- 2 days ago
Peter Doherty talks about his tour for his solo album, performing with The Libertines at Glastonbury, youthful dreams of performing the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and why he will be playing there next month, playing to small crowds, songwriting and times spent in Glasgow in a freewheeling and entertaining interview that takes an unexpected turn when a guitar is introduced.
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MusicTranscript
00:00Fly away, Peter, fly away.
00:01Fly away, Paul.
00:02Well, Peter, you're coming back to Edinburgh.
00:06I've seen you perform in a variety of different arenas,
00:10from Hyde Park to theatres in Dublin.
00:14And for this one, you've gone from Glastonbury,
00:19and you're coming...
00:20One of my first dates with my wife was going to St. Luke's,
00:25you know, that's like a little church kind of level.
00:26You managed to stride from the huge stages
00:29to the little kind of intimate gigs and stuff like that.
00:33I wonder if you're still doing that,
00:35could you really enjoy that experience of being in a sports place?
00:38Of course, I think it's an essential part of what,
00:41not just what I do and who I am, but how I write.
00:44When I write a new song and I take it out there,
00:47I don't know if sometimes playing to crowds
00:51where you can't see the whites of their eyes
00:52and you've got that big gap in the math system
00:54that sometimes takes away from the real sound of the guitar
00:58and the voice.
00:59Sometimes you need to, I need anyway,
01:02to just play to people in a room, you know?
01:06Ideally, without a PA or without an amp,
01:08just playing the song and that's...
01:10Yeah.
01:13And that's what I've always done, really,
01:14and that's what we'll carry on doing.
01:17I mean, I love the Glastonbury show.
01:18It was great.
01:19It was great for the band.
01:20My mum watched it on telly and for the first time,
01:23I think, ever, she said she liked, you know, she enjoyed it.
01:26But actually, for me, the best one was the day before
01:28at the Greenpeace stage where we did a little acoustic thing
01:32and it was just, you know, it was great having that opportunity
01:37to play on the telly and that,
01:39but between you and me and whoever's watching this interview
01:43or listening to this interview, I didn't, to be honest,
01:46I didn't really enjoy it.
01:47I felt a bit of distance between me and the band and I'm not,
01:50you know, you don't really know what's going on
01:53because you can't really hear anything either
01:54because all the sounds everywhere, you know?
01:57I'd still believe in, like, the guitar
01:59and, like, one person with a guitar and a song
02:02and you sing it to another and, you know,
02:05I mean, that's what we did for a long, long time,
02:08you know what I mean?
02:08Before the internet, before TV, we just sat,
02:12we just sat and sang songs to each other
02:14and told stories to each other.
02:15And I think folk music, in particular,
02:19is a continuation of that thing, you know,
02:23the storytelling tradition, you know,
02:25that we've not lost, but it's definitely been diluted.
02:29Do you know what I mean?
02:29It's like, and I'm not blaming anyone.
02:32It's easy.
02:33I'm a parent.
02:33I'm guilty myself, you know?
02:35You put your kid in front of the TV and, but,
02:37you know, once upon a time, you know,
02:39you sat and you sang and you told stories.
02:41We told stories to each other and, you know,
02:45and that's how...
02:45So is that an element that you enjoy with the smaller shows?
02:48Because you do have an opportunity to take an...
02:49It's an element that is completely essential for my pursuing this dream
02:57I had of being able to make a go of it,
02:59writing songs.
03:00It's completely essential.
03:01It's like, if I can't...
03:04It's easy.
03:06Anyone can...
03:06I'm not anyone, but I'm just telling you,
03:08it's like, you know, with all these earpieces
03:11and all the lights and things,
03:14you can convince anyone of anything.
03:17You know what I mean?
03:17If you invest enough in it and pump enough,
03:21like, you know, flashy fucking technology into it,
03:24you can convince anyone of anything,
03:26including, like, that you've got talent or songs.
03:28But to see someone, like, with a guitar set,
03:32I love it.
03:32I can't pass it.
03:33If I'm looking past a pub or a bar
03:34and I see an open mic night,
03:36I have to go in,
03:38and that, for me, is heaven.
03:39Do you know what I mean?
03:40To sit in the corner of a pub,
03:44or Irish pub in particular,
03:46there's more...
03:46They get more live music over there,
03:48and just sit and hear people singing their soul,
03:51and even if they're doing covers, actually,
03:53but it's just that, you know...
03:55You know, maybe they'll be getting, like,
03:57a percentage of the till,
03:59but you know they're not there for the money.
