06-12-2009Interviews - The Stranglers

30 Fucking Years, Weve had a lot to say and are still saying it! Rocksnail talks to JJ of The Stranglers

Just after the tour of the UK Rocksnail caught up with Jean Jacques Burnel the bass guitarist and lead vocalist with the Stranglers who was in buoyant mood and why shouldn't he be - The Stranglers are riding high.

Peter Hook from Joy Division/New Order recently said about JJ "My bass sound was very much his sound I suppose. I used to look at JJ and watch him. Great bass sound, great player, a really great band...."


RS - So JJ the Stranglers were formed in 1974
JJ - Yes the band was formed in 1974 with Jet, Hugh and myself. We registered the name of the band on the 11th September. The official name was corporated that year.

RS - Since then you've had 42 hits?

JJ - Apparently yes

RS- And you have just finished a 25 date tour of the UK

JJ- It's our biggest tour in over 25 years

RS- It was a sell out...

JJ- It was successful we played to over 60,000 people. What can I say?

RS- And on the 6th January you start another marathon tour of Europe?

JJ- That's 15 countries in just over 5 weeks

RS- I was going to ask you about the next Stranglers Album

JJ- The next Stranglers album will be a studio album. We are working on that.

RS- That will be the 17th Album?

JJ- Yes I suspect that it won't be out until 2010.

RS- I take it you are involved in the writing process at the moment and have you got any material?

JJ- We've not got too much about 5 pieces - I think Baz has collected some - At some point after the European Tour we will sit down and exchange ideas and see which ones are worth pursuing. This is what we usually do and it's the best way.

RS- Norfolk Coast and Suite XVI, the two previous albums had very good reviews.

JJ- To be honest they were the best received albums in our whole career more than Black and White and No More Heroes.

RS- I did like Norfolk Coast and really enjoyed Suite XVI. I can understand why they had rave reviews.

JJ- That was worldwide!

RS- Do you know why?

JJ- We've talked about this amongst ourselves and I think it's the combination of a lot of things. I think first of all with Norfolk Coast it was because my songwriting had got so much better and I'd found another songwriting partner. I bounced off Baz and Baz and I bounce off each other and we see each other socially. It's just like me and Hugh except it's more equal. With me and Hugh I always deferred to Hugh because he was older than me and he was more knowledgeable than me. Bit by bit I got my confidence with him but at first it was an unequal relationship. With Baz its equal - We are both equal and it just works. Dave was also playing like he used to and he hadn't played like that for a while.

RS- Baz is in his 9th year with the band and the four piece seems to work

JJ- Yeah - Well after Norfolk Coast which did get a lot of support we were talking about why it worked and there's a whole generation of writers out there and critics who don't know about the baggage we had or they didn't get beaten up by us or their mates, or we didn't provoke them. They are just younger and they go on what the music is. All the shit we were involved in years ago is in fact for them, the youngsters, it's more of a badge of honour because bands aren't very exciting these days - They don't provoke, they don't cause trouble, they don't question this and they are not adventurous musically. They just want commercial success.

RS- It's about being squeaky clean and politically correct?

JJ- It is a bit isn't it? - Politically correct which we never were - all of that helped and when Paul left and we were left to a four piece and I was singing again I think a majority of people, even non committed observers prefer the Stranglers as a four piece. Worldwide the people have come to accept the four piece as the definitive Stranglers.

RS- Baz has slotted nicely into that role - I suppose when Hugh left in 1990 its hard because the Stranglers is a big brand name but you are now more successful than when Hugh left would you not agree?

JJ- We are more successful than when Hugh left which is kind of weird - You're a middle-aged geezer and we're entering uncharted territory.

RS- We've talked about things - Now as a band 30 years together and you have just done the Anniversary gig at the Roundhouse in London - I know this is a difficult question to answer but what is the secret to staying around?

JJ- I just think we've been as honest as we could be to ourselves and true to ourselves - We've never been the most commercially orientated so we've done stuff and we've taken risks. We've been ourselves, we've opened our mouths when others wouldn't and we've got into punch ups when others wouldn't have.

RS- All well documented

JJ- A lot of it yeah. We've fought our corner and we have delivered on record and that's touched people, although we had so many detractors in the early days but I think for us it's been a victory of substance over style whereas most of the world now is style over substance.
I think live, however old we are physically and sound wise we have delivered. We've touched enough people who are not necessarily the trendsetters but have been loyal - You earn that - You don't hype loyalty you earn it over a long period of time.

