----vibenet Libertines interview 2002----
vibenet Libertines interview - 2002
The Libertines's declaration:
It's easy to call our music punk rock. It might sound arrogant but I'd like to say no, that's wrong.
Rough trade, the label that launched the strokes, brings a debut 'Declaration of The Libertines' by a local London four-man band which is the perfection of grace, a comfortably twisted brilliant rock'n'roll album!
- The album's great
Pete: Oh thank you
- It's honestly really good
Pete: No, it's not that great (laughs)
- It doesn't feel overproduced
P: Like, simple?
- Simple but eclectic
P: OK! I feel the same
-On the credit of the latest single, 'Up the Bracket', it seems as if it was recorded live in one take. Is that the same for the whole album?
P: Yeah. We recorded it in a short space of time. Kind of like live in the studio. We finished recording in about nine days. Then we chose twelve songs from that. After that we mixed and chose tracks and stuff.
- When I heard the first single, 'What a Waster', I thought it sounded very English but once I listened to the whole album, it's a bit different…
P: Yeah it is.
- Tracks like 'Radio America' and the Japanese Bonus track 'Mocking Bird' sound slightly different to the rest. For example, The Kinks are a very English band but they have tracks, which are a bit American or Country sounding. In that respect, I felt tracks like 'Radio America' and 'Mocking Bird' were a bit like The Kinks as well.
P: Ok
- What importance does 'Radio America' and 'Mocking Bird' have to The Libertines?
P: Well, there's a long time between when each track was written, so it depends. There are tracks, which were written with different moods or different feelings or at different times. Usually we try to write songs about things that have left a lasting impression in our hearts or things that we still believe in.
-Do you consider your music to be punk?
It's easy to call our music punk rock. It might sound arrogant but I'd like to say no, that's wrong. Traditionally in England, the word 'punk' meant dirty or like scum, sometimes it even meant homosexual. Then they added the word 'rock' and made it into a word that expresses a style of music. I don't care if you call the Sex Pistols punk. Or the Buzzcocks. But then the media labelled the thousands of other bands that came along afterwards, punk. I feel that's questionable. If I think like that, I'd rather we weren't called punk. Though I do like a lot of the bands that have been labelled punk. (laughs)
-What do you feel about other contemporary bands?
One of the reasons why we started this band was because we couldn't find many current bands that we liked. Personally, bands that I like are usually old bands. Like Wire….and the Velvet Underground, The Specials, The Who…But whatever age it's from, if it has the power to move me, then I'll listen to it. Whether it's dance or whatever.
