Massive Attack

What better first post but one of my favorite 3D interviews? Here it is:

The artist also known as Robert del Naja confesses to having a thing about The Damned, to biffing a would-be attacker with a can of lager and to feeling lonely for no reason. Chin up, Massive Attack bloke! Q is here to ask…

How the devil are you?
I’m feeling a bit weird, actually. I just got back from rehearsing. We haven’t done any since Christmas and suddenly you feel a bit absurd, picking up a microphone.

What was the first gig you ever went to?
I think it was The Damned at the Locarno in Bristol, years and years ago. They’ve knocked the venue down now. I ended up getting a bit obsessed with The Damned. I saw them live three times.

What were you like at school?
The reports were full of the usual sort of thing, really: could do better if he tried. I lost interest pretty quickly.

If you weren’t a rock’n’roll star what would you be?
That rock’n’roll star in inverted commas is an interesting one. I’d either be doing my artwork if that didn’t work out, I’d probably be working with my dad in his pub.

What’s your most treasured material possession?
It changes every week. Hang on, I’ll look in my bag. It’s just got stuff in it you need for touring: lyric book, MP3 recorder for the Web site. So those are my favourite things this week.

What’s the worst record you’ve ever made?
It was the collaboration we did with Tracey Thorn for the Batman Forever soundtrack, The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game. It was a total stitch-up. We thought they wanted a specific piece of music for a specific scene, but they just wanted to put out a Massive Attack track for their soundtrack album.

When did you last cry and why?
Recently, I found myself very late at night, on my own in a hotel room and I had a misty eye. I was full of self-pity. It was really pathetic, really.

What’s your poison?
Jack Daniels and coke. I can’t drink it tonight though, I’ve got to go to a rehearsal tomorrow. So I’m sticking to lager.

Pick five words to describe yourself.
Careless. Stubborn. Dysfunctional. Confident. Unconfident.

What’s in your pockets right now?
Wallet, keys, gum. That’s it.

Who was the last person you punched?
It was in the Moon Club in Bristol ages ago. It was the usual thing, crowd trouble, people treading on each other’s toes. I saw this bloke coming for me so I thought I’d get there the first punch in. He was much bigger than me, but I had a full can of Red Stripe in my hand, so that helped. I think I got broken up, God knows how it would have turned out.

What was the last record you bought?
The Polite Force by The Egg. I’ve been listening to a lot of second-hand prog rock recently. And a lot of Latin music, a bit of jazz. It’s all preparation for the new album.

What are you most likely to complain about in a hotel?
I’m staying in this one at the moment, Jasper Conran’s My Hotel. It’s facing North and all that, but there’s no mini bar in the room, and it’s half an hour’s walk to the nearest drink, so I feel like complaining about that.

What characteristics do you think you’ve inherited from your parents?
I find it quite weird how my family seem very measured and peaceful compared to me. When my Dad was really angry with you, he just kept quiet. I always say I got my drinking habit from him, lying in a pub all the time, but he actually didn’t drink heavily at all back then. Much, I think I got my mum’s temper. We’re all close and I always was younger, but it’s fashioned who I am.

What is your most unpleasant characteristic?
I’ve so many, it’s hard to say. Self-pity. Feeling lonely for no reason.

What’s your culinary speciality?
A bit of Italian. I make a pretty good pasta and meatballs. Anti-pasti salads with peppers.

What is your greatest fear?
Death. Not dying, but how will it happen? Will I be aware of it happening? If I die in my sleep, that’s fine. But if you see it happening?

What music would you have played at your funeral?
Stay by Astrud or Should I Go? by The Clash… Heh heh.

What’s the greatest film ever made?
Either something like The Godfather or Apocalypse Now! So either informing more of a relationship between family morals or fucking politics. It’s as good a film as The Godfather or Apocalypse, Now!. It’s just a different angle. The best scripts and greatest characters are fashioned into words for decades on. It’s timeless. Some films of the ‘70s are almost all timeless. Same with the ‘90s. The ‘60s and ‘80s were more self-conscious, more stylized.

Can you recite a line of poetry?
No.

Have you ever been arrested?
Yes. I got arrested for graffiti twice in about ‘89. They had a big clean-up drive in Bristol when everybody started tagging and they were looking for a few scapegoats. A couple of my friends really suffered badly. In the end, we got hit with fines or community service.

What turns you on?
The right place at the right time with the right people.

Happiness is…
… Setting up the studio, heh heh! No, when you feel involved in something musically and achieving something new, if you’re getting 50 percent enjoyment, if that’s what makes me happy.

Where are you off to now?
I’m out of my room to watch a film or something. If I go out tonight with Nellee Hooper, there’s no way I’ll get to the rehearsal tomorrow.

“There’s no chance of a wank, then?” Phil Lynott