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Musician Williamson: "I still count myself as a working class"
Photo: PYMCA / Universal Images Group / Getty Images
SPIEGEL:
Mr. Williamson, on your new album "Spare Ribs" you attack the "ugly rich white men" among the powerful in Great Britain who, in your opinion, have failed in the Corona policy and talked people into Brexit.
Who do you mean?
To person
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Jason Williamson
, 50, spent his early years on a farm and runs the electro-punk duo Sleaford Mods with fellow musician Robert Fearn (pictured left).
He founded it in 2007 with Simon Parfrement, who has since left the company in Nottingham.
The Sleaford Mods became known with angry song tirades against the establishment and albums like "The Orginator" (2009) and "Wank" (2012).
Her new work »Spare Ribs« has just been published.
Williamson:
Of course Boris Johnson is one of them.
Right now it's just embarrassing and depressing to be English.
We are a wretched country with no values.
We live on the ruins of an empire founded on murder in a neoliberal hell.
The many corona deaths in Great Britain show that there is no justice here and no future.
For those in power, the functioning of the economy is more important than saving human lives.
SPIEGEL:
Your songs were created in your home town of Nottingham during the first British lockdown.
Does the impression that you went to work a little more angry than on your already rather angry earlier albums can be deceived?
Williamson:
I hope the songs will express the atmosphere of lockdown and our feelings during this time.
It was then that it became clear that this country does not care about the health and professional existence of ordinary people.
Cutting out a few ribs is a piece of cake for those in power, the title of our album alludes to that.
It's always about the money.
In this country the rich have created a huge class gap.
This gap is widening with Brexit.
SPIEGEL:
Your country no longer belongs to the EU since January 1st.
What do you expect for the coming months?
"I don't want to be a wanker like everyone else"
Sleaford Mods singer Jason Williamson
Williamson:
Above all, it is the poor that Brexit will cost dearly.
Many people with jobs at risk, whether in the auto industry or in agriculture, will suffer.
Things are also looking dark in the entertainment industry we work in.
We ourselves are confident that we can tour internationally this year, but many other musicians and bands will have to stay at home.
SPIEGEL:
You started out in a hobby room in Nottingham in 2007, have since sold many albums with the Sleaford Mods and have done a lot of concerts.
Do you still belong to the class of the socially disadvantaged and the working class, from whose perspective you look at the world in your songs?
Or are you now privileged yourself?
Williamson:
I wouldn't consider myself privileged.
I would rather speak of comparatively better living conditions.
I still consider myself a working class.
Not necessarily in terms of my financial situation, but in terms of my roots.
Our current songs are about this being torn back and forth.
SPIEGEL:
In the song "I Don't Rate You" you describe that you no longer feel like hanging out with other music stars.
Williamson:
You could say that I am thoroughly fed up with all of the celebrity culture.
I think you have to be careful not to get infected by all the stupidity and hatred that goes into this business.
I don't want to be a wanker like everyone else.
SPIEGEL:
You can tell that your language is definitely still close to the tone of the working class.
Have you actually counted the number of times the word "fuck" appears in your songs?
Williamson:
No, but it happens a lot.
However, I recently met a friend from before who accused me of expressing myself a lot more elegantly today than when I was younger.
This is one of the reasons why there is a kind of self-questioning on the new album: I want to know whether our attitude is still correct.
Are we still passionate about it or are we just serving the expectations of our fans?
SPIEGEL:
Would you like the Sleaford Mods' songs to influence listeners politically so that, for example, they could vote more wisely next time?
Williamson:
Even if we had the intention, no one would obey us.
We hope people enjoy our songs.
But we know that we have practically as many right-wing supporters as we have left.
When I look at the comments from our fans on the net, I notice that there are tons of Brexit supporters among the people who think our music is great.
Even a few bad racists are cheering our work.
SPIEGEL:
And how do you deal with them?
Williamson:
I think you can't argue with fascists and racists.
Hopefully our songs speak for themselves.
But getting right-wing radicals to reflect on their attitudes is perhaps the job of psychiatrists and psychologists.
It's not the job of musicians like us.
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