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Interview Podcast Audio Graham Coxon
Love Travels at Illegal Speeds

Yes, indeed. Are you prepared? Graham Coxon : Yeah. I suppose so. Prepared for what? The end of humankind. Oh, shit. I'm trying every day to get prepared for that. Well, just remember to store water and to hide underneath a doorway if the earth starts shaking. A doorwell. I've got an inspection pit. Do you like those? I do, indeed. They're excellent. I like all kinds of pits. I like vomitoriums, in fact. Well, this is pretty vomitorium-ish. Really. It has lots of rotten wood on the top that needed to be replaced because I thought I was going to go in there and fall into the rat-infested sludge. So I had to put some new boards over the inspection pit in the barn. You have a barn? Yeah. Really? Yeah. Do you live in the countryside? Yeah, half and half. Oh, that sounds wonderful. Do you like a bit of Evelyn Waugh? Evelyn Waugh? You don't like a bit of him? I don't know it. Evelyn Waugh. Should I know this? That's W-A-U-G-H. W-A-U-G-H. He wrote a nice book called Vile Bodies. You should read that. Really? It's kind of like the seamstresses of 1930s London. You can imagine how they dressed; pretty spic-and-span. Yeah, pretty neat. What was it called again? Vile Bodies. It's about a journalist in the '30s who is exposing all these wild parties in the '30s. It's pretty cool. Well, that sounds fantastic. Oh, Evelyn Waugh is excellent. He's one of the posh-ist writers ever. Are you a very literate person or would you consider yourself to be? Not as much as I should be. I have too many books piling up and waiting to be read. But I like to read, yes. I like reading. It's excellent, reading is. How do you feel that reading affects your lyrical perspective, shall we say? Well, I think if you read it definitely does fill you with words. And it fills you with intellect and imagination and you can have, well, journeys that aren't physical I suppose. But just as good as, you know. You can sort of leave your body and go wherever you're led by the writer. So, yeah, I think if you read...I think anybody who writes lyrics probably reads. You would hope. Or they should. Yeah, I hope. I mean there seems to be a lack of concern for the...how would you say? The eradication of literacy. Well, maybe, that's particularly here in America. Yeah, I know. And it's over here, too. How do you feel? Everyone tries to speak like Americans here. Really? Yeah. So they're romanticizing ignorance? Well, yeah. The thing about America is it has some unbelievable writers, an incredible history of writing, and incredible minds. But it doesn't seem to be very known for it, especially over here. You know, you have Truman Capote, and you have Paul Auster, and you have Salinger. And I mean, incredible writers and minds. And we do over here too. But it's the fact that everything is...it's the digital era; the digital phenomena just destroyed this race, our race. I am kind of resentful of the fact that I am now on this planet when it's well past its sell-by date; when the shelf life is well gone. I look around, and I see no style, and so I'm really pissed off about that. And I think, well, I would like to have 80 years of life, perhaps, just going in that time between the wars, yes. Between the two World Wars, I assume. Yeah, you know, just have the '30s again and again and again and again and again until I'm dead. And what? Because then you could wear the coolest clothes all the time. People and art would be exciting. Literature would be exciting. The cars would be excellent, and the motorbikes would be excellent. Everything would be bloody excellent. But don't you in some way feel that there were many artists that existed during that era who would have considered it the end of times, as we see it now? Absolutely. Say with the automobile, the rise of the automobile or telecommunications... Yeah, roads, the combustion engine. I know, I think the combustion engine is an evil. But we should have done something...we could have done something about it. But we didn't, and I still ride things with engines, and if anyone tried to stop me, I'd want to kill them, you know. I think you should be allowed to ride in or on something that has an engine if it's fucking stylish. And if it isn't, then it is scrapped, and you're put in prison. I think that's how it should go. But then who would dictate what is stylish? Me. Or you seem to know. Perhaps you can be deputy scrapper. Could I be your official deputy scrapper? Well, yeah, you could be the American contingent [for that]. I'd be more than happy to do so for you. You could own Connecticut Scrap, and you could do your biddings from there. From Connecticut? Yeah. I could be the Connecticut Yankee? Well, yeah. Connecticut is like...that's where the best writers lived, isn't it? Or Brooklyn maybe. Brooklyn? I'd rather be based in Brooklyn. Oh, with Mr. Auster, OK. That's pretty good. We're not really talking about your music much, are we? Good, that's great. That's good, isn't it? We're talking about America. And there was something that we had talked about a little bit last time that I'm hoping maybe we could talk about again. All right. I had originally asked about your lack of breakthrough success--solo success in the US. And you had said that you were perfectly happy with that. Yeah, because...yeah. Well maybe you could talk about that a little bit again. I mean, really, I suppose it's about breakthrough. I was probably saying that I don't feel it's worth it to make such a huge effort and risk my mental and physical health just for the sake of selling a few records in America or in this country either. If people don't like my stuff, then I'm not into changing people's minds. I don't want people reluctantly coming to shows. I don't want people buying records because the TV tells them to or anything like that, particularly.

