Joe characterized the Mescaleros to me along the lines of “a construction of chaos” that somehow all falls together rather than falling apart.
Yeah, and there’s a degree of truth to that, although again, it’s an almost humble assessment of what’s going on. Some of it, of course, was calculated as well. People use that phrase “organized chaos” a lot. But you have to have people who can deliver as well. And there was very much the rock ‘n’ roll spirit being with Joe. Everyone was into living on the road, living the life. No one whined about being on the road, none of this, “Oooh, I wish I was at home.” It was always full on and how it should be. Giving their all every night.

Which did Joe prefer: getting out on the road or being in the studio working on a record?
Well, like myself, there’s no preference. You switch to whatever head space you’re in at the time. I’ve got a kid, and right now I don’t want to be going away so much. But when you’re actually there doing the job, you just do it because you’re into it and you love it—for loads of different reasons. Joe loved being at home, but he also loved being on the road and being in the studio. He just loved music and to be able to do those things. You know, a big thing about being in the Mescaleros was just to be able to keep doing it. It’s not like we were earning stacks of cash and selling millions of albums and being able to sit on our ass. You make a record, you tour it, you try to sell enough so the record company will give you enough to make the next one. Basically, it was like survival. When you’re at that level, you fight. And I think that’s when the best comes out of people. A lot of bands, I dunno, maybe take Oasis: In my opinion, they were better when they were hungrier. I may be speaking out of turn.

No, you’re exactly right. When the coke and models started flowing, the records started sucking.
I’m sure there’s something in that. Obviously, everyone wants enough money to not have to worry about money, but the fighting spirit it gives you when you’re working, not necessarily thinking about money but working just to be able to keep working. I mean, I’m 30 this year, and there’s nothing worse than wondering if you’re going to be able to carry on with music as your life.

Did Joe naturally have that same fighting spirit you mention?
Oh God, yeah. Joe could have made hundreds of thousands of pounds guesting on other people’s albums, showing up for this, showing up for that, but he wouldn’t do any of it. He was about creating music for himself and for him to be able to perform and give to all the people. I haven’t a clue about Joe’s financial situation—but I know he wasn’t a millionaire. And to get back up on stage at 47, 48, whenever we first kicked off with this, it’s like, that’s the fighting spirit.

Were you ever surprised by the response people had to Joe, his legend, all that? Thinking, “These people would follow Joe off a cliff if he said to.”
Yeah, I mean, fuck me! God, the amount of people that would come back and say, “Joe, you changed my life, dah-dah-dah…” And how he dealt with it all: We never left the venue until everyone had been talked to and everyone’s records had been signed and everyone’s backs had been signed—whatever they wanted him to sign. And it wasn’t just him going, “Hey, that’s great, see you later” We’re talking about hours. We’re talking about commitment to the whole deal. We’re not just talking about someone who wants to make records, sell a lot of them, do the shows and fuck off after the show. We’re talking about someone giving everything back to the people who’ve supported him. Hence why so many people feel a connection with him, I think.

A friend of mine went to an in-store appearance the Mescaleros did in Los Angeles.
Yeah, the Tower on Sunset Boulevard.

Exactly. And she said you guys were there for hours, that Joe wouldn’t leave until he signed every piece that people brought up to him.
I’m telling you, man, I mean, if you’re Britney and there’s hundreds of thousands of people out there in the arenas, you’re not going to get through them all. And I respect that. But what I’m trying to get across is that this was a total lifestyle choice. It’s not just your day job. It’s your life while you’re there. Like, Joe would be in the studio: “Studio : heavy smoking time.” “Studio: this time.” “Studio: that time.” You’d go home to relax with your family. Then you’d go out on the road and you’d know what that would be like. There’s these different aspects of your life, and to be honest, I kind of miss all that—obviously. [Catch in his voice] And missing Joe, of course.
One thing I’ve realized in the last couple of months, because obviously I’m still trying to make a living as a musician, is that we were in this great little world with Joe. The record company never bothered us. We always sold enough records or there’d be a little film thing or something, just enough to get through and do the next thing. And we’d have gaps between where everyone could kind of go off and have a fiddle about on their own doing whatever they wanted. As well as a guaranteed tour here and there. It was a wonderful, wonderful time for all of the guys in the band, and it’s been a bit of a shock having that kind of yanked from underneath us.

It sounds like some of it is only now just sinking in for you.
Yeah, really. Ah, yeah. That’s definite. I mean, I’ve spent the last few months dealing with the real world music industry and I don’t really like it very much. So now I’m trying to find another place like I had with Joe, and that’s proving quite difficult. But Joe left the people that he touched with a certain sensibility. Particularly, I feel I myself had that in me in the first place, and he just drew it out of me. Then, for instance, there’s the big “Pop Idol Fame Academy” going on in this country at the moment, and all the record companies are shitting their pants so much because that’s the major thing they want to deal with right now because nothing else makes instant cash! But fuck making instant cash. Survival is more important than a big fucking wad of cash. Being able to keep doing it.

Joe would have been, at the time, living proof of that, don’t you think?
Fuck yeah, man. Absolutely.

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