TV SMITH / THE ADVERTS : Interview (2006) ENGLISH VERSION

THE ADVERTS exclusive interview with TV SMITH
His new solo album "Misinformation Overload" has just been released : I'm especially proud to present an interview with the legendary ADVERTS' (former) singer ! Exclusive interview with TV SMITH by Hans Wehrwolf, for WARDANCE.NET 30 august 2006
	Hell-o Tim ! Can you please remind us briefly the ADVERTS' biography and what was the band's line up, especially for the youngest readers who perhaps never heard of you before ?... THE ADVERTS were a four piece band who started up in London at the beginning of the UK Punk Rock scene, playing our first gigs at the Roxy club, the birthplace of punk, in January 1977. I wrote the songs and sang, Gaye Advert played bass, Howard Pickup played guitar, and for the first album Laurie Driver played drums. We replaced him for the second album with Rod Latter. How and why did you decide to form this band, at the beginning ? I'd been writing songs for years and formed a band while I was still at school, then another one when I spent a year at art college. At the time I lived in the out in the country in the Southwest of England, but it was hard to get anyone interested in a band there. Gaye was my girlfriend and said she wanted to learn bass so we decided to move to London and start a band there. It was great timing that Punk started at the same time - it meant we had places to play and audiences who wanted to come and see us. Why did you chose that name of "THE ADVERTS" ? Is it because you met each others by placing some adverts in papers ? We did get our guitarist and drummer by placing adverts in the music papers but that wasn't the reason for the name. It's a comment on the fact that we're all being sold stuff in life, we're being persuaded we need things by the power of advertising until we don't know what we really want any more. A lot of music is just another product that is advertised and sold by the big record labels . By calling ourselves the Adverts we wanted to show that we recognized that culture in the music industry and we weren't going to be like that. TV Smith At that time, the ADVERTS' approach through your lyrics and songs themes was often (and is still) regarded as being quite "intellectual", in comparison with those of the usual and average punk bands. How do you explain that ? What kind of things did you intend to express, through your music ? I wanted -and still want- to look at what's going on around us and turn it into some kind of poetry. I want to look hard at things and find something new in there. Which other more or less well-known bands from this era did you play with ? Did you especially go along with some persons in particular ? We played with just about everyone at one time or another. We played at the Roxy quite often and in just the first few months we shared the bill with SLAUGHTER AND THE DOGS, EATER, THE DAMNED, WAYNE COUNTY, GENERATION X….loads of others too. In the summer of '77 we had a great month long tour of the UK with the DAMNED, and I've got on well with those guys ever since then. There are still some good people around from those early punk bands. One of my favourite ADVERTS song ever remains "One Chord Wonders". In my humble opinion, I think it's a timeless masterpiece, truly. Regarding the lyrics to this song, were they really representative of your own experience with the music industry ? I wrote that from my experience of being in bands before the ADVERTS, and wanted to say that if you're good it doesn't matter that no one seems to recognize it. There are still hundreds of bands that don't get the recognition they deserve, compared with all the terrible bands getting pushed by the big labels and on television - but the important thing is they keep playing anyway. That's the kind of band One Chord Wonders was about. The ironical thing is, when we actually formed the Adverts and played the song, Stiff Records heard it and loved it, and within weeks it was released as a single ! Same question, but about "No time to be 21". Would you still deliver the same message to the youth of today ? "Life's short, don't make a mess of it" I think that's a message that works for everyone, it doesn't matter how old or young you are. Did the band split up in 1979 or 1980 ? And what were the reasons for that ? In '79. We just burned out really. It had been an intense couple of years, going from first rehearsal to hit single and a endless touring in six months. We weren't really getting on well together and recorded a more experimental second album that wasn't much liked by the punk public. When that flopped and the label dropped us we just decided it was best to stop. Gaye Advert When you look back at the past, nowadays, what are your best and your worst memories ? I don't analyse the past. You just build on whatever happens and make the best of it. The important things is to know what you're doing now and why you're doing it. Did you ever plan to reform the ADVERTS, and can we expect some reunion gigs in the near future ? Or even some new recordings ?... There will never be an ADVERTS reunion. Gaye hasn't played the bass