Frank Turner is a ridiculously nice guy. When I walked into the green room of The Junction in Cambridge last week, this was the first thing that struck me about him. Taking some time out during an afternoon of his biggest UK headline tour to date, the conversation began with chatter about the tour so far. “It’s going really well,” he says, then adds jovially “My mum has stopped asking me when I’m gonna get a real job, which is nice.”
Renowned for being one of England’s, and indeed music’s, most intelligent and polite gentlemen, I was intrigued to find out what has influenced this beautifully honest musical genius, and how he stays so down to earth in spite of his now well-known brilliance. “I thank my Mum I suppose. I’m just utterly bemused by some of the people you meet in the music industry and the way they behave towards different people. I just think, would you do that in front of your Mum? How were you brought up? It’s utterly irrelevant what station the people hold in this conversation, you’re being rude, and that’s a bad thing. It constant boggles my mind. I just try and be nice to people.”
Frank certainly had an educated upbringing; a graduate of both Eton College and LSE – two famously prestigious academic establishments – he’s certainly not your average rock star. When I ask him about his academic background and whether he ever thinks about doing something more traditional for an Eton/LSE graduate, he says: “I fully think that when the wheels fall off this, I’d love to be a history teacher. History’s my absolute passion. I think that would be a wonderful way to spend my time.”
His passion for history is evident in the majority of his musical work. Lyrics from ‘Sons Of Liberty’ and ‘To Take You Home’ are the perfect example of the multifaceted nature of Frank’s songwriting. Every line is littered with nuance. “I think that interests sort of blend into each other,” he adds thoughtfully.
A background like Frank’s could easily lead him being defined as stuck up, or posh, or at least nothing you’d expect from a musician with lyrics like “tell him to go fuck himself, tell his friends to do the same”. In the context of the song, this works brilliantly – parents and even grandparents would be won over by the charm that accompanies it – but it’s difficult to imagine former Eton students David Cameron and Boris Johnson penning the same thing (or perhaps not in the case of the latter, but I digress), or indeed the Royalty who’ve also attended. But alas, Frank detests labels; any kind of stereotypical definition jars with his mentality.
“Genres, descriptions, that kind of thing, I find it very hard to muster that much energy to give a shit about it. I’m much more interested in just listening to records,” he says. I’m utterly convinced that for Frank, it really is entirely about the music. This is reflected in the passionate way he talks about a possible next project: “I’m actually thinking about working on an album of traditional English songs. Not being from a traditionalist background, I think most of the people who come to my shows don’t know any English folk music at all,” he observes. “I’d like to spread the word to some people who wouldn’t otherwise listen to it.”
As all Blue Walrus readers will undoubtedly be aware from our constant coverage of it, everything remotely folky emerging from London Town these days is interconnected. Frank is no exception to this. Friends with Jay Jay Pistolet (we featured him here earlier this year), Laura Marling and Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons (check out my gig review here), Frank Turner is positively part of the folk revival mounting in the British capital. “Genre descriptions only serve a purpose up until the point where you listen to the music. I think way too much time and energy and sweat and blood has been spilled over genre.”
As with many of our more individual artists Turner defies definition and laughs in the face of those who attempt to pack his creative spirit into a box, something the music industry is becoming increasingly fond of doing. “Someone described me as anti-folk on a flyer a few years ago and a guy came to the show and got really shirty with because apparently anti-folk only applies to a very small group of musicians in New York. And I was like ‘I don’t care’,” he says. “I like that when people described Billy Bragg as ‘anti folk’ he came back and said no, actually I’m ‘pro-folk’”. Turner does reveal that he “toyed with the idea of calling myself anti-punk for a while”.
Nevertheless, his lack of genre conformity does not seem to be hindering Frank’s ascendance through the rank of the music industry at all. New album ‘Poetry Of The Deed’ has seen Frank signed to Epitaph in the US, and with this has come a boost in exposure that has caught both the hearts and attention of the world’s music press. Not that this has in any way altered his humble attitude to music. “I hope it wouldn’t have any impact on the music in terms of songwriting,” he frowns. “I don’t get analytical. It’s really important to me that I just sit down and try to write a good song.”
Despite the sudden peak in attention, Frank has been active in the music industry since 2001 including his Million Dead days. Musing on this Frank, speaks his thoughts on the impact making music’s had on his life and perspective: “I’ve been playing every day for such a long time, it’s almost difficult to think about what I’d be doing if I wasn’t.”
And with that, 26 minutes after it began, the interview was over. Not to worry though; when I asked Frank if he’d speak to The Blue Walrus next time round, he replied, “Yes, definitely”. I’ve found myself smiling ever since.