04:01You know they're there
04:01because they need to be there.
04:03They need to be singing.
04:05They need to be singing their songs.
04:06They need to be playing their guitar.
04:07You know what I mean?
04:08Because, like, they have six days a week there.
04:10I don't know.
04:12Whatever they're having to do.
04:14You know what I mean?
04:15To pay their bills.
04:17Because it's hard these days for young kids, I think.
04:19You know, you want to make a go of it in music.
04:21Unless you've got...
04:22Unless you can crash at your parents
04:24or crash at your mates,
04:25you're going to have to go out and graft
04:26and get yourself a fucking, you know,
04:29a job in a data service centre
04:31or, you know, gardening
04:34or I don't know what's out there these days for people,
04:37but it's harder and harder
04:40to just make a living for playing your music.
04:43It's definitely a labour of love, I think,
04:44for 95% of people,
04:46and that's why the...
04:48This interview is about the Edinburgh Festival, right?
04:50Yeah, yeah.
04:51Yeah, and that's why the Edinburgh Festival is such...
04:54It's a thing to be cherished to celebrate
04:56because it is a platform.
04:59It's like a megaphone and an international one.
05:02Yeah.
05:02A young talent, you know what I mean?
05:04It's not that...
05:05I mean, even though you've got that so mad variety
05:08and range of people,
05:09it's not easy to get a shot at the Edinburgh Festival
05:11unless you're going to go on the street
05:12because I tried it.
05:13I remember years ago,
05:14I sent a cassette and my CV to, like,
05:16every venue in Edinburgh
05:17when I was doing performance poetry
05:19and I didn't even get a no thank you.
05:22Thanks for the...
05:23Thanks for the offer,
05:24but we're fully...
05:24You know what I mean?
05:25It was competitive out there, you know?
05:28Yeah.
05:29So, you know, going to Edinburgh
05:31and seeing the festival now,
05:32do you still feel that kind of sense of
05:34collective endeavour
05:36that there's still creative people there doing that?
05:38I never performed it,
05:39but also I've never even been now.
05:40I think I tried to go once.
05:41Oh, right, yeah.
05:42Jock Scott wrote a play
05:44a while back,
05:47obviously before he died,
05:48God rest his soul,
05:49me old mate,
05:50but it was maybe 2004
05:51he wrote a play
05:52about two young musicians
05:55in red military jackets
05:56on a train
05:58and he took it to Edinburgh
05:59and performed it
05:59and we were supposed to go
06:00and do the play ourselves,
06:02me and Carl,
06:03but we missed it.
06:06If something happened,
06:07we missed the train
06:07or someone got arrested.
06:09Anyway, we didn't make it
06:10and well,
06:14he understood why
06:15because he knew what was going on,
06:16but he never held it against us,
06:18you know what I mean?
06:19But I was gutted
06:20to let him down that time
06:21and it's just been a thing
06:25in the back of my head.
06:27It's one of these unchecked things,
06:28but I don't really want to go as a,
06:31I mean,
06:31I am going to perform,
06:32but I'm performing
06:33because it's an opportunity
06:34for me to get there,
06:35you know what I mean?
06:36And we get the hotel paid
06:37and all that,
06:37so I'll be able to,
06:38I'll go out there
06:39and finally revel in that
06:41because for me,
06:42as a young man,
06:44like 16, 17, 18, 19,
06:45that's how I thought life was.
