Whether you’ve heard of him or not, viagra 40mg Frank Turner is one of the biggest names in folk music. Since the dissolution of his post-hardcore band Million Dead ten years ago, mind the Hampshire, UK-based singer-songwriter has won over a massive and rabidly loyal fanbase both in England and worldwide with his punchy, lyrically rich brand of punk-folk. Beyond multiple sell-out tours and best-selling albums, Turner has two rare and impressive achievements under his belt: selling out the 90k-capacity Wembley Stadium and performing in the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony.
Six albums in, Turner shows no sign of slowing. He approached his recent release, Positive Songs for Negative People, with the ideology that what makes debut albums so exciting is that they’re really just a studio translation of songs that artists have been playing live for ages. Thus, instead of a dedicated writing schedule, he went into recording sessions with legendary producer Butch Walker and hammered out songs that he and his band, The Sleeping Souls, had been playing out, recording tracks live and unprocessed wherever possible. The album, which was finished in nine days, sees Turner at his most invigorated, espousing earnest, life-affirming sentiment over some truly catchy riffs.
Turner will be playing a two night residency at the House of Blues this weekend with The Sleeping Souls. We caught up with him in advance of the shows, chatting about the new album, his personal links to Boston and how he avoids getting stale.
AP: This album was recorded in a very short period of time, with almost all live takes. This being your sixth record, how would you say that experience compared to a more traditional recording?
FT: It was a great experience, short answer. The thing is, I’ve been doing this long enough now that I know what I want and I know how to get it. I’d say that I always want to approach every record with that methodology. In this instance, with the material I had and the kind of vibe I wanted for the record I knew this was the right way to do it.
It was interesting, because the third album I did (2009’s Poetry of the Deed) had a similar approach to it, but I don’t think that at the time my band and I were quite in the right headspace to nail it. This time around it was very much us knowing we were rehearsed enough, in the right headspace and we had the right producer.
It was a really rewarding experience. The record came out how I wanted it to, which is the important thing!
AP: Speaking of the right producer, how was working with Butch Walker?
FT: It was fantastic! He really brought the record together. I had this idea about trying to do things live and with a certain vibe and sound to it, and I was having trouble finding a producer who really got that. I went through a lot of different producers, having conversations where things were never really quite clicking, but once Butch got involved in the conversation it was instantly like “yup, we know what we’re talking about, we know what we’re doing, this is the right vibe.” So yeah, it was a good time!
AP: In regards to the name, would you consider yourself to be a negative person?
FT: On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, sure! (laughs) No, there are elements of that to my personality, as I’m sure there are to everyone. I mean, I like the title and I think it works for the record, but I think it’s important to state that’s it’s not entirely po-faced.
AP: I was really surprised to read in an older interview that you had a, i think you called it, proviso that you don’t write towards themes or make concept records. Tape Deck Heart and certainly England Keep My Bones really felt like concept records, as does this one to some extent.
FT: I think the thing about it is that I write pretty directly, autobiographically, and I write chronologically in the sense that I really just write until I have an album’s-worth of material, then synthesize that into a coherent whole. As a result there are coherent themes that emerge after the event. You can structure a record, structure a body of work, in a way that it has artistic and intellectual coherence without it necessarily being a concept record.
It’s really important to me to not, I guess, pre-direct songwriting. I want to just sit down and write, and I’d say it’s important that that process is not externally influenced, in a way. With Tape Deck Heart, I’d just been through a really unpleasant breakup, so I’d written a whole bunch of songs about that. After the event you can move things around in it way that it has a coherence to it. That’s different than sitting down to write a concept record.
AP: At this point in your career, do you feel yourself drawing influence from different sources than you would have, say, five or ten years ago?
FT: I certainly hope so! I’m pretty, sort of, voracious musically. I’m always trying to find new things. The most important part is that, while acknowledging that the music that I’m making is not radically reinventing the wheel in terms of style, I’m not interested in repeating myself, you know? I hope that each record that I do breaks new ground and isn’t just like something I’ve done before.
