Morrissey interview in Folha de S.Paulo (Brasil)

Aos 56, Morrissey diz que ainda não sabe o que será da carreira no futuro - 23/10/2015 - Ilustrada - Folha de S.Paulo
http://m.folha.uol.com.br/ilustrada...ja-a-nostalgia-nao-diz-morrissey.shtml?mobile

New interview, don't like the sound of this but he has been touring a lot.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

So would you continue to think it's admirable if he had an album or two of material that will die on the vine because he is so intransigent that he can't get with the times? Or that he has burnt every conceivable bridge to a major label that could release said material? He is cutting off his nose to spite his face.

' get with the times' ? What would you expect from him...if he got with the times? Do you mean agreeing to a contract not on his terms? I don't see him burning bridges. I see him standing his ground.. And YES this may back fire... So be it. Would the record be any better if he did it free for a company? No, it will always be a Morrissey record... neither 'bad' or 'good' ...always beautiful.. ALWAYS HIM.

' YOU SHOULD NOT GO TO THEM, LET THEM COME TO YOU '

 

[celibate]

Then he needs someone to do it for him. I would do it, i am very good at negotiations. Johnny has a label and he can't sing.

Johnny is a down to earth man, while Morrissey is a total controlfreak and want his part
in what he releases 100%, if label and team says A and Morrissey thinks or believes on B,
it willl never happen, he wants the control while Johnny [having made good money as Morrissey]
just goes on with people and the team around, he just wants to play , he learns from the past.

my 2 pence

 

[Anonymous]

It takes a lot of coordination to put on a tour on his part which is takes a lot of skill and risk. It isn't just a couple of hours . He is the brains behind the tour. Try being a pop star who has to handle hundreds of decisions and have to deal with the trash people say about you.....

Coming up with the slogan We hate Kate and a line bow with his band thinking it's like the Radio City Rockettes is not Mensa material.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Johnny is a down to earth man, while Morrissey is a total controlfreak and want his part
in what he releases 100%, if label and team says A and Morrissey thinks or believes on B,
it willl never happen, he wants the control while Johnny [having made good money as Morrissey]
just goes on with people and the team around, he just wants to play , he learns from the past.

my 2 pence

team around,team around....

Hey Johnny 2pence is no 'yen-AGAIN' He's the true 'down to earth' man!, the 'real salt of the earth'..real deer lick and all...but no derelict to elicit one
drop from what poetic tap? guitar lick a many! yes,but...

And if M is a 'control freak' and has to be ..to do what he does..and he does it SO WELL...than CONTROL BABY, CONTROL.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Then he needs someone to do it for him. I would do it, i am very good at negotiations. Johnny has a label and he can't sing.

if any 'negotiations' take place...It'll be done through Julia. Please send all checks rubber and what not, to....

 

[Anonymous]

treat me like a... and yet,

“Artists aren't really people. And I'm actually 40 per cent papier mache.”

And during Billy Budd in 95.... He banged on a tambourine...and scratched on that tambourine ...these words,

'SELF SELF SELF'

Now.... Give me MY FIX !

Yes, using lyrics from a 20 year old song and what he wrote on a tambourine totally back up your theory.

Not a lot of brains here at solo.

 

[Anonymous]

It takes a lot of coordination to put on a tour on his part which is takes a lot of skill and risk. It isn't just a couple of hours . He is the brains behind the tour. Try being a pop star who has to handle hundreds of decisions and have to deal with the trash people say about you.....

He had a team of people that coordinate the tour. He just shows up.

 

[Anonymous]

It takes a lot of coordination to put on a tour on his part which is takes a lot of skill and risk. It isn't just a couple of hours . He is the brains behind the tour. Try being a pop star who has to handle hundreds of decisions and have to deal with the trash people say about you.....

nonsense. damon and boz coordinate and put together the tours. moz wouldnt know how to switch on an amp.
ill give you the rider. thats moz dept.

 

[Jamie]

' get with the times' ? What would you expect from him...if he got with the times? Do you mean agreeing to a contract not on his terms? I don't see him burning bridges. I see him standing his ground.. And YES this may back fire... So be it. Would the record be any better if he did it free for a company? No, it will always be a Morrissey record... neither 'bad' or 'good' ...always beautiful.. ALWAYS HIM.

' YOU SHOULD NOT GO TO THEM, LET THEM COME TO YOU '

Personally, I have no expectations of him. LOTL put paid to any I had remaining.