Conversions...I suppose people think of conversions as successes. I just think it's a kind of lame and...a sort of lame way to go about things. To convert...I'm going to wear a great big red cross on my chain mail and sweep through countries making people like me. Right. And the more you sell, the more idiots are in the audience. That's what I learned, really, in Blur. So really, I mean, your perspective as a solo artist is inherently fueled by the success that you found with Blur. Do you think? Inherently fueled? Hmm, I don't...what do you mean? Well I mean that you have the luxury of genuine disinterest in an American audience because you have achieved it, or you've dealt with it in the past with Blur. Oh, I guess so, because Blur spent years and years trying to get that and we couldn't. So what hope have I on my own? But it's not just my thing with America; I have it here as well. You know, so long as I can make my records and make enough money out of it to do what I want to do--to be able to buy enough firewood to keep warm in winter and to buy a new set of clothes--I don't mind particularly because I've sort of given up on what people see as culturally important in the world.

I think people have an awful lot of preconceptions about me, my connection with Blur, and everything else that they probably don't think that I am perhaps worth listening to or they think is a particular thing, so they leave it alone. And in the end, really, I am getting on a bit. And I kind of like being at home, chopping wood, riding old motorbikes, and walking around the countryside in the rain. I kind of prefer to do that. Do you see yourself eventually distancing yourself from, say, the public release of music--of your music? I don't think I will do it myself. I think that will probably just happen. I think it's already happening. I think I'll always make music whether people are interested or not. And that's it. Right. I don't know. There's a few...I mean you have to work yourself into the grave almost to keep the kind of profile that lots of people expect of their pop stars and things like that. So I don't know if it's worth it. What do you think the perceived rewards of that are? I mean, why do people chase that dragon, so to speak? I don't know...I don't know. Is it fame or is it money? Do they think that success comes...is it about how much is in their wallets? I don't know. For me, success is having really cool relationships with those who are close to me and not letting them down. You know, I love my audiences and to be honest, my American audiences are just about my favorite audience. And I love playing shows. It's the traveling and the touring--not the shows--that I feel threatened by. I'm five years into recovery. I don't want to mess anything up by going mad in Los Angeles and drinking a bar dry. How cliché that would be. I don't know, it's happened before. It happened in my late 20s, and it was at that hotel...the suites...damn what's it called. I can't remember. I went to the bar, and I ordered loads of booze, and I ordered some cigarettes. And I got very, very drunk and smoked lots of cigarettes. And there was this boy or small man in the corner with Raybans on and all that. And after I was very drunk, and I couldn't see him very well, I recognized him. And it was Simon Le Bon. What? Yeah, Simon Le Bon watched me fall off the wagon. Wow. That's cool. Yeah, I guess that is kind of cool. That's cliché, isn't it? He didn't even come over and offer me his condolences. Anyway, you know, that's pretty cliché, and I don't want to do that again. I mean, I've got nothing against going and playing in America; it's excellent. But maybe in a year, I'll be feeling completely different, and I'll be like wanting to do a three-month tour of the States.

I am a Piscean after all. I'm fickle. A Pisces? Yeah. A Piscean, yes. Yeah. So I don't want to hound you too much about your sobriety. So I won't. Oh, OK. It's boring, isn't it? No, it's not. Good. But I just have a question about it, though...one that you've probably heard before. But how has sobriety, really...you've created two albums now under sobriety. Three. Three? Mm-hmm. Oh, OK. Oh, oh, oh, The Kiss of Morning, Happiness in Magazines, and now your latest album. Yeah. So were you fearful that if you were not using substances that the music would change, and change in a way that you would be dissatisfied with? No. I recorded music out of my head, and it's just not very good. I think recording music out of your head, it's...you know, it's lazy. You can hear it, but it's not as good as it could be--less energy. You want to just quickly do this take so you can get back to drinking. I don't know, some of the inspiration was pretty cool, but working when you're out of it is not actually any good at all.

