Multi-instrumentalist Martin Slattery recorded and toured with Joe Strummer from Rock Art And The X-Ray Style (issued in 1999) until Strummer’s passing in December 2002. After Strummer’s death, Slattery and the Mescaleros completed work on Strummer’s final album, Streetcore, issued a few months ago by Hellcat. At the end of 2003, Slattery shared some of his memories of Strummer.

MAGNET: Let’s start at the very beginning: Tell me about the first time you met Joe and your initial impression of him.
Slattery: Well, I first met Joe when I was playing in Black Grape. Maybe about 1996. Joe was a big fan of the band, and particularly of Shaun [Ryder] as a lyricist and a poet—“street poet,” maybe. So he used to come to shows, and he kind of hooked up with some of the Happy Mondays “pals,” the “tribe,” “crew,” whatever you want to call it, and the Black Grape tribe, these people from Manchester. And Joe would have a good time with the people as well.

At that point, Joe really wasn’t playing much at all, right?
No, he wasn’t. I’ll tell you the truth, I come from a really different background and wasn’t a big Clash fan, you know, so I knew of the Clash, but I didn’t really know who Joe was or what momentous effect he had on everybody.

So it wasn’t a case of you standing across the room and going, “Oh, wow, that’s Joe Strummer over there!”
No, and actually it’s more embarrassing than that. I was talking to him and going, “Sorry mate, but what’s your name again?” [Laughs]

He probably appreciated that.
Well, maybe that put us in good stead for the future! Basically I saw him at a few shows and we hung out a bit. And then I quit the band and did some other stuff so I didn’t see him for awhile. Then a mate of mine called Antony Genn, who was producing the first album (Rock Art And The X-Ray Style). I’d known Ant for a long time, and he needed someone to come down and play. Ant was also kind of thinking a little ahead, once I settled into the gig, about the live thing as well. So I went down and did some playing; took Scott Shields along and he did some playing. Then when the album was done we kind of formed the live band. So I got to know him a little better when we were making that album. It’s a slow process, you know? If you’re spending time with Joe, that is. It’s a slow process to get to know the man.

Why was that? Was he a particularly guarded sort?
Because he just kept his cards close to his chest. Not in a kind of, what’s the word, not “going in on himself.” Just seemingly more interested in other people and in what you have to say. But obviously the more time you spend with someone, the more you’re gonna get to know him.

That’s interesting, because when I interviewed him for MAGNET in October 2001 in New York, he would suddenly start asking me questions too.
That’s what I’m saying. That was his trip. And I think it stems from a real humble streak in him. Not just wanting to blab on about himself. He’d always be talking about other bands or other music that he was into. So yeah, that’s how I got to know him and got involved with the band. He was sort of headhunting for the band, and it fell into place naturally more than anything.

Would he be asking the musicians their ideas, or would he say, “This is how I want this song done”?
No, I mean, very much from working with Ant, the whole thing was, “Let’s go into the studio and see what happens.” Ant went in for a couple of days and it lasted for three months. [Laughs] Joe was overseeing what was going on and always hearing what was going on, but if he was liking it, he would just kind of lead you to it. Don’t get me wrong: His tenacity, his kind of professionalism, was second to none!

When I saw you play, and watching the soundcheck as well, I could see the obvious chemistry between Joe and the band. Could you characterize that from your point of view?
Well, we all come from different backgrounds. Myself and Scott come from very much a playing background. We’ve played all our lives, and so we have that sort of players’ integrity from that point. And obviously Joe’s performing capability kicked everyone up a notch A good example of that is playing through the tunes in rehearsal: the tunes that always sound good once we got ‘em together, but they never really came alive until Joe sang with us. Joe would be there, of course, but rehearsals would be very, very relaxed affairs at first.

I observed you working out “Minstrel Boy” at soundcheck because apparently you hadn’t really gotten it together for the live show at that point, and it was fascinating seeing it come together and watching everyone’s smiles form on their faces.
Yeah, at that point we would often try and knock something together on the spot. That was with Luke Bullen and Simon Stafford. The first drummer we had, Smiley, was OK, but he wasn’t 100 percent doing it for me. And Anthony comes from more of a production background than a playing background. So once we got Luke and Simon involved, the band really became a band, I think. Don’t get me wrong, we did some great, great gigs in the first version. But we turned it around and made it our own. It was the same way with Black Grape for me. It was like having these genius singers and writers fronting the band with this amazing energy—or in Shaun’s case, just “vibe,” since he didn’t have much energy. [Laughs] Oh, I don’t mean to knock him about, but you know ... So the front line of the band, having this really on-it attitude and a great band behind it, so you’ve got rough/smooth, tight/not tight all kind of mixing together. And I really love that. Also, none of the players really operate from a session-musician head space. We always managed to find players who were on it and just wanted to get into it and really give their all every night. It wasn’t like, “Oh fuck, playing this tune again, blah blah blah.” We were always finding new ways of doing stuff: “Let’s rearrange the set list. Let’s put this tune in. Let’s try this tonight.” You know what I mean? Keep it interesting, keep it exciting. And a lot of that came from Joe. And I think it was great that all the guys in the band all have that head space as well and were able to understand what Joe was going on about.

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