The Public image is a bitter PIL to swallow

It's been a great day for me, I'm really really pleased with a little piece of news in the papers today. John Lydon has reformed PIL and is doing a short tour. He'll be playing the Brixton Academy on the 21st December and I'll move heaven and earth to be there. There is a great interview in the Guardian.

I have my own band, the False Dots. There are only two other bands that I'd really have ever wanted to be in. One is T Rex and the other is PIL. As Bolan is dead, I guess I'll just have to wait for the call from Johnny. The thing I really liked about PIL was the fact that when Johnny set it up PIL, he had the world at his feet. He could have gone any route he chose, but he chose the hard way. He didn't do Pistols songs. He recruited one of his best mates - Jah Wobble on bass, and recruited Keith Levine on guitar. The sound they made was a bit of a shock for Pistols fans.

The thing I really liked was the fact that Johnny didn't feel the need to hog the limelight. He didn't feel the need to live off past glories. He sought to find new avenues and new sounds. He sought to collaborate with people who "weren't punk". He sought new ways of putting the music over. I've no idea what it was really like for the other musicians in PIL, but I got the feeling that Johnny didn't come over all superstar on them. I always got a sense that they really enjoyed the music they were making. I get that. I love making music. I also get why they had a break, I did the same for 10 years.



I know Public Image Ltd aren't everyones cup of tea. All I can say is that they are a hugely influential band, who inspired me to take chances with my own band. If you go the the Myspace link above and listen to a few of our tunes, you may or you may not hear a bit of PIL influence in there. I doubt I'd write songs like Angel if it wasn't for John Lydon. It's a very, very dark song.

Anyway, December is looking good. Pogues on the 17th December and Pil on the 21st December.