since the last day of the band, and the guitarist died a few years ago so any new version of the Adverts would be fake. You still live with Gaye Advert, don't you ? What are her activities nowadays ? Is she still interested in punk music, even though she's not directly involved in this scene anymore ? Gaye's working as a manager in social services. She still likes Punk, although she's really a big Metal fan now. TV Smith & Gaye Advert today Do you still own some unreleased video footage ? If so, is there a chance for them to be officially issued as a DVD, one day or another ? There is some footage around from various documentaries and TV shows, but I don't own the rights to any of it so I couldn't release it. I wish someone would! It would be interesting to have all those pieces of film together on one DVD. Let's talk about today, now. Your solo project, that you run under your own name, sounds a very different way, since you mostly use acoustic guitars. From your own point of view, do you think this solo orientation has anything to do with your past involvement with the ADVERTS or not ? For me the ADVERTS was the outlet for my songwriting, and it's the same with the solo concerts and the occasional band gigs I play now - it's all about getting the songs out there. The idea of solo gigs started out because I wanted to strip the songs back to the basics and show that even with just an acoustic guitar they could still work, still be "punk" and still be high energy. It also gives me the freedom to play gigs all over the place that I'd never be able to do with a band, and to play whatever I want every night without having to do the same setlist. I still get a thrill out of playing with bands though, and most of my records are still recorded with other musicians - the last one, "Misinformation Overload" has a lot of electric guitars on it and sounds pretty much like a punk record. What kind of people is your current audience made of ? Old nostalgic punk rockers only, or younger people as well ? All ages. I've had three generations of a family come to a gig and they all enjoyed it. I think it's great that you can share the same values no matter what your age is. What's your personal taste in music ? I don't listen to a lot. I'm playing more than 100 gigs a year and just get to hear whatever's playing in the club most of the time. When I get home I'd rather do some songwriting than listen to more music. Do you manage to live from your music, or do you also have another occupation ? I live from it, and for it. What are your next projects, now ? More gigs…some things I'm really looking forward to: fan clubs gigs in England and Germany, where I just play rare songs from the back catalogue that I don't usually play at gigs. Then a couple of gigs together with the bass player from my band after the ADVERTS, THE EXPLORERS, where we'll be playing quite a lot of songs from that band. Then I'm joining the "Dead Men Walking" tour in October for three weeks of gigs in the UK. I also have my book of tour diaries "Getting There" published next month which will let people know what it's really like to be out on the road as an independent musician. Well, thanks a lot for this interview ! The word of the end ?… Let's not make this the end. Let's just meet further down the road at a gig somewhere… TV SMITH's official website : http://www.tvsmith.com/ DISCOGRAPHY THE ADVERTS - One Chord Wonders (Single - April 1977) - Live At The Roxy, London, WC2 (Live Compilation - June 1977) - Gary Gilmore's Eyes (Single - August 1977) - Safety In Numbers (Single - November 1977) - No Time To Be 21 (Single - January 1978) - Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts (Album - 17th February, 1978) - Television's Over (Single - November 1978) - My Place (Single - June 1979) - Cast Of Thousands (Album - November 1979) - Cast Of Thousands (Single - November 1979) - Live At The Roxy Club (Live Album - 1990) - Live And Loud [with The Ruts] (Live-Album - 1995) - The Punk Singles Collection (Singles Collection - 1997) - The Wonders Don't Care (Radio Recordings - 1997) - The Best Of The Adverts (Best Of - 1998) TV Smith's EXPLORERS - Tomahawk Cruise (Single - November 1980) - The Servant (Single - April 1981) - Last Words Of The Great Explorer (Album - June 1981) - Have Fun (Single - June 1981) - Perfect life Single - (October 1981) TV Smith's CHEAP - 3rd Term (Single - 1990) - RIP... Everything Must Go (Album - 1996) TV SMITH - War Fever (Single - 1983) - Channel 5 (Album - 1983) - Coming Round (Single - 1985) - March of The Giants (Album - 1992) - We Want The Road (Single - 1994) - Immortal Rich (Album - 1994) - Thin Green Line (Single - 1995) - Generation Y (Album - 1998) - The Future Used To Be Better (EP - 1999) - Useless. The Very Best Of (Best Of - 9th April, 2001) - What If ? / New Church (Single - 2003) - Not A Bad Day (Album - 6th October, 2003) - Xmas Bloody Xmas (Single - 29th November, 2004) - Misinformation Overload (Album - 2006) A FEW LYRICS TO SOME BRILLIANT ADVERTS SONGS One Chord Wonders I wonder what we´ll play for you tonight Something heavy or something light Something to set your soul alight I wonder how