Q & A With the Verve's Richard Ashcroft
Aidin Vaziri
Sunday, May 3, 1998
From Sunday, May 3 - "San Francisco Chronicle"
Q & A With the Verve's Richard Ashcroft
Aidin Vaziri
Sunday, May 3, 1998
It's clear that Richard Ashcroft was meant to be a rock star, and not just
because of his bee-stung lips, svelte frame and wild eyes. As far back as
1993, when British band the Verve made its debut with ``A Storm in Heaven,''
the front man had grand designs. ``We've just started,'' he said at the
time. ``I think our second or third album will be a classic because we all
believe it.''
Time will tell, but the Verve's third album, ``Urban Hymns,'' released in
November, is a strong work of art. With help from the singles ``Bittersweet
Symphony'' and ``The Drugs Don't Work,'' it has become one of the most
successful discs of the year.
The band has survived some well-publicized misadventures, including
breaking up for a year and being forced to give writing credit and
royalties to the Rolling Stones after using a Stones sample on
``Bittersweet Symphony'' without permission. With such troubles behind him,
Ashcroft, 26, recently spoke about the Verve's quick ascension and the band's
plans for the future.
Q: Are you concerned that the Verve's success might make you crazier than
you already are?
A: It happened with Kurt Cobain. But we come from a different school of
thought. We were always preparing for success. So when it did happen we
could embrace it rather than have it burn us. Success, when you are true,
can be an incredibly empowering thing because when we go in to make our
next album our imaginations will be running right up into the whirlwind,
which hasn't happened in years. People usually get crumbled up by success
because they start analyzing everything. You can't analyze it; you've got
to go in and carry on doing what you were doing from the start.
Q: So you don't mind that your videos have started appearing on VH-1?
A: It's about time we got records in the shops and on the television that
have some depth. Why can't we be doing that? Why did it happen in the '60s?
Why did Dylan do it right? Why did Brian Wilson do it right? Why aren't
people doing it now? The most important thing is a few years ago ``A Storm
in Heaven'' did happen, ``Northern Soul'' did happen, because we came from
the experimental side. When we embraced the song side as well, we became so
powerful. It's quite exciting when you've got people like us doing well
instead of the usual fame and money grabbers.
Q: Do you consider yourself an arrogant person? A: We're fans of the band.
That's what I keep trying to get across. We meet fans in America and fans
in England, and I'm right there with them. The maddest thing is I'm in it.
It's not an arrogant thing. It's just a passion. You've got to learn to
celebrate things sometimes. If you don't celebrate things you're never
going to get anything out of life.
Q: What exactly is ``The Drugs Don't Work'' celebrating?
A: I see ``The Drugs Don't Work'' as a love song. Not about drugs not
working, but about being that far down where you realize that they're not
getting you to where they used to. When ``The Drugs Don't Work'' went to
No. 1 in England, people had to question the content of the song. They had
to stop and listen. I could write a thousand fuckin' pop songs in the next
three days. There's no substance there. There's no depth there. I want to
look in the mirror when I'm 50 and say every step of the way we fuckin' did
it for the right reasons.
Q: Do you think the average person gets what you're saying?
A: The level in which people relate to our music is something that
interests me. I can't say how much of our audience is really going to get
it, because unfortunately they've been brought up a certain way, they've
been schooled a certain way, they've been led to believe certain things to
be their goals in life. They're not worse than me, I'm not better than
them. We're all in it together, we're all getting through the madness
together.
Q: Where do you stand on the Rolling Stones after the whole ``Bittersweet
Symphony'' fracas?
A: Fuck the Rolling Stones, man. The Stones stuff was something that at one
point in time was very significant, the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the
world. But now they're not even worth talking about. Keith Richards should
just be playing in a blues band. He's got all the money in the world. Chill
out, just enjoy the blues, man. It's a battle being in a band like the
Verve. The Stones lost that battle 20-some-odd years ago.
Q: Do you still like that song after all the grief it's brought?
A: It's a piss, but it's also beautiful. Because, as the song says,
``You're a slave to money and then you die.'' Who gives a shit at the end
of the day? ``Bittersweet Symphony'' is the most unconventional track by a
rock band in years, and that's the whole point. As far as I'm concerned,
we're going into the next few years to make the most awe-inspiring music
the world has ever heard. That's our goal. We don't have limits. We can do
anything. The palette is as wide and varied as you want it to be.
Q: What prompted you to yell ``fuck you'' several times at the end of
``Urban Hymns''?
A: It's pure celebration. To me, the big ``fuck you'' at the end of the
record was one of the happiest moments of my life. You can't plan for
moments like that. We were Syd Barrett at the end of it. I love people
calling me mad. We all want to push it. We all want to open up some eyes.
Comments? Questions? E-mail me below. Thanks....Matt.
