Rockol meets Paul Weller: our video interview with the Modfather

Double-breasted suit, tie, pochette. We're in Milan and Paul Weller dresses up as on the cover of his new album "Sonik kicks". We had a long chat face to face with the "Modfather", exploring his opinion on the record, but also on himself, his new lifestyle, his lack of nostalgia for the past, his past and present music tastes..

Your new album, "Sonik kicks", seems complementary to the previous "Wake up the nation." A kind of evolution, with a sound even more experimental.

"Yes, in a certain way I agree. But it is also a different album from 'Wake Up The Nation', and I think there is anything like it around. It seems to me unique and different. To my ears it sounds like music of the twenty-first century".

"22 Dreams", the album that you released in 2008, seems to have marked a turning point in your career. It was the moment you started to think maybe you could get more freedom.

"I think so. For me the important thing is to evolve, to progress. With my last three records, I tried to understand what other opportunities there were within my music. I tried to get out of my comfort zone to prove - especially to myself - that I can do everything, or almost. In "Sonik kicks" there is more experimentation. I wanted to understand how far could I arrive. And there are also my tastes: I'm always listening to new genres of music. This is the main influence in my songs".

There is a strong electronic component. You've mentioned Neu! among your inspirations..

Yes, not on the whole album. but in a couple of songs. Especially from the rhythmic point of view, with their characteristic beat known as 'motorik'. I started buying electronic music compilations of the early days, things of the thirties and forties. Very old experimental music.

Someone suggested that in "Paper Chase" you wanted to remember Amy Winehouse.

"That song talks about the darkest moments of life. About the moments when you exaggerate with alcohol and drugs and you end up living in a bubble. It could regard a lot of people and certainly has to do with certain periods of my life. Someone suggested the name of Amy Winehouse, but I didn't write it about her. More about myself, I'd say".

Do you ever get caught in that trap?

"In the past, yes. But not today. I no longer take drugs and I stopped drinking sixteen months ago. It took me a while, but suddenly it's a sort of awakening for me".

You can see our video interview with Paul Weller right here via Muzu.

 

You're well-known for your opposition to a Jam reunion. Did you read the book by Simon Reynolds, 'Retromania'? He thinks that today pop-rock music is watching backward too much..

"I didn't read the book, but my impression is that whenever you are in a recession, crisis and economic difficulties you try to look backward. I think this is the cause of the nostalgia people. Change is essential for humans. Sure, times are hard ... the British radios, for example, are extremely predictable. And there are a lot of bands that get back together after twenty-five years and occupy all the spaces young groups may take. I'm waiting for someone to puncture this bubble and let it explode".