ALONE ARE OMNIPOTENT." That's the formula. If you had a time-telephone and called yourselves up in the seventies, what would you tell yourself? JB: Hey Jet, you ain't gonna believe this....................! What are you proudest of? JB: Pride is a bit of a lofty aspiration, but if I could just change that to satisfy; surviving our critics. |