But I think I have a lot of it in me...the demands that a drug-addled mind has, and the way it listens to music. I think I still have a lot of it in me, but that might be because of psychedelics...drugs or psychedelic music of which I've always been extremely fond. So I do like to make music that tickles the ears, or entertain a drugged ear, if you know what I mean. Yes, I do. Yeah. But so, there's no dependency upon substances to create music like that, which is, I feel, where a lot of people, maybe young people are getting into music. They sort of automate that association. Yeah, but it's not true, is it? Because, well, there's a lot of evidence that it doesn't work, Babyshambles, etcetera. I mean, I like them. But I think sometimes I get annoyed with Pete, and I shouldn't because I think, "F***, if he was really, really sober the last few years, there would be some f***ing superb stuff.'' You're saying if he had been sober over the past few years? Yeah. Well, in any event, enough of that. So you mentioned earlier that you don't really have an appreciation for modern technologies. And I assume that you're not a total Draconian, but have you assimilated digital recording practices into your life? Or do you have an affinity for analog equipment? Well, I'm not, like, really insanely Draconian. I do have a hard-disc kind of recorder thing. You know, it's convenient. I like convenience probably more than I like analog stuff. But the thing is it's just how these things are these days. Digital is convenient, so everybody uses it. I'm just a hypocrite, really. Although, yeah, recording a proper album in analog is great. Kiss of Morning stuck to me as one of my best-sounding things. Although, maybe performance wise, not that...I mean, it has a kind of quality that I wouldn't say is bad. I do like that record, but I love the way it sounds because it's all sort of '60s and '70s and '50s equipment, so it's pretty neat. But yeah, digital technology is easier to... To manipulate. It's fast. When you've got an idea, you tap it on the forehead and it starts to record you. It's very easy. Yeah. Well, unfortunately, I have very little time because I was a little late. But maybe...wow, I don't know where to go from here. I'd love to talk more about literature. Maybe we should. Yeah, check out the Evelyn Waugh. OK, you might enjoy him. He's very funny. Do you enjoy any of the other sort of more psychedelic America authors like William Burroughs or Philip K. Dick? I have never heard of the K. Dick, but he sounds... Philip K. Dick. Yeah, he sounds quite good. Oh, you should read him. Many of his books have been made into films, including Blade Runner. Oh, he's a sci-fi guy, is he? Oh, yeah. Oh, I was...yeah, OK. The Minority Report. All right. Gosh, he must be insane. I think sci-fi writers are geniuses. I like Brian Aldiss as well. He's a British one, but just sort of very clever people. It's f****ng sci-fi writers that should be running...they should be in government, you know. Not these intellectually lacking people that we have in government now. Well, I don't think it's...yeah, you're right. They do lack intellect. They're also just....their sole purpose seems to be to screw the human population. I know. And to make as much money as humanly possible. Yeah. Total weirdo losers. Oh well. Would you ever consider writing an album, like a concept album, that is geared toward science fiction? Yeah, man. Maybe you should. I might. I mean, my next one is...I was trying to make an album. My next album is only going to be understood by a certain race of elves. Really. So that might be kind of good, yeah. Sort of a Tolkien fantasy? Tolkien? Like J.R. Tolkien, no? No. Not the sort of Christian mythology stuff, right? No, not that kind of stuff. OK. The real stuff; the real pagan fairies that steal your children. Would you consider yourself to be pagan? No, it takes a lot of effort to be pagan--to be really pagan. I don't consider myself Christian, though. You don't? No. I believe in, I suppose, the nature of sorts. Yeah...and I do believe in rubbing soil upon your naked self every once in a while and talking to the moon--and the seasons being very important. Things like that, yes. I don't believe in men with beards in the sky. Especially white men. No, kind of Zeus. No, not really. No, white chaps with more of a Santa Claus-type robe or...he's sitting there with his Coca-Cola outfit on. Yes, our Gods are selling us Coca-Cola. Yeah. We just need a great big shrink up there. Agreed. Well, Graham, it's been amazing talking to you for the second time. You too. What a treat. And, I don't know...if you ever do start up your ruling class, and you need someone in America, be sure to give me a call. I will, yeah. Well, until then, take care. All right, you too, mate. Cheers.