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Fri, Sep 10 1999
Rolling Stone / Sunrise Morrissey interview online

From anon:

On the Sunrise website  is an interview with Moz, which is not printable before Oct. 1st

Here it is anyway:

Rolling Stone: „Were you angry about the reactions (and reviews) according to „Maladjusted“, arguably your most beautiful and accomplished solo album? Is the British press maladjusted, and what can you do about it?“
Morrissey: „If there’s one thing I’ve grown to NOT expect it’s good reviews. The ONLY thing from me that the British press will review positively is my death.“

Rolling Stone: „Are you still living in Spain? Did you escape from England?“
Morrissey: „I’ve lived for the best part of the last two years in Los Angeles, where I remain, and which I even quite like. All the awful cliches about Los Angeles are, of course true. But I feel less affected by them than most, because I happen to think that ALL PEOPLE EVERYWHERE are mad.“

Rolling Stone: „Will you sign a new record contract soon?“
Morrissey: „Yes. My manager (Elliot Roberts) is on the lookout for a good deal for me.“

Rolling Stone: „Will you record new records at all?“
Morrissey: „Oh, yes. I still love singing. I have a complete album ready to record, and the songs are very strong.“

Rolling Stone: „How do you work with music composers on songs? Do they work with your lyrics?“
Morrissey: „Nobody ever works with the lyrics. I just take the basics of a backing track and shout along to it for a few days, seeing where the syllables land, and seeing how the words balance out. Suddenly the lyrics form, and a configuration presents itself. I never „jam“, and almost never rehearse. I’m just very lucky that whatever it is that I do eventually becomes music.“

Rolling Stone: „Are you happy with your recent albums?“
Morrissey: „Very. Especially „ Your Arsenal“, „Vauxhall And I“, and „Southpaw Grammar“. I’m thrilled that those three albums exist. They are great Company for me.“

Rolling Stone: „What’s the reason for the current tour, and why did you give it a title?“
Morrissey: „The only true reason for the tour is because I want to sing, and because we want to play. There is no record company, there is no promotional scheme. I just want to stand on a stage and sing.“

Rolling Stone: „Which authors do you prefer at the moment? Do you read novels as well, and philosophy?“
Morrissey: „I am only a skimmer these days. I buy lots of books and flick through them backwards. Most of them are awful. This constant flux of pop music essays. Just who cares? The trouble is, most modern novels actually LOOK very interesting. Jacket design is 80% of the pull. You buy it, get it home, and it’s straight into the bin. And you sit there thinking, ‘well, what now?’.“

Rolling Stone: „Can we expect a new album soon?“
Morrissey: „Yes, as soon as I find a new record label. This has been the longest pause between recordings that I’ve ever had, only because my last label (Mercury) collapsed, and there were lots of legal wranglings as the artists tried to get themselves released. I was very lucky because some groups had actually recorded new albums which wouldn’t get released because the label was finished. But the groups weren’t allowed to take their recordings with them, and the masters were kept by the new company who bought Mercury, and by law the artists are not allowed to re-record those songs for another seven years! What an awful mess to spring on anyone.“

Rolling Stone: „Is God alive?“
Morrissey: „ I’m far too provincial to answer that question.“

(© Rolling Stone, September 1999)

Comments / Notes (71)
Tour update / more denials from venues

Will keep updating as I get more confirmations / denials. From Carlos Sousa:

The concerts in Portugal will take place in "Coliseu de Lisboa" - Lisbon and "Coliseu do Porto" - Oporto.

From David Gejlemo:

Regarding Oct. 25 Stockholm - Arenan:

Tickets are NOT on sale, EMI says there is NO SHOW planned with Morrissey that day. Ticket agency Biljett Direkt has no tickets, and did not know anything about a show.

From Mark:

I rang the Forum in London (again) this afternoon. they said the dates in November are "definitely, 100%" NOT happening. Ho hum, should not have got my hopes up I suppose.

Comments / Notes (6)
Momus namechecks Morrissey in Onion interview

First to spot this is John tha... well, you know:

The latest edition of the Onion online has a Momus interview in their A/V section where Momus talks about Moz a bit:

O: What about "Maf"? What took you to make that particular person a killer?
M: Um, because he suggested it to me. We exchanged quite a few e-mails about how we should present the song. He was really involved. You know, he's obviously a creative guy, and he wanted to become this larger-than-life character. I think he's a bit of a Morrissey fan, so... Morrissey has always struck me as being a bit of a latter-day vaudeville star, so I kind of allowed him to live out his Morrissey fantasies. He almost becomes Morrissey in this song. There's a line about how I'd hoped to kill Morrissey but Maf was my second choice. I just made it so very vaudeville.

O: Is Morrissey someone you admire?
M: He is, yeah. I think I admire his interviews more than his music, because he's very witty and funny. He's got a very dry and bitter humor, which I find hilarious. I think it's terrible that he doesn't get interviewed as much as he used to.

O: It's always struck me that there are two sorts of Morrissey fans: those who are in on the joke and those who aren't.
M: Well, I don't see how you couldn't think that he was funny. I mean, yes, I guess a lot of people must still believe to this day that he was celibate, which was one of his funniest jokes, this thing of being so wildly sexual and claiming that you're not interested in sex.

Comments / Notes (9)



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