French Version

Interview with Jean-Jacques BURNEL, "The Stranglers" June 9th

1. What are the 3 words which can symbolize the Stranglers ?

   There is only one word : genius. Of course if you don't understand what that means, it could be eclectic, savage, intellectual, melodic, rhythmic, unique.

2. Have you quietened down by getting older ? Or are you still a rebel ?

   No. I have developed much more self-control. In fact, I laugh at provocation now, but there is always a point beyond which you shouldn't go.

   
   
   
   
   
   

3. Tell us about your last gigs tour in France (March 24th - April 7th 2007)

   It was very enjoyable, very tiring actually this last French tour because we accepted to play in Fnac, a chain of record stores within France. So we did that in the afternoon, little mini concerts, acoustic, just Baz and myself, and I think that took a lot of energy from me, but it was fine in the evenings when it was tiring over all.
   
   One night, Baz and I were supposed to travel over night with the road crew to get into Paris on time, to do a very early morning radio show with some guy called Nagui or something or Nagua, nag, nag, nag...yes he was nagging, a Europe 2 radio programme with a big audience, but the day before I just thought it was too much, I'd really prefer to sleep because the object of the tour was to be in good form and to play in the evening, so everything beside that was peripheral. So I made my excuses and apologized and cancelled it.The guy said on his radio show : "well the Stranglers are too tired so don't bother going to see them tonight in Paris !". What a wanker...that shows he has never played, he is not a musician and he doesn't know what it is like to travel and then play and to give yourself 100 percent...

4. How was your relationship and collaboration with the support band BP ZOOM ?

   Great. They are nice kids, very talented young musicians, good looking, they are from Lille which is quite a cool town. They are very friendly and confident, I wish them the best of luck. We did to them what we do to most of our support bands : on the last show, Baz and I came on completely naked, except from our Doc martens and we streaked cross the stage...they were embarassed...

   
   
   

5. Jet Black didn't play with the band, how is he feeling now ?

   Jet didn't do the European tour when we played in Poland, Belgium, France, Italy...He did play with us last week in Spain. He didn't manage to play the next day with us in the Isle of Man. He is 67 now. He is one of those musicians who had lived the rock'n'roll life style a 100 percent and has been quite a hardcore rocker. He is getting slowly better, hopefully he will be able to play with us during the Summer festivals.
   
   Is it true that he is the oldest English punk rocker still gigging ?
   
   The oldest musician gigging I suspect ! Of course, Jet is the oldest punk rocker ! To play drums with the Stranglers is not easy, drums are very physical.

6. Are you in contact with British musicians, do you know the current British rock bands ?

   No. We have never really mixed with other musicians. British musicians tried to avoid us so we have always been kind of marginalized, but I do have a few musician friends !

   
   
   
   
   

7. In your last album "Suite XVI" which topic do you prefer (war, hatred, infidelity, old age, time goes by ?)

   I don't like any of those topics, but I don't have much choice but to live with them...

8. Have you written other songs for your next album ?

   We are trying to prepare for it. We collect, accumulate ideas. Some are not very well-formed, but we keep them. we will use a song for a new film we've got involved in, which is called Sucker Punch which is a fight movie basically about illegal cage fighters.

9. How do you work to compose the songs ? And who is writting them ?

   The initiators, the writers are Baz and myself, and between us we write the lyrics and music. As songs are just skeletons and bare bones we give them to Dave and Jet and they help us add "the meat" so the song develop its own personality and characteristics.

   
   
   
   

10. 33 years of Stranglers, let's celebrate ?

    I ain't got time to celebrate !
    
    No ? Do you think you can't or mustn't do something in particular to celebrate it with the public or your fans ?
    
    Yeah, this Autumn will be 30 years since we broke the record held by the Who and Stones for the consecutive nights of the Roundhouse. It was one of my favourite venues when I was a teenager. We played there with the Ramones and Patti Smith. We were the first European bands which played with them. It will be a good idea to mark that anniversary. We will play at the Roundhouse on November 4th our two albums issued 30 years ago, Rattus Norvegicus and No more heroes.

11. Is it easy to find a balance between your job as musician/singer/composer/ interpreter, family life and your hobbies ?

    It is now because I have no more family life so my hobbies, my three passions (music, karate, motorbike) maintain, unfortunately, a distraction from my family life ...My hobbies take a lot of my time. Next year I will move to Japan for 7 weeks to train and to prepare the next Stranglers album. It gives me any sign to another world which I am grateful for and moves me away from my generation of complete alcoholic and junkies and also it gives you the strength to face the downs and also gives you the magnanimity to control the highs...

12. I have noticed that for your last gig in Lyon (March 27 th -Transbordeur) you played in the small hall.You didn't have enough booked tickets to play in the big hall ?

    I think that's right but I don't think our visit to Lyon went unnoticed. There are some people who addicted to the band. The fact is that we have annoyed a lot of people over the last 30 years and have enemies...But it doesn't bother me. We can play for10,000 people and we can play for 500 people. I will be disappointed if I play only in small places it will not pay my wages ! But I prefer to play in small places, it's sweaty, you see people, you can smell them....

13. Why do you always play the song "All day and all of the Night" from the Kinks ?

    Because I have always loved it ! and because it's a magic moment for the Kinks. It's good fun and we adopted it. We had a big hit with it so it has become a kind of our song as well, we kidnapped it and our version has been in films as well.

14. Do you work for other projects apart from the Stranglers ?

    The Stranglers take up most of my musical time. So if I do have spare time I try to get interest in new projects but it's difficult. Two years ago I was involved in Japanese Mangas Animation films and won the animation prize in Osaka and Tokyo.

15. Which question would you like to be asked ?

    I think I heard them all ! One question I do like to be asked occasionally is why the Stranglers aren't recognised as the greatest band ever to come out of the U.K, if not the best rock band ever, and the answer is because we pissed off so many people - but hello we are still alive !
    
    Which one would you never want to hear ?
    
    The one I have heard once was in a revue of a Stranglers album in the ninetes. It just said : The Stranglers, the title of the album, then the journalist added only one word, why ? It was pretty awful but the journalist who wrote that is dead and his newspaper no longer exists - and I'm still here !