Bei 5 Sho(r)ts gibt es eine Box. In dieser Box befinden sich Karten in drei Kategorien, Serious, Music und Fun. Der/die Interviewpartner*in/en ziehen aus jeder Kategorie eine Karte und danach noch zwei zur freien Auswahl. Niemand weiß, welche Fragen sich dahinter verbergen. Der Fragenpool wächst auch immer wieder an. Somit werden den Interviewten nicht die selben abgedroschenen Fragen gestellt und es ist immer ein etwas anderes Interview.
#19 – Frank Turner
Wer Frank Turner ist? Ein sehr groß gewachsener Brite, ein Songwriter und Sänger welcher sowohl im Punkbereich seine Beliebtheit genießt und auch im Mainstream bereits in Erscheinung getreten ist. Wer ist Frank Turner noch? Ein unfassbar bodenständiger Kerl, der nahbar und sympathisch auftritt und somit für mich ein absoluter Wunschkandidat für diese Interviewserie war. Und auch Frank hat es sehr begrüßt, nicht den selben „Schmarrn“ wie immer erzählen zu müssen. Also hier sind sie, die fünf kurzen Fragen mit Frank Turners Antworten.
1Kategorie „SERIOUS“: Name on thing in the world you would change, if you had the chance.
Frank: That really is a serious question. I think the world is more complicated than this question applies. I think there´s not many things I can think of, that would really make the world better. You can not just say: Hey, get rid of that guy. I could pick an obvious example: Fuck Donald Trump. But the problem is, that guys like him are more a symphtom than a cause of what´s wrong in America. If you get rid of him, there will be someone alike him. So, what would I change if I had the chance? I would make dungarees illegal. I hate dungarees. (Latzhosen)
2Kategorie „Music“: Do you have a favourite venue to play at?
Frank: That´s hard. That is a difficult question. I have a lot of venues I like. But since I have to pick one, I pick the one I have tattoed on my body. I have Rock City. It´s in Nottingham in the UK. I played my 2000th show there. I played a lot of times there. It´s the largest independent venue in the UK, that is left. It holds 1800 people, they run it like a family. It´s fucking cool there. In Austria it is the PBC in Graz. And in Germany it is easy. It´s the Molotow in Hamburg. During the pandemic I did fundraising for music venues and I did it for 26 I think. They all are in the UK except for one and that was Molotow.
3Kategorie „Fun“: What is your favorite Non-Punk/HC-Band?
Frank: Oh shit, we´re gonna be here all day. I mean I love Punk and HC but I listen to a lot of other music, too. Possibly The Band, you know. What about ABBA. I love ABBA. If you don´t think ABBA are one of the best bands in the world, you don´t understand songwriting, boom. That is a fact. But we could be here the whole day, so I go with ABBA, that will piss the most people of.
4Kategorie „MUSIC“: How many weeks are you touring when you have a new album out?
Frank: As many as I can. And as many as my wife will allow. I mean when I was younger I think the longest I went out without getting home was 13 month on the road. More than a year without stopping. Last summer we did 50 states in 50 days. That was that one. And I once did 24 shows in 24 hours, but that sucked. That was horrible. I did it for a music video that is online. And we didn´t cheat. We actually did it and I´ll never fucking do it again. But as I´ve gone older, like I want to do this for the rest of my life, and physically touring is harder now than I was 25. I´ve been doing this since I´m 16. This is my 25th year on the road. So generally speaking evryone in the band has partners. A lot of them have kids. And I myself live somewhere now. I didn´t live anywhere for about 10 years. We try to do five weeks before we go home for one week. This year we haven´t done this as much. But I love touring and as I say, it´s a marathon, not a sprint. I want to do this until I´m 90 what means I do not want to burn out now, you know. So this year we try to be a bit more home as we used to. Because you know as well as I do: Everything hurts more with every year that goes by.
5Kategorie „FUN“: is there anything you are addicted to, except drugs?
Frank: I should first say I am not doing any drugs anymore and I would say I´ve never been addicted. I know that´s not a very fun answer but that is true. On the other side, Salt & Vinegar flavoured Pringles. They´re the greatest crisp ever made and I will fight anybody who diagrees with that. I can´t stop. The marketing slogan is true: Once you pop you can´t stop. I´ve got some in my fucking dressing room. I´ve had a half roll before I came and the most I am looking for after this interview is having more of them. It´s a problem in my life.
