Mick Jones Finds Musical Inspiration in Technology

Posted on Dec 20th 2007 6:00PM by Mike Spinella
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From the revolutionary sounds of the Clash to dance-crossover troupe Big Audio Dynamite, Mick Jones, a true punk when it comes to his strongly held ethics, has been doing exactly what he loves. More than thirty years after making his mark as lead guitarist and co-singer for "the only band that matters," Jones encompasses all aspects of his past with his current group Carbon/Silicon, a group fueled by politics and taking inspiration from the freedom of the Internet and technology. This latest project has reunited Jones with former Generation X bassist Tony James for the first time since their brief time together in the mid-70s as London SS.

How is Carbon/Silicon different from your previous musical ventures?

Well, it's quite different -- we sort of sketched out a long time before we started this group to sort of, just talking to friends, really, about how we were to approach it. We had to sort of face up to certain global realities, and after that to put, you know, to deal with yourself, really. How are we going to deal with ourselves and have a bit of dignity left, so we talked about, you know, we weren't going to try to be anything other than we were, you know, and still an element of chase and illusion, I guess.

You've cited the Internet as a source of creativity for distributing music for free.

Yeah, I like all the creative side of computers, you know what I mean? I don't do much of the social networking or anything like that, but I definitely like to make music on computers. It's a very immediate way we've found of putting our stuff out. We walk across the studio from where we've just recorded it, we go onto the computer and upload it and get immediate response and playback from people -- you know, feedback is really like an immediate way.

It seems that, from what I've listened to of Carbon/Silicon, it's kind of a modern twist on where you were headed with Big Audio Dynamite.

Yeah, except it's much freer than that because we had a lot of certain constraints. Part of it was always about the struggle between dance music and rock 'n' roll, you know. I mean, it's kind of hard trying to mold. Probably by ignoring more of the past, I kind of stopped myself from losing it.

What new technology have you embraced since the time you were playing with Big Audio Dynamite to now where you have basically ...

It's a lot easier now; there were much more constraints on that, it was like we're, well, we're not even bothering with the technology now except for the ... I mean, we talked about samples, but it was like a canvas that we wanted to fill very quickly, and so we sort of painted the sky, and we painted the scene before we did what we did on top.

What's it like to officially reunite with Tony James after all those years?

It's really good -- we just really ended up doing this sort of organically rather than, "Yeah we're going to do a group and try." After our previous conversations about how you going to be a grownup and stuff like that, and just writing about things that concern us and being able to express ourselves still is really what makes it happen for me.

How would you describe the feeling of being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

It's something really special. It's a bit like the Baseball Hall of Fame, something like that, or the Country-Western Hall of Fame -- a very special thing.

What did you think of 'The Future is Unwritten' documentary on Joe Strummer?

I liked it ... It was like a three-part reactor: three acts, like Before, During and After.

Did you think it was an accurate depiction of the band?

No, I could never tell anyways what's accurate or not. I mean, you never get the truth, but maybe you do. You have to just remain, you know, composed.

What young groups have inspired you while you were making the new record?

Yeah, well there is a lot of good groups here in London, definitely, and I know there's a scene in Paris as well, which is very vibrant. Tony and I, working together after I'd just finished the first Libertines album, they are a very special group, and so somehow it may have made us think it was possible to do this.

What's on the top of your mind now after gaining all this life experience through playing with all these different bands?

I think that's good that they were an experience, but I don't think it's good if you stop learning or you become complacent or too comfortable or anything like that, and so I think that what happens is as long as you ignore everything and just tell yourself that if you work every day, and even if it's rubbish, you know, just keep working because the good stuff comes.

How do you react with requests from fans with your new project when they're asking for Clash or Big Audio Dynamite songs at shows?

Sometimes there are days like that, which are very rare, but I'll do it really fast for them and then get on with the show. I'll do it so fast that you blink and you miss it.

Do you find it a struggle ...

They're my songs. I can play them the way I want.