Frank Turner: “I’m at the end of the beginning”

Who do you think Frank Turner is? Is he a social commentator? An English Springsteen? Or is he a tall, skinny guy playing rock 'n' roll songs for people to jump around and dance to?

Frank Turner: “I’m at the end of the beginning”

By William Scott

Dec 6, 2016 10:17

Whatever you think of him, his views or his music, one thing is for sure; he canā€™t be ignored. His rise to fame may not have been as rapid as most of the artists playing to crowds of his size now days but itā€™s definitely got the sturdiest foundations. ā€œIā€™m still nervous about saying this but I think I can say that Iā€™m going to be a songwriter/musician for the rest of my lifeā€ tells Turner with a hint of excitement in his voice. And who wouldnā€™t be excited at that prospect? If you threw a dart at a map of the world thereā€™s a good chance heā€™s sang there. Approaching show number 2000 with no signs of slowing down Turner knows that this is the path for him.

In a year that has been really quite awful for a lot of people it can be a breath of fresh air to attend one of his shows. There is a sense of community that exists inside those walls which can be hard to come by now days. One of those places that Turner felt at home when he was young was the place where everyone goes when theyā€™re ready to experience a great time at 16: Reading & Leeds Festival. ā€œI didnā€™t know anybody with my taste in music, I wore band t-shirts and I didnā€™t know anyone else who did. I went to Reading Festival ā€™95 and I walked in through the gate. Every single person was wearing a band t-shirt and I found my tribe, a safe space for me and I felt accepted for pretty much the first time everā€. Turner and his band, The Sleeping Souls, spent their August Bank Holiday weekend this year playing their 10th Reading & Leeds in a row. ā€œI have a lot of loyalty and itā€™s an important thing for me. Theyā€™ve looked after me a lot over the years and Iā€™ll look after them.ā€

Do you think that when Turner was kicking around, train touring and sleeping on peopleā€™s sofas that he would get his own Leicester Square premiere? Probably not. So how did it come about? ā€œThe pitch was to make a film about the band that never stops,ā€ tells Turner before talking about the complications regarding the label and his last album, ā€˜Positive Songs For Negative Peopleā€™. ā€œI found myself really having to fight my corner artistically for the first time. Ben Morse had the intelligence to keep filming so it turned out being a film about a year where everything falls apart which I think makes for a more interesting filmā€.

Having spent a fair part of the year touring the US itā€™s unsurprising heĀ an opinion or two about the recent presidential election. ā€œIā€™d spend ages formulating what I was saying really carefully, saying itā€™s not my business to tell anyone what to vote but the America that I love is better than a lying orange racist.ā€ Something that is probably a common view in this setting, right? ā€œEvery time I said that there would be a constituency of people who would shout ā€œFUCK HILARYā€. Turner continues to say that it wasnā€™t because these people were necessarily Pro-Trump but thought Clinton wasn’t a nice choice either.

If you only know Turner for his folk-come-punk body of work then you may well have missed the beginning. It was only after having been in two hardcore bands that he picked up the acoustic guitar and began singing songs about love, loss and drinking too much – but he still keeps his toe firmly plunged in the water with his side project Mongol Horde. If you haven’t heard it, it sounds like throwing a history book into an industrial sized blender but in a really great way. What happens next for them? “I definitely want to write another record but when that will be is anyone’s guess. The number one rule for me is that it has to be fun. If at any point it feels like work it goes on the back-burner”.

Turnerā€™s beginnings as a solo artist had the makings of a social commentator but he realised that this wasnā€™t what he wanted to make himself. ā€œWhen I first started out everyone and their dog wanted me to be Billy Bragg mark II. And I like Billy Bragg as a person and as a songwriter but he wasnā€™t particularly high up my list of influences at any point. With all due respect to Bill, he writes songs in order to do something else, I write songs in order to write songsā€.

This affinity that Turner has with rock ‘n’ rollĀ has allowed his artistry to be the driving force of this venture. It has seen him move from The Lock Up to The Main Stage, the toilet circuit to the arenas, and most importantly into the homes, earphones and pub speakers all around the UK, America and the rest of the world. The future? Expect love songs, Mongol Horde and shows. A lot more shows.


Frank Turner is currently finishing off his UK Tour. Remaining dates and tickets can be found at www.frankturner.com