He is not standing his ground if there is nothing left to stand on. He could very easily make his songs and albums readily available to his fans in a myriad of ways yet obtusely continues to believe in the dying paradigm of the Big Record Company Contract. In this day and age, an artist/band with minimal commercial clout (say, one with a record that has sold less than ~20K copies in the US since release over a year ago) is not going to have record executives bending over backwards to offer him a contract. His public trash talk of Steve Barnett certainly did him no additional favors. He has not positioned himself to get a contract where he dictates all the terms. Just "being Morrissey" alone is not enough anymore. That is where self-release should enter the picture for his consideration. He is not saying it aloud but it is readily implied that he doesn't want to do the footwork. He plays the martyr when, in reality, it is the Art and his die-hard faithful who suffer in the process. If his Art were so important to him - and something he feels the world should hear - Morrissey should be falling over himself to get it out in the public view. Detritus provided an estimable precis as to how that can be a lucrative venture for him. That he continues to disregard this as an avenue shows a stunning paucity of imagination.

You see no burnt bridges because they have all been reduced to ash already. You are well-equipped with inappropriately-deployed ellipses and inane paraphrasing of lyrics, but blind to the bigger picture. There will be NO new Morrissey record, good or bad, if he doesn't reconsider the landscape of the music business as it is in the 21st century.

 

[valvano]

I am sure Trent Reznor would guide him through the process of self releasing music.

 

[Anonymous]

In this day and age, an artist/band with minimal commercial clout (say, one with a record that has sold less than 20K copies since release over a year ago) is not going to have record executives bending over backwards to offer him a contract.

Just for the sake of not relying on blind guesswork, WPINOYB sold 83,000 copies in the first two weeks. AFAIK there is no publicly available data after that.

In this day and age, the only kind of artist who can sell at that level and not have a record deal is one who is not sufficiently interested.

 

[Anonymous]

its still his experience though so why should he if he doesnt want to and wont enjoy it. ive never heard him say i need people to hear my songs at any cost

 

[Johnny Barleycorn]

Just for the sake of not relying on blind guesswork, WPINOYB sold 83,000 copies in the first two weeks.

Where did you get that figure? Do you have a link?

 

[evennow]

Personally, I have no expectations of him. LOTL put paid to any I had remaining.

He is not standing his ground if there is nothing left to stand on. He could very easily make his songs and albums readily available to his fans in a myriad of ways yet obtusely continues to believe in the dying paradigm of the Big Record Company Contract. In this day and age, an artist/band with minimal commercial clout (say, one with a record that has sold less than 20K copies since release over a year ago) is not going to have record executives bending over backwards to offer him a contract. His public trash talk of Steve Barnett certainly did him no additional favors. He has not positioned himself to get a contract where he dictates all the terms. Just "being Morrissey" alone is not enough anymore. That is where self-release should enter the picture for his consideration. He is not saying it aloud but it is readily implied that he doesn't want to do the footwork. He plays the martyr when, in reality, it is the Art and his die-hard faithful who suffer in the process. If his Art were so important to him - and something he feels the world should hear - Morrissey should be falling over himself to get it out in the public view. Detritus provided an estimable precis as to how that can be a lucrative venture for him. That he continues to disregard this as an avenue shows a stunning paucity of imagination.

You see no burnt bridges because they have all been reduced to ash already. You are well-equipped with inappropriately-deployed ellipses and inane paraphrasing of lyrics, but blind to the bigger picture. There will be NO new Morrissey record, good or bad, if he doesn't reconsider the landscape of the music business as it is in the 21st century.

These three things in particular are very true. Plus any humasexual worth his salt would be completely fine with self-release

 

[Anonymous]

nonsense. damon and boz coordinate and put together the tours. moz wouldnt know how to switch on an amp.
ill give you the rider. thats moz dept.

Damon is an absolute sweetheart and a go getter but Morrissey is the brains behind the operation, he controls things. Thank God for Damon though.

 

[Anonymous]

world peace sold a total of 26ooo copies worlwide. a sales disaster.
list of the lost probably sold under 5000 copies and wasnt even published in the states.

 

[Anonymous]

Where did you get that figure? Do you have a link?

http://www.mediatraffic.de/albums-week31-2014.htm

This gives you the worldwide sales figure for week one. If you click at the bottom, you can get the figure for the second. By the third week it is no longer in the top 40.

 

[Detritus]

Just for the sake of not relying on blind guesswork, WPINOYB sold 83,000 copies in the first two weeks. AFAIK there is no publicly available data after that.

In this day and age, the only kind of artist who can sell at that level and not have a record deal is one who is not sufficiently interested.

Where did you get that figure? Do you have a link?

I'm guessing the 83,000 figure is the combined total of sales worldwide, as that is the only case where that sales figure seems plausible.

For its first week, WPINOYB sold approximately 13,538 units in the United States. At the moment, I cannot find any data from Official Charts or elsewhere regarding first week sales in the UK, but have been able to track down some posts here from the time chart news first became available, and it apparently sold about 20,000 copies its first week in the UK, coming behind Ed Sheeran's X at about 40,000 copies. I can't find any data for second week sales, so if someone could supply that information (perhaps the anon who conveniently left out any links to support their claim) I'd appreciate it, but I do know for sure that album sales dropped significantly in week two.

