Ten Questions With A Cool Person: Frank Turner

So here it is, guys. The thing I was talking about... Ten Questions With A Cool Person. Today, we start
with (drum roll please) Frank Turner!

Since the day I discovered the mighty Frank Turner I could not help but listen to his albums and think back on life and say to myself, "I totally know what he's talking about".

His background of punk and hardcore hits many a soft spot with me, and his songs weaken the knees of even the strongest of ladies.

He has dominated festivals, toured with The Offspring and Flogging Molly among others, and has just been confirmed to headline the third stage at Download 2011. So if you're there, make a plan!
I was fortunate enough to get in contact with Frank and ask him a few things about stuff. And it goes a little something like this.


Cadillac (C): You started off with your band Million Dead. What brought on the decision to go solo and acoustic?

Frank Turner (FT): Well, the band came to an unceremonious end, so I had to figure out what to do next. At the time I didn't want to be in a band anymore, and I was a little tired of playing hardcore music, so I thought I'd try something very different on my own. Pretty quickly I felt like I'd found my niche in life, and I haven't looked back since.

C: Did you ever think that by going solo you would be headlining festivals and touring the world?

FT: Um... maybe I hoped, but not expected. I wasn't sure anyone would get it at first. I'm grateful every day that I get to do what I do.

C:Is South African an option?

FT: I would love nothing more than to play in SA. Know any promoters out there?

C: What was your reaction to The Offspring's offer for you to support them on tour?

FT: I was surprised but very flattered. It was a tough tour - just me and my guitar. At the time no one in the USA knew my music, so it was a challenge. But it was good to do, and The Offspring guys are lovely.

C: Your album Love & Ire Song is pretty much the anthem of every kid growing up - Everyone can relate to your songs. Do you write from personal experience?

FT: Yeah, everything is true stories, basically. I'm not very good at making stuff up. Haha.

C: Who is the Parisian girl?

FT: A now ex-girlfriend of mine. French girls are awesome, but can be a lot of work. It didn't last. But we're friends now, which is nice.

C: You come from a proper-English family it seems. How do they feel about you playing your "rebel's music" all over the place?

FT: Ha, my parents weren't over the moon about it at first, but they've really come round to it now, which is nice. My mum comes to gigs.

C: What would you be doing if you weren't playing music?

FT: I always fancied myself as being a history teacher actually - that's my other passion in life. Who knows....

C: What is your favourite place in the world..? Ever.

FT: Very hard to say. Toronto. London. The south downs in Hampshire. I love to keep moving, seeing new places.


So there it is. The first batch of Ten Questions With A Cool Person. Stay tuned for more!
If there is a cool person you'd like to see here drop a mail to ricki.allemann@gmail.com and I will do my best to hunt them down for you.


image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/frf_kmeron/4500949176/

Rad News!

Yes siree!
The bad news is that I can't tell you what it is until I post it. HA! So I'm just getting your eyes wet for what is to come.

I know I said I was going to write my entries by hand. But I run this bitch and I decided that I won't do them all by hand, only the ones I think of when I'm not at a computer. Sorry...


So don't stray too far away. All will be revealed.

Life As It Is

The past two or three weeks have been far from eventful for me. Aside from a few cool things here and there, nothing has really blown my mind with coolness or increased my love of life. And as one does is these situations, I began to think. I thought of the thing that humans have been trying to answer for millennia: Why are we alive?

I've had some time to think and talk to people, and I have finally come to a conclusion - We live to work and work to live. Yes, some people create amazing things that help humanity and the earth, but the average person has nothing to live for other than making sure they can live.

The "now generation" has been burdened with problems of past generations. It's now up to us to be Captain Planet and save the world - All while we're trying to earn enough money to be able to live and support ourselves, our families and our bad habits.
We have to be the best, and not that that's a bad thing, it's just difficult with the whole world relying on us to make their lives last longer. And why? So they can just not die as soon.
Life is fucking scary. If I had known it would be like this I would have stayed at school for as long as possible. You may be thinking, "Ah, you're just weak". But I'm not. I say this because I have learnt.

Work is this thing we do. We don't really know why we do it. Sure, we may not enjoy it, but even if you do, you work, go home and get some sleep, wake up and repeat. You work to keep a roof over your head. You work to eat. We all love holidays, but we have to work to be able to afford to have some time to yourself. You work to pay for petrol so you can go to work. You're being paid to pay to come to work. You work to be able to afford to pay your medical bills. Life should be free. But it's not... and that sucks.

In most situations being the nice person gets you far. But not in life. Be nice and you'll get fucked. That's not to say don't be nice. Be nice. But within reason. I have seen people that have been nothing but amazing to the people around them, and those people just take it and think nothing of it. Not once thinking: "Hey, maybe it's my turn to be nice now".
Through this I have learnt that you can only be good to the people that deserve it and give goodness back. The rest, they come and go.

I'm not too sure if anything I said makes sense to you. But if it doesn't it's okay. I understand it.

C.