More about: HaimJohnny Marr
Former Smiths turned solo legend Johnny Marr has slammed Haim for posing for photographs and buddying up with Prime Minister David Cameron earlier this year.
Back in September, the band appeared on the BBC's Andrew Marr show where they performed 'The Wire', before bassist Este Haim turned towards where the PM was sat and said: "That was for you DC - it's all about you."
The Prime Minister then took to Twitter to reciprocate his love for the band:
Great to meet @HAIMtheband on Marr - looking forward to listening to the album they gave me. pic.twitter.com/kihm9ABU02
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) September 29, 2013
The move was met with a great deal of controversy from fans and critics. Unsurprisingly, now Cameron's mortal enemy Johnny Marr was not a fan of the gesture either.
"It’s really simple: they made themselves look like idiots," says Marr in the latest issue of NME. "It’s ridiculous. No-one put a gun to their head. The Conservatives tried to do the same thing with The Smiths, to re-appropriate us in a false way, to be cool by association."
Watch their appearance on Marr below
Marr was however, full of praise for the likes of Grimes and Chvrches' singer Lauren Mayberry for speaking out against misogyny in the music industry, adding: "I wonder why we’re going backwards in that regard."
He also joined the ranks of David Byrne and Thom Yorke in criticising Spotify, describing it as 'the opposite to punk rock'
"I think it entirely hampers new bands," said Marr. "I can’t think of anything more opposite to punk rock than Spotify. I have no answer to the economic side of the music industry, but I do think we certainly shouldn’t stop valuing what bands do. I don’t like great things being throwaway."
Marr added: "Pop culture isn’t just about ‘the music, man’. It’s a way of life, and an aesthetic, and it’s not just about pressing a button and getting something entirely for convenience. Put it this way: we’re soon going to start seeing the difficulties of innovative music trying to swim in that huge tide."
Below: When pop meets politics - it never ever ends well
Issue Two of the Gigwise Print magazine is on sale now! Buy it here.
More about: HaimJohnny Marr