By Tom Lanham photo by Kevin Westenberg

ver the years , Justin Currie seems to have survived the turbulent music industry on his shrewd wits alone . And he does not suffer any less street-savvy fools gladly . Take , for example , when the Del Amitri frontman was padding his income a few years ago , working part time as a bartender in his native Glasgow . If he didn ’ t fancy the cut of your jabbery , self-absorbed jib while serving you , he had a subtly insidious way of letting you know . Nothing blatant and humiliating , he swears . But you got the message nonetheless . “ I wouldn ’ t spike their drinks or anything , but if I didn ’ t like people , I would give them three times the amount of alcohol in their cocktails than they were expecting ,” he snickers , while calling to discuss his band ’ s thought-provoking new janglefest Fatal Mistakes , out May 14 . “ So by the time they came back for their third one , they were basically unconscious — it was very satisfying . They got drunk so quickly because I was giving ‘ em so much booze that they just went home , which was great .” His other pint-pulling secret ? “ If you ’ re in a band and you ’ re selling cocktails , give all the other musicians free cocktails , so that when you ’ re looking for musicians yourself they ’ ll work for you ,” he says . You had five jars of Guinness , gratis , during his shift last week ? “ Hey ! You owe me a guitar part !,” he reckons .

Such vulpine cleverness could account for why this scrappy Scotsman has survived for nearly four decades in fickle showbiz , as both the anchor of Del Amitri — whose career kicked off with the 1995

hit “ Roll to Me ” — and as a solo performer with four folksy albums under his belt . Of course , a good deal of his perpetual appeal is his truly timeless , whiskey-seasoned warble , easily one of the best — and most instantly recognizable — voices in modern rock . And he sounds stronger and more R & B-assured than ever on Fatal Mistakes , which the bassist recorded in March of 2019 , pre-lockdown , in a concise threeweek session with longtime Del Amitri guitarist Ian Harvie . An early single set the misanthropic stage — “ Close Your Eyes and Think of England ,” a solemn piano dirge set in a Dystopian post-Brexit Britain whose title ( a female reference to unwanted sexual advances ) works as a wicked double entendre . But on this seventh group set , Currie still has a way with a chiming , ebullient hook coupled with a conversely morose lyrical outlook that could make a thirteen-step trip up to the gallows feel fairly festive ; “ God doesn ’ t love you ,” he promises in “ Musicians and Beer ,” and the horizon just grows darker , in “ Lonely ,” “ I ’ m So Scared of Dying ,” “ Losing the Will to Die ,” and the climatechange-metaphorical “ All Hail Blind Love .” Is there a lot happening just beneath the serene surface of his singalong songs ? “ Well , hopefully ,” he replies , cagily . “ Bit hopefully there ’ s not too much happening ON the surface !” Hey — we told you the guy was crafty !

IE : In the new song “ Otherwise ,” you sing about “ keeping the curtains drawn .” But there ’ s a family in my neighborhood that keeps their curtains open , blinds

pulled up , 24 / 7 . I saw them in there around midnight the other night , obliviously folding clothes and sweeping . Your song kind of reminded me of how odd that was . JUSTIN CURRIE : I ’ m usually like that , with the curtains drawn . But it ’ s been a couple of years now , and I ’ ve still not replaced the blinds in my living room . And opposite my living room , there ’ s a building that ’ s just all offices . So I ’ ve kinda been taunting them , because I rock into the room at 2:00 in the afternoon , and the place is a fucking mess . And you see all of these folks that have been in their offices since 10:00 in the morning , and they must absolutely hate us . It ’ s brilliant . They can look right into the room and see what absolute scumbags we are , and that we don ’ t actually have a normal job . So they must really resent us , and I find that , too , immensely satisfying .

IE : Have you waved to them ? Written messages on placards ? JC : I hope I haven ’ t . But I might have , if I ’ ve had too much to drink . But I don ’ t want to seriously taunt them . And there ’ s a guy who works opposite me , and he comes into his office every day around 7:00 in the morning , and he leaves at 7:00 at night . And all he does is stare at a computer all day , every day , and he comes in on Saturdays sometimes , as well . And I actually feel really sorry for him , and I think , “ You poor guy . What a shit life that is .”

IE : When you say ‘ we ,’ who else is sheltering in place with you , as it were .

JC : My girlfriend Emma . She ’ s been living here for seven years . And she had a kind of normal job , working for the tax office for a while , and then she had another normal job , working at night for a bank , doing credit card inquiries on the phone . But for the last couple of months , she ’ s left that . So I said , “ Thank God !” And now we ’ re living a reasonably normal life . Or normal for us , at least — we ’ re actually getting enough sleep .

IE : If Outlander has taught us anything , it ’ s that there ’ s a whole spiritual side to Scottish culture . Have you been in touch with it , or ever seen a ghost or something paranormal ? JC : I ’ m not a believer in ghosts , and I don ’ t know much about Scottish history or folklore . So when I ’ m in ancient parts of Scotland , I don ’ t know enough to conjure up in my imagination a ; these clans or this or that massacre . But sometimes I go walking with people who know about that stuff , and it ’ s quite interesting , because the landscape — once you get into the highlands — just hasn ’ t changed , it ’ s been the same for millennia . So it ’ s quite interesting to imagine , like , “ There must have been Vikings walking down this glen at one point , slaughtering people !” Those images do come to mind when you ’ re walking around the countryside in Scotland , but they come more from movies than they do from history books . Or at least they do in my case , anyway .

IE : Have you ever seen anything that

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22 illinoisentertainer . com may 2021