06:47I thought it was just
06:48creative souls running amok,
06:51singing and dancing
06:52and doing comedy for each other
06:54in one big fucking orgy
06:56of like creative excess
06:58and obviously as you get older,
07:00you realise that's quite,
07:01you know,
07:01life's not quite like that,
07:03but there's still a part of me
07:05that believes in that idea of Edinburgh
07:08and so I'm going to go
07:10and I'm just going to like
07:10and go into every fucking,
07:13every show,
07:14every start,
07:15I want to see it all,
07:15I love it,
07:16I've always loved all that,
07:17I've always,
07:17you know,
07:18I mean,
07:19to be honest,
07:20that was my unfulfilled
07:21original dream really
07:24was to be a stand-up performer,
07:27that was what I,
07:28that's what I set out to do,
07:30you know,
07:30like,
07:31I just couldn't,
07:33got to a point,
07:34I played so many empty,
07:35empty rooms that
07:37I got so angry and frustrated
07:40that I just started screaming
07:41down the microphone instead
07:42and that turned into songs
07:45and that turned into Libertines,
07:46but originally,
07:48performance poetry,
07:49stand-up comedy,
07:50that was like something
07:51that I was sort of obsessed with,
07:54I think,
07:54starting with Tony Hancock
07:55and then going through
07:57all of Goulton and Simpson's stuff,
07:59Steptoe,
08:00and then up to
08:01and including Blackadder
08:02and a lot of the stuff
08:04that have come since then as well,
08:06you know,
08:06Steve Coogan,
08:08you know,
08:09but this raw,
08:11very British,
08:12comedic,
08:17I mean,
08:17it's,
08:18I don't know if a lot of English
08:19and Scottish,
08:20I don't know if a lot of British people
08:21understand how,
08:22how much of a cultural weight
08:26the British are
08:28in comedy,
08:30you know,
08:30I've sat in Moscow hotel rooms,
08:33you know what I mean,
08:33you've got Mr Bean
08:34on three different channels
08:35and Benny Hill
08:36and a Benny,
08:37and you know,
08:38and a Benny Hill marathon
08:39come in,
08:40you know,
08:41four in the morning
08:42and twelve,
08:43it's like,
08:44it's something very,
08:46obviously,
08:46you know,
08:46there's great American comedy,
08:48there's great French comedy,
08:49but,
08:49you know,
08:50it's something,
08:51yeah,
08:51there's something a bit different.
08:53It is,
08:54it's,
08:54I don't know,
08:55it's hard to explain,
08:56maybe it's best not to analyse it,
08:57but,
08:58you know,
08:58I mean,
09:00The Edinburgh thing,
09:02doing a show essentially
09:04in a nightclub,
09:05you know,
09:05and with a crowd
09:06that know you so well,
09:09it does give you the space
09:11to be yourself,
09:12to play some music,
09:14tell some songs,
09:15tell some jokes,
09:16to,
09:16you know,
09:16to form and whatever,
09:18you know,
09:18there's very little expectation
09:19on you.
09:21No,
09:23yeah,
09:24and that's,
09:24different from like a Levertine show
09:26when people are like that,
09:27give me the hits,
09:28and you know,
09:28like they want a bit of kind of chaos
09:30and anarchy at the front.
09:31It was sort of,
09:32there is that element in the Levertine show,
09:33give me the hits,
09:34but I think now we have,
09:36there's a sort of a hardcore faction now
09:39that you see at gigs,
09:40and they come all over,
09:41they go,
09:42some of them like,
09:43they fly from Japan,
09:44and you know,
09:45there's a hardcore faction now who,
09:47basically they're seeing the same set
09:49again and again and again.
09:51Yeah,
09:51all right,
09:51yeah.
09:52And if we throw in something different,
09:54it's a rare treat,
09:55and you can see it in their eyes
09:56because they're always done that.
09:58But solo,
09:59it's,
09:59it's,
09:59it's carte blanche for me,
10:01and I don't have a set list,
10:02and I don't,
10:03I don't even,
10:04I'll just go on the,
10:05I'll get on the stage and see,
10:07I'll sort of see who's there
10:08and what the vibe is,
10:10whether or not they're kicking in
10:11with a Levertine song,
10:12but otherwise I'll just,
10:13sometimes I'll just add lib
10:14and,
10:15and do songs that,
10:17I haven't even quite,
10:18not even quite sure of myself,
10:20songs that I'm sort of working on
10:21at that time,
10:23basically brand new songs,
10:25so that no one could come away
10:26and say,
10:28you know,
10:28even if it was shit,
10:29at least he tried to give it
10:30something new,
10:31but,
10:32but generally,
10:32in those situations,
10:34the shitter it is,
10:35the more they like it,
10:36because,
10:37that's the raw it is,
10:39and,
10:40it's never completely shit,
10:41you know what I mean?
10:42I mean,
10:43through all my faults,
10:43I can,
10:44I can write a,
10:45I can write a song,
10:46and so,
10:47I'm going to use it,
10:48I think,
10:48as a,
10:50the Edinburgh Festival,
10:51as I think,
10:52a chance to try,
10:52oh God,
10:53what a cliche,
10:54try it,
10:54it's a new material on the road.
10:56Yeah,
10:56why not?
10:57Yeah,
10:57yeah,
10:57yeah,
10:58it's a good place to do it.
10:59I've got a little,
11:00a little,
11:00there's three or four songs
11:02that I've been working on
11:03in the past couple of weeks
11:04that I'm not,
11:06well,
11:06I know for a fact,
11:07Carl doesn't think they're Liberty Standard,
11:08because,
11:10I've sort of sat behind him,
11:11on the tour bus,
11:12playing him,
11:13and he hasn't turned around and said,
11:14oh,
11:15what's that?
