Frank Turner is a busy person, having just released his 9th studio album, FTHC, and gearing up to tour, there’s a lot going on. TGEFM got in touch with Frank who kindly took a moment to jot down some thoughtful answers. We rolled an ELEVEN.
1) After 9 albums your latest release, FTHC, might be the most personal and punk rock-ish album you have done via your solo work and, maybe (hopefully?), one of your most successful records. I know it is fresh in your mind, but how do you feel about this album versus previous FT releases?
It’s slightly difficult for me to be comparative across records like that. Each one is so all-consuming when I’m writing, recording and promoting it that they are embedded in certain phases (ages) of my life. So the question ultimately becomes, how does being 38/39 compare with (for example with Love Ire & Song) being 24/25? I think that’s a tugh question. On top of that, this record was made in weird circumstances, what with the whole pandemic business (remember that?). With all that said, I’m fiercely proud of this one, I feel like my aim was to rely on first instincts alone, and as a result it feels like quite a pure record to me, an uncalculated one. It’s also my 9th, as you note, which is not an inherently exciting album number, I’m getting long in the tooth. So all said and done, I’m pretty happy with how it’s turned out.
2) Not only are the lyrics more personal and about substantive issues, but the music returns more to your punk rock roots. Was this something you wanted to consciously do or did it just naturally end up that way?
A bit of both. After two records which are broadly, within my own musical universe, experimental, it felt like time to get back to something more direct, more pure. I remember playing Punk Rock Holiday festival in Slovenia in 2019 and feeling very at home, and feeling like maybe I could spend more time with my people. The split we did with NOFX in 2020 had a similar effect. But then the whole process of working on the record during consecutive lockdowns gave me time to percolate and concentrate those creative directives, so I think I ended up going a lot further down those roads than I might otherwise have done.
3) I see you are going to be touring for a while to play the new album live and that you are planning to play a show in all 50 US states. What’s the specific motivation behind the desire to hit every state?
I’m curently lacking 3 (Wyoming, South Dakota, Hawaii) and I’m nothing if not a completist. Plus I wanted to find a way of touring that would stop people bitching that I wasn’t coming to their town (this didn’t work, incidentally, thanks to the good people of Houston, San Francisco and Pittsburgh; sigh).
4) During the lockdown, I read that you focused on learning to engineer and produce music and that you are building a recording studio in a shed in your backyard. Do you have a specific style of recording you want to do?
Not a specific style per se, but my background musically is broadly in live rock and acoustic music, so I’m more likely to be spending time there than making Dubstep records or whatever. Not that I wouldn’t give that a try. But my main thing is to work with other musicians and help them follow their goals. It’s a different, and thoroughly enlivening form of creativity.
5) Building off of that last question, are there any artists you want to come record at your personal studio?
Haha, I mean I guess I have a wishlist. Part of me wants to work with bands I know and love that are further into their career, to see if I can help them say something new (this is called the Rick Rubin Delusion). But I’m also loving working with new and younger bands. They’re full of piss and vinegar. I had a conversation with Chuck Ragan (ed.- of Hot Water Music) about making a record last year. That would be killer.
6) Can you name some bands that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should?
Sticking purely to bands I’ve been working with in my studio… The Oozes, Pet Needs, The Meffs, Wilswood Buoys… and of course Pedro The Lion (who I haven’t been working with.. yet).
7) You did a split album with Jon Snodgrass (from Armchair Martian, Drag the River, etc. ), called Buddies and then again Buddies II: Still Buddies about ten years later. The general conversations and riffing at the end of the songs makes this a fun and unique approach. Was that how it was planned or was it an afterthought?
The first record we wrote in a day and recorded the following day, pretty much in one sitting, and we may or may not have been sober. So it was quite naturalistic. The second we made remotely during lockdown (tho we wrote it in one day, on zoom). We decided to keep the conversational aspect to the project. It’s fun. Jon is lovely.
8) Speaking of split albums, with the recent NOFX split, it must have been pretty cool to have Fat Mike ask you to do this. Your folk punk/alt-country versions of NOFX songs are fantastic, and the world needs more Frank Turner/NOFX collaborations. Are there any plans to do some more splits with NOFX, or would you be open to doing the same with other bands?
Why thank you. And yes it was pretty cool; I still don’t fully accept that I didn’t dream the whole thing. It was a huge honour, and a ton of fun. I don’t think we have more NOFX splits planned, maybe some shows tho (remember them?). It’s an interesting artistic format, and I guess I’d be open to trying it again. Nothing currently on deck though.
9) Also, the “Bob” video for your NOFX doesn’t have you at all, but NOFX “playing” over your music. I understand that pandemic restrictions may have played a part in this, but whose idea was it to go in that direction for the video?
Haha, well, we decided that we’d make videos for each other’s covers, if you see what I mean. They did the “Bob” video. I had no hand in it. It was pretty fucking funny. Getting into a piss-take match with Mike is not for the faint of heart.
10) Your 2019 album No Man’s Land was a concept record about fascinating women in history. Alongside the album release you also released a podcast called “Tales From No Man’s Land” in which you broke down every song and who it was about, which brought new meaning and insight to the lyrics. Can I ask what the genesis of this project was?
You sure can. I had a little collection of history songs gathering on the shelf for a while – in some ways it was just an exercise in songwriting, choosing subject matter that definitionally was not autobiographical, which is unusual for me. I’m also an awful, tedious history nerd. I wanted to write about people who were generally unknown. About 5 or 6 songs into the project I realised that, thusfar, they were all about female historical figures. That struck me as interesting and worth pursuing, so I did, and widened my ‘research’ (such as it was) by talking to a lot of my knowledgeable female friends. The record emerged from that. The starting point, really, was my own ignorance, and I learned a lot in the process.
11) You probably get this question a lot, and I apologize if you are tired of it but I have to ask, I assume you no longer take toothpaste to the pub?
Haha, it’s been a while since I’ve been asked that actually. Not these days. I actually live in a bona fide house these days, if you can believe such a sell-out thing.
Frank Turner’s new album is out now, and you can pick up a copy of it, or his other works, at the Frank Turner Store. He also has A LOT of shows coming up throughout the UK, EU and, of course, the upcoming 50 States in 50 Days tour. You can check out the poster for the latter below, and visit this page for tickets to all of his upcoming performances.
Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A Pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed.
Likes fine beer and cheap cheese. He has been a DJ, sound mixer for commercials and television, and currently designs motorcycle parts. He also has a habit of creating pastiche style cover songs and changing the chorus to incorporate “Jeff” or “Sorley.” (sigh… it’s true – Jeff)
https://www.instagram.com/rizchex_tgefm