That makes the estimated total of UK/US sales for week one roughly 33,538, which means that in order for the album to have sold 83,000 copies worldwide within the first two weeks of release, it would have had to sell about 49,462 copies excluding first week sales in the US and UK. Even making adjustments for more exact and accurate sales figures, this seems unlikely, and I do not recall ever coming across sales figures for the album totaling 80,000 or more. But again, I don't have the most concrete data, so if anyone can provide links to sales figures, please do.

Supposing the album did sell 83,000 copies worldwide in its first two weeks of sales, that number is probably about the average amount of sales for an artist like Morrissey, who the general public would consider a "legacy" or "nostalgia act". It's not bad, but not remarkable either. I agree with the central argument that a lack of sales is not the reason Morrissey cannot find a record deal, but if he is not sufficiently interested in obtaining one, then his frequent complaints toward the contrary are certainly puzzling.

its still his experience though so why should he if he doesnt want to and wont enjoy it. ive never heard him say i need people to hear my songs at any cost

You're right, he's never said that the world needs to hear his songs, but lamenting a lack of a major label deal does suggest he wants his new music to be heard, but only on his very specific terms.

 

[g23]

Personally, I have no expectations of him. LOTL put paid to any I had remaining.

He is not standing his ground if there is nothing left to stand on. He could very easily make his songs and albums readily available to his fans in a myriad of ways yet obtusely continues to believe in the dying paradigm of the Big Record Company Contract. In this day and age, an artist/band with minimal commercial clout (say, one with a record that has sold less than 20K copies since release over a year ago) is not going to have record executives bending over backwards to offer him a contract. His public trash talk of Steve Barnett certainly did him no additional favors. He has not positioned himself to get a contract where he dictates all the terms. Just "being Morrissey" alone is not enough anymore. That is where self-release should enter the picture for his consideration. He is not saying it aloud but it is readily implied that he doesn't want to do the footwork. He plays the martyr when, in reality, it is the Art and his die-hard faithful who suffer in the process. If his Art were so important to him - and something he feels the world should hear - Morrissey should be falling over himself to get it out in the public view. Detritus provided an estimable precis as to how that can be a lucrative venture for him. That he continues to disregard this as an avenue shows a stunning paucity of imagination.

The other aspect not brought up regarding any kind of self release, is the media storm that Morrissey- well known for demands and label fishing- would create by just raising two middle fingers to the industry he courts, and self releasing after all of this fuss. I honestly think he would stand to make quite a lot more than he has for his last few releases combined, just for the sheer ballsiness of the move.

Also, wouldn't it play into his wounded martyr of the arts image that he has cultivated to release a pay what you will album?

"Yes, my blood, sweat and tears- pay what you believe it is worth, if it is worth anything at all!" *hand to forehead as he pulls a dramatic stage faint for effect*

 

[Anonymous]

I'm guessing the 83,000 figure is the combined total of sales worldwide, as that is the only case where that sales figure seems plausible.

For its first week, WPINOYB sold approximately 13,538 units in the United States. At the moment, I cannot find any data from Official Charts or elsewhere regarding first week sales in the UK, but have been able to track down some posts here from the time chart news first became available, and it apparently sold about 20,000 copies its first week in the UK, coming behind Ed Sheeran's X at about 40,000 copies. I can't find any data for second week sales, so if someone could supply that information (perhaps the anon who conveniently left out any links to support their claim) I'd appreciate it, but I do know for sure that album sales dropped significantly in week two.

That makes the estimated total of UK/US sales for week one roughly 33,538, which means that in order for the album to have sold 83,000 copies worldwide within the first two weeks of release, it would have had to sell about 49,462 copies excluding first week sales in the US and UK. Even making adjustments for more exact and accurate sales figures, this seems unlikely, and I do not recall ever coming across sales figures for the album totaling 80,000 or more. But again, I don't have the most concrete data, so if anyone can provide links to sales figures, please do.

Supposing the album did sell 83,000 copies worldwide in its first two weeks of sales, that number is probably about the average amount of sales for an artist like Morrissey, who the general public would consider a "legacy" or "nostalgia act". It's not bad, but not remarkable either. I agree with the central argument that a lack of sales is not the reason Morrissey cannot find a record deal, but if he is not sufficiently interested in obtaining one, then his frequent complaints toward the contrary are certainly puzzling.


You're right, he's never said that the world needs to hear his songs, but lamenting a lack of a major label deal does suggest he wants his new music to be heard, but only on his very specific terms.

yes it does suggest he wants to be heard but he could also be bemoaning the label experience which im suggesting he doesnt want not on his terms or on even worse terms and sees self release as an even more unfun prospect. it might just not be an experience he wants to go through which is his decision. i dont think he cant find a deal because of sales but i dont know if he can justify it, the labels involvement, in touring and taking a cut (which i think to be a huge block for him to any deal) as record label marketing is getting shakier and shakier. what does the label do if he pays the recording cost and distribution being either outsourced or more and more nil as people buy digital