An Interview with Frank Turner

[Creepybuttercup]

i saw him live in berlin last friday! he was awesome!

[MrImAMonster]

Guys, guys. We are all just "stupid little kids." This probably coming from a thirteen year old who wants to be a big kid and gets his information off of Wikipedia. Notice how he failed to respond with his actual age. Why sir, you appear to embody the generic model for a "punk." Punk is basically rebelling against the masses and standing up for what you think is right. Is Frank Turner punk? In spirit, yes. As a musical genre, no. Turner is a fun, talented musician who sings about what he wants

[MaximumMartin]

He seems a little smug. sorry.

[rorz999]

@MaximumMartin don't be sorry - just read some of his lyrics, he's a smug prick! Thinks he's soo much better than most people cos he has a career in music, but seems to forget not everyone has the security of having an aristocrat father who can bail them out if they're struggling to make ends meet. Sucks cos I was a Million Dead fan back in the day; most of their lyrics seemed relevant without being too self-righteous. Now he acts like anyone who doesn't have a career in the arts must be unhappy

[DeapPolitical]

@rorz999 I've listened to all his music, and I'm quite familiar with some of it, and there is absolutely no evidence for what you say. He definitely points out pretty consistently that some people suck, but he is never at any point down on people who don't play music. He's more often down on people who, as he says in this interview, mythologize it. The only people he really calls out are the people whom he believes caused many of the problems in the world.

[RD2006]

I was so lucky to get A Song To Ruin when I did.

[devonsurf]

um im 30 years so wot?? old and if you read it properly i sed you are boring and predictable not the clash there one of my favourite bands!! siouxsie and the banshees on the other hand where more like madonna than punk music ?? wot year were you born??

[devonsurf]

@siouxboy74 wow thats the most boring predictable thing anyone has ever sed wot late 70s when there was about 2 good punk bands and about million of bands wich could not even play .. yr you was there first your my hero just cos yu whent to see the clash once after they got big and you heard them on capital radio and spent the rest of your life telling people you was there... pleas dont bother seding me another boring predictable replay like that cos it just rubish thanks!!

[leaguesmanoframsgate]

@siouxboy74 Yes, I am gay, and I am also a nerd. I fail to see what difference it makes, but I'd appreciate an idiot's poerspective on the matter if you're willing to oblige. As for your girlfriend's ass, peachy or otherwise, it is as based in reality as both the rest of her and my desire to be trepanned with a rusty awl, i.e. not very. As for going outside, well, agoraphobia's a bitch. Oh, wait, my bad, I've been using polysyllabic words. I apologise for hurting your tiny malformed brain...

[leaguesmanoframsgate]

@siouxboy74 I'd rather not get a girlfriend, thank you, as I'm not into girls, and I'm analytical because, once someone looks at your posts and analyses them, they discover that they are superior to you. As are things growing on damp bread. Learn some insults that make you sound like something other than a six year old (though your mental age is likely close) and learn some basic grammar (ellipses only have three dots, spaces go after punctuation, et cetera) before you start mouthing off again.

[leaguesmanoframsgate]

@siouxboy74 That was clever of you, in the usual punk-nostalgic not-clever-at-all way. To elaborate on my earlier point, you're pathetic. You live in a dream world where being sniffy about what is and isn't punk according to your ludicrously narrow view somehow makes you a god amongst men. Add in some casual homophobia and reverse snobbery (as has been detailed elsewhere, going to a good school does not someone upper class make) and you're the complete pub-bore package.

[leaguesmanoframsgate]

@siouxboy74 Pathetic attempt at trolling. Two stars.

[TheHaiiiJuan]

@siouxboy74 Haha shut up kid, fuck off and go back to listening to your bollocks you tasteless fucking cunt

[TheHaiiiJuan]

@siouxboy74 Writing good music is dull? Haha, you fucking dumbass. Go back and listen to John Lydon in between him coming out of your CD player and from your TV advertising butter hahahaha THATS SO PUNK.

[PriestessOfKvltlztht]

@siouxboy74 Sex pistols were created as a marketing product like a poor mans n*sync listen to real punk

[gypsypunk92]

@siouxboy74 the sex pistols aren't punk..they're just marketing. and thats not just my opinion. i dont understand how you can call frank a joke..hes pure talent and puts so much passion into his music and writes lyrics that are true to him. im not trying to criticize you here, im just trying to respectfully have an argument..i dont understand how you can call this guy a joke

[gypsypunk92]

@siouxboy74 punk rock means doing whatever the fuck you want and not caring what anyone else is going to say or not let anyone stop them. you dont need to suck at guitar and singing and write three chord songs to be punk.

[DeceptionOfTheState]

Who gives a flying fuck whether or not he went to Eton (on a scholarship BTW)? Just because he went to a good school (ON A SCHOLARSHIP) doesn't mean he is a rich snob who lives in a mansion milking money from us poor saps. He writes good music, he's a good guy, he's an honest guy. Do what people have done for the last 50 years and buy the music. The fucking good music.

[twenty8days24]

Frank will never read this, but I want him to know, I download illegal music all the time, but when it comes to your music or dvds, I will always pay for them to support your effort. I respect you as a musician, and wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing that I downloaded your artwork for free.

[Walkthestraightthing]

I agree that illegally downloading music is unfair on the artists and that he has worked hard but bottom line if he went to Eton how bad can it be really?

[skipmcfonz]

i do like the way he addresses pirating as it makes allot of sense however i have a "friend" who has this system whereas he will pirate 1 or 2 songs off an album that has been recommended and then if said "friend" likes it he will delete the 1 -2 song and buy the whole album in ways making it fair however my "friend" didn't have to use this system ..... he fucking loves frank turner :)

[bloofy]

He was awesome when he was playing with Greenday last July! Fucking epic show!

