Photo: Press
Frank Turner finds himself in a pretty good place at the moment. Last year, his critically-acclaimed fifth album Tape Deck Heart landed at No.2 in the charts and now he's gearing up to drop a new EP and embark on a massive arena show, playing some of the biggest shows of his career.
As if that wasn't enough, he's still buzzing after being crowned victor on BBC's Celebrity Mastermind. His specialist subject: Iron Maiden.
"I was a total geek at school," laughs Turner, remembering his time at Eton alongside Prince William. "It's a funny kind of thing because the guys that were in my year have all gone on to become rocket scientists who work for NASA and are royal professors of this and that and are all terribly intellectual. I'm the one who got tattoos and got drunk in a rock and roll band. But I'm the one who went on Celebrity Mastermind and I'm the one who fucking won it!
"There was a humorous moment after when I was just like 'kiss my ass, motherfuckers!'"
Any other TV ambitions on the horizon?
"I'm a huge fan of QI but I suspect that I'm not funny at all to be on there," he shrugs, while we point out that they've had Andy Parsons and Ed Byrne on as guests and they're not funny in the slightest.
"Now there's a roundabout compliment!"
But when he's not wowing John Humphrys with his extensive heavy metal knowledge or busking with Billy Bragg ("he's become a great friend over the years and is a thoroughly decent human being - when I was having a really tough time with the press, he stepped in and gave me some really good advice), Turner's attention is turned towards his upcoming massive UK arena tour. The massive stage at London's O2 Arena now seems a long way from the toilet venues that 'that folky bloke off of Million Dead' use to frequent back in the day.
Not everyone is best pleased, but that's what you get when an alternative act bothers the top of the charts.
"I've copped a fair amount of shit for doing arenas, but any other venue in London would have sold out in a couple of days," admits Turner. "I don't mean that to be an arrogant statement, because I really don't mean it to be but it's true. We recently did an intimate tour and the biggest venue was 800 people and that sold out in one minute. People were giving me shit because they couldn't get tickets, and I had to say 'this is why play the bigger places'."
Fear not though, old school fans - Turner is doing everything in his power to make the shows as down to Earth and in your face as the music you've grown to love.
"It's certainly out of my comfort zone. My crew and I spend a lot of time thinking about it and planning it, because it's a hard to think to get right and make it feel like an event that's inclusive and cool and fun. It's harder to maintain that in a large venue, but it's not impossible."
Still, he remains humble about the future: "I try to err on the side of saying yes to things. I think 'fuck it, why not'? One of my stock replies that I have to people who complain about me being uncool by playing The O2 instead of The Barfly is 'give it a couple of years mate - I'm not going to be this popular for long'. I'll be back in the Barfly soon."
Watch the video for 'Oh Brother' by Frank Turner below
Before the tour begins, Turner will be releasing The Polaroid Picture EP on Monday 3 February - featuring his cover of Frightened Rabbit's 'Modern Leper' and the Biffy Clyro classic 'Who's Got A Match'.
When why he chose these tracks, Turner replies: "They're songs that I'm a big fan of. Biffy and I both have a fair amount of history. We played a lot of shows together back in the day, even with my old band Million Dead. They're old friends and it seemed like a song that I could find an interesting angle on."
He continues: "Frightened Rabbit are a band that I'm obsessed with in the sense that I think they're absolute genius. Scott (Hutchison) is now a friend of mine, after I kept bullying him. I kept tracking him down at festivals at shouting 'hi' and he kept whimpering and replying 'I don't know who you are'. Again, 'Modern Leper' is one of my favourite songs of Scott's."
When asked if he has any hopes or plans to collaborate with Biffy or Frightened Rabbit in the future, Frank seems hopeful but unconvinced: "I would hesitate to say that about Biffy because they have their own thing going on, but Scott and I have long conversations about songwriting and playing together - whether or not will ever amount to anything in the sober light of day is a different question. Maybe, we'll see."
As well as the covers and the title track, the EP will also feature new song 'Sweet Albion Blues'. Is this a sign of the future of Turner's sound?
"I'm writing an absolute tonne of new material," he says. "'Sweet Albion Blues' lyrically was in a kind of 'England Keep My Bones' kind of thing, which is fine, but at the same time I have new material heading in a totally different direction - so it made sense to put that one out on this release.
"It's too early for my to start laying bets at the bookies, but I definitely have some ideas."
Thinking of the much more immediate future, Turner's attention turns to summer: "I will be doing the festival rounds, but I need to bite my tongue about what that might entail. My wishlist for bands to play at Reading and Leeds is probably not in tune with the record-buying public but even if I'm not playing Reading and Leeds (I'm not saying either way), but I will probably spend a weekend hanging out at the Lock-Up Stage."
Frank Turner will release the Polaroid Picture EP on 3 February, 2014 before embarking on a full UK arena tour. Dates are as follows:
FEBRUARY
Thursday 6th - Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
Friday 7th - Nottingham Arena
Saturday 8th - Edinburgh Corn Exchange
Sunday 9th - Manchester Arena
Tuesday 11th - Plymouth Pavillions
Wednesday 12th - London O2
Thursday 13th - Portsmouth Guildhall
Friday 14th - Winchester Guildhall
Tickets are on sale now. For more information visit Gigwise gig tickets.
Below: Photos of Frank Turner live at Wembley Arena