RS- You have ended up with loyal support and even through tough times you will always have a cult following

JJ- Birds of a feather flock together. You get the fans you deserve. If fans abandon you as soon as you've got wrinkles or you don't have a hit you get what you deserve. We've worked hard. Over the years people have stayed loyal and I think that reflects not only on us but the people we've attracted.

RS- How are you in yourself. Are you enjoying yourself?

JJ- I'm enjoying the Stranglers so much because I think now - Worldwide not only in the UK people are finally, after 30 fuckin' years, saying, what a great band and they've had something to say and they're still saying it.

RS - We've talked about the music press reviews but you get some very good reviews off some of the new bands coming through which is a nice compliment - groups like the Kaiser Chiefs

JJ- There's loads. In fact some of the festivals we've played this year with names which are bigger live bands than us - Baz and I would be looking off stage and we were catching glimpses of all these people at the side of the stage at all these festivals looking at us and we would come off and they would be giving us the respect thing. It's kind of weird after so many years of people shunning us and avoiding us.

RS- I don't think young people have pre conceived ideas about the Stranglers.

JJ- Well no - I think the whole baggage we had with our generation of journalists - the kids can't be arsed with that and in fact if anything it's cool.

RS- JJ what's the best advice for bands coming through?

JJ- People ask me this all the time and I usually say "No advice". I tell you why. They've got to make their own mistakes and learn and everyone's life and trajectory is different. The only thing I would say is to be true and honest.

RS- In the early days didn't you pretty much do a concert every night travelling in the old ice cream van.

JJ -1976 was our busiest year. I think we did over 200 gigs that year - Jet was saying nearly 300. He's got all the records.

RS- Can you still do that because a lot of pubs have closed.

JJ- The circuit has changed. We were lucky because we came in at the end of the Pub rock scene by which time there was a pub in every town which would put on live music and that was a really amazing circuit to learn your trade. It's kind of an apprenticeship. When that died you started to have the shoe gazers, people who didn't know how to front it and when you get booed or bottled you've got to front it and kids now don't know that so they haven't got the hard street education that we did. It's not their fault there just isn't a live circuit. Even when we couldn't get gigs we would make our own gigs whether it was in the back of a pub or a village hall so you've got to do that for yourself. People are not so used to doing things for themselves these days - everything's handed to them so those who do struggle and do things for themselves, like for instance the Artic Monkeys who used the new technology, Facebook,Youtube or whatever. They were innovators in that. You have always got to find new ways to be enterprising or have a manager who does. You've also got to be thick skinned as well - Its one of the contradictions. As an artist to want to be a sensitive person and on the other hand all the rejection and hard slog just getting an audience let alone a record contract requires you to be thick skinned so there an inherent contradiction there.

RS- Outside the Stranglers your main love is Karate?

JJ- I do a lot of Karate and motorcycling.

RS- So you're still interested in Motorcycling?

JJ- I ride it every day. It's the best way to get around London despite the cold.

RS- A lot of people don't realise that although you play the Bass Guitar you are trained to play the classical guitar.

JJ- Originally that's how I got into the guitar. Because my Dad when he was a young chef plying his trade between Europe and South America discovered tango music and South American music, hence Spanish music.... The teacher he got me when he was running a restaurant in Guildford was a classical guitarist so he taught me the rudiments and also, to please my dad, he taught me a bit of flamenco and bit by bit, whether I liked it or not I was going week in week out. Then it coincided with the 60's pop music and I played a few chords and I carried on the classical side of it until I was 17 so that was my musical basis.

RS- You also went to Bradford University

JJ - Yeah

RS- Did you still have your interest in music?

JJ- I was writing songs then - I'd already written Go Buddy Go. When I was at university everybody was buying records week in and week out and I was listening to them. I couldn't afford them and it was at this time I discovered The Doors and I became a big fan of The Doors. I wasn't doing much guitar playing then and I met Hugh. One night he came to my bed sit and I was playing my guitar. At the time I was saving money to go to Japan and he thought "Fuck me he can play the guitar"

RS- It went on from there

JJ-He said, "Well I've got a bass" I said "How many strings has it got? Oh it's got two less than this one, brilliant!"

RS - So the position is now to complete the European Tour and then you're looking at a new album

JJ-I'm really looking forward to doing that. That's the thing I really want to do the most at the moment

RS- Well I think that's about it, thanks for talking to us on our first issue.

JJ- OK It's a pleasure.