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Sixty seconds in the head of...

by Johnny Davis
The Face vol. 2 no. 95, August 1996


So, Bernard, you've been pretty busy recently; playing on Neneh Cherry's new single, recording with Tim Booth and Angelo Badalamenti and producing the band Hopper... Well, it's pretty pointless me making rock records all my life. I don't want to waste people's time. Nobody wants another guitar band that just plays guitar rock. And if Tim Booth, a guy from Manchester who's into dance music, and Angelo Badalamenti, a 50-year-old New York Italian composer, decide you fit into their picture, then it's interesting and it's different.


You're not that impressed with the pop charts at the moment? The bad thing about Oasis is that it's The Cult Of The Legend come back: Noel's McCartney, Weller's Clapton and Ocean Colour Scene are the Spencer Davis Group crossed with Cream crossed with Manfred Mann. By stringing bits of old songs together, wearing the right clothes and throwing some shapes you'll be on TFI Friday and Bob's yer uncle. It's a joke.


Heard the new Suede single, then? Suede have made a glam rock record. Great. They want to be pop stars. They want to be as big as Shed Seven. I've got different ambitions in life than hang around with a group of people who talk like: "Let's hang out with some bizarre-looking South Americans, yah." There's a middle-class romanticism a lot of people have about London. Getting on the Northern Line and going "Wow, all this energy and atmosphere," while everyone else is going "No, it's the Northern Line. It's shit."


There are persistent rumours you've joined (what was) The Verve... Nah. I've met Simon the bass player and I've met Richard [Ashcroft], but there's nothing in the air. I've heard that me and Johnny Marr and John Squire are all going on tour this summer to do a blues rock festival. I've heard that I'm working with Gary Barlow or Robbie Williams. I hear different rumours each week.


So what are you up to? I'm making a record, as usual. I've got things that I've got to do desperately that I haven't achieved yet. And I know that ultimately I'll always be criticised for being what I am, which is living happily married, with three cats and playing guitar. I wouldn't be surprised if I never had another record in the charts (grins). But I've got my design for life.






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