Q – Lloyd, a question. Well, three actually.
1. How would you put into words your feelings when a fan comes up to you and says ‘thanks for getting me through the hard times. You are da man, you really know what pain is’ or something like that?
2. Do you ever think ‘Christ I can’t be bothered to write songs anymore. Being a rock legend is actually a pain in the arse sometimes. I would just rather retire and play golf’
3. The Bunnymen are playing with the Royal Philharmonic in a special Ocean Rain concert at the Royal Albert in September. Is there a chance that you would consider doing the same with DGWOM and a full orchestra at some point in your career. You have often said you don’t particularly care for that album, even though a lot of fans say it is their fave.
Thanks as always, Gus
A – Gus, three answers, then –
1/ It is very strange. I don’t really like to hear it in the first person, it embarrasses me… but I guess I need to know that there are some folk out there who feel this way, otherwise – why do I do this? I think it’s part of the (being) English Problem.. Hell, I cried when I heard Cohen sing Chelsea Hotel at The Beacon Theatre.
2/ It’s not an option, really. As long as the songs come, I’ll find a home for them. I do sometimes look forward to when they stop coming, as they inevitably must. The times when I’m not working on a song, and I don’t have it in my head 24 hrs a day are quite pleasant. I worry more about doing the Old Boxer thing – so many songwriters fail to acknowledge that they have lost the spark, or whatever it is that distinguished them from the also rans, and they keep writing, keep making records, when nobody else really wants them to. Often eventually undermining the body of work that they had built. No need to name names. I might well be on some people’s ‘Old Boxer’ list.
3/ DGWOMB never had the impact of Ocean Rain, which was the Bunnymen’s biggest record, so the chances are slim, to say the least… If someone asked if I’d consider it, I would. I don’t hate that record. The older I get the more I like it, I just wish I’d made two records instead of one split personality one… as it really didn’t work in the ‘market place’.