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News
Street Roots • June 30-July 6, 2017
News
Street Roots • June 30-July 6, 2017
"Ever since It happened, I've had
messages from all over the world
- America, Europe, lapan, Aus
tralia. Not just from friends, but
from fans and strangers all eager
to pass on their thoughts and let
me know that the rest of the world
Is thinking about Manchester, and
that's an Incredible privilege for
me to have that."
Johnny M arr knew from an early age that he wanted to
be a musician. B u t the former Smiths guitarist says the
pressure on kids today to achieve academic results means
it’s harder than ever for new U K . bands to emerge.
JOHNNY MARR,
Writing in the key of life
BY SASKIA MURPHY
guitar hooks and memorizing the lyrics to
songs by 1960s pop bands such as Love
Affair and The Four Tops.
hen Johnny M arr sat down to write
By the age of 5, Marr had a guitar of his
his autobiography, “Set the Boy
own, and his journey from a child with a
Free,” it was a chance for him to
guitar to one of the country’s most revered
set the record straight on a career spanning
musicians followed an almost biblical path.
more than three decades. Starting with his
He knew his purpose from a young age, and
humble beginnings in Manchester,
Marr writes about how his talent was
England’s Ardwick district, Marr writes of
recognized by a primary school teacher who
his first encounter with a guitar, the first
opened his eyes to the possibility that he
time he met his wife, his fated meeting with
could one day be an artist
Morrissey and everything that happened
“She contacted me to let me know that
after and in between.
she’d seen it (the book), and that was
Although Marr is best known for his part
amazing,” Marr said, “because she was the
in the undying legacy of The Smiths, his'
first person who told me I was an artist, and
story as a musician encompasses a plethora
that was a real turning point in my life.”
of names and collaborators, from Kirsty
Marr credits Miss Cocane with helping
MacColl to Modest Mouse, Pet Shop Boys
him realize his dreams as a musician. But in
to Nile Rogers, Hans Zimmer to The Cribs.
the current school curriculum, where
It is these collaborations, he said, that
children face unprecedented pressure to
continue to shape him as a guitarist. His
achieve academic results, he said, creativity
autobiography, first published in November,
is being stifled.
is now available in a new paperback edition
“From what I have seen, the
with extra material.
overwhelming message kids are given now
“For years it seemed like I was put in the
is one of career panic and insecurity and
position of defending why I hadn’t followed
competition. Aside from it stifling creativity
the same path as, say, Peter Buck or the
and artistry, which I think is crucial on a
Edge or the Stones and all these musicians
spiritual level, it also takes away their youth
who stayed playing with the same bands for
to an extent. I’m not saying that people
years,” he said. “They happen to be people I don’t need to understand responsibility, but
respect so I don’t have a blanket criticism of for kids to be putting themselves under
that, other than it wasn’t for me and I can’t
immense stress and to have insecurity about
imagine not making records with people like career possibilities at the age of 15 is a real
Beck, Pet Shop Boys or making solo
shame.
records. To have not had that opportunity is
“Most of the people I know had no idea
not something I would have ever wanted.
what they wanted to do until they got to
“Let’s put it this way,” he said. “I always
their mid-20s,” he said. “That’s the natural
followed what I thought was best for my
way, as I see i t OK, some people know what
growth and inspiration as a musician. I
path they want to go down when they’re
wouldn’t swap playing concerts with Hans
young, as I did, and that’s very handy, but
Zimmer and a 70-piece choir and orchestra
it’s normal to not really know exactly what
for anything - regardless of how much
your destiny holds for you. But this culture
security or fame or status or wealth it may
of intense competition is really very
have brought. The bottom line is that I’m a
convenient for the authorities, and it’s
better guitar player because of all the things
convenient that they overlook the arts and
I’ve done.”
culture almost to the point where it is seen
M arr’s passion for the guitar is a theme
as irresponsible or a bit of a cop-out to
that is threaded throughout his book. He
actually want a life in the arts.”
writes about his fascination with music from
“It was bad enough when I was growing
an early age and recalls standing in front of
up in the 1970s for working-class people to
the radio at the age of 4, listening out for
even think about themselves as an artist, let
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
W
alone describe themselves as such. If we’re
not careful, there will be no culture coming
out of the U.K.,” Marr said. “We need a new
David Hockney, and we need new Tracy
Emins and Maxine Peakes. Those people do
it against the odds, and it is seemingly more
difficult now than it ever was.
