MAN OF MEANING

THE DAILY NEWS - 1986


Matt Johnson is 25, more than $1 million in debt and holds no hope for his country’s future. Yet he is travelling the world courtesy of his record company and staying in the most luxurious of hotels. Johnson, aka The The, is currently playing the role of tourist to promote his latest album, one of the most relevant and powerful records of the latter 80s – Infected.

He spent two years working on the record and accompanying videos, fighting all the way to the bank to have his artistic ideas seen and heard. Johnson, who is regarded by many to be the shinning star of the future, was in town last week to face a barrage of media, all desperate to find out more about the man behind the music. Nightlife spoke to the East Londoner poolside at the Orchard Hotel, his uniform of jeans, Dr Martens boots and tee-shirt incongruous to the surroundings. In the last six months he estimates he has done about six or seven hundred interviews.

‘That is a staggering amount’, he said. ‘It’s not natural to spend six months talking about yourself. You start to get selfish and self-obsessed. Everything gets very cloudy, you end up talking about your ideas and philosophies so much that they end up being worn out like a pebble on the beach. You get to the point where you don’t believe what you’re saying.’

Johnson has found himself in a ‘no win’ situation. He gets tired of the same questions yet he is obliged to do interviews because he has a popular record. Infected can do no wrong with critics and record buyers yet he says he has not been affected by the mass publicity and exposure.

‘I’ve been doing music full time since I was 11,’ he said. ‘It’s been a very gradual ascent for me and I’ve been able to acclimatise. It sounds really facetious but I expected to get good reviews because I know how much I put into that album. It was much better than anything else at the time.’

Johnson’s first album – Burning Blue Soul – was recorded in 1981 under his own name, and album of sheer passionate intensity. On the second he adopted the nom de plume The The. Soul Mining , still largely a solo project, was much more in the pop mode than the debut. It was released in 1984 and Johnson’s lyrics were presented in a more manageable manner, radio and public found the style easier to digest. And so to the fait accompli – Infected.

The third album is his greatest triumph to date and paints a grim picture in a global over-view. Specific references are made to England – a grimy social and economic landscape of corruption and decay.

‘There was always a certain amount of political reference and social observations on all my records but this time I’ve confronted things more’, he said. They’ve become more important in my world, I’ve just opened my eyes a bit. I think I’ve been very kind to the world with this album. It’s a hell of a lot worse.’

The music, however, turned a corner and headed for a more abstract bent. Johnson sees the musical complexity as an ‘illusion.’

‘If you dissect all the different parts and isolate them, they’re very, very simple. Nothing is there for the sake of it, every part earns its keep. Simplicity is the essence of The The’.

When it comes to writing songs, Johnson is far from prolific. He writes when he feels motivated rather than being forced. He never plays his guitar unless he is writing or recording. He never sings unless he is in the studio. I want to maintain that element of rawness and simplicity. It’s what you try and express that’s important, not how many bloody notes you can play. I hate 70’s music and there are few of the bigger, new bands that are doing that. It’s self indulgent. It’s all technique and not content. It is a kind of musical pyrotechnics. It’s superfluous garbage, I hate that stuff.’

Economy, suitability and conciseness of notes are trademarks of The The, no two songs ever having the same instrumentation. Johnson always strikes at the heart of his targets, whether it be Britain, the U.S. war, wealth or poverty. He admits that he is not presenting any solutions, merely reminding people of what goes on outside the front door.

‘I think in very global terms’. I see the future in the Pacific region and the Far East, I think that’s where things are gravitating. I think that north-western Europe is dying. It’s gone and we don’t know how to cope with it. It will never come back so the stigma has to be taken away from unemployment. If we had a nice climate, it would be bearable. In Australia you can lie around and go surfing. If you’re going to be unemployed you might as well enjoy yourself.’

During his lightning visit to Australia, Johnson’s senses have been opened all the way. He is more optimistic for Australians than the people of his native Britain.

‘We’ve got a little tiny island with 160 million people. There is no future there,’ he said. ‘The industrial bases have been decimated, the oil revenues have peeked and are going to start dipping. Who’s going to pay for five million unemployed? It’s going to be an assembly line state where you get America and Japan building their factories there for cheap labour. They’ve already started in Tyneside and Wales.’

Johnson’s social conscience and cynicism is blatant in his songs but he has not presented them live for four years. He has never toured and has not immediate intention of going back to the stage.

‘It’s certainly not a case of stage-fright. I get offered a lot of dough now to do it. I could do with that. But I’m not interested – I’d be doing a tour just to sell records.

Whilst in Melbourne, Johnson met up with fellow British soloist Billy Brag, a political activist and pro-union singer.

‘We went out and had a drink and I said to him that if he was planning any big concerts, because it’s election year in Britain. I’d bring my guitar along and do Heartland. That would be worth doing but getting a big band together – no way. That doesn’t enter into my thoughts at the moment, maybe in two years time.’

To play live, Johnson says he would have to conceive an album for a live situation. The band would be formed and then go into the clubs and smaller venues to build up confidence. Matt Johnson has the potential to go a long way, but as for his achievements so far: ‘I think I’ve tried to carry out a career with a certain amount of dignity.

‘I’ve done what I wanted to do and as best as I could and tried to do it for the right reasons.’