we´ll answer when you say "We don´t like you - go away, "Come back when you´ve learnt to play" I wonder what we´ll do when things go wrong When we´re half-way through our favourite song We look up and the audience has gone Will we feel a little bit obscure Think "we´re not needed here, "We must be new wave - they´ll like us next year" The Wonders don´t care - we don´t give a damn © TV Smith No Time to be 21 Life´s short, don´t make a mess of it To the ends of the earth you´ll look for sense in it No chances, no plans I´ll smash the windows of my box I´ll be a madman It´s no time to be 21 To be anyone Hold back, see what you miss of it Out of the shadows, into the thick of it No maybes, no guessing I´m getting wound up The plot sickens It´s no time to be 21 To be anyone Strip down to the bare facts of it Into the cold heart, no hope and all that shit No chances, no plans I think I´ll be somebody else Or else a madman It´s no time to be 21 To be anyone We´ll be your untouchables We´ll be your outcasts We don´t care what you project on us It´s no time to be 21 © TV Smith Gary Gilmore's Eyes I´m lying in a hospital I´m pinned against the bed A stethoscope upon my heart A hand against my head They´re peeling off the bandages I´m wincing in the light The nurse is looking anxious And she´s quivering in fright I´m looking through Gary Gilmore´s eyes The doctors are avoiding me My vision is confused I listen to my earphones And I catch the evening news A murderer´s been killed And he donates his sight to science I´m locked into a private ward I realise that I must be Looking through Gary Gilmore´s eyes I smash the light in anger Push my bed against the door I close my lids across the eyes And wish to see no more The eye receives the messages And sends them to the brain No guarantee the stimuli Must be perceived the same When looking through Gary Gilmore´s eyes Gary don´t need his eyes to see Gary and his eyes have parted company © TV Smith Bombsite Boy Leapfrog over fences Little time, less senses Here by this railway cutting Life goes quick and it goes without warning That´s how life is in my bombsite dwelling But I don´t believe you have to be an idiot To get somewhere these days I don´t believe you have to sell your soul And do what everybody says Or get carried away Nowadays I fall among the empty shells and pray Give thanks - I´m happy where I am It´s just as well Well, I thank God never closed my eyes Thank God I never compromised Bombsite boy, the bombsite boy Thank God I wasn´t mesmerised Bombsite boy, the bombsite boy, the bombsite boy There´s a killer in your subway An anarchist on your street There´s a breakdown on your T.V. You can´t find no relief In fact no feelings at all Your war is totally internal At least I´m sure that mine is on the outside Thank God I never closed my eyes Thank God I never compromised Bombsite boy, the bombsite boy Thank God I wasn´t mesmerised Bombsite boy, the bombsite boy, the bombsite boy © TV Smith Great British Mistake The great British mistake was looking for a way out, was getting complacent, not noticing the pulse was racing - the mistake was fighting the change, was staying the same. It couldn´t adapt so it couldn´t survive, something had to give, the people take a downhill slide into the gloom, into the dark recesses of their minds. I swoop over your city like a bird I climb the high branches and observe Into the mouth, into the soul I cast a shadow that swallows you whole I swoop, I climb, I cling, I suck, I swallow you whole String out the drip-feed, they´re losing their world, they´re losing their hard boys and magazine girls, adverts illegal, TV as outlaw, motive as spell. They´ll see the books burn. they´ll be 451, it´s people against things and not against each other, out of the pre-pack, into the fear, into themselves. They´re the great British mistake the genie´s out of the bottle, call in the magician, they didn´t mean to free him, devil behind them, devil in the mirror, chained to their right hands. They´re the great British mistake - they´ll have to come to terms now, they´ll take it out somehow, they´ll blame it all on something. The British mistake - when will it be over? How can they avoid it? © TV Smith Safety in Numbers What are you going to do with your new ways? What are you going to do with your new wave? Maybe it´s that you no longer care Now you´re so great you´ve just got to stand here Or were you even bothered anyway About the new wave What about the new wave? Did you think it would change things? Here we all are in the latest craze Stick with the crowd, hope it´s not a passing phase It´s the latest thing to be nowhere You can turn into the wallpaper But you know you were always there anyway Withou the new wave What about the new wave? Did you think it would change things? It´s just safety in numbers When it´s tricky, when it gets tough When you need to feel that you´re good enough All you pretty people who´ve been taken over Had better start looking for your own answers ´Cause there´s no safety in numbers anyway Or in a new wave What about the new wave? Did you think it would change things? It´s just safety in numbers © TV Smith