Johnny was interviewed for the Daily Telegraph’s "Bands on the run" feature.
As the third US Britweek festival approaches , Tom Gockelen-Kozlowski talks to Johnny Marr about living in the US. Britweek is the result of a noticeable shift in our "special relationship", as more and more British musicians cross the Atlantic. More intriguing is the move to Portland that Johnny Marr made in 2005. Since moving, Marr has seen his career gain a new energy and seen the average age of his fans fall markedly. Now a permanent member of two bands, Modest Mouse and the Cribs, the Mancunian has – in Portland – found a place where he can finally escape the questions about The Smiths and the personal intrusions that fame inevitably brings in England. “The obsession with the celebrity culture and the wannabe celebrity culture – as big as it is in America, doesn’t occupy 80 per cent of the media as it seems to in the UK”, explains Marr. "This obsession with celebrating the moronic is something I found it very difficult to escape from." He now plays to audiences who think of him as the Modest Mouse guitarist who used to play with the Smiths, not the other way around, and it is this freedom to recreate your identity that seems to attract many British artists.
As the third US Britweek festival approaches , Tom Gockelen-Kozlowski talks to Johnny Marr about living in the US. Britweek is the result of a noticeable shift in our "special relationship", as more and more British musicians cross the Atlantic. More intriguing is the move to Portland that Johnny Marr made in 2005. Since moving, Marr has seen his career gain a new energy and seen the average age of his fans fall markedly. Now a permanent member of two bands, Modest Mouse and the Cribs, the Mancunian has – in Portland – found a place where he can finally escape the questions about The Smiths and the personal intrusions that fame inevitably brings in England. “The obsession with the celebrity culture and the wannabe celebrity culture – as big as it is in America, doesn’t occupy 80 per cent of the media as it seems to in the UK”, explains Marr. "This obsession with celebrating the moronic is something I found it very difficult to escape from." He now plays to audiences who think of him as the Modest Mouse guitarist who used to play with the Smiths, not the other way around, and it is this freedom to recreate your identity that seems to attract many British artists.
. “Making records, for young British bands, almost seemed like handing in your homework to Radio One,” Marr remembers. "I think a lot of so-called alternative musicians in the UK are closer to the X-factor than they’d like to admit."
In contrast, bands like Animal Collective and Vampire Weekend are finding success with music that doesn’t fit a well-run formula and brings something new to music fans. This upsurge of creativity exists, says Marr, because of the support of like-minded individuals sticking together. “In Portland and Williamsburg there does seem to be a genuine community of musicians who help carry each other’s bags." “I’m not being down on Britain,” Marr said more than once. “Provocateurs and people with something to say can say it nationally more easily in the UK and that’s something that’s always going to be better – it’s ultimately less conservative in the UK and I miss that. If you’re in the United States too long… everything gets a little beige.”
Read the full Daily telegraph piece hereTelegraph