[beatlesdaytripper]

What a cock. Fuck off back to eton.

[ScouseCaspaXS]

Fucking LOVE Frank Turner going to see him in December.

[ICannotDreamTonight]

Ah, no "fuck off back to eton" here? None of you people? Strange..

[Androg]

Frank Turner rocks my bloody socks! Saw him live last year and my knees almost fell off, also I can't wait to see him at Leeds, that beardy billabong!

[mooghead]

The cameraman should zoom in and out more often. Not enough zoom action going on. Yawn....

[MvyMkr]

@mooghead Tbh, I don't really think that's the point of the interview...

[Dazza871]

fuckinggggggg wankyyyy thoughttsssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[liquidfreak]

He looks like a young bruce springsteen

[LucyMullins]

i am madly in lovewith his music.

i'd like him to be my friend so he can sing to me whenever i want.

[sonetlumiere12345678]

I know exactly what you mean!

[sinCwa]

@LucyMullins haha to be fair he wouldn't really be your 'friend' the would he? More of a personal Minstrel...

[awaflame]

anybody know when the million dead DVD is coming out?

[smee33]

pretty sure its out now

[devonsurf]

hes way to posh to be a punk...

[mbrinton]

Personally, I wasn't aware that punk was no more than a fashion statement.

[devonsurf]

Personlly i would say you never lived in south london in the late 90s

where punk was a and still is to a lot of people a way of life....

[sonetlumiere12345678]

At the risk of sounding pretentious punk is a way of life with a whole ideology to back it up. Punk really changed my life as a young teenager.

[Flowerblood]

Double negative?

[jonnydarkmusic]

You're way too elitist to be a punk...

[devonsurf]

who sed i was a punk??

[jonnydarkmusic]

You kinda implied it by saying "he's way to [sic] posh to be a punk" If however you're not, it means your judging someone on something you're not even part of which makes your point kinda moot

[devonsurf]

not if i was a punk but am no longer...

[Elltrixer]

He is a great person =]

[kingmatticus]

For fuck sake, he hasnt got a single song on an advert. That butter advert had a song by a small Brighton band called Lucky Jim and now everyones gone mental cause of some little bratty ingnorant self rightious idiot who immediatly didnt like his music thinking becaus he wasnt screaming he "sold out". Argh get a life and get your facts right. and for god sake listen to what he has to say.

[oscarkev190]

what are the two other cover songs he names after thunder road?

[SuperHenry18]

"Pay to Cum", "Evan Dando" (which I just used as a short term for The Outdoor Type, by lemonheads). both are on First Three Years.

[oscarkev190]

Really hmm I have first three years I didn't know pay to cum was a cover interesting. Why Evan Dando? haha I can't figure out any links there

[punchrocker202]

u should have more videos!

post more!

[SuperHenry18]

when bing pulls his finger out, there'll be a Gaslight Anthem one, 65daysofstatic and ...And you will know us by the trail of dead. that's WHEN he does something. right bing?

[digestivedunker]

The camera work is horrific at best

[MorbidSwine]

Love this man <3 wow i was at that gig!! xxxx

[icarustide]

this guy calling anyone arrogant is irony at its finest..

[ollihutch]

because he wants to get paid for being a musician? How oh so wrong of him...

[icarustide]

nahh, just his general attitude towards the world. he always assumes he knows better.

[lukejedwards]

Quite right, icarustide. He's just another phony rebel. Bring on the country life butter ad. There's far too many middle class punks pretending to care about politics and the world while lining their pockets at the same time. He's hardly Joe Strummer. Meh.

[sockpuff]

He has the exact same attitude to life as I do. He fucking knows what he's talking about, do you go touring all the time, spend vast amounts of money on nessiceritys for your job?

'Lining their pockets' did you even listen to the interveiw??

[lukejedwards]

All I'm saying is, I heard a Frank Turner song on a Sky ad - now, forgive me for thinking that somebody espousing pseudo-punk ethics would do better than to wank off Rupert Murdoch's enormous wad of moolah. Anyway, I did listen, and I think Frank Turner's a good musician and songwriter. But I do think he's pretentious and unprincipled, despite portraying himself as otherwise with his more political material. He's more in love with the musical aesthetics of punk, rather than punk itself.

[slomozovo]

That's not really how music in advertising works. The same as television and radio, most of the time a track can be used without the artist necessarily knowing. He's already given permission by publishing it, and if Sky decide to use it the first he'll hear about it is when he gets his royalties.

[SuperHenry18]

all people have to do is log the information and ensure they have the correct PRS licence. after that, they can play whatever the fuck the like. it's why you hear channel 5 using Mogwai's "Hunted By A Freak" in trails for shows about people with deformities.

[WaldoGrapelliOHare]

Great comment.

[thepriceofreality]

how is he a phony rebel? His music isn't *that* political.

who's comparing him to joe strummer!?!

[ozmafan1]

Great and very interesting interview, thanks for sharing - but my god that camera work is terrible and incredibly annoying, I had to keep looking away. It's not cool in the slightest, keep the camera stable!

But, thanks for sharing :)

[tornadolphin]

Really annoying camera work.

[dizzydaiz]

101st view! i feel so special :3 frank turner is the beez kneez <3

[goodcharlottefan529]

372nd woo

[zenaku0710]

as usual, amazing bing. =)

just asking, did you misspell on purpose your twitter account?

[versesca2369]

frank turner is brilliant! i absolutely love his music thatnks for uploading this 5 stas and fav

[chompteeth]

5 starz mate

[SuperHenry18]

I'm watching this while watching Dananananaykroyd on tv and thinking "I have their phone numbers". I feel well connected.

[RapidSkater1]

first 5 starts ^^

[XGigaman009erX]

1rst veiw, 1rst comment XD