Marr on Moz in new Mojo

[faroffplaces]

Well, now that we're discussing the relationship between Marr and Morrissey. I'd like to quote something from a interview with Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse. This interview has been printed in the latest issue of the Danish (or Aarhusian) magazine called Gaffa, where this Isaac is talking about their(i.e. MM) newest release, Seattle, the sea ... and then, Johnny Marr. So I will now try to translate things back into English again - I suppose the original interview was in English. Well, here we go:

"And Johnny has become a part of it (i.e. the band), and as far as I understand it's the happiest band family, he'd been a part of. From what I understand, Morrissey isn't the most well-functioning person, but who is? But it sounds like that it was more about a fight than music." - Isaac Brock

Well, that's it! - Guess it's nothing new really, but anyway, now you know. It seems to be the same old thing about their relationship ...

Cudweed

Gawd, I admire and love Isaac and Johnny, and I also feel much of the anti-Smiths subtext of recent MM interviews has been inserted by the interviewer - but every once in awhile, there's just one that hits you in the eye, isn't there?

I mean, you guys are riding the world like a mechanical bull, why do you have to stop to dig at Morrissey? Can't whatever conflict there is between Moz and Marr be played out in private? And yes, I agree that it's mostly been Johnny, over the years. Though naturally anything Johnny says gets taken as gospel, while anything, however mild or humorous, that Morrissey says gets treated as evidence of his frothing anti-Johnny madness (and I think both of them know this).

(I also love any comparison between new band/old band that favors MM, because, once again - admiration, love, etc - Morrissey was too dysfunctional for Johnny Marr but Isaac isn't?

How the hell does that work?)

 

[Danny]

I'm so glad Boz and co have too much class to get involved in this shit and I'm so glad Morrissey has too much class to let them get involved.

 

[StillReel]

For me Morrissey & Marr were The Smiths

Moz mentioned in one of his interview,not so long ago, that if he and Marr ever reunite,then they will call it, Morrissey & Marr and not 'The Smiths',which I think will be interesting.

I know & understand why Moz doesn't need Marr nemore but the music & the lyric that only they can come up with is like lovemaking,orgasomic.

There is a light that never goes out....

 

[Worm]

From what I understand, Morrissey isn't the most well-functioning person

Isaac certainly sounds like a brilliant guy.

"From what I understand, Zack de la Rocha might be against international corporate cartels".

"From what I gather, John Lennon was a supporter of the peace movement".

"From what I hear, Sir Mix-A-Lot appreciates ladies blessed with substantial posteriors".

Re: Articles

Come on. Every Morrissey fan is well aware that journalists slant stories to suit their ends all the time. Why would anyone believe they're getting the straight dope about Marr? My guess is, Marr spoke to writers about Modest Mouse for about one hour and about The Smiths for about one minute, but guess which material got printed prominently? I find it funny, actually. Writers would rather talk about the family feud between Morrissey and Marr than the new Modest Mouse album. Even twenty years later dead Smiths make better copy than living Mice. Sounds about right to me.

 

[scottishblood]

I tried to scan the magazine. Here are the pages in order. If you click on the full size icon on the left hand size the writing becomes clearer.

http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l59/redwhite3/?action=view&current=marr1.jpg

http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l59/redwhite3/?action=view&current=marr2c.jpg

http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l59/redwhite3/?action=view&current=marr4c.jpg

http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l59/redwhite3/?action=view&current=scan0005c.jpg

http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l59/redwhite3/?action=view&current=marr6c.jpg

Hope this works, be gentle as it's my first go at this.

 

[Worm]

Thank you SO much for posting those pages. I've always liked interviews with Johnny Marr and this was one of the better ones.

I found it interesting that he picked "The Queen Is Dead" as the classic, not "Strangeways", and also mentioned he felt The Smiths' 'zenith' was the period from "This Charming Man" to "Bigmouth Strikes Again". Probably true, but I've never heard him say that before.

It was also a relief that he condeded that maybe Electronic hadn't aged well, and that The Healers were somewhat flawed and have changed. He seems moderately capable of self-criticism, which is nice-- so is Morrissey.

Finally, I recall a thread awhile back where people were (yet again) comparing Marr to Morrissey's post-Smiths guitarists, and in a side discussion there was a debate about whether or not the music was more important or the vocals. In this interview, the co-songwriting process he describes is so natural and dynamic, and his own description of his playing style is explained so interestingly, that it should put to rest any talk that Marr was just another muso. I'm certainly not moaning over the dissolution of this relationship, but what is worth lamenting is that nothing like it seemed to follow. I don't think Boz or Alain, as good as they are, ever sat with Morrissey at a table with a guitar and a tape recorder pouring their hearts into songs that formed as if by magic. This excellent interview puts in tangible terms what we mean when we talk of missing chemistry.

