Illinois Entertainer April 2023 | Page 23

Tonight ”) fan , and I ’ m a big fan of Seth Myer ’ s “ Closer Looks ” slot , and I read Salon . I used to read Slate until they said something bad about me . And not because it was bad , but because it was ignorant . I can ’ t even remember what it was , but it was something that , within the context of the article , they should have gotten right , but they didn ’ t . But I imbibe a lot of stuff , right across the spectrum , because you always have to know what ’ s going on , on both sides . And I read the German papers , sometimes French , but not every day , and sometimes occasionally an Italian one , a Spanish one , or a Dutch one , just to keep up , and also because I don ’ t need to atrophy in all these languages . I can hold a conversation in about seven or eight languages , and I ’ m pretty good at reading twelve to fifteen , I would say . And it impresses the hell out of people at European press conferences when I don ’ t need a translator . And sometimes it impresses the local record company if they ’ re halfway decent . It was noticeable that the minute I moved to Germany , in the same town as extra-crazy .
IE : You ’ ve shaven your head now , too . But does anybody even recognize you walking down the street ? AE : No , because I haven ’ t got my shades on when I ’ m just walking down the street .
IE : What are some of your craziest shows , ever , that you were amazed you survived ? AE : There was one secret warmup gig that we did in a pub in Leeds . And we have a tendency to do that , and our secret gigs really are secret – we only announce them on the day of the gig , and we don ’ t tell the press . So it ’ s not like the secret gigs that everyone else does , and we always play for free , and we do them wherever ’ s practical , and we play as Neo Meth experience . Anyway , this particular pub wasn ’ t exactly suited – I mean , it was designed for bands , but not a band that packs people in , twice as many as there should be . So this was the hottest gig I ’ ve ever done , and I wasn ’ t the
the record company – whose personnel I interacted with a lot – our sales rose markedly .
IE : But you ’ re back in Leeds now , right ? AE : Yeah , but not by design . I just had some stuff here to take care of before I ’ m somewhere else . I have no family , and that ’ s fine by me . I ’ ve never had a wife , I ’ ve never had children , I ’ ve never had a mortgage – I don ’ t rent , I just buy for cash . But I do have pets , usually three cats , but because my main residence is semi-rustic , there ’ s quite a lot of natural danger lurking for cats . So whereas I would normally have three , one goes through phases of attrition , and I ’ ve got the one now , at the moment . I don ’ t know exactly how old he is – he was a stray , so he ’ s probably about twelve , and he ’ s called Organ Morgan , and it ’ s a character in a radio play by a gentleman called Dylan Thomas .
IE : Not to make light of it , but when the pandemic hit , and we were instructed to stay inside our houses , away from other people , and avoid any close interaction , I thought , “ Fine . Done .” I was already headed in that misanthropic direction anyway . How about you ? AE : Same . Except I was for a while banged up in one room with a crazy woman . I ’ m not good at picking girlfriends . They ’ re very good at picking me . She was with me during the pandemic or part of it . But it was her flat , so she was allowed to be
The Sisters of Mercy circa 1987
only one onstage who thought this – I really thought I was gonna die . It was unbelievably hot , so that was one where I thought , “ I ’ m not getting out of here !”
IE : Coming through the last few years , and nearly dying a couple of times along the way , I have a whole sense of – and respect for – mortality now . You ? AE : Well , I ’ m writing the best stuff I ’ ve ever written . So I guess there ’ s hope . And for everybody , really .
IE : When will it be recorded ? We need it ! AE : Hmmm . Maybe I don ’ t .
IE : Are you just going to continue performing it live ? AE : Well , it ’ s what we started off doing , and it served us well . But you know , people have been asking me this question for a long time now . But I ’ ve never been asked this question by anybody in a band or a record company . They know . And I think you ’ d better ask someone who has put out a record and ask them whether they enjoyed the process . And I ’ ve got other stuff to do , man . I ’ ve been watching a lot of anime . Again . And I ’ ve got a list of 5,000 books on my short list of stuff to read , and I ’ ve got 10,000 films on my short list of films
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