AP: Your last show in Boston was a much smaller affair at McGreevy’s Pub. How did that show come about?
FT: Oh that! Well, basically the deal was, Boston’s a great city for us and we’ve always had a good time there and the Dropkick Murphys have been great to us, so we have a lockup where we keep our gear at Logan Airport. We’re always flying in and out of the States via Boston. So I was flying into the states, and we know the Dropkick boys so obviously we know McGreevy’s. I had the night free so it seemed like a great opportunity to play some tunes and make some money for a good cause.
AP: How does it feel playing intimate shows like that as a performer who has done venues as big as Wembley and the Olympics?
FT: Well, it feels homely to me. I’ve certainly done a lot more shows in bars than arenas, so it’s an environment I’m more comfortable with. Honestly though, I often feel like the differences between those types of shows is slightly exaggerated. At the end of the day I’m getting up and performing and trying to play songs from the heart and entertain the people standing in front of me. The size of the room in front of me is less important to me than I think some people want it to be.
AP: That show aside, do you have any standout memories of Boston?
FT: Oh, definitely. Being, in a way, inducted into the Dropkicks family has been a wonderful thing. We did a bunch of nights there, in 2012 I think it was, around St. Patty’s day and we did Tsongas Arena out in Lowell on St. Patty’s day itself. We did two gigs there in one day and it was one of the most extreme, hard working days of my life because I was running my own merch table at the time!
But yeah, I’ve been very welcomed by the city. I’ve had walking tours of Fenway Park and the like. People have just been good, man. It’s always been fun.
AP: Would you say the size of the US gives your tours here a different feeling than touring the UK or even Europe?
FT: Well, yeah. There are different vibes that have to do with the culture of the place. Also the context of my career is different, in that I’m further along in the UK than I am in the US, but also in the US I’m more closely associated with the punk scene than I am in the UK, which is absolutely fine with me!
So yeah, there are differences. But I think that, again, the differences can be slightly overdone. People are people, you know? Also, I’ve toured in China and I’ve toured in Russia and those shows are genuinely kind of weird and out there. After you’ve done those shows the difference between a Boston show and a London show is less striking.
AP: This is a few months back now, but I was really surprised to see you wrestling with CM Punk in the music video for “The Next Storm”. How did he get involved in that?
FT: Well I actually don’t know anything about wrestling at all! My friend Ben Morse, who does a lot of my music videos, is a big wrestling fan and somehow he got wind of the fact that CM Punk was into my stuff. From there it was pretty simple; we basically just got his email address off of a friend of a friend and he said “yeah, I’m into it!” Next thing I know I’m in Chicago, in a wrestling ring, quaking with fear!
AP: So it was a little bit intimidating then?
FT: Yeah, you know, he’s the nicest dude ever and he was very gentle with me. Bottom line is, though, standing in the ring with a professional, world champion wrestler, when you haven’t been in any semblance of a fight since you were 14 years old is a little bit daunting!
AP: What kind of music have you been listening to in your spare time lately?
FT: Well, as I said earlier, I tend to be voracious in my music taste. Lately I’ve been trying to educate myself about a lot of 60s jazz-punk stuff. I’ve been listening to a lot of Northern soul. Also, funnily enough, I’ve been listening to loads and loads of George Jones. It’s a bit of a new thing for me, since he’s not really known here in the UK, so that’s been an interesting journey.
AP: What’s next for you after this tour.
FT: More touring! The record’s been out for a month and I’m going to be on tour for a good couple of years for this one. Which is absolutely fine- around the making and mixing of the record there was a chunk of time where I wasn’t on the road, and being at home really doesn’t agree with me. I’m very excited about the fact that I’m going to be on tour until at least the end of 2016!
Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls will be playing the House of Blues tonight (9/25) and tomorrow night (9/26) with Skinny Lister and Beans on Toast. Both shows are sold out.