“It’s hard enough just being educated in
the sciences,” Marr said. “You need to go
into debt for it or your parents need to go
into debt for it, so how you live as an artist
is hardly a consideration or a priority of the
establishment at the moment.”
The Smiths challenged Margaret
Thatcher’s government, and Marr has
frequently expressed his disdain for
politicians including David Cameron, Boris
Johnson and Nigel Farage. But despite his
willingness to incorporate politics into his
work, “I don’t think artists have a
responsibility to do anything or follow any
inspiration other than to make good work,
whatever that is,” he said.
“I am interested in things that have
been with me since being a kid and to
do with my upbringing and where I
grew up and the environment I was in,
which is to say working class, from the
North West. But I don’t believe in
hectoring people. You can be as
abstract in your work as you like. If
you just want to sing about your love
affairs, that’s OK with me, but
traditionally it’s been the artists who
have maybe created some kind of
interesting way of communicating and
commenting, whether that’s people
like Picasso or writers like Aldous
Huxley, who have challenged
the establishment.
“It was usually as
a response to
the rise of
the right
wing.
That’s the way I see my position. I don’t
want to deal exclusively in politics because
frankly I don’t want those people to
contaminate all of my work; I don’t think
they’re deserving of it,” Marr said. “One
of the great things that I do in rock and
pop music is to inhabit a world of'
escapism. But you just can’t change who
you are, and as much as I would like to
avoid the annoyance of politicians and
disappointment with some things and some
people in the world, all things go into your
work one way or
another if you
£
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O N T H E M A N C H E S T E R T E R R O R IS T A T T A C K
are a songwriter.
“I’m trying to get better at what I
do all the time and hone what I’m
about,” Marr said. “And a lot of that
seems to be about reflecting the
world as I see it.”
course it’s very humbling,” Marr said.
“You just feel very lucky to be of any kind
of help, frankly.
“Art can express something about life
that words can’t, and that’s what is
amazing about pop music. It’s beautiful
that people are focused on that aspect of
the song and the positivity, and there is a
feeling of looking to the future, which is an
Unity in the wake of the attack amazing thing given the hurt of the
circumstances.
t is impossible to think of Miarr’s work
“Obviously we’re all feeling a mix of
without thinking of Manchester. After
emotions, from a numbness and distress
an emotional vigil for the victims in Albert to sadness and confusion and anger. It has
Square, held a day after the Manchester
been amazing for all of us to see the way
Arena attack, a lone voice sang out one of
the city is handling it and has come to
The Smiths’ best known lyrics: “There is a help each other out. I’m thinking of the
light that never goes o u t” Photos later
emergency services and those amazing
showed the lyrics chalked on pavements
stories about the taxi drivers and the
and inked on placards.
hotels and ordinary people getting
“I would never in a
involved and helping out, and the
million years have
homeless who are on the streets, coming
dreamt that the
to the aid of injured children.
song would have
“In the middle of all this devastation,
meant so much
seeing that bravery and selflessness and
when I came up
unity is something that is an amazing
with it, and of
source of undeniable pride that the rest of
I
the world can see. Ever since it happened,
I’ve had messages from all over the world
- America, Europe, Japan, Australia. Not
just from friends, but from fans and
strangers all eager to pass on their
thoughts and let me know that the rest of
the world is thinking about Manchester,
and that’s an incredible privilege for me to
have that.”
“It is at times like this when things are
beyond bad and unimaginable that
incredible things also come into place.
One thing I see is this protective pride,
not only over our safety but from the
people of the city for our heritage, our
character, our legacy, our spirit - what
makes Manchester what it is. And a
recognition that as Mancunians, we will
love each other and we will be defiant
against anyone who is trying to take those
things away. I am really, really proud of
coming from this city for that reason.”
Courtesy o f B ig Issue North / INSP.ngo
J
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PHOTOS CO URTESY OF JO H N N Y M A R R