 

[Your Arsenal]

I'm really glad Marr did this interview. It really does bring closure to alot of the missing gaps.
Can't wait to read more about this in his forthcoming book

 

[faroffplaces]

Thanks for posting that!

For some reason, I'm ridiculously pleased to learn that Johnny is a synaesthete (though doesn't spit out the term, for some reason; maybe he's in the surprisingly high percentage of syns who say things like, "Yes, I hear colors and shapes, but everybody does, surely?").

Beyond that, I thought the bit about the respect lasting much longer (i.e., yes, we get it, you don't respect him anymore) was unusually cold. But eh - it's Johnny, mixed messages are his game, personally I'd rather hear him on any other subject by now...

I think he's in way deeper with MM than he's saying - I just think he's preparing a prospective escape route with all this "maybe one more album, I don't want to make it hardcore official and set myself up to become Johnny The Guy Who Leaves Bands" talk.

I'd give much to witness his "ticking-off" of Isaac after the cutting incident. Somehow one pictures it as the worst-ever lecture from your tiny, angry dad.




Anyway, fascinating to read a Brit magazine's take on this, instead of American - all of a sudden Modest Mouse are something like a charming but ultimately inconsequential side project, another excuse to interview a Smith.




EDIT:

In this interview, the co-songwriting process he describes is so natural and dynamic, and his own description of his playing style is explained so interestingly, that it should put to rest any talk that Marr was just another muso. I'm certainly not moaning over the dissolution of this relationship, but what is worth lamenting is that nothing like it seemed to follow. I don't think Boz or Alain, as good as they are, ever sat with Morrissey at a table with a guitar and a tape recorder pouring their hearts into songs that formed as if by magic. This excellent interview puts in tangible terms what we mean when we talk of missing chemistry.

Yep.

(I'm also glad to see Johnny discussing the openness and fluidity of his songwriting with Morrissey, considering that I've read so much MM press lately which makes a big point of following his comments about the similarly fluid Marr-Brock writing process with some deadly sentence about Marr and Moz writing by tape swap.)

 

[Mars_Rover]

Scottish Blood, thank you so much! You're a champion -- very good job.

 

[Kyoko]

I'm so glad Boz and co have too much class to get involved in this shit and I'm so glad Morrissey has too much class to let them get involved.

I think it's more like, whatever they have to say isn't publication worthy. Johnny is a guitar hero that has inspired many successful artists. I could be wrong but when was the last time you heard of a huge band give credit to Boz or any of the others as inspirations?

Are you sure MM was making a dig? Morrissey is anything but normal isn't that why we love him so much?

Kyoko

 

[Kyoko]

I think they stop and have a dig out of jealousy, really. I mean it's been 21 years now, and any mention of Marr seems incomplete without reference to Morrissey. Who's going to be talking about Isaac or MM in 20 years? Nobody is my guess. I would also guess that Marr knows that, but I don't know if that's true for the rest of MM.

Don't you think journalists keep bringing up the Smiths and Johnny is tired of talking about it each and every time and possibly some of his comments have more to do with his irritation with the situation or the interviewer than anything to do with Morrissey? Don't you think this is what journalists do to sell magazines?

Kyoko

 

[pandora_cocteau]

I don't know why people still care about this relationship. People grow apart, just because we live in the past, does not mean that all people do. How many of your friends from the 80's are you still in close contact with? Going on tour with a person is more than just spending time together, it is a living arrangment for an extended period of time and includes a lot of work from both parties. However, this is just another example of how helpless Marr is without Morrissey, and yet another indication that The Smiths indeed were Morrissey, and without him, they would have been just another mediocre band discovered by dust-covered music obsessed go-hard neo historians.

 

[Kyoko]

Moz mentioned in one of his interview,not so long ago, that if he and Marr ever reunite,then they will call it, Morrissey & Marr and not 'The Smiths',which I think will be interesting.

I know & understand why Moz doesn't need Marr nemore but the music & the lyric that only they can come up with is like lovemaking,orgasomic.

There is a light that never goes out....

Morrisssey & Marr is a good first step. Just like Reed & Cale and we all know what happened next.

Kyoko