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Folk-punk singer-songwriter Frank Turner has made a name for himself with foot-stomping guitar tunes and his sometimes cynical - always honest - lyrics. He recently released his latest album Tape Deck Heart, a follow-up to 2011's England Keep My Bones - but that's not all he's been up to.
As well his music, Turner is known for his hectic touring schedule and also makes time to regularly answer fans on Twitter and on his website. It's surprising that he's not completely exhausted. We caught up to the singer-songwriter to discuss Gene Simmons, being a solo artist and if there's such a thing as getting too personal when it comes to music...
Hi, Frank, thanks for chatting - you're a very busy person.
I try to keep myself out of trouble and things like that.
Your new album, Tape Deck Heart, is a lot more personal than the last. Do you ever feel like you're giving away too much of your personal life?
Not really, simply because I have - out of necessity - a very clear line in my head between public and private. I stick to that and it's kind of a survival mechanism, so most of the time it's totally fine. There are occasions, of course, when either I mess it up or sometimes I meet people who think they know everything about me because they've listened to my songs, which is a bit weird. But 99% of the time it's fine.
What led to the track on the album, 'Wherefore Art Thou Gene Simmons'?
That's a song about being on the road and sort of sleeping around on the road. It's something that I've done that in my life but it's not necessarily something I'm proud of. I mean, I think for me the important thing is - for me, creatively, within that particular song - is that it evolves. It starts off being kind of critical of the guy and ends up with actually some sympathy. Not total sympathy, but some sympathy for his sort of personal life.
There was a strong English theme on your last album, England Keep My Bones - was it avoided on purpose on this one?
It wasn't a question of consciously staying away from it, but at the same time I just feel like I said everything that I had to say on that subject the last time around. And I'm not really interested in repeating myself, so it was refreshing to not have anything left to say on the subject of England and to be able to leave that behind.
You have a song called 'Thatcher F**ked The Kids'. What did you think about the controversy surrounding her funeral?
I'm not a fan of her of her politics but I was pretty repelled by the reaction of some people on the left. It's a f**king funeral, you know what I mean? Get over yourself. Because of the song that I wrote, I had people suggesting that I was going to kind of be involved in protesting, but do you know what? The Westboro Baptist Church are the kind of people who protest funerals and I'm not interested in being part of that kind of bulls**t, do you know what I mean? Just really gross, actually. Really f**king immature.
And the street parties, too...
It's just - the thing is, 99% of the people involved with it haven't got a f**king clue what she was about, anyway. It's just a kind of - it's a silly little internet bandwagon thing, and it fucks me off. It's not serious politics.
Watch Frank Turner perform a cover of 'The Modern Leper' below:
You've been performing a cover of Frightened Rabbit's 'The Modern Leper' live recently. Are you a fan of the band?
I'm a massive fan. Huge fan, love that man a lot and Scott has become a buddy in recent years... Maybe because I forced him into it by hanging around him all the time and telling him I loved him. I think they're really phenomenally brilliant and it was good fun.
They're similar in a way to you, with songs that initially sound upbeat but have more cynical lyrics.
Well, firstly I'd say that we probably share some influences, I would definitely count them as an influence in what I do in recent years - ever since I got Midnight Organ Fight I've listened to that record a million times. Love it. And I think their new record is genius as well, it's really good.
You started out in Million Dead - a hardcore band - and have a hardcore side project, so what led to folk punk being the main thing?
I think the thing is, when I was younger, hardcore was the music I wanted to make and that I wanted to focus on. But then, particularly in 2005 [when Million Dead split] I had said everything I wanted to say in a noisy context and needed a change. I think the most basic thing is that at any given moment I just try and make music that is good and valid and interesting right now, and 99% of the time that comes out being sort of folk punk - and with a band behind me, The Sleeping Souls, as well. But there's a part of me that is still interested in making noisy, aggressive music so it's kind of scratching an itch, really. It's a lot of fun.
You've spoken about the burnout that led to becoming a solo artist, but do you ever miss being in a band?
Well, I kind of have the best of both worlds at this stage, really, because I tour with The Sleeping Souls and I record with The Sleeping Souls and so it's a sort of middle ground, in a way. But there were moments when I first started out and was just touring completely on my own - some of the time it was very nice to be on my own, some of the time it was very lonely and sad not to have people around to share the road with. I really feel like I'm lucky and I've got the best of both worlds these days.
Watch Frank Turner's latest release, 'Recovery', below:
You tour non stop. Some bands lately (Foxygen, DIIV) have 'burned out' from touring and had to cancel. How do you avoid that?
I dunno, really! I mean, it's just not really been an issue for me, to date. Who knows, maybe I will, maybe I'll turn around sometime and say that I hate everyone and everything and I want to become an accountant or something. But just at the moment, I'm a reasonably kind of pro-active, driven kind of person but also, I'm aware of that the job I have means I get to make a living out of music and I'm aware of all my friends that I know who want to be full time musicians and aren't and all the rest of it. It makes me feel like I need to enjoy what I've got and go for it and do it as much as I can.
You're playing festivals this summer, and you always manage to get the crowd very involved. Do you think that's important at a less intimate setting like a festival?
Yes, although I mean I'm not sure I think about it quite that consciously. You know, I'm very interested in putting on a good show and I think that with the Souls, we're a great live act, and part of that is entertainment and part of it's kind of creating a sense of community - and part of it is playing songs that people want to sing along to, as well. It's definitely something that we can be justifiably proud of, I think we're a good live act. And yeah, part of it is kind of crowd participation and it's always fun, but it's not really a question of us sitting down and planning - like, 'we must do this much crowd participation in order to hit our targets' or something. It's more just that it feels good and it evolves every time.
Thanks, Frank! Frank Turner's latest album Tape Deck Heart is out now.