11:15Which is,
11:16that's the test.
11:17I sit behind him and play it,
11:19and he goes,
11:19oh,
11:20that one of yours always is,
11:21you know,
11:21some obscure song.
11:22I might play,
11:23like I played Sam Spade,
11:25the other day,
11:26you know,
11:26the,
11:27who wrote and sang Sam Spade?
11:29John Pryne.
11:30John Pryne song,
11:31you know,
11:32there's a hole in daddy's arm,
11:34where all the money goes,
11:36you know,
11:36and he didn't even turn around to that.
11:40Now I'm starting to think,
11:42maybe Carl's not the best.
11:44Yeah,
11:45maybe he's not the best judge,
11:46after all,
11:47yeah.
11:47Which,
11:48you know,
11:48doesn't mean I've wasted 25 years,
11:50but,
11:51you know,
11:52it means that maybe,
11:53I can step forward,
11:55into the Edinburgh night,
11:56with a little bit more confidence.
11:58So,
11:59do you know what I'll do?
12:00I'm going to play you one of these new ones,
12:01see what you think.
12:02Right there.
12:07Is there anything you need to ask?
12:09I saw them.
12:13You go for it,
12:14Pete.
12:17I think it sounds like the Eagles.
12:20Sorry,
12:21sorry.
12:21I think it sounds like the Eagles.
12:23It's like,
12:26you know,
12:27it's a real estate.
12:28It's like,
12:29you know,
12:30it's gonna sit on with us,
12:30you know,
12:31it's gonna sit on with us,
12:33you know,
12:33it's gonna sit,
12:35you know.
12:35You know,
12:35you know,
12:36you know,
12:38you know,
12:38that's,
12:40you know,
12:40I like the vibe anyway.
13:10I like the vibe of a country rises up again.
13:17I know you're feeling beat, but you should be feeling sweet.
13:23You should be feeling sweet.
13:25And we go round and I like the vibe.
13:30And when it's time out of the country rises up again.
13:39Rises up again.
13:44I know you're feeling beat, but you should be feeling sweet.
13:50We should be feeling sweet.
13:56Nice. Well, I'm looking forward to hearing a bit more of that when you come to Edinburgh.
14:02I played that soundcheck the other day.
14:06Nothing.
14:09Carl didn't even know what I mean.
14:11I think you're onto something.
14:13I just wanted to close by asking you because I met, I interviewed Gary Powell at the Boogaloo one time.
14:20And he told me he remembered like a great night when he was out with Arctic Monkeys down Suckey Hall Street in Glasgow.
14:26And, you know, just great vibes of when you guys used to come up in the very, very early days when you came to Glasgow.
14:33Do you remember coming up to Glasgow and having good times in the early days?
14:37I remember the first time we came to Glasgow.
14:39I'd never been.
14:40I'd never been to Glasgow as a young man in my early 20s.
14:43And it was a special night.
14:46It was.
14:47Yeah.
14:48We had a band called Kane supporting us that night.
14:51And they were proper, like, New York Doll, Iggy Pop aficionado, leather jackets, like, the hair, like, 1969 studio style, which is how we were at the time.
15:03And, yeah, we had a proper knees up, man.
15:05And I did.
15:06And all over the years, it's just never let me down.
15:11Like, Glasgow, like, speaking personally, everything from Davey Spears to Mr. Benz to things I won't, like, I won't, I won't complicate things by, like, you know, revisiting here.
15:26But just things that have been a big part of my personal journey.
15:30Yeah, it's a tough place, but it's, it's a, it's a joyous, beautiful people.
15:36Yeah, yeah, creative people.
15:38But Scotland as a whole, I think, has a, has a certain, like, I mean, Can't Stand Me Now, one of Liberty's best songs comes directly ripped off from
15:48You never understand me yet
15:52You never understand me yet
15:56Can't stand me now
15:57Can't stand me now
15:59Can't stand me now
16:01She's a merry chair, isn't it?
16:02Yeah.
16:03They're from our hometown.
16:04Can't stand me now
16:07Can't stand me now
16:08Don't you walk away
16:10I'm really sorry, but we're glad to go
16:11I know, I'm going to have to go.
16:14Pete, lovely to meet you.
16:15Bye.
16:16I'll see you again.
16:17Thank you very much.
16:18All the best.
16:19Good man.
16:20Thanks a lot, mate.
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