abandoned many recording sessions
because we didn't feel that a great record
was going to come out of it. And that's
what you've got to do. If you feel like it's
not ready, there's no point in coming out
with a half-baked cake. So you just pull the
plug on it if it doesn't feel right.
IE: When you played one of your first
American shows at San Francisco's IBeam club, you performed a 20-minute set
with your back to the crowd. And the
crowd was visibly angry, with many fans
demanding their money back.
want people looking at me. So it took me
many years to feel confident enough to go
out there and not feel like I wanted the
Earth to open up and swallow me. I loved
the idea of being in a band. But in practice,
it was utterly terrifying.
IE: How has it felt, rehearsing
Psychocandy from front to back?
JR: Well, it's totally different now, because
then – as I said – there were loads of other
things going on. And we never played the
album in its entirety. Ever. That was one of
the things that kind of got us into doing
May 5
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Live In Paris
Breakage – When The Night Comes
Django Django – Born Under Saturn
The Dreaming Tree – Silverfade
Lyrics Born – Real People
Mumford & Sons – Wilder Mind
My Morning Jacket – The Waterfall
Nosaj Thing – Fated
The Proclaimers – Let’s Hear It For The Dogs
Torres – Sprinter
The World – Soul Food
May 12
05•2015
JR: The thing that people don't understand
is, we were very awkward people. We're
not very confident. And I particularly felt
extremely, extremely shy being onstage as
a frontman – I had a lot of trouble coming
to terms with that. I mean, I became the
singer purely by accident – it's not something I decided. I've told this story many
times, but it's absolutely true – me and
William tossed a coin to see who wouldn't
be the singer, and I lost the toss so I had to
be the singer. And then I find myself doing
a tour of America, and it was fucking terrifying. In my mind, I wanted to be Iggy
Pop, but I just couldn't do it – I'm just old
Jimbo Reid from East Kilbride (Scotland)
and it was overwhelming for me. So we
used to get really, really drunk and stumble about the stage, thinking "Well, this
will have to do." And I'd have them turn
the lights down really low because I didn't
10 illinoisentertainer.com may 2015
this in the first place. I mean, people have
been coming up with this idea for years,
and it seemed like, "Meh – do we really
want to do that?" But it was only when we
sat and thought about it that we hit upon
two things. One, this 30th anniversary
thing, it's going to happen, so we could let
it slide and that would be it – you can't go
back there again. So it was like a now-ornever thing. And then we just thought
about the fact that there are