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Q+A, Ten Minutes in the mind of Bobby Gillespie
Why did you start playing dance music?
Better music, better chicks, better drugs Is rock’n’roll dead? No.
There’s a lot of great rock’n’roll bands, like Jane’s Addiction, The
Teenage Fan Club, Aerosmith, Primal Scream
Are you a good dancer?
To some things, but on other tracks I’m pretty lost
What’s the last club you went to?
Either Kinky Disco in London or Front in Brighton. If something looks good, I’ll
go, but it depends who’s DJing, My best nights recently have been at the Front - good
people, good music
Was there one club or record that changed you?
No, it was meeting Andy Weatherall, and him doing "Loaded". His musical
views, his aesthetic, is very similar to ours. It opened us up to a different approach to
making music. I didn’t just hear one record and think, "Wow, we’ll make a
house record." We’re a rock’n’roll band, but we like going to clubs
and getting pretty wasted
Has E made people more passive?
Maybe, but it’s also made some people more tolerant, which can be a good thing. A
lot of different London football fans made the peace due to their participation in the
acid house scene
Are hippie ideals coming back?
No, This country was just involved in a war. We live in a right-wing country, and
people here seem to like getting involved in wars. I’m anti-patriotic. I don’t
hold much hope for young people here - they seem to be moreright-wing than their parents,
perhaps because they grew up under Thatcher
Should drugs be legalised?
Someone told me today that next to tourism, drugs are the world’s second biggest
industry! I don’t know if that’s true, but there should be drug education in
schools, explaining the real effects and risks. There’s too much of a taboo
surrounding them, yet usage is much wider than people think. If you want drugs, you can
find them, and some are legal, anyway - I remember in the Seventies seeing people’s
mums on Valium, and it wasn’t a pretty sight. I can walk into an off-licence and buy
alcohol, so I don’t see why I can’t walk into a chemist and get some Dexedrine
tablets because I feel like staying awake. And they’d be clean. They wouldn’t be
cut up with strichnine or stuff that’s going to do you bad damage. Then the police
could do something more useful, like catching rapists
What are the last books you read?
I re-read Nik Cohn’s I Am Still The Greatest, Says Johnny Angelo. He wrote the
short story which was turned into Saturday Night Fever - a great film with brilliant
music, but really sad. And The Basketball Pirotes by Jim Carroll, It’s a diary he
kept when he was growing up in New York In the Sixties, a really warm, beautiful book.
lt’s written as though he’s speaking to you as a friend. I like records like
that, too
And the last film you saw?
I can’t remember the last time I went to the cinema. The last thing I enjoyed on
TV was Entertaining Mr Sloane, by Joe Orton, with Beryl Reid. It’s a great English
film
Who’s the sexiest, Madonna or Kylie?
(long pause) Madonna, I think
Which Rolling Stone would you rather sleep with?
Mick Jagger, 1969. With Anita Pallenberg thrown In for good measure
Why do you always talk about sex in interviews?
I don’t! Honestly. It’s Alan McGee, our manager. He likes to think we’re
really sleazy. We used to be pretty sleazy, and probably some of us still are, but
I’m not. These things just get magnified
Are you gay or bisexual?
No, I’m trisexual. I’II try anything once
What’s your worst nightmare?
Last night, I dreamed that Robert from the band gave me a birthday cake and there was
writing on it, but in code. Beside the cake, there were two syringes with some king of
narcotic loaded up. So me and my girlfriend shot it up, and we had a really good time, a
transcendent feeling. We looked for Robert to get some more, but we couldn’t find
him. Is that a nightmare? I can’t work it out - dreaming about mainlining is pretty
scary. I’ve never had a drug dream before. I hardly ever dream.
Bobby Gillespie was talking to Sheryl Garrott
Originally Appeared in The Face August 1991
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