Johnny Marr
Songsmith/Salford Star/Shady Dealer
While a certain other former Smith still seems to make headlines
every time he appears in public, Johnny Marr has a remarkable habit
of getting on with things quietly. It's only when the 47-year-old
guitar hero finally stops playing, and starts to reflect on it all,
that you realise quite how many things.
In an armchair on a stage in a recording studio on the edge of Salford (whose university he joined as guest lecturer a couple of years back), Marr sipped a nice cup of tea and reflected on some of the gigs he'd had since The Smiths ended almost a quarter of a century ago: Electronic, The Pretenders, Americans Modest Mouse and Wakefield's The Cribs, whom he joined as guitarist and producer. He played on the score, and at the premiere, for last year's action epic Inception. "I remember sitting in the back of the coach on the way to Glastonbury with The Cribs," he said, "trying to practice playing the Inception music. I was nervous - I'd never played with an orchestra, rather than a band, before." Since then, he's remastered the just-released Smiths back catalogue.
Marr's willingness to work with other people's orchestras and bands (see also: Pet Shop Boys, Talking Heads, Girls Aloud) is testament to what an unassuming enthusiast he is. But it also feels a bit topsy-turvy that such a virtuoso has so often seemed willing to play second-fiddle. Which is why it is such a pleasure to see him finally play the Rock God when we met: not only did he confess he was prepping and refining songs for a 2012 solo release; he also shamelessly wore his sunglasses indoors.
That was down to Marr's latest endeavour, a collaboration with Ray-Ban called Raw Sounds, the latest in a sequence of annual music projects by the eyewear brand. Johnny's musical mentor role saw him first pick a quintet of unlikely inspirations (including an 18th century poem and a new, cascading Marr guitar part) and then share them with four hot music acts - including London's Tom Vek and effortlessly anthemic new Nashville retro-rockers Mona. The acts then recorded their own songs, based around Marr's muses.
"I loved hearing the songs they created," he said. "Art In Motion - it's a privilege." As well as recording the songs and filming behind-the-scenes documentaries on how they did it, the four acts (Best Coast and Au Revoir Simone round out the list) will conclude their involvement by playing live at specially-arranged shows in the US and UK in the coming weeks.
Also coming soon: Johnny Marr's own pair of Ray-Bans, which he
designed in his other creative direction role for Raw Sounds. Due
to go on sale next month, his "signature glasses", seen here, have
gunmetal frames bearing his name, and light blue lenses.
In the download world, bands depend on brand projects like Raw
Sounds to survive. Noting this, Marr recalled how even The Smiths
were more relaxed about "selling out" than his hardcore heroes,
like '60s folk rebel Bert Jansch. He was happy to work with Ray-Ban
because, "When I first started out with The Smiths, I wore them all
the time." In the early '80s, he worked in a Manchester shop that
was the first in the city to get Ray-Ban glasses in - and made sure
he ordered himself one pair so he could be the envy of his peers.
Though only 1500 of his new design have been produced, we're
confident he will end up with at least a couple.
