Former Clash guitarist Mick Jones has been speaking with Sabotage Times backstage at Liverpool's Olympia venue at a recent 'remembrance' concert for local lad Jamie Mcvey, who was killed over the summer.
Jones, who has recently resurrected his 80's reggae/dub project B.A.D (Big Audio Dynamite), kicks off by reverting back to where it all began for the punk-rock legends.
"I was born for this… To tell you the truth it was all I ever wanted [to make music]. I remember going to the career’s officer when I was a kid leaving school and the career officer said "what do you want to do?" and I said, "I want to play in a band" (smiles) and they said, "Well all we can do is civil service or the armed forces, that’s all we have. So good luck to you but we can't help you in anyway."
"We always got criticism in The Clash but we always thought ‘you should be happy. We’ve gone a long way and it represents what you can do’, you know what I mean?
The Clash certainly did go 'all the way' from their humble, Brixton dwellings to worldwide superstars with their undiluted, somewhat hostile brand of punk-rock.
"We were in Japan on tour where we played the Fuji Rock Festival, which is really amazing – though an earthquake hit when we were there – but Joe used to really love it. At the Festival they have a ‘Strummerville’ type thing going on which is great you know?
"Anyway Joe once found an off season ski resort there because it was summer and not in use, and in there he found this disused old cable car that he’d sit in. Over time people had written lyrics of Joe [Strummer] and Paintings of him all over it and its amazing… and so we were in there in the pouring rain and its only a 6 man cable car and I was just sitting there in the presence of Joe… Joe is with me all the time you know… He’s here tonight with us right now and he was with me when I went on stage and when I was playing tonight. I can feel him in so many ways, it's something that’s with me a lot of the time."
The full interview is available here.
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